B&N Recommends

In the 150 years since "Colonel" Edwin Drake's well struck oil in Titusville, Pennsylvania, the preeminent driving force in our world has been petroleum. Oil has been behind the expansion and collapse of global empires and personal fortunes. Oil was both a key factor in the collapse of Germany and Japan during World War II, and propelled the explosive growth in postwar America. Wars have been fought for it, and nations have revolted over foreign control of it.

Nowhere is this tumult better chronicled than in The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power, Daniel Yergin's epic Pulitzer-winning history of oil and its affect on industry, geopolics, and world society. Spanning the globe, and featuring a colorful list of players ranging from titans of industry and wealthy desert sheikhs to Texas "wildcatters," The Prize is gripping history that flows off the page.

I first read this book in 1993, after my seventh grade social studies teacher showed the class excerpts from the eight-hour PBS documentary based on the book. It was incredibly informative then, and is even more relevant today as we face important decisions related to energy supply and consumption, and their effect on both the American and global economy. The Prize isn't just another business history title; it speaks directly to the political and sociological issues brought up by how we as a people consume oil in what Yergin dubs the "Age of Hydrocarbon Man." With the 2009 updated edition, which includes a new epilogue covering events and trends since its first publication, The Prize has maintained its place as the essential book on its subject.

I'm a firm believer in the old adage "those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it." The Prize should be mandatory reading if for no other reason than we can't afford to make the same mistakes again as we try and find our path forward.

The Power of Small by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval is an excellent follow up to their previous title The Power of Nice.  Thaler and Koval run a successful advertising agency, and they have found that the small things we do for others can benefit us in both our careers and our day to day life.

The authors have many stories about small things people have done--as simple as a "Thank You" after a job interview.  Rosie O'Donnell did this at MTV when her career was just starting.  Even though she did not get the job, she took a moment to write a thank you to her interviewer for taking the time to talk to her.  This lead the interviewer to pass Rosie's tape onto VH1, which lead to her first TV job.  If she had not done such a "small" thing, her tape wouldn't have been passed on, and successful career never would have started.  

This is a great book; it emphasizes that small is powerful, and not only brings happiness and fulfillment to those around you, but can work in large ways.  Sometimes we ony look at the big picture, and we have to learn to look at the small picture.  In that way, lies success.  

I highly recommend  this book for anyone who wishes to turn their work environment into a more positive place,  or wants to take small steps on the road to a happier outlook on life.  It's easy to read, and has many entertaining stories about other people's success

with "small" moments that changed the course of their lives.  

If you're interested in the up-and-coming field of behavioral economics, then this book is what you need to get up to speed.  Fun, informative, and friendly, "Predictably Irrational" is the perfect mix of entertainment and information.

Behavioral economics has been all the rage in recent years.  Ariely discusses the newest trend in economics and it's impact on the field.  No prior knowledge is required:  Ariely begins his discussion with a definition of the topic (hint:  it's in the title).

Once you've been introduced, Ariely makes his case.  From selling candy at a table to computer experiments and everything between, a variety of interesting and relevant experiments and stories from real life bring the material home.  Once you've started, you won't want to put it down.

Recommended for people interested in: Economics, Psychology, Behavioral Sciences, and the like.