Summer's here: Time for basking on the beach with a good book. With so many of us in "staycation" vacation mode, that may mean traveling no farther than the backyard and plunking down with a meaty best-seller or riveting murder mystery. Amid these queasy, uneasy economic times, why not indulge in some financial brain food, as well?

Here's a sample of some of the best personal finance books that have come across our desk in the past year or so:

"The Best Investment Advice I Ever Received" by Liz Claman, Business Plus ($12.99)

Don't take just one great investor's advice: Try a dozen. And many more, including Warren Buffett, Suze Orman, Jim Cramer, Steve Forbes, Vanguard's John Bogle. The author, a CNBC business news anchor, has culled some of the best investment advice from some of the biggest financial gurus of our era.

Claman grew up in Southern California watching her physician father pore over daily newspaper stock listings. She said she wrote the book to give people like her father insights from Wall Street insiders.

Quote: "Don't look at stocks like a marriage. When you buy a stock, you are just supposed to date it, sell it when it's up and, whatever you do, don't marry it." -- Howard Lutnick, CEO, Cantor Fitzgerald

"True Self, True Wealth" by Peter Cole and Daisy Reese, Atria Books ($16.95)

As experts in "financial psychology," this Sacramento husband-and-wife team unpack the emotional baggage that can thwart our best intentions. Based on their experiences as family therapists and finance experts, they spell out 10 "money scripts," habits and attitudes inherited from our parents that can wreck our financial lives.

Once you've untangled those knotty issues, the book's second half offers practical, common-sense ways to achieve financial and emotional security. It's the perfect marriage of money and emotions.

Quote: "Even if you have a practical knowledge of money and investing, it is still very possible to make bad money decisions if you do not understand your money psychology. We have seen otherwise well-informed investors make foolish financial decisions due to their emotional blind spots."

"The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches" by Jeff Yeager, Broadway Books ($12.95)

Embracing his "Inner Miser," Yeager has learned to live happily on less: in his case, $40,000 a year. Although he recommends an occasional "financial fast" (going at least one week without spending any money), he's not preaching total abstinence. But he does dispense innumerable "cheapskate" tips such as: Save on your grocery bill by avoiding anything that costs more than $1 a pound.

Above all, ya gotta love a guy whose city-by-city book tour was by bike.

Quote: "By being cheap ... you're valuing time and the things you can do with it more than money and the things you can buy with it."

"Se Habla Dinero?" by Lynn Jimenez, Wiley Publishing ($19.95)

When it comes to finances, lots can get lost in translation. Longtime TV financial reporter Lynn Jimenez aims her book at helping Latinos acquire financial fluency. However, it speaks to any consumer who wants help answering the question: Do you speak money? Written bilingually, with facing pages in Spanish and English, the book covers financial basics -- credit cards and credit scores, student loans, saving and banking, mortgages, even starting a small business.

The family-oriented book intends to help children, parents and grandparents understand the language of money.

Quote: "One of the most important things you can do with money is teach your children how to use it properly so they can survive and thrive."

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