The Short List

Joe Nocera is The New York Times’ Talking Business columnist. He also writes a business-oriented blog at The Times called Executive Suite. A few years ago he asked his regular readers for suggestions for the best business fiction books. Unable to come up with a sufficient list of fiction, he turned his eye toward non-fiction books; narrative non-fiction, that is, and consulted a few other business-minded authorities for their advice. They agreed on the following list as the very best business books. If you have a title you feel has been unfairly excluded, you can let him know at the original blog post.

“Barbarians At The Gate by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar ~~ a rollicking account of KKR’s leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco.
Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis ~~ (even though I’ve since become convinced that the anecdote that gives the book its title never happened).
The Devil’s Candy by Julie Salamon ~~ (Greatest dissection of the movie business ever written.)
The Box by Marc Levinson ~~ (Hard to believe you can write a great book about the rise and importance of the shipping container, but he pulled it off.)
Indecent Exposure by David McClintick. (Published in 1982, it single-handedly created the business narrative genre).
The Go-Go Years by John Brooks ~~ (The best book by the most elegant writer to ever make business his subject.)
The Kingdom and the Power by Gay Talese ~~ (Yes, the subject is The New York Times, but how can you leave it off any list of great business books?)
Titan by Ron Chernow ~~ (Chernow’s magisterial biography of John D. Rockefeller.)
Do You Sincerely Want To Be Rich by Godfrey Hodgson, Bruce Page and Charles Raw ~~ (Hard to believe that this committee of authors could write a sensational narrative about the rise and fall of Bernard Cornfeld, but that they did.)
Disney War by James Stewart ~~ (”Best corporate psychoanalysis I’ve ever read,” says John Huey.)
The Informant by Kurt Eichenwald ~~ (Forget his Enron book, “Conspiracy of Fools.” This book, about the strange saga of Mark Whitacre and Archer Daniels Midland, is his masterpiece.)
Father, Son and Co.: My Life at IBM and Beyond by Thomas J. Watson and Peter Petre ~~ (The only great ghost-written C.E.O. autobiography ever written. No one else — not even Lee Iacocca or Jack Welch — even comes close.)
When Genius Failed by Roger Lowenstein ~~ (Another one of those “how-did-he-do-it?” books: this account of the fall of Long Term Capital Management, which by all rights should be a tough slog, is crackling good read.)
Greed and Glory on Wall Street by Ken Auletta ~~ (This book, about the crack up of Lehman Brothers, has a great cast of characters, starting with Steve Schwartzman.)
The Smartest Guys in the Room by Peter Elkind and Bethany McLean ~~ (O.K., O.K., they are former colleagues of mine, and I was deeply involved in editing this book — but I have to say, I think it turned out pretty well!)”

The Globe And Mail is a Toronto-based Canadian newspaper which is running a series of articles in their Books section called 50 Greatest Books. Each week one of the 50 books selected is reviewed and dissected for its greatness; their aim–generally successful, is to make you want to read the book. Read Books Editor Martin Levin’s full introduction to the series here.

“A great book is adjudged a great book over time by virtue of offering things — astonishing ideas, unforgettable characters, imaginative sublimity, glorious prose — that cannot be got elsewhere, and that tell us something new about the human (or other) condition.

“The 50 will not be ranked in order,” he wrote. “We figure just choosing them is adventurous enough. The entries will be derived from discussions among members of our panel of experts (as if anyone’s really expert). Their carefully guarded identities will be revealed only at the end of the series, when readers will be invited to engage with them more directly. Each entry will be written by someone with knowledge, usually extensive knowledge, of the book in question.”

You can select from the 27 essays published so far on the update page of the series here.

