ShareThisSummer's here: Time for basking on the beach with a good book. With so many of us in "staycation" vacation mode, that may mean traveling no farther than the backyard and plunking down with a meaty best-seller or a riveting murder mystery.Amid these queasy, uneasy economic times, why not indulge in some financial brain food, as well?Here's a sample of some of the best personal finance books that have come across our desk in the past year or so:X...X...X"The Best Investment Advice I Ever Received" by Liz Claman, Business Plus ($12.99)Don't take just one great investor's advice: Try a dozen. And many more, including Warren Buffett, Jim Cramer, Suze Orman, Steve Forbes, Vanguard's John Bogle. The author, a CNBC business news anchor, has culled some of the best investment advice from some of the biggest financial gurus of our era.Claman, who grew up in Southern California watching her physician father pore over the daily newspaper stock listings, said she wrote the book to give people like her dad the insights from Wall Street insiders.Quote: "Don't look at stocks like a marriage. When you buy a stock, you are just supposed to date it, sell it when it's up and, whatever you do, don't marry it." -- Howard Lutnick, CEO, Cantor FitzgeraldX...X...X"True Self, True Wealth" by Peter Cole and Daisy Reese, Atria Books ($16.95)As experts in "financial psychology," this Sacramento husband-and-wife team unpack the emotional baggage that often thwarts our best intentions to manage money wisely. Based on their experiences as family therapists as well as finance experts (he's a chartered financial consultant), the couple spell out 10 "money scripts"-- the habits and attitudes inherited from our parents that can play havoc with our financial lives as adults.Once you've untangled those knotty issues, the book's second half offers practical, commonsense ways to achieve financial and emotional security. It's the perfect marriage of money and emotions.Quote: "Even if you have a practical knowledge of money and investing, it is still very possible to make bad money decisions if you do not understand your money psychology. We have seen otherwise well-informed investors make foolish financial decisions due to their emotional blind spots."X...X...X"The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches" by Jeff Yeager, Broadway Books ($12.95)Unlike lots of personal finance books that extol "get rich" routes to financial happiness, this one takes a different path. Embracing his "Inner Miser," Yeager has learned to live happily on less. In his case, $40,000 a year. Although he recommends an occasional "financial fast" (going at least one week without spending any money), he's not preaching total abstinence. But he does dispense innumerable "cheapskate" tips such as: Save on your grocery bill by avoiding anything that costs more than $1 a pound.Above all, ya gotta love a guy whose city-by-city book tour was by bike.Quote: "By being cheap ... you're valuing time and the things you can do with it, more than money and the things you can buy with it."X...X...X"Se Habla Dinero?" by Lynn Jimenez, Wiley Publishing ($19.95)When it comes to finances, lots can get lost in translation. Longtime KGO financial reporter Lynn Jimenez aims her book at helping Latinos acquire financial fluency, but it speaks to any consumer who wants help answering the question: Do you speak money? Written bilingually, with facing pages in Spanish and English, the book covers financial basics -- credit cards and credit scores, student loans, saving and banking, mortgages, even starting a small business.It's a family-oriented book intended for kids, parents and grandparents to understand the language of money.Quote: "One of the most important things you can do with money is teach your children how to use it properly so they can survive and thrive."X...X...X"You're Broke Because You Want to Be" by Larry Winget, Gotham Books ($20)Known as the "Pitbull of Personal Development," Winget delivers the tough-love approach to personal finance. There's no sweet talk in his advice, which distills down to: Get off your duff (his term can't be reprinted here) and start doing the hard work necessary to make financial success happen. Using his own rags-to-riches story, the star of "Big Spender," an A&E TV reality show, lays out the basics to getting ahead: Give up cable TV. Get a cheaper car. Move to a more affordable home. Live on what you earn.In his book, money doesn't buy happiness, but it truly matters.Quote: "It may be ugly and it may be bleak but you can always get ahead. I am not going to insult you by telling you it will be easy. ...The biggest mistake you can make is to believe your situation is hopeless."X...X...X"Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People" by Jane Bryant Quinn, Simon & Schuster ($26)It's not new, but Newsweek's venerable personal finance columnist knows her stuff. While some of it might be slightly past prime since its 2006 debut, "Smart and Simple" is still a clean, informative money-management book that's right for any lifestyle, whether it's 20-somethings starting that first job and 401(k) account, or a baby boomer couple eyeing retirement. It includes lots of helpful Web sites. Quinn writes from experience.X...X...X"The Wall Street Journal Complete Retirement Guidebook" by Glenn Ruffenach and Kelly Greene, Three Rivers Press ($14.95)If you're contemplating retirement (and who hasn't?), pick up a copy of this guidebook, one in a series of WSJ finance books. As you'd expect from the country's leading financial daily newspaper, it covers all the money issues involved in retirement, from IRA withdrawals to estate planning.But it also looks at quality-of-life issues. Based on hundreds of interviews, the book is sprinkled with real-life anecdotes of successful retirees, whose common denominator is "a decision to immerse themselves in a wide range of activities and a firm belief that their best years are still ahead of them."Aimed at baby boomers in their 50s and beyond, it's a one-stop resource on retirement planning.Quote: "In the space of a single generation, retirement for many has become something of a puzzle -- with dozens of decisions and too much guesswork."Reach Claudia Buck at cbuck(at)sacbee.com. For more stories visit scrippsnews.com
Good financial books to read this summer
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