When I started Aleph Blog, I had no idea that I would do so many book reviews.? When I wrote for RealMoney, my wife noted that I stopped reading books.? “Don’t have time,” was my reply.? It’s not that I have more time now, but that I am using my time better.? I always have a book with me, and when I get a break, I read.? My wife tells me she could never read a book that way.? I tell her that I must do it that way, or the books will not get read.

One surprise to me is that the publishers are so free with their books.? When I ask for a book, I get it 80% of the time.? And I get books that I would never have thought of asking for.? PR flacks contact me and ask if I am willing to do something special for their author.? The answer is usually “no,” but for special books I will do more.

The books that I ask for usually get better reviews than the ones that come gratis.? There is a degree of self-selection here; I choose books that I am likely to like.

I receive books.? They presently fall into these categories:

• Read, but not reviewed (7 at present)
• Reading (1 book at a time)
• Hot books (3 at present)
• Waiting (10 books)

I read the books that seem the most promising.? Since I never promise to review a book, occasionally a book will get dropped from the review queue after a scan.? My objective is to highlight good books for readers, and warn on popular books that should be avoided.

But let me point out a bias of mine.? I think it is hard to write good books on asset allocation, technical analysis, or quantitative investing.? Why?? The books overpromise and underdeliver.? There are no easy solutions when all you need to know is the math, because the computers at hedge funds mop up those inefficiencies easily.

I would like to write a piece on how to write a good investment book, but I shy away from writing it, because I have never written a book, and who am I to dictate to those who made the effort to write a book.

But all that said, I have been asked by readers to rank my book reviews.? Well, here it is.? Please understand that the rankings are often close, and I don’t put a lot of weight into them.? I did my best, but if there is no link to buy the book at Amazon, it is because I think no one should buy it.? Note to Michael Covel: to that degree, you are on my buy list.

So here is my list of book reviews, sorted by category and rank:

Review	Amazon Stars	Category	Rank in Category	Amazon Widget
Book Review: Financial Shenanigans	5	Accounting	1	Financial Shenanigans
Book Review: Quality of Earnings	5	Accounting	2	Quality of Earnings
Book Review: Early Warning and Quick Response	4	Accounting	3	Early Warning and Quick Response
Book Review: Dynamic Asset Allocation	3	Asset Allocation	1	Dynamic Asset Allocation
Book Review: 7Twelve	2	Asset Allocation	2
Book Review: The Flexible Investment Playbook	1	Asset Allocation	3
Book Review: Co-opetition	5	Business	1	Co-Opetition
Book Review: Warren Buffett on Business	4	Business	2	Warren Buffett on Business
Book Review: All the Devils are Here	5	Crisis	1	All the Devils Are Here
Book Review: Street Fighters	5	Crisis	2	Street Fighters
Book Review: Complicit	5	Crisis	3	Complicit
Book Review: Confidence Game	5	Crisis	4	Confidence Game
Book Review: Slapped by the Invisible Hand	4	Crisis	5	Slapped by the Invisible Hand
Book Review: 13 Bankers	4	Crisis	6	13 Bankers
Book Review: Financial Shock	3	Crisis	7	Financial Shock
Book Review: When Giants Fall	2	Crisis	8
Book Review: The Volatility Machine	5	Economics	1	The Volatility Machine
Book Review: Priceless	5	Economics	2	Priceless
Book Review: Fault Lines	5	Economics	3	Fault Lines
Book Review: Where Keynes Went Wrong	5	Economics	4	Where Keynes Went Wrong
Book Review: Monetary Regimes and Inflation	4	Economics	5	Monetary Regimes and Inflation
Book Review: Making Sense of the Dollar	4	Economics	6	Making Sense of the Dollar
Book Review: Secrets of the Moneylab	3	Economics	7	Secrets of the Moneylab
Book Review: The Economics of Food	3	Economics	8	The Economics of Food
Book Review: Manias, Panics, and Crashes	5	History	1	Manias, Panics, and Crashes
Book Review: Devil Take the Hindmost	5	History	1	Devil Take the Hindmost
Book Review: This Time Is Different	5	History	2	This Time Is Different
Book Review: 100 Minds That Made The Market	5	History	3	100 Minds That Made the Market
Book Review: The Trouble With Prosperity	5	History	4	The Trouble With Prosperity
Book Review: The Wall Street Waltz	5	History	5	The Wall Street Waltz
Book Review: Mr. Market Miscalculates	5	History	6	Mr. Market Miscalculates
Book Review: Reminiscences of a Stock Operator (Annotated Edition)	5	History	7	Reminiscences of a Stock Operator Annotated Edition
Book Review: The Myth of the Rational Market	5	History	8	The Myth of the Rational Market
Book Review: Wealth, War & Wisdom	5	History	9	Wealth, War and Wisdom
Book Review: Once in Golconda	4	History	10	Once in Golconda
Book Review: The Last of the Imperious Rich	4	History	11	The Last of the Imperious Rich
Book Review: Fallen Giant	4	History	12	Fallen Giant
Book Review: A History of Interest Rates	4	History	13	A History of Interest Rates
Book Review: The Intelligent Investor	5	Investing	1	The Intelligent Investor
Book Review: The Aggressive Conservative Investor	5	Investing	2	The Aggressive Conservative Investor
Book Review: Dear Mr. Buffett	5	Investing	3	Dear Mr. Buffett
Book Review: The Only Guide to Alternative Investments You?ll Ever Need	5	Investing	4	The Only Guide to Alternative Investments You’ll Ever Need
Book Review: Margin of Safety	5	Investing	5
Book Review: Buffett Beyond Value	4	Investing	6	Buffett Beyond Value
Book Review: The Only Three Questions That Count	4	Investing	7	The Only Three Questions That Count
Book Review: Super Stocks	4	Investing	8	Super Stocks
Book Review: The Dick Davis Dividend	4	Investing	9	The Dick Davis Dividend
Book Review: Diary of a Hedge Fund Manager	4	Investing	10	Diary of a Hedge Fund Manager
Book Review: The Elements of Investing	4	Investing	11	The Elements of Investing
Book Review: Outperform	4	Investing	12	Outperform
Book Review: Market Indicators	4	Investing	13	Market Indicators
Book Review: Why are we so Clueless about the Stock Market?	4	Investing	14	Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market?
Book Review: TradeStream Your Way to Profits	3	Investing	15	TradeStream Your Way to Profits
Book Review: 7 Commandments of Stock Investing	3	Investing	16	7 Commandments of Stock Investing
Book Review: Higher Returns from Safe Investments	2	Investing	17
Book Review: Buying at the Point of Maximum Pessimism	1	Investing	18
Book Review: Soros on Soros	5	Macro Investing	1	Soros on Soros
Book Review: The Alchemy of Finance	5	Macro Investing	2	The Alchemy of Finance
Book Review: The Great Reflation	5	Macro Investing	3	The Great Reflation