The winners of the 2008 Thriller awards were announced last week at the annual ThrillerFest gala. The 2008 Thriller Award Winners include:

For Best Novel:
THE GHOST by Robert Harris

For Best First Novel:
HEART-SHAPED BOX by Joe Hill

The 2008 Thriller Award Nominees include:

For Best Novel
NO TIME FOR GOODBYE by Linwood Barclay
THE WATCHMAN by Robert Crais
THE CRIME WRITER by Gregg Hurwitz
TROUBLE by Jesse Kellerman

For Best First Novel
INTERRED WITH THEIR BONES by Jennifer Lee Carrell
BIG CITY, BAD BLOOD by Sean Chercover
FROM THE DEPTHS by Gerry Doyle
VOLK’S GAME by Brent Ghelfi

The what? “The Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award is an annual award of 35,000 euros, ( almost $55,000) as such it is currently the world’s richest prize for the short story form. The award is in memory of the late Frank O’Connor, one of the world’s most renowned short story writers. The award is presented in O’Connor’s hometown of Cork, Ireland. It is organised by the Munster Literature Centre and funded by Cork City Council in association with the Irish Times.. The award goes to the author of the book judged to be the best collection of stories published in English for the first time anywhere in the world in the twelve months between September of one year and August of the next. If a translated book wins, the purse is shared equally between the author and translator.”

This year, the jury, in an unprecedented move, dispensed with a short list for the award and announced the winner outright: Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth. Patrick Cotter, Director of the Award said: “With a unanimous winner at this early stage we decided it would be a sham to compose a shortlist and put five other writers through unnecessary stress and suspense. Not only were the jury unanimous in their choice of Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth as the winner, they were unanimous in their belief that so outstanding was Lahiri’s achievement in this book that no other title was a serious contender.”

Jhumpa Lahiri was born in England, in 1967, to Bengali parents who moved to America when she was three. Her first collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies, won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize – and sold 600,000 copies. Her 2003 novel, The Namesake, was made into a successful film of the same name. Ms Lahiri lives in New York with her husband and two children.

A recent spate of quality espionage fiction has come to our attention bringing with it a return to Cold War-style spy stories of old. John le Carré created the yardstick by which most other spy novels are measured against along with a number of other contemporaries who propelled the genre forward with protagonists who were as morally ambiguous as their enemies. Le Carré returns this fall with A Most Wanted Man. Set in Germany, it chronicles the fate of a Muslim man who relocates to Hamburg to begin medical school but has a shadowy past that attracts the attention of intelligence agencies from Germany and beyond.

Robert Littell also produced well-crafted spy fiction in the 70’s and still continues publishing. His 2002 fictionalized account of the CIA, The Company, a bestseller, was made into a multi-part series by both the BBC and TNT. He has followed that up with Legends, a darkly humorous story about an aging spy’s identity crisis and Vicious Circle, an account of a kidnapping plot gone bad sending Israel and Palestine to the brink of collapse.

Charles McCarry had a small but devoted following in the 70’s for his books featuring CIA agent Paul Christopher. McCarry too, has seen a recent renaissance in his popularity beginning with Old Boys which brought back Paul Christopher and an aging group of fellow co-workers. Last year’s Christopher’s Ghosts continues the popular series.

We are lucky to have a cadre of newer writers to continue presenting espionage in the Cold War tradition. Olen Steinhauer has a first-rate series of books featuring Inspector Emil Brod set in a fictional Eastern European country. The first, The Bridge Of Sighs, nominated for multiple awards, begins at the end of WWII. The series closes at the fall of the Berlin Wall with Victory Square, portraying the corruption that has etched itself on Brod over the preceding 40 years.

Jenny Siler also writes as Alex Carr. Her books depict events still resonating in our society: Easy Money, portrays drug running with its origins in the killing fields of Vietnam, and An Accidental American covers the 1983 Beirut bombings. Carr’s newest novel brings us up to date, exposing the underbelly of Morocco in The Prince of Bagram Prison.

Alan Furst uses WWII and the days immediately following as glamorous backdrops for his espionage tales beginning with The Night Soldiers and continuing with the just-published The Spies of Warsaw.

Daniel Silva’s bestselling series starring Mossad agent Gabriel Allon carries on the tradition with his take-no-prisoners scenarios and plenty of action just begging to be bought up by Hollywood. His latest installment, Moscow Rules, is due out in July.

In a similar vein, but already cashing in on the Hollywood interest, is Robert Ludlum with Eric Lustbader and the Bourne series. The latest Bourne book, The Bourne Sanction, is due out the end of July.

Although William F Buckley is gone, he’s certainly not forgotten, and his bestselling Blackford Oakes series will continue to find new fans. Oakes, a CIA agent described by Buckley as being “distinctly American”, acquits himself with style and charm. The series begins with Saving The Queen and concludes with Last Call For Blackford Oakes.

