Seeking Happily Ever After: Navigating the Ups and Downs of Being Single With Losing Your Mind (and Finding Lasting Love Along the Way) by Michelle Cove (Tarcher/Penguin, $16.95 softbound)
As the old Mickey and Sylvia song from 1957 proclaimed, love is, indeed, strange. There are currently more single women living in America than married women and more single women in their 30s than at any other time in history. Michelle Cove, director and producer of the feature-length documentary “Seeking Happily Ever After,” the current statistics are in conflict with what many are taught about love, namely that love is supposed to work and that is a happily ever after for everyone. By buying into this fairytale, women often set themselves up for chaos, both mentally and emotionally. As an antidote to the standard dating guides, Cove has written a practical roadmap to relationships that is filled with candid insights and other helpful information.

The Orange revolution: How One Great Team Can Transform an Entire Organization by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton (Free Press, $25)
The current sluggish economy demands that organizations find new sources of bottom line results including “breakthrough teams.” Gostick and Elton studied teamwork at Zappos.com, Pepsi Bottling Group, American Express, Nokia, and U.S. Foodservice and other diverse organizations to try and determine what makes a team of competent workers break through to achieve stellar business results. What they discovered was that breakthrough teams dream truly ambitious goals, believe in each other and what they can accomplish together, take calculated risks and closely measure their results. Perhaps more importantly, these super teams persevere despite problems or conflicts and members have a charming habit of telling stories that capture what they are trying to accomplish. This nifty book shows business leaders and managers the secret to building a breakthrough team that often leads to extraordinary results.

Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best…and Learn from the Worst by Robert I. Sutton, PhD (Business Plus, $23.99)
All of us have worked for bosses that were jerks. We have also worked for bosses that were nurturing and beneficial. The challenge to is how to be the former rather than the latter. Sutton, a Professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford Engineering School, contrasts the best and worst moves when it comes to taking charge, making wise decisions, turning talk into action, and doing the dirty work. A balance must be struck between being assertive but not domineering, find the stamina to keep on improving, accomplish small wins which are the paths to achieving big goals, beware the toxic tandem since everything you do will be scrutinized so act accordingly and protect your people and even fight for them when necessary. Weaving together the latest behavioral science with scores of true boss stories, Sutton provide checklists and even quizzes so that strengths and weaknesses can be measure to help become the ideal boss.

Hope Will Find You: My Search for the Wisdom to Stop Waiting and Start Living by Naomi Levy (Doubleday, $23)
Naomi Levis, a rabbi and author of the national bestseller “To Begin Again,” has come into contact with countless people who were waiting for their life to begin. In July 2001, she faced a personal crisis when her five-year-old daughter was diagnoised with a rare disease that causes degeneration in the part of the brain that controls motor movements and speech. In facing up to this almost crushing situation, she learned ways of finding hope. As she states, no one is alone with their problems. Who isn’t longing for something, who isn’t frightened, or who isn’t “grappling” with real life problems? Levy found inspiration in an unexpected place, her daughter, who helped her to see daily miracles and believe that our greatest disability is fear, our greatest strength courage.

Hero Living: Seven Strides to Awaken Your Infinite Power by Rudy Reyes (Celebra, $15 softbound)
Rudy Reyes, who served three tours of duty with the Marines in Afghanistan and Iraq, eventually becoming an actor, physical trainer and public speaker on leadership and veterans’ issues, is convinced that everyone has a hero lurking inside them. His seven-step plan will help readers free themselves from mental, physical, and spiritual limitations that have prevented them from reaching their full potential. By embracing courage, Reyes is convinced that we can live a grander, fuller lifer and be our best. It begins by following a plan that unites the classically known “Hero’s Journey” as related by Homer and Joseph Campbell combined with the warrior values of Bruce Lee and the social conscience of Spider-Man.

The Power of Co-Creation: Build It With Thjem to Boost Growth, Productivity, and Profits by Vankat Ramaswamy and Francis Gouillart (Free Press, $28)
Six years ago, Venkat Ramaswamy and C.K. Prahalad coined the term “co-creation” to describe the new relationship some leading-edge organizations were building with customers and customer communities. The catch phrase triggered a movement which now extends to the relationship organizations have with employees, suppliers, partners, and all other stakeholders. Armed with new technologies, these stakeholders demand new modes and experiences of engagement, forcing organizations to rethink and re-create everything of value, from simple processes to new products and services. The authors cite Nike as a prime example of this process. In just a couple of years, Nike increased its share of the $3.6 billion U.S. running show market by almost 15% — from 47% in 2007 to 61% in 2009, by launching a program called Nike+ that allowed runners to motivate themselves to run, monitor their training process, and get information about the best running routes. By thinking outside the box, this company provided retailers with the tools and employee training than translated into incredible success, even in our present economic downturn.

