These four books complete our recent list of must-read mortgage books.

My strategy for sorting through the volumes of mortgage books that are out there is the same as the last time around. I tried to pick relatively recent books (the oldest one here is from 2006) that are well-reviewed and have slightly different points of view.

Again, while there are many other good books out there (though many of them are outdated) this list is a good starting point.

#1: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Mortgages, 2nd Edition, by Jamie Sutton and Edie Milligan Driskill (2006)

The previous roundup began with the For Dummies book and this roundup starts with the Idiot's Guide. Not that they are interchangeable, but it probably makes sense to pick just one of these books as a starting point in your mortgage education. Written in the trademark, easy-to-understand format of the Idiot's Guide series, this volume lays out the mortgage process from start to finish. Author Jamie Sutton is a successful mortgage broker and Edie Milligan Driskill is the author of a number of popular books on finance.

You can sample some pages from the book.

#2:

Author Alan Jablonski is both a mortgage broker and a consumer rights attorney. With this background, it's not surprising that the unique angle he takes in his book is one of self-protection. He focuses on helping consumers to protect themselves from predatory lenders and on how to protect their financial interest when purchasing or refinancing a home.

#3:

The advantage of Dale Siegel's mortgage book is that she is a current mortgage practitioner who focuses on how the rules have changed in the past few years. Though her book did come out in 2009, she has a regularly updated blog on her website which should fill in any gaps from the last two years. The book also contains a highly recommended section on the home inspection process.

You can download the table of contents and excerpts from chapters one and chapter five. For more information, check out Dale's.

#4:

The beauty of this book (as with the Idiot's Guides and Dummies Books) is in its very easy-to-read Q&A format. David provides short and helpful answers to almost any question you might have about mortgages. If you are worried about being weighed down and bored by other formats, then this might be the right book for you. Reed has more than 20 years of experience as a senior loan officer and has written two other books on real estate and mortgages.

You can sample the book. You can find an archive of columns that he has written for Realty Times.

While it may seem like a drag to read a whole book (or more) on mortgages, the benefits are undeniable. The trick is to find an author, format, and angle that work for you and your situation. Pick the right book and you'll surprise yourself with how easy it is to become a mortgage expert.