Finance Blogs (& Books)

Since my daughter was born, I've taken getting my finances in order way, way more seriously than I ever did before. In fact, I had a freak out when she was a few weeks old, started looking closely at my financial records, and decided I needed to do something about it all, particularly if I ever intended to send her to college or some other useful thing.

The first step, for me, was Personal Finance blogs. I started with Get Rich Slowly, just going back and back into their archives until I had read almost everything they had. GRS was founded by JD Roth but is now run by a company and has multiple authors, all in various stages of financial health. From there, I found a bunch of other good blogs, my favorite of which is Mr. Money Mustache. I like MMM because he's a little more irreverent and funny (and having spent much of my career around contractors, cursing doesn't bother me).

After devouring the archives of several PF blogs, a few book titles came up multiple times as being very influential for the bloggers own lives. Foremost among these was Your Money or Your Life. YMYL is about, above all, having enough and living your life to your best purpose, by letting money support you and not drag you down. It's simultaneously practical (how to save, etc.) and very powerful.

The other book I read and really liked was the well-known book The Millionaire Next Door. This takes a very statistical dry look at financial health by using surveys to identify real millionaire's common traits. And by real millionaire, I don't mean the flashy guy driving a Bentley but who has two mortgages and no savings, but the man with the paid-off house in the good, but not prestigious neighborhood, who never has to work for a living again. Underneath the statistics, Millionaire Next Door is, like YMYL, about having enough.

Let me know if there are any good PF blogs or books you'd recommend.

Review: Dreams from My Father

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance is a memoir by President Barack Obama, written after he was the first African-American elected president of the Harvard Law Review. It was first published in 1995, before his first political campaign, and was republished in 2004, during his U.S .Senate race. So while there are politics in this book, it is not about his life as a politician. And unlike so many of the books politicians put out during a campaign, it is still interesting to read when the race is over.

The outlines of President Obama's life are well-known: his white mother from Kansas and his black father from Kenya met in college in Hawai'i, married, and had him. Soon after, his father left, first to go to Harvard, then back to Africa, and only returned for a month when Barack Jr was 10. Barack Sr. died without his son having gotten to know him as an adult.

Dreams from My Father can be read on two primary levels: one is simply as a man's life story. Obama's young life was somewhat unusual - growing up in Hawai'i and Indonesia, time as a community organizer in Chicago, family in Kenya - but not, I think, so extraordinary as to be incomprehensible. (It's not like he grew up on Mars, after all.)

The other way one can read this book is as a meditation on race in America. Obama explores what was like to grow up as a black man, even though his white mother and grandparents raised him. Along the way, he discusses how race effects the way a person is viewed in this country and what it means to straddle different cultures, not just brown vs. white, but African vs. American.

I found Dreams from My Father to be an interested, thought-provoking read. Would it be as interesting if you didn't know this young man would grow up to be President? I believe so.

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

Review: Outliers

I really enjoyed Outliers: the Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. The premise of this book is, what makes high-achievers (and low achievers, really) different? Gladwell argues that the answer lies much less in their innate talent (or faults), and more in the atmosphere surrounding them - their culture, family, upbringing, etc. Some of these factors may be obvious - your parents education level has a huge impact on you, which makes sense - and many are not. I was particularly interested in his examination of the "Culture of Honor" and why the famed Hatfield-McCoy feud was not the rarity I thought (for more, here's an excerpt from Outliers).

I will say that I had heard Gladwell interviewed about this book several times, so some of it didn't feel fresh to me. For example, I had heard quite a bit about the part of the book dedicated to exploring why almost no star hockey players are born in the fall. Still, I thought it was interest and it certainly confirmed my thought that the birthday cutoff for kindergarten should be moved up from the typical December deadline (something our local school system has started doing for budget reasons).

Some readers might complain that Gladwell is oversimplifying complex social issues. They may be right. But I found this to be a fascinating look at a complicated question.

Outliers: The Story of Success was released in paperback today (June 7).

Teaser Tuesday 11/16

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
• Share the title & author, too, so that others can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser!

Today's teaser is from The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman, an author whose work I generally really enjoy. I've just started this one, so I don't have an opinion yet, but I have high hopes.

