Nonfiction

Grande Expectations: A Year in the Life of Starbucks’ Stock
By Karen Blumenthal
(Crown Business, 320 pages, $24.95)Former Wall Street Journal reporter Blumenthal spent a year following the ups and downs of SBUX stock and the cast of characters that feeds off it. The result is a brisk narrative that seeks to answer the question of what really moves markets. Blumenthal deftly illuminates the psyches of investors, and her fly-on-the-wall reporting brings life to what might otherwise be a dull subject. And she dishes up some interesting Starbucks trivia (example: Starbucks’ top-selling store is at London’s Stansted Airport). —Jessica Liebman

The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Frères & Co.
By William D. Cohan
(Doubleday, 752 pages, $29.95) Every corner of Lazard Frères & Co. is examined in this multigenerational history of the famous investment-banking firm and its drama-filled road to prominence. Cohan spent six years at Lazard and is adept at explaining complicated business situations. In-depth profiles of every major Lazard figure since World War II are provided in this well-researched saga, and while the background sometimes overwhelms, even casual readers will enjoy the way Cohan describes the scandals and other watershed events that shaped this company. —Jennifer Close

Pop! Why Bubbles Are Great for the Economy
By Daniel Gross
(Collins, 240 pages, $22.95) Sizzle! Pow! Bam! Business history gets feisty in this attention-deficit-friendly guide to American booms and busts. Gross’ angle: Bubbles are good for us, or at least they’re not as bad as you might think. Pop! describes six cycles and considers their upsides—for example, the telegraph bubble laid the ground­work for newswires, the Great Depression rang in financial regulation, and the dotcom bubble gave us Google. Gross’ approach is more anecdotal than rigorous, but his fast stats and light pace make the “dismal science” seem less dismal. —Mary Bridges

Fiction

Wall and Mean
By Tom Bernard (W.W. Norton, 288 pages, $24.95) George Wilhelm is a small-town kid and rookie bond trader who gets into a jam by gambling away his year-end bonus before it arrives. Soon, he’s swept up in a plot of illegal trades, debt-collecting hit men, and a race to salvage his reputation while shielding the working-class family that depends on him. A former bond trader, Bernard weaves a lively tale, though too many Wall Street clichés bog down this first novel. —J.C.

Eye Candy: Newly Released Visual Treats

Photograph by Jeff Harris

Photograph by Jeff Harris