I'm constantly astounded by the huge number of personal finance books that are out there, and it seems like every week I discover a new one or two. How on earth does a person dig through this huge pile of books, many of which offer variations on the same old advice, to find the real gems?

To address this, I'm starting a project: 52 Books in 52 Weeks. For the entire next year, I will read one book related to personal finance a week and review it in depth, spreading the review throughout the week. This will enable all of the readers of The Simple Dollar to get a nice, deep look at each reviewed title. At the end, I'll hand out some awards from the series, as well as make some specific recommendations.

Why start this in early November? The biggest reason is that so many useful year-long series complete themselves just after Christmas, meaning that the reader has no time to use the set of reviews for gift-giving purposes. By starting the series in early November of this year, I'll be able to conclude the series in early November of next year, meaning that if you want to give personal finance books as gifts to family, friends, employees, or business acquaintances, The Simple Dollar will be able to provide you with an extremely detailed gift-giving guide.

Each Monday, I'll start off with a general overview of the book of the week, pointing at what others have said about it and my initial reactions to it. Tuesday through Thursday, I'll dissect the book in detail, breaking it down into three roughly equal pieces, in order to give you a good feel for the materials within. Then, each Friday, I'll tie it up with my personal thoughts on the book.

So let's get started! Below is a link to the first entry for each book in the series; each Monday, I'll add a link to the newest book in the series here, so you might want to bookmark this entry.

1. The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko

2. The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom by Suze Orman

3. Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

4. Make Your Kid A Millionaire by Kevin McKinley

5. The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

6. Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin

7. The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason

8. Rule #1 by Phil Town

9. Smart Couples Finish Rich by David Bach

10. The Number by Lee Eisenberg

11. The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton

12. Real Money by Jim Cramer

13. The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach

14. Generation Debt by Anya Kamenetz

15. Mad Money by Jim Cramer

16. The Money Book For The Young, Fabulous, and Broke by Suze Orman

17. America's Cheapest Family by Steve and Annette Economides

18. What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles

19. The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing by Taylor Larimore, Mel Lindauer, Michael LeBoeuf, and John C. Bogle

20. The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need by Andrew Tobias

21. Yes, You Can Get A Financial Life! by Ben Stein and Phil DeMuth

22. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

23. A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton J. Malkiel

24. Making the Most of Your Money by Jane Bryant Quinn

25. Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey

26. The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle

27. All Your Worth by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi

28. The Millionaire Mind by Thomas Stanley

29. The Random Walk Guide to Investing by Burton G. Malkiel

30. The Soul of Money by Lynne Twist

31. Die Broke by Stephen Pollan and Mark Levine

32. Automatic Wealth for Grads by Michael Masterson

33. Two For The Money by Jonathan and David Murray

35. It Pays to Talk by Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz and Charles Schwab

36. Wealth by Stuart E. Lucas

37. The Little Book That Beats the Market by Joel Greenblatt

38. The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn

39. The Overspent American by Juliet Schor

40. The Wall Street Journal Complete Personal Finance Guidebook by Jeff Opdyke

41. Smart Women Finish Rich by David Bach

42. More Than Enough by Dave Ramsey

43. The Little Book of Value Investing by Christopher Browne

44. Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes by Gary Belsky and Thomas Gilovich

45. The Lazy Person's Guide to Investing by Paul Farrell

46. The Courage to Be Rich by Suze Orman

47. The First National Bank of Dad by David Owen

48. Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People by Jane Bryant Quinn

49. The Four Pillars of Investing by William Bernstein

50. The Little Book That Makes You Rich by Louis Navallier

51. Mind Over Money by Eric Tyson

52. How to Invest $50-$5,000 by Nancy Dunnan

53. Born to Buy by Juliet Schor

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