The Best Business Books of 2005

Everybody's favorite flesh-colored newspaper, the Financial Times, announced today its shortlist of the best business books of the year. (Goldman Sachs co-sponsors the contest.) And the nominees are:

The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture, by John Battelle

The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, by Thomas L. Friedman

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (Inc. columnist Michael S. Hopkins tackled Freakonomics in his August column.)

Fast Second: How Smart Companies Bypass Radical Innovation to Enter and Dominate New Markets, by Constantinos C. Markides and Paul A. Geroski

Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power, and Politics of World Trade, by Pietra Rivoli

Disneywar: The Battle for the Magic Kingdom by James B. Stewart

Which of these six is your pick and why? Was Blink robbed in your opinion? What other books would have made the short list if you had been on the judging panel?

Mike Hofman was previously editor of Inc.com and a deputy editor at Inc. magazine, which he joined in 1996. The site was nominated for a National Magazine Award for Digital Media in 2010, and was named the best business website by Folio Magazine. In 2006, Hofman was part of a team of writers nominated for a Webby Award for best business blog. He lives in New York City. @mikehofman