5 new, potentially good releases

New York--Hundreds of books come out every month, making it difficult for business owners to determine which ones, if any, they should spend their spare time reading.

Enter GoodReads, a social site for avid readers to find new books, make recommendations, read reviews from fellow book worms and even join a book club.

National Jeweler perused GoodReads for recently released books on business and then selected four that could be helpful to retailers. Read on for a brief summary of each and links to their full descriptions and reviews on GoodReads, plus one bonus fiction book that comes recommended by our editors.

1. Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well
Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen

This book from the best-selling authors of Difficult Conversations received four out of five stars on GoodReads. Thanks for the Feedback uses insights from neuroscience and psychology and practical advice to educate people on how to receive feedback, arguing that it is more important to learn how to receive feedback than to learn how to give it. This book is 368 pages.

2. The Hard Thing about Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
Ben Horowitz

Silicon Valley entrepreneur Ben Horowitz, author of the popular Ben’s Blog, uses his own experience to talk about the challenges business owners can face, including having to fire a friend, poaching from competitors and developing a “CEO mentality.” This book is 289 pages.

3. The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well Is the Key to Success
Megan McArdle

In her book, McArdle, who is also a popular business blogger, combines research from science, psychology, economics and business with insights from a number of different professions--from venture capitalists to mountaineers--to discuss failure and how businesses that are down can reinvent themselves. This book is 320 pages.

4. What Makes a Leader: Why Emotional Intelligence Matters
Daniel Goleman

What Makes a Leader is compilation of Goleman’s articles from the Harvard Business Review, among other publications. It shows how the author’s thinking on emotional intelligence evolved over the years and examines data on how emotional intelligence impacts a business’s bottom line. This book is 175 pages.

5. Editor’s recommendation: The Goldfinch
Donna Tartt

National Jeweler’s Editor-in-Chief Michelle Graff just finished this book, which follows the life of a New York City youth who loses his mother at young