Employment law attorney Michael Maslanka comments on the book Send: Why People Email so Badly and How to Do It Better by David Shipley and Will Schwalbe, highlighting the book’s advice on making business e-mail more personal.

I just finished an interesting book, Send: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It Better, Revised Edition by David Shipley and Will Schwalbe. The book basically deconstructs our e-mail habits. Part of the advice is to use e-mails for facts only, not opinions. The authors advise us to be thoughtful. Trust me, even in a business environment, especially if you’re dealing with colleagues or clients, it feels good to read an e-mail that starts off with a pleasant point (e.g., “Hope you are well”). Know what? It feels just as good to type those words out as it does to read them.

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The following is a list of the bestselling paperback business books as ranked by the New York Times on November 24.

1. The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression by Amity Shales. A reinterpretation of the New Deal and the Great Depres­sion.

2. The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein. The implementing of economic policies following moments of “shock and awe.”

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HR manager Paul Knoch reviews the book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. The review counts this business fiction as a quick, informative read that would be of use to almost any HR practitioner who must work with a team of employees.

Have you ever wondered why your team of smart, competent, generally pleasant people can’t seem to come together as a cohesive, effective team? Building a strong team requires much more than simply having good people on board. Our natural tendencies often lean more towards dysfunction than cooperation. Turf wars, tension, and cynicism can erode a team’s ability to cooperate. Over time, this lack of cooperation will eventually lead to devastating results.

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Amazon.com updates its list of the bestselling business books every hour. Here is a snapshot of what is hot right now, this Monday morning, November 17, in the “Management and Leadership” category.

1. The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
You probably don’t realize it, but life is a series of highly improbable yet earthshaking events. That’s the argument of The Black Swan, which in many ways is a re-do of the author’s 2001 best-seller, Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets. The highly entertaining new book, though, is longer, better-grounded, and with more advice about how to live in the presence of deep unpredictability. The core of The Black Swan argues that economists, journalists, and corporate planners behave as if they’re living in predictable “Mediocristan” when they’re really in “Extremistan.” It’s a richly enjoyable read with an important message.

2. 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.

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

1. Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution–and How It Can Renew America by Thomas L. Friedman. New York Times columnist Friedman offers an urgent plea to unleash U.S. creativity—and capitalism—on the challenges of energy, climate change, and world population growth. “I am convinced that the public is ready,” he writes—“they’re ahead of the politicians.”

2. 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.

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HR practicioner Paul Knoch reviews the books Conspiracy Of Fools by Kurt Eichenwald and Disney War by James Stewart . The review examines both books’ tales of “corporate culture gone awry” and argues that they should be lessons to HR.

Both Conspiracy of Fools: A True Story by Kurt Eichenwald and Disney War by James Stewart are cautionary tales of corporate culture gone awry. If HR professionals are to be the “guardians” of an organization’s culture and identity, it may be instructive to consider these two examples of how greed and ego combined to effectively blind an organization to its own steady demise.

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The following is a list of the bestselling hardcover business books as ranked by the New York Times on November 3.

1. The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder. The life of Warren Buffett.

2. 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 and New York Times columnist explores how a green revolution can renew America.

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