Antonina and Jan had learned to live on seasonal time, not mere chronicity. Like most humans, they did abide by clocks, but their routine was never quite routine, made up as it was of compatible realities, one attuned to animals, the other to humans.

From that lovely passage, one would never know this is a book about the Holocaust.

Review: Complications

COMPLICATIONS by Atul Gawande is about surgery, written by a resident surgeon. It is also about how humans learn, make mistakes, learn more, make decisions, learn something new, make another mistake, learn about something else, and then, when things go right, make really good decisions that just maybe save another person's life.

This book is incredibly intense - especially the last story in the book, which made me nervous for days - but not too gory or graphic. I don't normally do well with anything that even has a whiff of gruesome about it, but I generally wasn't grossed out. (I will admit that I skipped one chapter, "The Dead Baby Mystery." I checked with my medical professional husband, who read this book years ago, if this chapter is really about a dead baby. It is, so I decided that in my present, about to be a new mom state, I didn't need to read that.)

Instead, I found COMPLICATIONS to be a fascinating look at something I'm not familiar with. It matters, of course, that Gawande is an excellent writer. It's not perfect, of course, but it is excellent.

Buy Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande on Amazon.

Teaser Tuesday 11/9

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
• Share the title & author, too, so that others can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser!

For something different for today's Teaser, I am sharing from Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande.

When things go wrong, it's almost impossible for a physician to talk to a patient honestly about mistakes. Hospital lawyers warn doctors that, although they must, of course, tell patients about injuries that occur, they are never to intimate that they were at fault, lest the "confession" wind up in court as damning evidence in a black-and-white morality take.

I am reading this for book club, as I so often happens when I read outside of my comfort zone.

Teaser Tuesday 10/5

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
• Share the title & author, too, so that others can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser!

This week's Teaser is from Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott.

[A moral position] begins in the heart of a character and grows from there. Tell the truth and write about freedom and fight for it, however you can, and you will be richly rewarded.

I've been reading this book for some time now, somewhat because I've been in a general reading slump, but also because this book lends itself really well to being read in snippets.

Review: Packing for Mars

As I suspected I might when I put Packing for Mars on my Wishlist, I just loved this book. Packing for Mars by Mary Roach is funny, interesting and informative.

Packing for Mars is about what space agencies (mostly NASA, but Europe, Russia, and Japan's agencies as well) do to put humans into space. Launching a rocket seems like the easy part in comparison to figuring out how to get a toilet to work in zero-G. Roach clearly did her homework; she talked to both scientists currently working and those who have worked on these issues for previous missions. Her research took her from simulated missions in the arctic to the infamous "vomit comet" (the parabolic flight that simulates zero-G).

As you can imagine, coming from the author of a book about dead bodies (Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers), there are some gnarly bits in this book. There were a few passages, particularly the ones dealing with the corpses space agencies use to test crash safety, that tested my resolve in reading. But Roach handles even these parts with humor and grace.

I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in science or space. Roach is a terrific science writer and I really enjoyed Packing for Mars.

Buy Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void on Amazon.

Teaser Tuesday: 8/10

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
• Share the title & author, too, so that others can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser!

It isn't exactly my current read, but a book that we recently bought and I think is interesting: The Back of the Napkin (Expanded Edition): Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures by Dan Roam.

The essence of this book can be distilled down to one central idea.

Visual thinking is an extraordinarily powerful way to solve problems, and though it may appear to be something new, the fact is that we already know how to do it.

Wishlist: Packing for Mars

I watched The Daily Show from Monday last night and loved Jon Stewart's interview with Mary Roach, regarding her newest book, Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void.

Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can't walk for a year? What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to survive a bailout at 4,000 miles per hour? To answer these questions, space agencies set up all manner of quizzical and startlingly bizarre space simulations -- making it possible to preview space without ever leaving Earth. From the space shuttle training toilet to a crash test of NASA's new space capsule (cadaver filling in for astronaut), Packing for Mars takes us on a surreally entertaining trip into the science of life in space and space on Earth.

While I wasn't blown away by the previous book by her I've read (Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife), the conversation with JS about this one was so hysterical, I am going to have to read it.

