The Best Business Stories of the Year, 2002 Edited by Andrew Leckey and Ken Auletta. Hardcover: Pantheon, 432 pages, ISBN 0375420754, $29.50. Paperback: Vintage Books, ISBN 0375725016, $15.00.

I dont envy the editors of Best of compilations, particularly this one. Every year, fine essays about business are published in magazines and newspapers like Fortune, Inc., The New York Times, The New Yorker, Harper, and even Mother Jones, and these editors are challenged to pick the best and give them a second life in this compilation. Those who follow business writing throughout the year may not agree with each selection presented in such a volume as this, but I think this second annual is a fascinating, and accurately representative, grouping of writings. Really, what a year it was! There certainly was no shortage of topics to write about: The dot.com disaster, the stock market, and, of course, 9-11, and the subsequent economic downturn. But it is not all doom and gloom. I read a fun essay on customer service from Fast Company and an revealing article on Michael Milkens activities in the past couple years from The New Yorker written by best-selling author James B. Stewart. The essay from Mother Jones is an in-depth look at the phenomenon that started a few years ago called direct to consumer advertising for prescription drugs that points out some serious issues this practice has raised.
This is the book to put in your briefcase before you leave for a trip or even a doctor/dentist (re: waiting room) appointment, since it is always great to have something brief to read while you wait. If you arent going to buy it, heres a tip (I cant believe Im suggesting this!): Go to your local bookseller, grab a copy of the book, find a quiet corner and, at the very least, read the two and a half page essay Bruce Nussbaum wrote for BusinessWeek about 9-11. He really nails it, and that essay itself, as well as this book, is not to be missed.

Love is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends by Tim Sanders, Crown Business, 200 Pages, $21.00 Hardcover, January 2002, ISBN 060960922X

When I received this galley about six months ago, I was wary of the book because of the hip cover, zippy title, brief length, and its all-about-success-but-not-failure premise. Every time I cracked the cover, I found myself questioning Sanders premise. I saddled right up to the thought that love really is the killer app. Cool. But this warm-fuzzy contradicted the very 80s power-broker subtitle. The author challenged me to read the book with an open mind (and with a steak dinner as the reward if I read the book and truly didnt find it of any value). So, I gave it a chance and discovered that what Sanders has to say is very valuable.

One of the most personally important books I have read in the past couple of years (look at our websites JCS archives to read my review) is called, Achieving Success Through Social Capital: Tapping Hidden Resources in Your Personal and Business Networks. The author, Baker, talks about networking, personal investment, kindness but with a more academic flair. As I said in my review about Bakers book: Focusing on helping others without expectation of any return brings more to you than if you focused on quid pro quo. I love that idea. Karma lives. Sanders expounds upon this idea. Focusing on helping others without expectation of any return helps you more than you can imagine. I think the section on sharing compassion is spot on, as well as the message that you dont need to tear people down to rise up. Despite my initial misgivings, I have found this book not only valuable, but a contemporary 7 Habits. No steak dinner for me.