Great summer reading

Pull up a comfortable chair, and be inspired, entertained or educated

If you have time to enjoy a few reads during the festive season, then look no further for inspiration on what books to pick up.

Once again Money, together with bookseller Dymocks, has compiled a selection of nine books we think would make great reading – whether you’re after a guide for your finances or a holiday escape.

And the good news is one lucky reader will also win a copy of each of the nine books thanks to Dymocks. See the “Giveaway” panel for how to go in the running to win.

All the books featured are relatively new, having been released in the past 18 months, and fall into one of three categories: personal finance, business success/inspirational and fiction.

Authors include Money contributor Scott Pape, motivational speaker Tony Robbins, former bank CEO Gail Kelly and best-selling authors Peter Carey and John le Carré.

THE BAREFOOT INVESTOR SCOTT PAPE $29.95

In this book popular financial expert Scott Pape shows you how to create an entire financial plan that is “so simple you can sketch it on the back of a serviette”. There’s information on saving a deposit, saving money on your mortgage, finding a financial planner, helping out your kids or grandkids, planning for retirement and more.

THE $50 WEEKLY SHOP JODY ALLEN $24.99

The weekly grocery shop can place a big dent in our wallets but this book aims to change all that by offering a step-by-step guide on how to get your family grocery bill down to just $50. You’ll find recipes, meal plans, sample grocery lists, and advice on how to grow and make your own food. It shows you how to make the most of every grocery purchase to make delicious meals.

UNSHAKEABLE TONY ROBBINS $29.99

Perhaps best known as a motivational speaker, Tony Robbins offers readers specific steps they can implement to protect their investments while maximising their wealth in this book, which is a follow-up to his bestseller Money: Master the Game. The goal is to show investors how not only to survive but thrive through each change in the stockmarket.

LIVE LEAD LEARN GAIL KELLY $35

Arguably one of Australia’s most prominent businesswomen, Gail Kelly was the first female CEO of one of Australia’s big four banks. She is also a mother of four, including triplets. In this book Kelly shares what she’s learned, drawing from her personal and professional life. She explores the importance of loving what you do, backing yourself and placing your family above all things.

FORCE OF NATURE JANE HARPER $32.99

Five women pick up their backpacks and start walking along the muddy track. Only four come out the other side. Federal agent Aaron Falk has a particularly keen interest in the whereabouts of the missing bushwalker, Alice Russell, who is the whistleblower in his latest case. As he delves into the disappearance, it seems some dangers may run far deeper than anyone knew.

TOOLS OF TITANS TIM FERRISS $32.99

Author of the bestselling The 4-Hour

Workweek, Tim Ferriss is back to reveal the “tactics, routines, and habits of billionaires, icons, and world-class performers”. It contains the distilled tools and tactics Ferriss has uncovered from interviews with more than 200 guests for his podcast including celebrities, athletes, special operations commanders and black-market biochemists.

A LEGACY OF SPIES JOHN LE CARRÉ $32.99

Peter Guillam has retired to his family farmstead when a letter from his old service summons him to London. The reason? His Cold War past has come back to claim him. Intelligence operations are to be scrutinised by a generation with no memory of the Cold War. Somebody must be made to pay for innocent blood once spilt in the name of the greater good.

RETHINK YOUR CAREER JOANNA MAXWELL $32.99

Feel as if you need a change of career or perhaps just a refresh? Author Joanna Maxwell shows you how to refresh a current career, pursue a new direction or leverage your experience to start your own business. The book contains practical exercises and inspirational real-life stories to help you find new ways to think about your work future.

A LONG WAY FROM HOME PETER CAREY $32.99

Irene Bobs and her husband enter the ReDex Trial, a brutal race around our ancient continent. With them is their navigator, Willie Bachhuber. This thrilling, high-speed story, set in the 1950s, starts in one way and then takes you somewhere else – and, as you’ll learn, a history these characters never even knew themselves.