In the Northern Hemisphere at least, the Summer holidays are upon us. So for a lot of us it’s time to pack our bags and get somewhere we can relax, put our feet up, and catch up on some reading.

Ordinarily we’d do a post listing the best psychology and behavioural science books to have come out in 2014, but this year we’ve got something a bit more exciting to talk about. Our academic advisor Alain Samson, a psychologist and consultant who works with the LSE, has put together The Behavioral Economics Guide 2014. It’s a free up-to-date introduction to behavioural economics, with contributions from a bunch of companies who are putting the science to use for commercial impact.

OK, we admit it. It’s not really beach reading. More like a gentle workout for the mind once you get back from that well-deserved holiday and need some inspiration and ideas. The short book is in four parts.

The first is an exclusive conversation between George Loewenstein, a giant of behavioural economics, and Rory Sutherland, a master in their application. It’s as entertaining and illuminating as you’d expect, and worth the price of admission on its own. (Particularly as, er, there is no price.)

In the second part, Alain Samson talks you through behavioural science,  with descriptions of a lot of the key concepts. If you’ve been put off by the hype and breathless “this changes EVERYTHING!” approaches of some of the ‘behaviour change’ books out there, the BE Guide is an antidote. It explains things clearly and in detail but doesn’t promise you the moon on a stick.

The third part is a comprehensive collection of resources and further reading.  It includes a list of over a hundred behaviour change and psychology books recommended by members of the LinkedIn Behavioral Economics group – ordered by their Goodreads rating. It also includes write-ups of dozens of academic journals the behavioural researcher might find useful – from psychology through economics to marketing science. And finally there’s a list of online and academic courses.

And the final part is a collection of papers by organisations with practical experience in the commercial application of behavioural science – research firms, change specialists, and behavioural consultancies. BrainJuicer are in there, talking about how to embed behavioural science within an organisation. The Irrational Agency are there too, talking about happiness. And Phil Barden of Decode contributes a paper on branding. These contributions – and many others – are useful for showing how organisations with “skin in the game” are adopting and adapting academic work, turning human understanding into business advantage.

There are a lot of introductions to Behavioural Economics on the market, it’s true. This one goes further than the others in helping you find out more and apply the ideas. And it costs you nothing but a click.

How do you get the Behavioral Economics Guide 2014? Couldn’t be simpler. As a contributor, we’re able to give you free access to a PDF of it.

To download the BE Guide 2014, click here.

Enjoy your book, and enjoy your Summer (or Winter)!