Best Business Books | 2013

It is estimated that more than 10,000 business books

are published each year.

source: Forbes

Life is too short to drink cheap scotch. The same can been said about reading business books. No need to wait three years. The list has been distilled. Here are the twelve business books that represent the finest that 2013 had to offer.

For the sixth 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 118 books were mentioned on at least one "Best of" list. Of these recommendations, 90 books were mentioned only once. An additional 16 books were mentioned on two lists and these 16 books comprise the Honorable Mention list.

The Fifth Shelf

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

• Compelling People
• Creative Confidence
• Looptail

The Fourth Shelf

One book was mentioned on four lists and was placed on the Fourth Shelf:

• The End of Competitive Advantage

The Third Shelf

Three books were mentioned on five lists and were placed on the Third Shelf:

• Big Data
• Give and Take
• To Sell is Human

The Second Shelf

Two books were mentioned on six lists and were placed on the Second Shelf:

• Contagious
• Playing to Win

The Top Shelf

Three books were mentioned on seven lists and were placed on the Top Shelf:

• Decisive
• Lean In
• The Everything Store

Personal Recommendations

If 12 books are too many to chose from, then check out the following Short List. The four highest rated books on Goodreads (of the 12 listed here) are as follows:

• The Everything Store (4.15 rating out of 5.00)
• Give and Take (4.10)
• Creative Confidence (4.04)
• Playing to Win (4.03)
  

These four books are now on my Short List.

I have read seven books from this list of 12. As I work through this reading list, I will post my reviews at Goodreads.com and share links here.

• Contagious ★★★★★
• Creative Confidence ★★★★★
• Decisive ★★★★
• Give and Take ★★★★
• Lean In ★★★★★
• Playing to Win ★★★★
• The End of Competitive Advantage ★★★★

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

[ NOTE: The 16 Honorable Mention books, as well as, the 12 Best Business Books of 2013 will be 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.

Boston Web Tech Job Market | Q4 2013

Demand remains strong for workers in the Boston area with technology skills.

For example, Dice listed Boston's 10 Most In-Demand Software Skills.  In this analysis Ben Hicks from WinterWyman reviewed the skills sought in jobs that have come through his technology search firm since the beginning of the year.

The Ben Hicks Top 10

1. Java (including all related open source frameworks)
2. Web UI (JavaScript, AJAX, jQuery, Backbone, Angular, etc.)
3. C#
4. Ruby
5. Python
6. Mobile (both iOS and Android)
7. Full Stack Web App Development (JavaScript, node, etc.)
8. PHP
9. C++
10. Scala

The article concluded ...

"Newer skills such as Ruby, Python, Scala, JavaScript and .node would be good bets if he were to predict skills with growing demand."

Boston Web Tech Job Market

The list of Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston has been updated for the fourth quarter. It appears in the right-hand column and below.  This list is broader than the WinterWyman analysis and is based on keyword searches in job postings at Indeed.com. The most in-demand keywords are listed more frequently than less in-demand keywords.

Indeed.com is a meta-search engine that offers a maximum number of search possibilities.  All searches encompass a 25-mile radius of Boston.  Search parameters can be adjusted to fit your personal needs.

Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston

Here is an abbreviated list of the 20 most in-demand web technologies in Boston. [ or from early September ] listed by number of job postings at Indeed.com:

December, 2013

1. SQL | 3,623 02%
2. Java | 3,009 02%
3. agile *** | 2,197 01%  
4. JavaScript | 2,132 08%
5. Oracle | 2,098 03%
6. Python | 1,384 06%
7. C# | 1,251 03%
8. Social Media | 1,240 02%
9. "Web Services" | 1,216 01%
10. XML | 1,201 00%
11. SQL Server | 1,194 02%
12. HTML + CSS | 1,055 02%
13. UI | 1,019 06%
14. jQuery | 961 03%
15. MySQL | 918 19%
16. SaaS | 915 06%
17. Perl | 893 04%
18. Ruby | 811 14%
19. scrum *** | 740 02%
20. PHP | 711 09%

*** Note: While "agile" and "scrum" are not technologies, they are methodologies used in technology development.  These keywords appear in many web development job descriptions.  Experience with "agile" and "scrum" is often required or preferred.

An expanded version of this list -- Boston's Top 100 Web Technologies -- is being counted down for the next three months @webapprentices.

[ NOTE: Follow Beantown Web on Twitter @webapprentices and on Facebook by becoming a Fan of Beantown Web. ]