A surprising number of books focus on various aspects of meeting and event management. Where to start? Here’s a list of top choices from our editors—touching on everything from international meetings to green meetings to murder.

Academic:
Professional Meeting Management Guidebook, 5th Edition: A required text for those pursuing the Convention Industry Council’s Certified Meeting Professional credential, this is the industry’s most comprehensive textbook. Published by the Professional Convention Management Association.  $79.95/paperback

Convention Industry Council Manual, 8th Edition. The first industry publication to tackle the spectrum of convention management topics, the manual is another required reference for CMP candidates and is much more condensed. $65.95/paperback

Getting Started:
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Meeting & Event Planning, 2nd Edition, by Robin E. Craven and Lynn Johnson Golabowski. This bestseller is a good guide to the basics for those new to meeting planning. $13.57/paperback

International:
Global Meetings and Exhibitions, by Carol Krugman, CMP, CMM, and Rudy R. Wright, CMP. Written by two veteran planners of international meetings, this book in the Wiley Event Management Series is a comprehensive handbook for managing meetings and expositions outside the United States. $68.75/hardcover

Outside the Box:
Open Space Technology: A User’s Guide, by Harrison Owen. Written by the creator of the “open space” facilitation concept, this is an indispensible resource for any planner looking to implement this cutting-edge participation process at a conference. $24.95/paperback

Sustainability:
Simple Steps to Green Meetings and Events: The Professional’s Guide to Saving Money and the Earth, by Amy Spatrisano and Nancy J. Wilson. Two green-meeting pioneers offer easy-to-implement strategies and tips for creating green-meeting policies and programs. $29.95/paperback

Nonprofit Organizations:
Volunteers: How to Get Them, How to Keep Them, by Helen Little. Hailed as one of the best resources for working with volunteers, the book is full of practical advice for recruiting, managing, training and motivating volunteers. $24.95/paperback

Facilitating:
Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business, by Patrick Lencioni. The book offers simple strategies and tips to help executives improve their business results by making meetings more productive. $24.95/hardcover

Wildcard:
Meeting Murder, by Katy McDermott.  For planners who enjoy murder mysteries, here’s one set in their own backyard. Written by a former pharmaceutical meeting planner, the novel tells the tale of conference attendees who are suddenly turning up dead. $15.95/paperback

Source: Pricing based on Amazon.com listings.