BusinessWeek ranks business books that are the most recent bestsellers and provides a short summary.

1. StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup’s Now, Discover Your Strengths by Tom Rath. Are you unsure where your true talents lie? Do you feel that you are both a person who gets things done and someone who offers penetrating analysis? Well, you can discover whether you are truly an “achiever” or an “analytical” by completing the online quiz. Then, the book will give you “ideas for action” and tips for how best you can work with others. More of a patiencetester than Strengthsfinder, the quiz/book is probably best for those who have lots of time on their hands.

2. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss. Ferriss isn’t shy about tooting his own horn: He says he “speaks six languages, runs a multinational firm from wireless locations worldwide, and has been a world-record holder in tango, a national champion in kickboxing, and an actor in a hit television series in Hong Kong.” Is this the sort of person you really want to be taking advice from? Anyway, Ferris offers recommendations and resources for everything from eliminating wasted time to oursourcing your job and getting cheap airfare. Discover your dreams and live them!

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Employment law attorney Michael Maslanka reviews the book A Manager’s Guide to Hiring the Best Person for Every Job by DeAnne Rosenberg. Review includes tips for employers for reviewing resumes and recognizing warning signs they contain.

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The following is a list of the bestselling hardcover business books as ranked by the New York Times on September 22.

1.The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by by Timothy Ferriss. Because life isn’t all about work.

2. The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey. Debt reduction and fiscal fitness for families, by the radio talk-show host.

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Employment law attorney Michael Maslanka reviews the book 45 Effective Ways for Hiring Smart by Pierre Mornell. Review  contains tips for hiring the best employee, from interview questions to checking references.

Recently, I ran across an excellent book, 45 EFFECTIVE WAYS FOR HIRING SMART: How to Predict Winners and Losers in the Incredibly Expensive People-Reading Game by Pierre Mornell, published by Ten Speed Press. It contains many outstanding ideas, and we thought we’d share a few with you. Here goes.

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Amazon.com updates its list of bestselling business books hourly. Here is a snapshot of what books were hot this morning — Monday, September 15.

1. Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution–and How It Can Renew America by Thomas L. Friedman. The author of The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century takes a look at two of the biggest challenges we face today: America’s surprising loss of focus and national purpose since 9/11; and the global environmental crisis, which is affecting everything from food to fuel to forests. He asserts that the solutions to these two big problems are linked and that we can restore the world and revive America at the same time.

2. The Gone Fishin’ Portfolio: Get Wise, Get Wealthy…and Get on With Your Life (Agora Series) by Alexander Green. Outperform the vast majority of investment professionals while paying nothing in sales charges, brokerage fees, or commissions by modifying your investment strategy. Based on a Nobel Prize-winning investment strategy.Gain an understanding of the fundamental relationship between risk and reward in the financial markets and get an insider’s view of how the investment industry really works.

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Employment law attorney Michael Maslanka reviews the book The Set-Up-to-Fail Syndrome: How Good Managers Cause Great People to Fail by J.ean-Francois Manzoni and Jean-Louis Barsouxtalks. Review offers tips for helping supervisors talk to and communicate with employees.

Practicing law has taught me a lot, and here’s something that proves true again and again: Real influence in a company comes not from the answer (anybody can get that on the Internet) but from knowing how to frame an issue or a question.

The Set-Up-to-Fail Syndrome: How Good Managers Cause Great People to Fail by Jean-Francois Manzoni and Jean-Louis Barsouxtalks about this topic in the context of counseling supervisors and employees. The book’s big idea: Frame issues broadly, not narrowly.

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BusinessWeek ranks paperback business books that are the most recent bestsellers and provides a short summary.

1. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. Author Malcolm Gladwell says snap judgments deserve careful consideration.

2. The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. Author Thomas L. Friedman says globalization is great — sort of.

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Sarah McAdams reviews the book The Age of Heretics: A History of Radical Thinkers Who Reinvented Corporate Management by Art Kleiner. Review gives history of managers and HR that challenged the corporate norm.

Arguably, the corporate world has never needed heretical thinking more than it does today. Read Art Kleiner’s The Age of Heretics: A History of the Radical Thinkers Who Reinvented Corporate Management (J-B Warren Bennis Series) — the just-released second edition of his 1996 tome The Age of Heretics — and you might be inspired to lead the charge.

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