Science fiction stylist William Gibson brings his expertise with cyberspace to the genre with two espionage novels that won critical acclaim: Pattern Recognition and Spook Country.

Last but not least, Ted Bell has produced an enjoyable spy series with Alex Hawke as the lead character who works for both the American and British governments. The series includes Hawke, Spy, Assassin and TSAR due out this September.

With a grateful nod to the Salt Lake tribune for their article on the opportunity an election year brings to teaching kids about politics.

Otto Runs For President by Rosemary Wells (ages 4-7)

LaRue For Mayor by Mark Teague (ages 4-7)

What To Do About Alice? by Barbara Kerley (ages 4-7)

If I Were President by Katherine Stier (ages 4-9)

White House Q&A by Denise Rinaldo (ages 5-9)

America Votes: How Our President Is Elected by Linda Granfield (ages 9-12)

We have new books arriving almost every day. This week’s new arrivals include travel books, just in case you’re looking to get away from the current warmth.

Try out the new editions of:

Fodor’s Canada

Fodor’s Pacific Northwest

Fodor’s Essential USA

Zagat’s Connecticut Restaurants 2008-09

If you can’t get away to a cooler clime, we also have the 2008-2009 Zagat survey of Connecticut restaurants which might have suggestions for a good air-conditioned meal.

If you’ve looked at a New York Times Bestseller List or Amazon’s Top 100 List recently, then you know that author Stephenie Meyer’s has tapped a vein with her Twilight Saga vampire series (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse). The fourth and final book in the series, Breaking Dawn, is being masterfully marketed and is due out on August 2nd. The series, designed for young adults but also very popular with adults, has caught the attention of the Hollywood crowd. Twilight, the movie, starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson is due out December 12th.

The Morningstar website recently posted a “Beginning Investor’s Reading List” by David Kathman which included the following books:

The Only Investment Guide You‘ll Ever Need, by Andrew Tobias: “A classic overview of the essential things of which any investor should be aware … Tobias covers the basics of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, 401(k)’s, IRAs, real estate, and how to save and invest prudently for the long term. If you feel totally at sea when it comes to investing, this book is a good place to get your footing,” says Morningstar.

Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein: A Warren Buffett biography with plenty of background on the Oracle of Omaha.

The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing by Taylor Larimore, Mel Lindauer, and Michael LeBoeuf: Written by prominent members of Morningstar’s Vanguard Diehards forum, this book covers the investing philosophy of Vanguard founder Jack Bogle.

A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton G. Malkiel: “The most entertaining and accessible defense of efficient-market theory, which says that it’s impossible to predict what the market will do with any kind of consistency,” says Morningstar.

Stocks for the Long Run by Jeremy Siegel: Covers “historical evidence about which types of stocks perform best over the long run, as well as various attempts to beat the market and thus disprove the efficient-market hypothesis,” says Morningstar. “A chapter at the end on how best to use stocks in a portfolio is especially valuable for beginners.”

All About Asset Allocation by Richard A. Ferri: Focuses on the art of divvying up a portfolio between investments “in a way that’s accessible to investors who are just starting out,” says Morningstar. “Ferri includes a big-picture overview of asset allocation and why it matters, discussions of the various asset types (U.S. stocks, foreign stocks, bonds, real estate, and alternative investments), and a clear discussion of how to build and maintain a portfolio.”

The Renaissance Learning report, What Kids Are Reading, “calculated the books most read by more than 3 million schoolchildren last year.” The report lists the top 20 books read in each grade from 1-12 and breaks them down by gender and by geographic area as well. The report also includes essays by Mary Pope Osborne, S.E. Hinton, Daniel Handler and Christopher Paul Curtis on the benefits of reading. And, finally, the report breaks down the top books read by the top students–those who score in the top 10% of their class for reading achievement. Here are the books read most overall:

• Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss (first grade)
• If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff (second grade)
• Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (third grade)
• Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume (fourth grade)
• Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (fifth grade)
• Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (sixth grade)
• The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (seventh and eighth grades)
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (ninth through twelfth grade)