Superfreakonomics, by Steven D Levitt & Stephen J Dubner
£9.99 PENGUIN
The "freakquel" to Levitt and Dubner's runaway global bestseller is published in paperback this month. The rogue economists address a host of typically subversive questions, such as "How is a street prostitute like a department store Santa?", "Why should suicide bombers buy life insurance?" and "Can a sex change boost your salary?" It's all compelling stuff and surely contains enough material for more than a year's worth of dinner party conversations. 7/10
BUY IT HERE: Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance
The Economist Style Guide
£16.99 PROFILE
If you want to communicate effectively and accurately with customers, colleagues or shareholders, then this book is an invaluable aid. As well as offering general advice on how to write, it also casts light on many examples of common misusage. For instance, it points out that a "specific" is a medicine, not a detail. And "transpire" means "exhale",
not "happen". And it has an amusing turn of phrase all of its own - referring to the "emetic" effect of what it terms "horrible words", such as "guesstimate" and "ongoing". 8/10
BUY IT HERE: The Economist Style Guide
Earn More, Stress Less, by Fergus O'Connell
£12.99 CAPSTONE
Great news — apparently we can all live the lives we want and never worry about money again. According to author Fergus O'Connell ("one of the world's leading authorities on project management"), the first thing we have to do is decide how much money we want. Then we just come up with a plan and use the universal Law of Attraction to make all that money start heading in our direction. And it really is that simple. As the book says, "Are you ready to give it a try?" Well maybe not, actually. 5/10
BUY IT HERE: Earn More, Stress Less: How to Attract Wealth Using the Secret Science of Getting Rich - Your Practical Guide to Living the Law of Attraction
The top five... books on the global financial crisis
1 The Big Short
Michael Lewis ALLEN LANE, £25
BUY IT HERE: The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
2 Too Big To Fail
Andrew Ross Sorkin PENGUIN, £14.99
BUY IT HERE: Too Big to Fail: Inside the Battle to Save Wall Street
3 Infectious Greed
Frank Partnoy PROFILE, £10.99
BUY IT HERE: Infectious Greed: How Deceit and Risk Corrupted the Financial Markets
4 Freefall
Joseph Stiglitz PENGUIN, £14.99
BUY IT HERE: Freefall: Free Markets and the Sinking of the Global Economy
5 On The Brink
Hank Paulson BUSINESS PLUS, £18
BUY IT HERE: On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System