Review: Mountains Beyond Mountains

From the back of Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder:

In medical school, Paul Farmer found his life's calling: to diagnose and cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most... Mountains Beyond Mountains takes us from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia as Farmer changes minds and practices through his dedication to the philosophy that "the only real nation is humanity"

This was an incredible story and a wonderful book. I actually bought it several years ago - I had read House (link goes to my review) and enjoyed it, so I was interested in reading something else by Kidder. For whatever reason, though, I put it on my shelf and forgot about it. Then the earthquake hit Haiti and I spent some time thinking about that. I heard more about Partners in Health, the nonprofit Dr. Farmer founded, and their response to the earthquake on the radio. So I remembered I owned this book and pulled it down to read - and ended up gobbling it up in one long day.

Kidder is a wonderful writer. He's a journalist - making sure that every story gets covered from multiple angles, multiple viewpoints - but he's more than that. I got the sense that he was very emotionally connected with Dr. Farmer, the rest of the Partners in Health team, and the poor people helping and helped by PIH. That emotional connection came through very strongly and made me, the reader, feel connected to the people in the book. And I really enjoyed reading the history and geopolitics covered in Mountains Beyond Mountains.

I am very curious about what has happened since the events covered by Mountains Beyond Mountains, especially since the earthquake. In some ways, this felt like Part 1 of a story that continues. I would love it if Kidder continued writing about Dr. Farmer and Partners in Health.

Whatever the case for the future, this is a powerful, well-written, and interesting book. I highly recommend it for all readers, especially anyone wanting to learn more about Haiti.

Buy Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World on Amazon.

Visit author Tracy Kidder online.

Review: On Writing

I'll say this right up front: I don't particularly enjoy Stephen King's books. Too gory or too long, I usually think. There's only been one of his novels that I liked enough to finish (The Eyes of the Dragon) and its sort of a non-Stephen King, Stephen King novel. I couldn't deny, though, that the man knows what he's talking about when it comes to writing, for shear quantity alone. So when a few people mentioned I should read his memoir/how-to book On Writing, I decided to give it a try. I'm so glad that I did. I really enjoyed this book.

In the first section, King describes his life and how it led him to becoming a writer. Avid fans will enjoy getting to read how King came up with the ideas behind some of his most famous books, including Carrie. He also describes in some detail his addiction to drugs and alcohol. A final section, a coda of sorts, describes his life and how he returned to writing after a brutal accident that nearly killed him.

In the second section of the book, King goes more deeply into how to write. He talks about the tools a writer uses (language, grammar, etc) and gives examples (mostly not his own) of writing styles and successes. The advice was solid and I especially liked the concrete examples King gave of editing his own work. I do think that advice on writing can only go so far (a sentiment King and, I think, most other writers would agree with) and that, in the end, reading about writing may be like listening to music about sex: interesting, educational, but probably won't really make you better at it.

Still, On Writing allowed me to see more clearly how a best-selling author approaches his own work, which was a process I find fascinating. I am certain Stephen King fans will love the inside look at their favorite author. More than that, though, I think other readers will enjoy this book as much as I did.

Buy On Writing on Amazon.

Also, there's an On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition coming out this July. I wonder what new information it will contain.

Teaser Tuesday 2/23

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
• Share the title & author, too, so that others can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser!

From On Writing by Stephen King:

I'm convinced that fear is at the root of most bad writing. If one is writing for one's own pleasure, that fear may be mild - timidity is the word I've used here.

I am really enjoying this book so far, and I am by no means a King fan.

Review: Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine for Women's Health

Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine for Women's Health: Bridging the Gap Between Western and Eastern Medicine was written by Kathleen Albertson, a practitioner of Eastern Medicine. From the description:

Effective health care for women is crucial. Women have suffered for years as Western medicine suggests drugs or surgeries to ease symptoms. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) offers natural resolution and has successfully treated gynecological diseases, infertility, a variety of illnesses and health problems facing women for over 5,000 years.

This book explores the potential value of TCM so that women can consider their treatment options. ... Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine for Women's Health examines nutritional and lifestyle tips to help you make better, more informed health choices, while correlating emotional health, such as stress, overwork, exhaustion and depression with physical health.

