Best Business Books of '09

If ever there were a year in which we needed cogent business books, this is it. David Lidsky offers his 2009 favorites at Fast Company. Here's a sampling from the full list:

• Busted, Edmund Andrews: The author's personal story about getting burned in the housing bust makes abstract problems tangible.
• Bright-Sided, Barbara Ehrenreich: She "gleefully pops the positive-thinking bubble" that pervades society. Americans' zeal to be upbeat blinded them to the danger signs before the financial meltdown.

• Googled, Ken Auletta: He's got the "inside scoop on how Google reached such heights in such short order," along with an examination of what it means for the rest of the media industry.
• Viral Loop, Adam L. Penenberg: "No book better explains the rocket-ship growth of a service like Facebook or Twitter."
• In-N-Out Burger, Stacy Perman: The story of how a West Coast burger chain succeeded with a simple plan and an emphasis on values.
• In Cheap We Trust, Lauren Weber: A "worthwhile indulgence" into the history of frugality in the US, and its prospects for catching on today.

(More Edmund Andrews stories.)