Lazy Week Reading List

Get Jim Cramer's picks for 2006.

This will be a slow week in the financial markets, and in your personal life. Who has the energy for big undertakings after that shopping spree and all that holiday food?

You could take these lazy days and organize your files to get everything read for tax time in April. You could review your investments. You could look over your estate plan, or check to make sure you have adequate life insurance. But you know you won't do those things.

This week is the time to relax. So while you're relaxing, I have two books for you to read. Neither will directly affect the state of your personal finances, but each could have a powerful impact on your future, and on your life. And since you don't want to do anything particularly useful in the next few days, curling up with two very short, enjoyable, and fascinating books might be just the right activity to get you ready for the new year.

The first book is Success Through a Postive Mental Attitude, by W. Clement Stone. You can buy a copy of this legendary motivational bestseller for $7.99 in paperback. It costs much less than a movie, and will keep you entertained far longer. It might even change your life.

W. Clement Stone is the quintessential American success story. When he died at age 100 in 2002, he had created a billion-dollar fortune, starting as a 6 year old selling newspapers on a street corner to help support his widowed mother. He built the Combined Insurance Company, which later merged with Ryan Insurance to form Aon Corp.(AOC Quote).

But Stone's financial success is only part of the legend. He developed a system for creating success, which he used to encourage those who sold his insurance policies. It was a methodology that spread far beyond product sales.