I’m sleepy so I’m going to make this short.
Ever wonder why some popular books are missing from the Personal MBA list? For example, both Built to Last and Rich Dad, Poor Dad are international bestsellers and yet they aren’t included in the list.
I don’t really know the exact process on how they choose books in Personal MBA, but I can see why those two types of books aren’t on the list.
Built to Last, In Search of Excellence, Good to Great, and practically every Toyota, Google, Starbucks, or [Insert big company or CEO here] book has been ripped apart by The Halo Effect. While the latter does not really turn all of those books into paperweights, it prevents you from having delusions that reading and following those books alone will turn your company around. (In some cases, THE does turn those books into paperweights, but I think you get the point. :P )
Robert Kiyosaki’s books, on the other hand, have been criticized by financial experts ever since Rich Dad, Poor Dad was released. Probably the most popular criticisms of RDPD in the Internet is John T. Reed’s criticism. I dare you not to be disillusioned about the book after reading that site. :D
As for other books, I think I can safely assume that they either have better alternatives already on the list or the book is still haven’t caught the attention of the PMBA community yet. Either way, if a book is missing on the list, it doesn’t doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s not useful. Continuing with the disclaimers, I won’t claim the list as infallible (I see a couple of books that aren’t applicable to our country).
In the end, whether or not you decide to follow the list when buying books, always read the books you buy with both an open and a skeptical mind.