Career Books for Working Women

Whether you're a woman about to graduate and enter the world of working women, or you're a seasoned career woman looking for a lift, these five books are sure to inspire, encourage, motivate and make you laugh. These books provide real life stories, strategies and insights to help you take on your career and the world with confidence.

From the Heart: Eight Rules to Live By by Robin Roberts (Hyperion 2007)

Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts is one of the most recognized and respected women in the media. Using her trademark down to earth approach, Robin Robert's book makes you feel like she's simply sitting next to you, talking about the things she's learned over the years. In this easy-to-read book, she tells true tales of her upbringing, education, and amazing career path, and sums up her guiding principles that led to her phenomenal career success in eight simple rules:

Position Yourself to Take the Shot

Dream Big, but Focus Small

If at First You Don't Succeed, Dive Back In

Never Play the Race, Gender, or Any Other Card

Venture Outside Your Comfort Zone

Focus on the Solution, Not the Problem

Keep Faith, Family and Friends Close to Your Heart

Make Your Mess Your Message

The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl: Real Life Career Advice You Can Actually Use by Karen Burns (Running Press 2008)

Karen Burns (aka "Working Girl") has had 59 jobs over 40 years in 22 cities and four countries, and she only got fired once, but it wasn't her fault. She dug ditches in Czechoslovakia, made Dunkin Donuts, modeled plus-sized bustiers, taught French generals how to lisp (not on purpose), and typed the same letter more than 500 times. It's safe to say that Working Girl has some career experience. In this witty and whimsical read, filled with Working Girl illustrations and inspiring "eternal truths," she shares advice from how to negotiate your salary to how to assert your power. Each of her 59 jobs becomes a chapter that teaches both career and life lessons. (In full disclosure, Working Girl is a personal friend, but even if I didn't know her I'd recommend this book.)

The Promotable Woman (Fourth Edition) by Norma Carr-Ruffino (Career Press)

Norma Carr-Ruffino, professor of management, has been teaching at San Francisco State University since 1973. She worked her way up from secretary to manager to corporate officer to her current position as a professor teaching "Managing in a Diverse Workplace and Creativity & Innovation." My copy of The Promotable Woman is highlighted, dog-eared and worn. On many occasions I've referred to this book for solid how-to career advice. Norma Carr-Ruffino flat out knows her stuff. (Hey, it is the fourth edition.) The Promotable Woman covers communication skills, gender concerns, negotiating, handling emotions and stress, balancing and prioritizing, and much more. It's a serious read with seriously good information for every working woman, even the seasoned pro.

Healing Hearts: A Memoir of a Female Heart Surgeon by Kathy Magliato, M.D. (Random House 2010)

I loaded this book onto my Sony Reader and took it on a business trip. Big mistake. I wasn't interested in business; I wanted to get back to the really good book I was reading. Dr. Kathy Magliato, ROCKS! I laughed, cried, cringed, and made an appointment with my physician to get my "numbers checked" while reading this inspiring and informative memoir about the high-pressured life of a female heart surgeon who also happens to be a wife and mother. Magliato is not just any old heart surgeon, she performs heart transplants; she holds hearts in her hands.

Excelling in a demanding, male-dominated career field, Dr. Kathy Magliato uses her book to encourage and inspire women to pursue any educational and professional challenge, and to pay attention to the often unrecognized symptoms of the number one killer of women in America, even young women, heart disease. She is the Director of Women's Cardiac Services at Saint John's Medical Center in Santa Monica, California, where she is developing a Multidisciplinary Women's Health Center to address the cardiac needs of female patients.

It Ain't All About the Cookin' (Simon & Schuster 2007)

The Queen of Southern Cuisine, Paula Deen's Memoir, It Ain't All About the Cookin' is one of those books I found hard to put down. Deen tells all, the way it was; no holds barred. She shares her inspiring Cinderella story with complete honesty and reveals the truth about her rise to fame, and some of it isn't pretty. At one point Deen's financial situation as a single mother of two sons was bleak. She writes, "Then came my zillion-dollar inspiration... I would lie in bed at night and dream about this little business." At forty-two years old, Deen jumped into her career with a $200 investment in a bag lunch business called The Bag Lady, selling brown bag lunches to office workers. From that initial business plan were twists, turns, struggles, and finally, sweet success. It Ain't All About the Cookin' is a good southern-style read complete with mouth-watering recipes.

Robin Roberts Bio

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/robin-roberts-biography/story?id=128237

Eight Rules To Live By

http://www.hyperionbooks.com/titlepage.asp?ISBN=1401309585&SUBJECT=Inspiration

Karen Burns, The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl

http://www.karenburnsworkinggirl.com/

Norma Carr-Ruffino

http://cob.sfsu.edu/COB/directory/faculty_profile.cfm?facid=23

The Promotable Woman

http://www.careerpress.com/?section=home&product_id=242

Kathy Magliato, M.D.

http://kathymagliato.com/

Healing Hearts: A Memoir of a Female Heart Surgeon

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780767930260&view=rg

Paula Deen, A Memoir: It Ain't All About the Cookin'

http://www.pauladeenstore.com/Product/detail/It-Ain-t-All-About-The-Cookin-by-Paula-Deen/264927

Gina Maddox is a motivational speaker and the author of The Working Woman's Rant & Rave Guidebook: Audacious Advice for Handling Everyday Workplace Challenges That Make You Want to Scream.