Suze Orman is the Oprah of personal finance, sometimes mawkish but often insightful. In The Road to Wealth, this month's No. 6 hardcover, Orman forgoes her usual psychological counseling for a deft nuts-and-bolts discussion of 11 personal-finance topics, from debt management to annuities. The entire volume is structured as a long Q&A--"Is taking out a 401(k) loan easy?" and "What is an open-end fund?" to select two queries at random. This makes the 561-page book more of a reference manual than something you would want to read straight through.
This reviewer found the book's "Home Ownership" chapter particularly useful. Ever been baffled by references to 5/25 or 7/23 mortgages? Orman describes these two-step home loans, which usually blend aspects of fixed- and adjustable-rate mortgages. Other worthwhile chapters tackle stocks, retirement planning, and bonds. All in all, it's a handbook that can benefit a wide range of readers.
By Karin Pekarchik
HARDCOVER BUSINESS BOOKS
1.WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? Spencer Johnson (Putnam $19.95) Learning to accept change. Last Month: 1; Months on List: 31
2.FISH!Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul, John Christensen (Hyperion $19.95) Motivating employees the Pike Place Fish Market way. Last Month: 2; Months on List: 11
3.FAST FOOD NATION Eric Schlosser (Houghton Mifflin $25) The bad news on burgers. Last Month: 3; Months on List: 5
4.FIRST, BREAK ALL THE RULES Marcus Buckingham, Curt Coffman (Simon & Schuster $26) A Gallup investigation into managerial success. Last Month: 5; Months on List: 27
5.NOW, DISCOVER YOUR STRENGTHS Marcus Buckingham, Donald O. Clifton (Free Press $26) How to bolster your true talents. Last Month: 6; Months on List: 6
6.THE ROAD TO WEALTH Suze Orman (Riverhead $29.95) Questions and answers from the queen of personal-finance counseling. Last Month: --; Months on List: 1
7.THE OTHER 90% Robert K. Cooper (Crown $24) Reach for the stars. Last Month: --; Months on List: 2
8.GETTING THINGS DONE David Allen (Viking $24.95) Start by getting an in-box. Last Month: --; Months on List: 6
9.THE TIPPING POINT Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown $24.95) Discovering what turns an idea into a hot trend. Last Month: 8; Months on List: 17
10.NEXT Michael Lewis (Norton $23.95) Talkin' 'bout the Net generation and how it is challenging experts of all sorts. Last Month: --; Months on List: 1
11.USE THE NEWS Maria Bartiromo, with Catherine Fredman (HarperBusiness $26) Get the skinny on the markets, from a CNBC anchor. Last Month: 7; Months on List: 2
12.THE 21 IRREFUTABLE LAWS OF LEADERSHIP John C. Maxwell (Thomas Nelson $22.99) A minister's down-to-earth rules. Last Month: 10; Months on List: 10
13.THE MYTH OF EXCELLENCE Fred Crawford, Ryan Mathews (Crown $27.50) Understanding consumers' desire for recognition, respect, and honesty. Last Month: --; Months on List: 1
14.A PASSION TO WIN Sumner Redstone, with Peter Knobler (Simon & Schuster $26) From Viacom's chief, media-business takeover tales and some stinging opinions. Last Month: 4; Months on List: 2
15.GUNG HO! Ken Blanchard, Sheldon Bowles (Morrow $20) How Walton Works No. 2 fired up its employees. Last Month: 9; Months on List: 28
PAPERBACK BUSINESS BOOKS
1.RICH DAD, POOR DAD Robert T. Kiyosaki, with Sharon L. Lechter (Warner $15.95) Teach your kids the rules of money that the rich play by. Last Month: 1; Months on List: 27
2.ORDINARY PEOPLE, EXTRAORDINARY WEALTH Ric Edelman (HarperBusiness $15) Get tips from some regular folks who became rich. Last Month: 10; Months on List: 6
3.THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE Stephen R. Covey (Fireside $14) Habitually
popular. Last Month: 2; Months on List: 78
4.GETTING TO YES Roger Fisher, William Ury, Bruce Patton (Penguin $14) A Harvard team's step-by-step guide to conflict resolution. Last Month: 5; Months on List: 73
5.RICH DAD'S CASHFLOW QUADRANT Robert T. Kiyosaki, with Sharon L. Lechter (Warner $17.95) Move from job security to independence. Last Month: 4; Months on List: 16
6.WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE? Richard Nelson Bolles (Ten Speed $16.95) The enduring job-search bible. Last Month: 3; Months on List: 9
7.THE 9 STEPS TO FINANCIAL FREEDOM Suze Orman (Three Rivers $13.95) Learn to save. Last Month: 7; Months on List: 8
8.THE ONE MINUTE MANAGER Kenneth Blanchard, Spencer Johnson (Berkley $12.95) Management techniques in story form. Last Month: 6; Months on List: 59
9.THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR Thomas J. Stanley, William D. Danko (Pocket Books $7.99) Simple ways of the wealthy. Last Month: 9; Months on List: 35
10.RICH DAD'S GUIDE TO INVESTING Robert T. Kiyosaki, with Sharon L. Lechter (Warner $19.95) Becoming rich, not merely comfortable. Last Month: 8; Months on List: 14
11.BUILT TO LAST James C. Collins, Jerry I. Porras (HarperBusiness $17) How 3M, Wal-Mart, and others became standouts. Last Month: 11; Months on List: 44
12.THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE James M. Kouzes, Barry Z. Posner (Jossey-Bass $20) A field guide examines patterns of success. Last Month: --; Months on List: 1
13.THE GOAL Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Jeff Cox (North River $19.95) Eliminating bottlenecks. Last Month: 12; Months on List: 22
14.LOOPHOLES OF THE RICH Diane Kennedy (Warner $19.95) Beyond Swiss banks. Last Month: --; Months on List: 1
15.THE WALL STREET JOURNAL GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING MONEY AND INVESTING Kenneth M. Morris, Virginia B. Morris (Lightbulb Press $15.95) Concise explanations with graphic
BusinessWeek's Best-Seller List is based on a survey of chain and independent booksellers that carry a broad selection of books on economics, management, sales and marketing, small business, investing, personal finance, and careers. Well over 1,000 retail outlets nationwide are represented. Current rankings are based on a weighted analysis of unit sales in July.
Get BusinessWeek directly on your desktop with our RSS feeds.
Add BusinessWeek news to your Web site with our headline feed.
Click to buy an e-print or reprint of a BusinessWeek or BusinessWeek Online story or video.
To subscribe online to BusinessWeek magazine, please click here.
Copyright 2001, Bloomberg L.P.
Printer-Friendly Version
