Tech & Biz

Financial crisis spurs interest in business and cooking books

by Yuliya Talmazan | October 20, 2008 at 03:11 pm

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In the wake of the recent global financial crisis, more and more people are picking up business books. In hot demand is anything from “Finance for Dummies” and historical recounts of previous financial crises to biographies of successful businessmen and financial thrillers, which keeps local bookstores busy refilling their financial literature bookshelves.

"The Snowball," the first authorized biography of billionaire Warren Buffett -- an investment guru whose company, Berkshire Hathaway, invested a total $8 billion in Goldman Sachs and General Electric Co -- has been a bestseller since its release earlier this month.

It is No. 1 on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction bestseller list and No. 5 on Amazon's bestseller list.

On Amazon's "Movers and Shakers" ranking of the biggest gainers in books sales over the past 24 hours, "The Ten Roads to Riches: The Ways the Wealthy Got There (And How You Can Too!)" by Kenneth L. Fisher was at No. 7 on the list after its sales rank jumped to No. 178 from No. 2,407.

Publishers blame recent increasing interest in cooking and recipe books on financial crisis too. As more and more people stop going to restaurants and opt out for less expensive home meals instead, cooking guide books are becoming handy again.

"There's also been some talk in the industry about how more people will be eating at home now to save money," said Amazon spokeswoman Tammy Hovey. "There has been some increased interest in upcoming big fall new releases from (Food Network's) Ina Garten and Martha Stewart, whose new books are about getting back to basics."

Topping the Amazon "Movers and Shakers" list on Monday was "The 99 Cent Only Stores Cookbook: Gourmet Recipes at Discount Prices," by Christiane Jory, which jumped to 162 from 187,383 in the sales rankings.