I've always thought the ROI on business books is one of the best deals around. For about $25 you are invited to engage in a mental dialogue with someone who has spent years thinking about a specific topic. You, in turn, walk away a few hours later reaping the benefits of someone's hard-won experience and wisdom.

In the years since I wrote Working Solo (in 1994, the first of four books in the Working Solo series), the number of business books on the market has exploded, and the pace of business has quickened. As a result, it's often difficult to know which business books warrant our investment -- of both time and money.

Enter Jack Covert (founder) and Todd Sattersten (president) of 800-CEO-READ, a specialty business book retailer. Jack and Todd know business books like no others -- it's their passion, and their business. For the past quarter century they have waded through thousands of newly published titles, assessing their value and determining how to present them to their customers.

As a complement to the 800-CEO-READ blog, Jack and Todd have added their own book to the roster -- The 100 Best Business Books of All Time. Here is a soloist's dream: a synopsis of valuable business books that makes it easy to decide if a book is right for you. Their book is not a numerical ranking of best books, rather each book included had to meet three criteria: it is accessible and easy to understand; it contains ideas that are still applicable today; and the author presents valuable ideas.

A brief (2-3 page) overview of each book is followed by suggestions for additional titles related to the topic. It's easy to get lost in this book -- rediscovering books you've read but forgotten, finding details of books on your "always meant to read that" list, and encountering brand new titles and authors that look intriguing.

In a quick count, I found that I've read about half of the 100; a quarter are on my "want to read list" and another quarter are on a "someday, maybe" list. (Want to see how you stack up? Here's the full list of the 100 books.)

Hats off to Jack and Todd for being the scouts for solo business owners who have good intentions but scarce time. They've filtered through the thousands of books published each year (11,000 in 2007 alone!) to find us the gems.

-- Terri Lonier
Founder, WorkingSolo.com

P.S. Join me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/TerriLonier for brief updates on Working Solo news, deals, and resources that are time-sensitive.

Working Solo Minute is published each Wednesday by Working Solo, Inc. and is based on the work of author and small business expert Terri Lonier. Copyright 1994-2009. All rights reserved.
Working Solo is a registered trademark of Working Solo, Inc.

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