A monthly post looking at what books Abnormal Returns readers purchased at Amazon in the prior month is now a regular item. So let’s look a July’s purchases. Nearly 49%, of purchases were of a single copy, so I have omitted them. Below are the books (combined print and Kindle) that our readers purchased and the percentage of sales (rounded) they represented for July 2012:

The Bestsellers

1. Dark Pools: High-Speed Traders, A.I. Bandits, and the Threat to the Global Financial System by Scott Patterson.  (11%)
2. Hedge Fund Market Wizards by Jack Schwager. (7%)
3. Abnormal Returns: Winning Strategies from the Frontlines of the Investment Blogosphere by Tadas Viskanta. (4%)
4. Broken Markets: How High Frequency Trading and Predatory Practices on Wall Street are Destroying Investor Confidence and Your Portfolio by Sal Arnuk and Joe Saluzzi.  (3%)

The Mid-List

1. The Options Traders Handbook: A Business Framework for Equity and Index Options by Dennis Chen and Mark Sebastian. (2%)
2. The Ages of the Investor: A Critical Look at Life-cycle Investing by William Bernstein. (2%)
3. The Malign Hand of the Markets: The Insidious Forces on Wall Street that are Destroying Financial Markets – and What We Can Do About It by John Staddon. (2%)
4. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain.  (2%)
5. Octopus: Sam Israel, the Secret Market, and Wall Street’s Wildest Con by Guy Lawson. (2%)
6. Wait: The Art and Science of Delay by Frank Partnoy.  (2%)

The Rest

1. Backstage Wall Street: An Insider’s Guide to Knowing Who to Trust, Who to Run From, and How to Maximize Your Investments by Joshua Brown.  (1%)
2. How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton M. Christensen. (1%)
3. The Hour Between Dog and Wolf: Risk Taking, Gut Feelings and the Biology of Boom and Bust by John Coates.  (1%)
4. What Investors Really Want : Know What Drives Investor Behavior and Make Smarter Financial Decisions by Meir Statman.  (1%)
5. Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength by Roy F. Baumeister.  (1%)
6. Red Ink: Inside the High-Stakes Politics of the Federal Budget by David Wessel.  (1%)

We would have liked it if our book came out on top, but it is great to see the frequent purchases of Dark Pools and Hedge Fund Market Wizards. Thanks again to everyone who purchased a copy of my book or any other book (or item) during the month. Did you find something interesting to read this month? If so, leave a comment to give every one a head’s up.