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Business Best-sellers and Local Favorites That Are Bound to Please

It’s been a robust year for business titles, examining everything from daily work habits to global economic change. What follows is a list of popular titles available this holiday season, currently featured on amazon.com and the New York Times Best-seller lists:

• The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching!: Written by business guru Jeffrey Gitomer, author of the series Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Books, ‘Cha-Ching’ offers a series of suggestions geared toward improving sales.

• The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World: Currently the top-selling business title at Amazon.com, this retrospective from author Alan Greenspan takes a look at the increasingly global economy through the lens of his own life, including his childhood, his 18-year tenure as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, and the events on and following Sept. 11, 2001.

• The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich: A popular title this year for obvious reasons, Timothy Ferriss’s ‘4-hour Workweek’ theory was derived from more than five years of research, following successful people who have abandoned the ‘deferred-life’ plan for gaining wealth.

• Ready To Wear: An Expert’s Guide to Choosing and Using Your Wardrobe: A featured speaker at Baypath College’s Annual Women’s Conference this year, author Mary Lou Andre offers tips for matching wardrobe with lifestyle, organizing a closet, and developing an efficient shopping strategy on a budget.

• Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World: A departure from the usual presidential memoir, this new title by Bill Clinton focuses on philanthropy and the practices corporations, small businesses, and individuals are adding to their daily lives to foster change on both local and global levels.

• Living Longer Working Stronger: Simple Steps for Business Professionals to Capitalize on Better Health: Kevin Fosnocht examines the link between healthy bodies and healthy careers, offering suggestions for more-balanced diets, better sleep habits, and maintaining good health while traveling.

• Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die: Written by Chip and Dan Heath and inspired by Malcolm Gladwell’s blockbuster The Tipping Point, ‘Made to Stick’ explains why six tenets — simplicity, unexpectedness, concreteness, credibility, emotions, and stories — make some ideas unforgettable.

…in addition to business titles, we’ve compiled a selection of books, fiction and non-fiction, penned by a few of the region’s many authors:

• Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s: A memoir penned by local businessman John Elder Robison, owner of Robison Service in Springfield, ‘Look Me in the Eye’ examines life growing up ‘different,’ overcoming obstacles, finding success, and finally reevaluating strengths and weaknesses after being diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome.

• Golfing In New England: The Essential Guide for the New England Golfer: Published by Amherst guidebook publisher New England Cartographics, this guide was written by John Da Silva and edited by Valerie Vaughan, describing more than 600 public, semi-private, and resort courses in the six New England states. Course statistics, greens fees, directions, and other information is provided, as well as detailed listings of other golfing resources in each state such as golf retailers, driving ranges, golf schools, touring clubs, private golf courses, and golf associations. The guide is one of several outdoor activity guides published by New England Cartographics, all of which are available at necartographics.com

• An Execution in the Family: One Son’s Journey: Written by Western New England College professor Robert Meeropol, this memoir recounts his life and experiences following the execution of his birth parents, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

• Songs from a Lead-Lined Room: Notes — High and Low — from My Journey through Breast Cancer and Radiation: This memoir from Palmer resident Suzanne Strempek Shea, who usually writes fiction, recounts her experiences with breast cancer and radiation therapy.

• 1940: Now available for pre-order at Amazon.com, this novel by Northampton author Jay Neugeboren begins on the eve of World War II and follows a woman whose father has mysteriously disappeared. The book will be available in April 2008.

Compiled by Jaclyn Stevenson