Best Business Books | 2014

More than 10,000 business books

are published in a typical year.

source: Statista

For the seventh year running Beantown Web has conducted a quasi-scientific meta-search to identify the best business books published during the calendar year. The books identified in this analysis are most likely to add value to your career.

This year's search began by identifying 12 "Best of" lists. This resource list is available upon request. Presented here are the results.

A total of 104 books were mentioned on at least one "Best of" list. Of these recommendations, 78 books were mentioned only once. An additional 13 books were mentioned on two lists and these books comprise the Honorable Mention list.

The Fifth Shelf

Two books were mentioned on three lists and have been placed on the Fifth Shelf:

• The Second Machine Age
• Think Like a Freak

The Fourth Shelf

Four books were mentioned on four lists and have been placed on the Fourth Shelf:

• #GIRLBOSS
• Essentialism
• Leaders Eat Last
• The Innovators

The Third Shelf

Five books were mentioned on five lists and have been placed on the Third Shelf:

• Flash Boys
• How Google Works
• Scaling Up Excellence
• The Hard Thing About Hard Things
• Zero to One

The Second Shelf

One book was mentioned on six lists and was placed on the Second Shelf:

• Creativity, Inc.

The Top Shelf

One book was mentioned on seven lists and was placed on the Top Shelf:

• Capital in the Twenty-First Century

Personal Recommendations

If 13 books are too many to chose from, then check out the following Short List. The five highest rated books on Goodreads (of the 13 listed here) are as follows:

• The Hard Thing About Hard Things (4.24 rating out of 5.00)
• Creativity, Inc. (4.21)
• Zero to One (4.17)
• Flash Boys (4.14)
• Leaders Eat Last (4.14)

These five books are now on my Short List.

I have read nine books from this list of 13. As I work through this reading list, I will post my reviews at Goodreads.com and share links here.

• Creativity, Inc. ★★★★★
• Essentialism ★★★★★
• Flash Boys ★★★★
• How Google Works ★★★★★
• Leaders Eat Last ★★★★★
• The Second Machine Age ★★★★
• The Hard Thing About Hard Things ★★★★
• The Innovators ★★★★★
• Zero to One ★★★★★

I have to admit that I gave up on Capital in the Twenty-First Century and gave it ★★.

You can access reviews of all 100+ books that I have read on Leadership and Strategy at Pinterest.

Suggested Success Strategy

Regardless of your professional discipline, web-related or otherwise, business is the engine that drives economic well-being.The economy continues to improve and job growth continues to look promising in 2015. You can help enhance your economic prospects by learning more about the business of business.

Goal: Select one business book from the 13 listed above, read it, practice its principles and shift your career into a higher gear in 2015. Of course, you can select all 13 books, read one per month (one extra for the beach this summer) and receive a guaranteed seat in business class!

[ NOTE: The 13 Honorable Mention books, as well as, the 13 Best Business Books of 2014 are being counted down on Twitter. Follow Beantown Web on Twitter @webapprentices and on Facebook by becoming a Fan of Beantown Web. ]

View recent Best Business Books blog postings.