How many times have you wondered, If I died tomorrow, would anyone in this office even notice that I’m gone? Some of us seem like mild-mannered Clark Kent at the office when we’d rather be known as the man of steel, Superman. Alan Axelrod’s Office Superman: Make Yourself Indispensable in the Workplace offers a whole lot of practical advice for career-minded Clark Kents whose core of steel is just waiting to be discovered. Like Superman, you want to be the ultimate go-to guy or gal in the office. This book tells you how to build superhuman characteristics and avoid being taken down by office kryptonite. Office Superman is filled with humor, entertaining analogies and an amazing amount of Superman trivia. Your inner Superman awaits able to leap to office meetings in a single bound.

Jack Canfield’s The Success Principles is a wide-ranging self-help book. Although it was conceived with the average middle manager in mind, a stay-at-home mom or a retired 60-something could also glean some wise advice here. Canfield is best known for his Chicken Soup for the Soul series, and if you never picked up one of those, shall we say, more lightweight books, you will be pleasantly surprised by his intuitive effort to bring his successful life principles to business. A former teacher and foundation executive, Canfield’s mission is to develop the leadership potential of every human being. The Success Principles develops core living skills that morph into core career leadership skills. There is nothing cutesy about this book. It is about choosing, defining and seeking your own brand of success without compromise and with integrity to get from where you are to where you want to be.

If you could choose only one book from this list, Stephen R. Covey’s The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness should be the one. The best-selling author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People strikes a resonant chord with this characteristically well-researched and incredibly insightful guide. In The 7 Habits, published in 1989, Covey said career success was an attainable goal. He showed millions of people how to achieve effectiveness at work by changing their way of thinking. Now, Covey says, effectiveness is no longer enough. In the 21st century that’s merely the price of entry to the playing field of well-compensated work. More often, workers want to add value to the world, to add fulfillment, passionate execution and significant contributions to their workplace and to the world at large. Tapping into the higher reaches of human genius and motivation requires a new leadership voice, Covey says, a new tool-set, a new habit. That’s what this book is about: finding the passion to understand and develop an inner voice at work that gives meaning to work and life. The 8th Habit is a unique look at developing the lifelong talents of a leader.

<B>It’s elementary, my dear . . . </B> From finance guru Robert Kiyosaki’s best-selling Rich Dad’s Advisors series comes <B>The ABC’s of Getting Out of Debt</B>. Garrett Sutton, a <I>Business Week</I> best-selling author and corporate attorney, offers practical advice and explains how debt and credit aren’t all bad news, despite worrisome statistics. In 15 years U.S. consumer credit card debt climbed from $200 billion in 1990 to a projected $985 billion this year. With simple direction, Sutton provides a road map for winning with credit. His advice for having a written plan and avoiding identity theft are top-notch, and he aptly explains why your credit report is more important than any school report card. Using real-life examples, the author tackles the woes and blows of credit. From battling the debt collectors to reading a credit report and making repairs, Sutton’s book is salve for credit wounds. Tips such as writing the credit bureau short concise handwritten letters are particularly helpful. <B>The ABC’s of Getting Out of Debt</B> makes credit and debt management seem, well, almost elementary. <I>Tiffany Speaks is a former business writer for</I> Newsweek Japan <I>who does her budgeting and writing from Norman, Oklahoma.</I>

The latest edition of The WSJ Guide to Understanding Money ∧ Investing, another successful Morris update, delves into the world of finance with clarity and wisdom. This short guide is encyclopedic covering everything from the introduction of the euro to the role of technology in changing markets and should be required reading for all individual investors. The bold graphics and simple explanations turn the overwhelming into the accessible. Offering fascinating history lessons, such as the background of the words salary and greenback, the guide explains in layman’s terms the world of Wall Street. Easy to digest, this third edition is a welcome addition to the libraries of new investors and old pros. Tiffany Speaks is a former business writer for Newsweek Japan who does her budgeting and writing from Norman, Oklahoma.

