In this very good beginner's guide to the bond market, author Michael V. Brandes addresses all of the fundamental questions clearly and concisely. Bond math can be daunting, but while the author includes a few equations for illustrative purposes, he clearly addresses his book to the general run of individual investors. The book, which has moments of surprising good humor, says right off the bat that bond investing can be dull in comparison to stock investing, not because the stakes are lower, but because the elements of personality and surprise are considerably more muted in the debt market than in the equity markets. We highly recommend this book, even though it is pedantic at times - a risk you take when you venture into the complex realm of bond investing.

I read the Motley Fool Investment Guide and really liked it, so when I saw this at the bookstore with Tom Gardner's endorsement on it, I thought I'd give it a shot. Just like the Fools, this book is written for regular people and is pretty humorous (for an investment book!). The chapters are well organized so that you learn about bonds "step-by-step". It includes discussions about every type of bond and advice on how to put them into your
portfolio. It's definitely not written like a textbook -- even the complicated concepts come across clearly. In short, this is a great book. I found it easy to understand and, most importantly, full of extremely useful information.

I was not expecting to gain this much insight on the topic of bonds and investing but am delighted to have picked this book up and savoured it to the last page in the course of one plane ride!
Adept, succinct without compromising depth, this young new author has really delivered on his promise to give us the "bare essentials" that anyone should know!

This is definitely a serious investment book, but written with a sense of humor. I was surprised how comprehensive it is, especially since it is only 240 pages. It's certainly smaller than most other investment books around. But I guess that's the point of making it "stripped down." As advertised, it eliminates all the financial jargon that you see in textbooks and is written
so that you don't feel lost halfway through any of the chapters. I also like that the author takes a practical approach, explaining exactly how to invest after you've learned the basics. I highly recommend Naked Guide to Bonds for anyone interested in learning about bonds and how the bond market works.

New to The Bond Market? This Book's for You!
When I was given this book as a gift, I never expected to read it since I thought it would be too difficult to understand. But, it turns out that everything is explained in a straightforward way. It's got lots of illustrations that aren't too complicated and the chapters are short, so they're easy to get through. I really liked the summary points at the beginning of each chapter and the way the author explained each type of bond and what makes them unique. This is a terric book for any amateur investor who wants to learn about bonds without having to take a course on it. I just wish there was a Naked Guide to Stocks!