Never mind the latest best seller from John Grisham or Stephen King. There are plenty of investing books that you may want to add to your summer reading list. Not only will they entertain, they might also help you improve your portfolio.

Goodness knows there is no shortage of books about investing.

Unfortunately, most of them have been written by people with ulterior motives.

The books are usually penned by investment managers or advisers who try to dazzle readers with strategies that will lead to unlimited wealth. Does the name Wade Cook ring a bell?

So, first on my reading list is a book written by a guy who died years ago. While you may not know Benjamin Graham, you probably have heard of Warren Buffett. Well, Graham is the guy that taught Buffett everything he knows.

Back in the 1950s, Graham wrote "The Intelligent Investor." It is the definitive tome on value investing —— finding stocks that currently sell at a price below the true value of the company.

Ordinarily, I would only recommend this book to insomniacs.

However, the newest revised edition of the book features added commentary by Jason Zweig that puts a contemporary spin on an investment classic.

Another oldie-but-goodie that I recommend is "Winning the Loser's Game." That is probably the worst title for a financial book I can remember, but the subtitle provides a better description of the book: "Timeless strategies for successful investing."

Charles Ellis wrote this book in 1976 when he was a big guy on Wall Street. His discussion about legacy investing is classic. In a nutshell, he says people should make investment decisions based on the life expectancy of their children and grandchildren, not their own mortality.

And his 10 commandments of investing are wonderful. Wait until you read what he has to say about selecting a financial adviser.

Ellis uses the book to compare the game of investing with the game of tennis. He suggests that there are two different tennis games: "One played by professionals and a very few gifted amateurs, the other played by the rest of us."

Most investors fall into the latter group, and like tennis players, they wind up defeating themselves. Ellis says it is best to be consistent —— keep getting the ball back —— in order to play the winner's game.

Finally, you will never go wrong reading any book written by Peter Lynch. The legendary manager of the Fidelity Magellan Fund always broke investing down to its simplest term. His suggestion that you should never invest in a company that you couldn't describe by writing on one side of a regular piece of paper —— with a crayon —— brings home the idea of owning companies you know and understand.

His books "Winning on Wall Street" and "Beat the Street" will amuse and inspire both novice and experienced investors.

Read any of these books, and you will come away better informed as an investor. Whether or not you get a good summer tan is up to you.

George Chamberlin is a regular contributor to the North County Times and also is a TV and radio commentator. Contact him at geoc@cox.net.