Whether heading to college and curious about checking accounts or paying for college and trying to understand financial aid, The WSJ Guide to Understanding Personal Finance speaks to the money-handler in all of us. This fourth edition covers the latest in online banking, new check-cashing policies and estate planning. Confused by various interest rates on savings accounts? The authors smartly use a loaf of bread to explain the differences. Mastering basic economics in a short guide is quite a feat; this guide is the book you might have wished for when struggling through Econ 101 in college.

Tiffany Speaks is a former business writer for Newsweek Japan who does her budgeting and writing from Norman, Oklahoma.

Steven B. Smith’s Money for Life Success Planner: A 12-Week Companion to Achieve Financial Fitness supplies a knockout punch to banking blues. This guide supplements the author’s Money for Life, a budgeting how-to book, but is also an excellent independent source, providing worksheets, tips and activities for managing money. With 12 weeks of action plans, Smith gives defined goals and step-by-step tactics. He insists the secret to financial fitness isn’t making more money, but spending less. Based on the envelope-budgeting method in Money for Life, Smith’s new book motivates consumers to stay with a plan and carefully monitor their transactions. Preparing for a cashless society and staying out of turmoil requires changing habits and behaviors. With a simple approach, online tools and perforated pages, this planner relieves the challenge of getting fiscally fit. Smith, CEO of In2M Corporation, a financial software and services company, lays the groundwork and coaches and coaxes the reader to the finish line.

Tiffany Speaks is a former business writer for Newsweek Japan who does her budgeting and writing from Norman, Oklahoma.

Procrastinators rejoice! The author of bestsellers such as The Automatic Millionaire, Smart Women Finish Rich and Smart Couples Finish Rich brings good news with his latest book, Start Late, Finish Rich: A No-Fail Plan for Achieving Financial Freedom at Any Age. With feel-good sensibilities, David Bach delivers levelheaded strategies for reaching financial goals. You don’t prepare for a marathon by trying to run 26 miles the first day of training, advises the writer. You build up to it gradually. In this book, Bach’s previously coined Latte Factor is turbo-charged to become the Double Latte Factor. The premise for both is cutting back on little things like fancy coffee drinks and premium cable. These extravagancies add up and could be building a nest egg rather than just a waistline.

Bach’s clever approach will make readers feel as if they’re having a one-on-one conversation with a friendly personal financial counselor. His good-news message requires a shift from focusing on past mistakes to planning and preparing for attainable future goals. Each page offers easy-to-follow life-changing tips, including a four-week action plan for getting a raise. Powerful, poignant and pleasing, Start Late, Finish Rich can’t be read fast enough. Bach doesn’t claim to have the Midas touch, but this book is pure gold.

Tiffany Speaks is a former business writer for Newsweek Japan who does her budgeting and writing from Norman, Oklahoma.

Robert Shemin takes the sting out of the word "landlord" with his commonsense advice for real estate investors. The manager of more than 200 properties, Shemin revealed his strategies for finding the right deal in Secrets of a Millionaire Real Estate Investor, and his latest, Secrets of a Millionaire Landlord, gets down to the nuts and bolts of rental properties. A how-to manual for landlords, Shemin includes sample forms and letters and uses his real life experiences to show how to minimize repair hassles, find the best tenants and make sure the rent gets paid on time. The Nashville-based author also launched the National Landlord Challenge, an appeal to others in his profession to help a homeless family get back on their feet by providing inexpensive housing. "We live in the wealthiest nation in the world," he said, "and I believe that no child should be without a home." BookPage recently spoke to Shemin about the project and what it takes to be a millionaire landlord.

You are also an attorney, best-selling author and sought after consultant. How did real estate become your passion? Real estate became my passion for many reasons. Most people, like myself, never really know what they want to do in life and worse, they are afraid to at least try different occupations. I was working in financial consulting and met an older couple in Nashville, Tennessee, who had been buying, fixing up and renting houses for years. They made a lot of money, but more importantly, they took about six months of vacation a year and traveled a lot. They worked hard, enjoyed what they did and taught me how to do it.

