I am less inclined these days to buy the recent crop of books despite their compelling case for remarkable concepts. There are many books on business, economics, and marketing topics written for the general public. A common pattern is that they take a seemingly plausible concept and fill the book with examples and experiments in which the concept was found to be true. The concept is also repeated many times in the 200-300 page books that is also filled with references that are seem to add credibility.
When considering buying these books you not only look at the price you pay to buy the book, you also the opportunity cost of time spent reading the book. In fact, after you buy the book it is sunk cost and you need to reevaluate the decision between reading it fully vs doing something else. People feel guilty just for spending $25 on the book and hence spend more (by way of opportunity cost) to read the whole book.
In general you may be better off not buying the book and instead reading the reviews from trusted sources. You will be better off than buying the book and reading it in full.
I have said a few times that everyone should read the book Predictably Irrational. You can instead read this excellent review of this book and two others like it from Federal Reserve Bank of Minnesota.
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