Richard Pachter's choices for 2006's best business books.
Click on each title to read the full original review and the link to purchase the book.
For my favorite business books of 2005 click here or 2004 click here.

I’m amazed that despite the latest high-tech tools for conveying ideas, brave souls still write books. Regardless of consolidation and other challenges that threaten the publishing world — like most industries — authors still choose this venerable medium to share their thoughts. And people, with more choices than ever, still read books.

Business books, in particular, are an odd lot; those attempting to capture the latest trends are often dead on arrival. But others possess value beyond the time and place they first appear. Here are ten books from 2006 that might pass that test of time.

Sweet and Low. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 288 pages.
by Rich Cohen.
A history of Brooklyn, U.S. government regulation of food, the invention of artificial sweeteners and a rollicking family saga are sifted together in this serious but hilarious testament by the son of a faithful daughter cut off from the family fortune. Click here to purchase.

Creating Competitive Advantage: Give Customers a Reason to Choose You Over Your Competitors. Currency. 240 pages.
by Jaynie L. Smith and William G. Flanagan.
Smith and Flanagan's brilliantly obvious manual ought to be required study for anyone thinking about opening a new business. Click here to purchase.

Wall Street Versus America: The Rampant Greed and Dishonesty That Imperil Your Investments. Penguin. 320 pages.
by Gary Weiss.
If even one percent of what Weiss writes is true, securities trading is more akin to gambling in a crooked casino than honest investment in a free and fair marketplace. Click here to purchase.

Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win. HarperCollins. 336 pages. By William C. Taylor and Polly G. LaBarre.
Current business ideas of lasting value, like perpetual innovation and the commercial superiority of good design, are examined in this elegantly written and intelligent tome. Click here to purchase.

The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More. Hyperion. 238 pages.
by Chris Anderson.
The mass market may be dead, but businesses that capitalize on diversity, either by offering a wide array of choices — or specializing in a very narrow niche — can prosper, according to this influential and provocative manifesto. Click here to purchase

The Little Book That Beats the Market. John Wiley & Sons. 176 pages.
by Joel Greenblatt.
A witty and highly readable idiot- and dummy-proof guide to value investing that will make you a smarter and better stock picker. Click here to purchase

Small is the New Big. Portfolio. 323 pages.
by Seth Godin.
A collection of choice blog selections from the sagacious superstar author of Purple Cow, Permission Marketing, Big Red Fez, Free Prize Inside and Survival is Not Enough that were worth killing trees for. Click here to purchase

Internal Combustion: How Corporations and Governments Addicted the World to Oil and Derailed the Alternatives. St. Martin's Press. 396 pages.
by Edwin Black.
The relentless author of the essential IBM and the Holocaust presents a meticulously researched case that leads to the inescapable conclusion that our present energy ''crisis'' is just the latest chapter of a criminal scheme as old as civilization itself. Click here to purchase

The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations. Portfolio. 240 pages.
by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom.
An engaging, thoughtful and imaginative guide for the next wave of entrepreneurs — and current ones who don't want to be left behind — as business becomes increasingly decentralized.
Click here to purchase

Are There Any Good Jobs Left?: Career Management in the Age of the Disposable Worker. Greenwood Publishing Group. 176 pages.
by R. William Holland.
A tough but profoundly compassionate discussion about older displaced workers and how best to make unexpected and unwanted transitions during the latter stages of one’s career.
Click here to purchase

Best albums
Donald Fagan "Morph The Cat," The Who: "Endless Wire" and Gnarls Barkley: "St. Elsewhere."

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