I immediately loved working in real estate because every day a deal is different. Also, it’s one of the few jobs left where the results are tangible. When you buy a place, fix it up and sell it or rent it, you can see it, drive by it and feel good about helping the community. It’s profitable, it’s fun, and it’s real.

What’s the secret of being a millionaire landlord? The secrets of being a millionaire landlord are the same simple secrets for doing well at anything. (1) Decide what you want to do. (2) Find and follow the people who are already successful at it. (3) Treat your customers, renters or clients like the valued customers they are, and (4) treat your business like a real business with policies and procedures. Stick to it and stay with it.

Your book reveals secrets for landlords. Any advice for renters? The best advice to renters is to (1) make sure that you are renting a place that you can afford. Your rent should be about 35% of your monthly income. (2) Renters should screen their landlord. Talk to the neighbors or other renters to see what the place is really like and find out if you are renting from a good landlord who takes care of their property and customers.

How do you screen tenants to get the ones you want? There is no such thing as a bad tenant; there are only bad landlords. If landlords did their job and screened tenants properly then there would be probably very few, if any, bad tenants.

The success secrets of the Ancients—the most inspiring book on wealth ever written

What can a book written in the 1920s tell modern investors about their finances? A whole lot if it’s George Clason’s delightful set of parables that explain the basics of money.

Want to quit work? In Safe Strategies for Financial Freedom, co-authors Van K. Tharp, D.R. Barton Jr. and Steve Sjuggerud explain how to fulfill that dream, systematically focusing on the importance of passive income (having your assets produce cash flow). When monthly cash flow exceeds expenses, you’re financially free. This team of professional investors and newsletter publishers says most people can get there within five years or less. The authors offer strategies appropriate for different markets and situations, covering inflation, deflation, a rising or falling dollar, bear market funds and real estate. They provide a 1-2-3 formula that any investor can use to determine the state of the market and decide whether they have a green, yellow or red light to invest. As the lights change, follow some simple guidelines to profitably move in and out of investments. The final section of the book focuses on taking responsibility and getting the kids and grandkids to financial independence at a young age, making financial freedom a multigenerational project. Bobbye Middendorf writes from Chicago.

In a book that’s drawn the attention of many investment pros, John Mauldin delivers a masterful synthesis of mountains of data, making his case for where financial markets are heading. Bull’s Eye Investing: Targeting Real Returns in a Smoke and Mirrors Market draws on the author’s passion for number patterns, as well as reams of research that illuminate historical trends and show troubling indications of a secular (decade-long) bear market slow economic growth coupled with a falling dollar and rising interest rates. The first 15 chapters focus on the trends, demographics and cycles that are shaping the future. No gloom-and-doomer, Mauldin outlines strategies for investing to achieve what he calls absolute returns noting, Secular Bear Markets are a time to be conservative. In the current Muddle Through Economy, he advises investors to seek value as they control risks, work with the trends and avoid common mistakes, like holding onto losers. He explains the appeal and inner workings of hedge funds (where the wealthy are putting their money), and outlines the possibilities for a fund of hedge funds. Emphasizing that investors should do their homework and understand the big picture for themselves, Mauldin provides the resources (including a comprehensive due diligence questionnaire) to do so. Bobbye Middendorf writes from Chicago.

One of the best ways to learn is by example, and Winslow “Bud” Johnson’s Powerhouse Marketing Plans teaches readers how to write a marketing plan by examining and critiquing great marketing strategies in action. As president of the Stamford Marketing Group, Johnson has worked with brand leaders at AT&andT, Gillette and Sara Lee, and he gives the scoop on what worked and what didn’t in their product launches. The details included in the successful marketing plans, which share a number of common traits (no big surprise), are perfect for businesses small or large, entrepreneurs and MBA grads like me.