By Helen Walters

The Year's Best Yarns

It's been a tough year, but the slew of innovation-and-design-related books that piled up on our desks proved that the heart of the book publishing industry still beats, at least for now. Not surprisingly, many of these texts tackled the theme of innovation in a recession, though the authors' strategies for dealing with the downturn varied. Some urged the adoption of entirely new ways of thinking to lift companies from the mire. Others promoted management techniques suitable for any occasion, but particularly handy now. A few overlooked the economy altogether and assured us that everything is going to be O.K. Take a look at our picks of books from 2009.