WSJ: Best Business Books 2015
Every November the Wall Street Journal publishes a list of books to give to family and friends for the holidays. But in addition to their gifting potential, these books make amusing airport reading for traveling students, staff and faculty members over the holidays too.
The 2015 list is created by Bryan Burrough, author of the 2009 acclaimed best-seller Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco and most recently Days of Rage: America’s Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence. Readers wanting to see Burrough’s complete remarks about these books can find it in the Weekend Edition, Nov. 21-22, 2015, page C10.
Alibaba’s World: How a Remarkable Company is Changing the Face of Global Business by Porter Erisman.
Alibaba is the Chinese Amazon.com and the anticipated frontrunner in global commerce. One of its first employees, Porter Erisman, tells the story of its founder, Jack Ma, and the company’s rise to power. Also available as an audiobook on OverDrive and as an eBook on OverDrive.
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance.
This portrait of controversial visionary and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, his life and career, his successes and failures, begins with his difficult childhood in South Africa. Read our full review here. Also available as an audiobook on OverDrive, as an eBook on OverDrive, as an audiobook on CD, and on the Business Bestsellers Kindles at the Ford Library.
The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute by Zac Bissonnette.
In this entertaining story and economics lesson, a toy purchased for $5 was resold for $10,000 at the height of the Beanie Baby bubble in the 1990’s, which ended swiftly with devastating consequences for some. Also available as an eBook on OverDrive and as an audiobook on OverDrive.
Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff.
An insider’s account of BlackBerry, which in 2009 ranked the world’s fastest growing company with half the smartphone market, but anon was crippled by internal management feuds and ruthless competition from Apple and Google. Also available as an audiobook on OverDrive and as an eBook on OverDrive.
Once Upon a Time in Russia by Ben Mezrich.
Epic drama and true story of billionaire oligarchs Boris Berezovsky and Roman Abramovich, who mined massive profits in the early days of privatization after the fall of the Soviet regime, depicting the massive wealth, corruption and power within the business elite in Russia. Also available as an audiobook on OverDrive.
The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory by John Seabrook.
This journey into the highly competitive music industry explains the science behind today’s highly processed pop songs that produce a “hook” every 7 seconds to appeal to the human brain’s “bliss point.”
Also available as audiobook on OverDrive and as an eBook on OverDrive.
© Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business.
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