As economists predict a sluggish recovery, the markets are trying to rally. How to make sense of the still-confusing economic climate? Here are five books our editors and writers have chosen that promise, at the start of 2010, to help on the personal finance front ("The Elements of Investing"), and the personal growth one ("The Happiness Project"). We ve also got the latest slam-bang thriller from Robert Crais, for those moments when real life becomes too much of an adrenaline rush.

See The Elements of Investing and 4 other books to read in 2010.

By: Burton G. Malkiel and Charles D. Ellis

Wiley; $19.95

Reviewed by Robert J. Hughes

Just as Strunk & White pared down the how-to s of good writing to a few basic rules in their classic "The Elements of Style," authors Malkiel and Ellis aim to simplify investing. Ellis, whose books include "Winning the Loser s Game," and Malkiel, author of the classic "A Random Walk Down Wall Street," want investing to be available in rules you can count on one hand.

This is a book that can be read in a couple of hours but it s got a lot of useful information in its 144 pages. Don t let anyone tell you that investing is too complex for regular people, they write in the beginning of a chapter on saving, which is reassuring advice for everyday investors (and a slap to the jargon-heavy financial consultants out there).

There are neat tricks, such as what they call the amazing rule of 72, which they say unlocks the mystery of compounding. The rule is: X x Y = 72. That is, X (the number of years it takes to double your money) times Y (the percentage rate of return you re-earn on your money) equals 72. In other words, divide any percentage return into 72 to find out how long it takes to double your money. On an everyday basis, it can translate into something as simple as skipping a glass of wine at dinner (and realizing the profits saved from not indulging in the cost of alcohol).

The book is divided into chapters on saving, index (index funds, bonds, etc.), diversifying (across asset classes, markets, time), avoiding blunders (such as overconfidence), and keeping it simple (asset allocation). Malkiel and Ellis write in straightforward, understandable prose, befitting a team that emulates Strunk & White. It is a valuable book for both new and seasoned investors.

Lessons from America s Top Business Minds

By: Lori Ann LaRocco

Wiley; $24.95

Reviewed by: Alexandra Scaggs

Want to get business and management perspective from industry insiders? Lori Ann LaRocco s "Thriving in the New Economy" features first-hand accounts of the crisis from many of the leaders in investing, manufacturing, retail, real estate and banking.

LaRocco, a senior talent producer at CNBC, invited 23 executives and business leaders to weigh in about what they faced in the crisis, and how they plan to succeed after it. She includes big names like Steve Forbes, Vanguard founder Jack Bogle, and Goldman Sachs strategist Abby Joseph Cohen.

For example, the head of Toyota s U.S. sales, Jim Lentz, says that the industry is suffering a hangover from cash for clunkers, and believes that cost-cutting won t spur recovery: Product innovation and realistic pricing will. Bob Doll, BlackRock s vice chairman and global chief investment officer of equities, puts the recent market constriction in historical context. He says there have been nine five-year periods where U.S. stocks have experienced negative returns the last one concluding in 2009 and that we may be entering one where they rise. He adds, though, that we may also be in a long decade-and-a-half period where the U.S. stock market remains relatively flat overall.

Overall, these executives are bullish, but then, why wouldn t they be? As Saks CEO Steve Sadove writes, being the CEO of a company includes being its biggest cheerleader. The book lacks an editorial perspective or, a tough interviewer asking tough questions, and LaRocco flaunts her contacts by featuring herself along with the writers in many of the book's photos. For business owners, or someone who wants to see how industry leaders think, this could be valuable. But "Thriving in the New Economy" only provides broad economic forecasts, which aren t likely to help the average investor.

Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

By: Gretchen Rubin

Harper; $25.99

Reviewed by: Robert J. Hughes

As each January comes around, articles and books urge us to become better people through resolutions, diet tips, financial planning and spiritual growth. Few people follow through on such good intentions at the start of each year.

But Gretchen Rubin was not one of them: She spent 12 months exploring not only how to become a happier person, but she blogged about it.

The result is her new book, a month-by-month chronicle of her resolve to find ways in which she could be happier, even though her life -- with a loving husband, two daughters and a rewarding career -- was by all measures fine.

Yet Rubin had felt an unease creeping in, as she found herself nagging and complaining more, until finally, in a moment of inspiration on an otherwise average day, she decided to change.

She found that little things meant a lot: getting more sleep, praising others, refraining from gossiping. I wanted to take little steps to be happier as I lived my ordinary life, she writes, inspired by Saint Th r se of Lisieux. Rubin has written on historical figures ("Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill," among other books) and her flair for research pays off in apt quotations from a wide variety of writers and philosophers about the nature of happiness.

But the most engaging part of her very engaging, readable and useful book is Rubin s awareness of her flaws, of how hard it is to become better. Yet that doesn t stop her, and in the end, she really is a happier person (as are those around her). Rubin realizes that the process is what counts and she leads the reader along with the growing knowledge that to be happy is to be of service to others, and that even something as seemingly insignificant as helping a friend clean out a closet can have tremendous rewards for everyone involved.

How to Consume Less, Save More and Live Better

By Chris Farrell

Bloomsbury Press, $24.00

Reviewed by Sarah Morgan

"The New Frugality" may be timely and useful, but it isn t all that new. This book offers age-old advice on budgeting, saving, investing, renting vs. buying a home, and other financial basics.

Farrell's advice comes wrapped in a message about financially and ecologically sustainable living that is particularly welcome in tough times, but the core ideas are the same ones your parents probably taught you: Spend less than you earn, and make sure you re prepared for the unexpected.

Farrell, who is personal finance expert for American Public Media's Marketplace Money and contributing economics editor for BusinessWeek, stresses in his book that frugality involves something that s sustainable for a person in the long term, rather than focusing on what s merely cheap for now. For instance, if you ve decided that it would be better for your health and commuting costs to bike to work, it would also be better for you to invest in a good, well-made bike rather than purchasing the cheapest one you find on Craigslist or eBay. Yes, this is the kind of thinking you've probably heard from your parents, but these are ideas worth repeating more than once: Each cycle of recovery brings another cycle of reckless spending. But a systematic investment in frugality, as it were, really pays off with a healthier attitude toward spending and living in general, Farrell says.

This is a good pick for anyone looking for an introduction to personal finance, and who would like at the very least as a new year begins to examine his or her spending habits.

By: Robert Crais

Putnam; $26.95

Reviewed by: Robert J. Hughes

What s the first rule of the title? It refers to one that criminals in the archipelago of gangs from the former Soviet Union must do: Forsake family for the job at hand. No mother, father, brother, sisters, children. The penalty for breaking the rule: death.

This crackerjack thriller opens in a family setting, that of Frank Meyer, a former professional mercenary and colleague of Joe Pike, who is now a private detective in L.A. Meyer and his family are brutally murdered at dinnertime. Pike tries to figure out why Meyer was targeted, and whether his former colleague was up to something no good. He enlists the aid of his pal, Elvis Cole, to seek the truth.

The breakup of the Soviet Union has given thriller writers a lot of material from the criminal element that fled those anarchic states and set up a variety of nefarious goings on in the U.S., such as trafficking in guns, drugs and women. Pike and Cole uncover all of that and more when they start digging among these expatriate thugs and cutthroats.

Crais is the author of page-turning thrillers such as "Chasing Darkness" and "The Last Detective," and here he gives readers another adrenaline rush of a novel that s got the laconic verve of Lee Child s thrillers and the plot surprises of Michael Connolly s mysteries.