Book Review: The Predictioneer?s Game	5	Miscellaneous	1	The Predictioneer’s Game
Book Review: Navigating the Financial Blogosphere	4	Miscellaneous	2	Navigating the Financial Blogosphere
Book Review: Book of isms	4	Miscellaneous	3	The Economist Book of isms
Book Review: While America Aged	5	Pensions	1	While America Aged
Book Review: Pension Dumping	5	Pensions	2	Pension Dumping
Book Review: Easy Money	5	Personal Finance	1	Easy Money
Book Review: That Thing Rich People Do	5	Personal Finance	2	That Thing Rich People Do
Book Review: The Bogleheads? Guide to Retirement Planning	4	Personal Finance	3	The Bogleheads’ Guide to Retirement Planning
Book Review: The Insured Portfolio	4	Personal Finance	4	The Insured Portfolio
Book Review: How to Be the Family CFO	1	Personal Finance	5
Book Review: Finding Alpha	5	Quantitative Investing	1	Finding Alpha
Book Review: Investing By The Numbers	5	Quantitative Investing	2	Investing by the Numbers
Book Review: Triumph of the Optimists	4	Quantitative Investing	3	Triumph of the Optimists
Book Review: Quantitative Strategies for Achieving Alpha	4	Quantitative Investing	4	Quantitative Strategies for Achieving Alpha
Book Review: The Complete Guide To Option Pricing Formulas, and Derivatives	4	Quantitative Investing	5	The Complete Guide to Option Pricing Formulas
Book Review: Models on Models	4	Quantitative Investing	6	Derivatives Models on Models
Book Review: Two Books on Options by Anthony Saliba	4	Quantitative Investing	7	Option Spread Strategies? Option Strategies for Directionless Markets
Book Review: The Guru Investor	3	Quantitative Investing	8	The Guru Investor
Book Review: Beating the Market, 3 Months at a Time	3	Quantitative Investing	9	Beating the Market, 3 Months at a Time
Book Review: The Fundamental Index	3	Quantitative Investing	10	The Fundamental Index
Book Review: Nerds on Wall Street	3	Quantitative Investing	11	Nerds on Wall Street
Book Review: Expectations Investing	2	Quantitative Investing	12	Expectations Investing
Book Review: What Works on Wall Street	2	Quantitative Investing	13	What Works on Wall Street
Book Review: Quantitative Equity Investing	2	Quantitative Investing	14
Book Review: The New Science of Asset Allocation	2	Quantitative Investing	15
Book Review: The Quant Investor?s Almanac 2011	1	Quantitative Investing	16
Book Review: Fortune?s Formula	5	Risk Control	1	Fortune’s Formula
Book Review: Risk and the Smart Investor	5	Risk Control	2	Risk and the Smart Investor
Book Review: No One Would Listen	5	Risk Control	3	No One Would Listen
Book Review: MarketPsych	4	Risk Control	4	MarketPsych
Book Review: Who Can You Trust With Your Money?	4	Risk Control	5	Who Can you Trust with Your Money?
Book Review: The Flaw of Averages	3	Risk Control	6	The Flaw of Averages
Book Review: The Club No One Wanted To Join	3	Risk Control	7	The Club No One Wanted To Join
Book Review: Think Twice	2	Risk Control	8	Think Twice
Software Review: Dragon NaturallySpeaking, Version 11	5	Software	1	Dragon NaturallySpeaking Home, Version 11
Book Review: The Heretics of Finance	4	Technical Analysis	1	The Heretics of Finance
Book Review: Beat the Market: Invest by Knowing What Stocks to Buy and What Stocks to Sell	3	Technical Analysis	2	Beat the Market: Invest by Knowing What Stocks to Buy and What Stocks to Sell
Book Review: Trend Following	2	Technical Analysis	3	Trend Following
Book Review: The Ten Roads to Riches	4	Wealth	1	The Ten Roads to Riches
Book Review: Rich Like Them	4	Wealth	2	Rich Like Them

If you want to read a review, click on the left link.? If you want to buy, click on the right link.

Full disclosure: If you enter Amazon through my site, and you buy anything, I get a small commission.? This is my main source of blog revenue.? I prefer this to a ?tip jar? because I want you to get something you want, rather than merely giving me a tip.? Book reviews take time, particularly with the reading, which most book reviewers don?t do in full, and I typically do. (When I don?t, I mention that I scanned the book.? Also, I never use the data that the PR flacks send out.)

Most people buying at Amazon do not enter via a referring website.? Thus Amazon builds an extra 1-3% into the prices to all buyers to compensate for the commissions given to the minority that come through referring sites.? Whether you buy at Amazon directly or enter via my site, your prices don?t change.