3 new business books to kickstart your 2026 strategy now
c.2025, several publishers
$29.95 – $30
It’s the end of the year, but it’s just another day for you.
That’s because keeping your eye on the bottom line is something you do daily. Whether you’re sitting behind your desk, near the conveyor belt, in a meeting or watching TV, your work is always somewhere near the forefront of your brain. So get ready for the new year and new productivity with these new business books.
As with other years, keeping your business in the black will be imperative for 2026, and “Fixed: Why Personal Finance is Broken and How to Make It Work for Everyone” by John Y. Campbell and Tarun Ramadorai (Princeton University Press, $29.95) may be key to your success at that.
Yes, this is about personal finance, but what you’ll find in this solid (and very serious) book can surely be applied to business accounting. Here, you’ll learn about retirement, mortgages, investments and other things that may seem basic but are worth revisiting and understanding more deeply. It’s a book to read slowly and absorb, which makes it a good reference guide to hand to a new graduate, too.
For a very long time, you’ve likely been told that authenticity is key to good business, but author Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic says that’s wrong. In “Don’t Be Yourself: Why Authenticity Is Overrated (and What to Do Instead)” (Harvard Business Review Press, $30), you’ll see why letting your personality shine at work can be detrimental to your career.
It’s a scientific fact, says Chamorro-Premuzic, that people who are careful to put their best foot forward at work are more successful. Being your “true self,” not conforming or refusing to play work games, and bringing your “whole self” to work can be “traps” that backfire, both on the job and personally. That’s really good information for anyone who wants to see why employees still need to keep one well-shod foot in a button-up world.
And finally, for the woman who has two jobs — one working for someone else and one working for her family — “What’s On Her Mind: The Mental Workload of Family Life” by Allison Daminger (Princeton University Press, $29.95) is a must-read.
With laser-focus on what she calls “cognitive labor” — the tasks that are often assumed by the female half of different-gender couples, even when the union is based on chore neutrality — Daminger shows that working toward equality is better overall for both halves of a couple. She also examines how queer couples handle this issue, in a rich and eye-opening manner that’s worth exploring for anyone in a relationship.
So these business books aren’t enough for you? Then you’re in luck, your local bookstore and library are full of such books, current and classic, ones that will get your 2026 started right and keep things going in the right direction. All you have to do is go there and ask any librarian or bookseller for exactly what you want. And while you’re there, look for these three books that will help your business, bottom line.
