5 good reads for November

New York--Each month, National Jeweler scans the stacks of online book discussion site GoodReads to find four new releases that could be beneficial for business owners. 

This month’s selections include a book explaining why modern-day mainstays such as the iPhone, Twitter and Pinterest are so maddeningly addictive, and how people who have trouble asking for help can overcome this hurdle. 

A pick from one of our editor’s is included as No. 5. 

1. Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products
Nir Eyal

Ever wonder why people are so addicted to their iPhones? Author Nir Eyal knows. In this book, he explains the four-step “hook” method, the process companies embed into their products that subtly encourage customer behavior; in other words, that get people hooked. Products examined include the aforementioned iPhone, Twitter and Pinterest.

2. What the Lady Wants: A Novel of Marshall Field and the Gilded Age
Renee Rosen

Classified as historical fiction, this novel by Renée Rosen is set in Chicago in the late 19th century. It tells the story of Marshall Field and how his famous department store chain got its start. Its title is a take on Field’s famous approach to customer service for his female patrons: “Give the lady what she wants.”  

3. The Art of Asking; or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help
Amanda Palmer

Author Amanda Palmer is a musician, TED speaker and pioneer in crowdfunding--financing causes or projects by soliciting donations from the general public online. In her book, Palmer explores why people often are hesitant to ask for help and how they can get over it. 

4. Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace
Anne Lamott

Anne Lamott, the best-selling author of Stitches and Help, Thanks, Wow, has a new collection of essays that center on hope--making the best of seemingly hopeless situations, discovering the joy in getting lost and also the amazement in being found. 

5. Can’t We Talk about Something More Pleasant? 
Roz Chast

Anyone with elderly parents, particularly those who have lived well into their 90s, will appreciate New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast’s memoir detailing the last years of her parents’ lives. It is one of the few books that have made our editor-in-chief, Michelle Graff, both laugh out loud and cry.  This graphic novel is a 2014 National Book Award Finalist.