A Random Walk Down Wall Street:  The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing, 9th ed., by Burton G. Malkiel, is a classic and brilliant explanation of how investors make the same mistakes over and over again, and how you can avoid those mistakes.  If you want to understand how the stock market works, and decide for yourself if you should be investing in index mutual funds or picking stocks, this book is a must-read. 

This book is not short, but that's because it goes through the history of investing (starting in 1592! through the dot-com era), explains how professionals invest and modern portfolio theory, and how you can apply all that to your investment portfolio.

I read this book before I was an investment advisor, have re-read it since, and recommend it to my clients who want to understand how the stock market, and how investors, work. 

Pros:  More on Book Review: A Random Walk Down Wall Street

Need money to start your business, or take it to the next level? 

Financing Your Business Made Easy by Ralph Alterowitz and Jon Zonderman is an excellent overview of how small business owners can get money to start or grow their business.  

Unlike many financing books, this book does not assume you are going for venture capital or to go public — frankly, few of us are in that league (nor do we want to be).  But this book gives a great overview of all the ways to finance your business, including personal savings, SBA loans, credit cards, bootstrapping, factoring, and getting friends and family as investors. More on Book Review: Financing Your Business Made Easy