The Art of Comforting: What to Say and Do for People in Distress by Val Walker (Tarcher/Penguin, $15.95 softbound)
With Tweets, Facebook, and text messages, we have never been more connected but even with these networks there are times when our modern communications fall short. The very resources that seem to bring us together have also distanced us from real emotion and eroded our ability to connect in an authentic way. For example, when a friend is facing a real difficulty, what can we do or say to help? Val Walker, who trained at Virginia Commonwealth University and has facilitated bereavement groups, is convinced of the importance of making real connections and being there for the people who need us. Walker consulted with top professions from a variety of fields who use comforting skills every day in their work. The result is a guide that will help us comfort loved ones dealiong with serious adversity, illness, divorce, and death. Walker underscores the fact that it can be extremely satisfying to support the people who need us and her book should help empower anyone wanting to be a better friend, family member, or partner.

29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life by Cami Walker (Da Capo, $13.95 softbound)
Cami Walker was living in San Francisco, had a job she enjoyed, and her life seemed to be on track. Just a month before her wedding, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, an incurable neurological condition that can leave sufferers completely immobilized. Two years later, she was depressed, sleepless for days on end, in constant pain, and addicted to prescription medications. After an eight-day detox in the hospital, she contacted an old friend, a South African medicine woman, who she hoped would comfort her in her self-pity. Instead, she was advised to stop thinking about herself. A way to do this would be to give away 29 gifts to others in 29 days. She took the advice and even though her cycle of giving couldn’t cure her condition, she found a new inner peace and happiness and eventually launched www.29Gifts.org, a worldwide movement that has impacted thousands.

The One Minute Negotiator: Simple Steps to Reach Better Agreements by Don Hutson and George Lucas (Barrett-Koehler Books, $21.95)
Negotiation impacts every aspect of our lives, from the deals we make on our jobs to the compromises in the family home, or the purchase of a new car. Negotiations make many people uncomfortable, even to the point of what the authors call “negotiaphobia.” The key to a successful negotiation is flexibility and the process doesn’t have to be stressful. Hutson, chairman and CEO of U.S. Learning, and Lucas, senior consultant and member of the board of the many company, reveal simple but profound negotiating techniques that can be used iun any kind of setting, from competitive and adversarial to cooperative and collegial. They claim that by following the advice in their guide you can achieve the best possible outcome every time — without unnecessarily making enemies or giving yourself an ulcer.

I am: The Power of Discovering Who You Really Are by Howard Falco (Tarcher/Penguin, $15.95 softbound)
Howard Falco, a Scottsdale-based spiritual teacher, speaker, and counselor in the creative power of the mind, understands the struggle of people who are facing frustration, sadness, and doubt. Even he had trouble determining the prupose of his existence until the learned that the key to becoming the architect oif his own life and happiness was finding the answer to the profound question: “Who am I?” His new book guides readers toward greater self definition and self understanding. Answering not just “who I am” but also “why am I” and “what can I be” can be the beginning of a life changing journey.

Bury My Heart at Conference Room B: The Unbeatable Impact of Truly Committed Managers by Stan Slap (Portfolio, $25.95)
San Francisco-based Stan Slap has revolutionized performance for some of the world’s most demanding organizations including Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, HSBC, and Viacom. By working with tens of thousands of managers, from executive to entry level in more than 70 countries, Slap has built a career out of showing the best and most successful companies how to have managers who are emotionally engaged in the company’s successes. This isn’t always an easy task. The key, Slap claims, is an emotional commitment in managers, getting them to invest and becoming the ultimate trigger for problem solving and igniting excitement in others. As he points out, getting a big paycheck, working 12-hour days, and being glued to a Blackberry at night and on weekends are not signs of emotional commitment. His crisply written new book shows managers how to turn their jobs into a mechanism that fulfills their deepest personal values. As a result, Slap believes that each will work harder to protect their lifestyle and thereby make their company more successful. The danger that must be avoided is when emotional commitment is lost. This, without a doubt, is one of the best business books of the year. People who are managers or someday hope to be should put this excellent guide at the top of their reading list.

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