There is an incredible amount of information in this book. Clearly, it was very well researched. The author brought to it a career built on understanding TCM and acupuncture, and also went out of her way to uncover all the latest research on how TCM treats women's health issues. The nutritional information was, in particular, new and enlightening. If you are looking for a resource on TCM, holistic nutrition, and acupuncture treatments for OB/GYN problems, infertility, or a whole host of other women's health issues, you might find this book helpful.

Personally, though, I found it to be too much. I was overwhelmed reading this book. I got lost in the lengthy descriptions of symptoms for each malady and my attention wavered reading all the descriptions of published studies showing the effective use of TCM. There was so much that I wasn't quite sure whether this book was really intended for a layperson. It felt, at times, like a resource for an Eastern medicine practitioner.

I also felt like the subtitle on this book was misleading ("Bridging the Gap Between Western & Eastern Medicine") as this aspect of the book was short-changed in comparison to the rest. Instead, this part of this book can be summarized in about two or three sentences: Do you have an illness that is currently being treated by Western medicine? You should try TCM or acupuncture, too. Studies show that they really work well and usually have fewer side effects. There you go.

Its not to say that no one would enjoy this book. If you are woman getting TCM or acupuncture and would like a deeper understanding of your illness or treatment, or would like nutritional information as well, you may really enjoy it. For me, though, this book wasn't worth the labor it took to read.

Buy Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine for Women's Health: Bridging the Gap Between Western and Eastern Medicine on Amazon.

If you are in Southern California and interested in learning more, here's the website for Dr. Albertson's office in Orange County.

Review: Your Hate Mail Will be Graded

As regular readers of this blog may already know, I am a big fan of science fiction writer John Scalzi. He even has his own tag here, I write about him so much! His Old Man's War series is just fantastic. I am also a fan and daily reader of Scalzi's blog Whatever. "Whatever" is one of the longest running blogs - the first entry was on September 13, 1998, way back even before the term blog was invented - and has 40k plus readers a day (I can't even imagine having that many readers!). So what is "Whatever" about?

Well, about whatever: Politics, writing, family, war, popular culture and cats (especially with bacon on them). Sometimes he's funny. Sometimes he's serious (mostly he's sarcastic). Sometimes people agree with him. Sometimes they send him hate mail, which he grades on originality and sends back.

Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded is a collection of "Whatever" entries, some dating back to the early days of the site, some from 2008. The topics range from the serious to the ridiculous, and include such topics as September 11th, advice for writers, and fatherhood.

It is apparent what the dominant political topics were during the years Scalzi wrote these essays: gay marriage, George W. Bush, the Iraq War, etc. And some of those essays, in particular, felt a little dated. But many of the other essays, like the one on his childhood hero, Carl Sagan, or the financial advice for writers, felt more timeless.

No surprise, I really like Scalzi's writing. As the blurb points out, there's a lot of sarcasm in the humorous pieces, which I like, though I recognize not everyone will. But Scalzi has, to me, a distinctive voice, that I just love. I think other readers (and not just science fiction fans) will enjoy this book as well.

Buy Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded on Amazon.

A softcover version of this book will be coming out in January from Tor.

Review: Words @ Work

Words @ Work shows everyone from executives and entrepreneurs to up-and-coming staffers how to write in a clear, conversational style that people want to read. Learn how to effectively organize information (no tedious outlines!); cut the fat (editing tips and tricks); and harvest a feast of ideas. Words @ Work includes tools and techniques for overcoming fear of writing; jump-starting the writing process; achieving goals faster; building confidence; and even earning a promotion or two. Words @ Work not only teaches how to write, but helps readers tap into their creativity--and there's no telling where that can lead.

What I liked best about Words @ Work by Lynda McDaniel was the author's message that good writing doesn't need to be reserved for novels or professional writers. Anytime you are trying to get a message across with words, it is worth doing it well. As the unofficial marketing manager for my small architecture firm, I feel strongly that McDaniels is right about this. It doesn't matter that I'm an architect. Whether I am writing a proposal or a simple business letter, I am a professional writer in that moment and my words need to be the best they can be. Obviously, though, I am already sold on the concept of the power of writing and didn't take much convincing!

If you've read a lot of writing books, most of the ground covered in Words @ Work will probably be familiar to you. McDaniels emphasizes writing consistently and shoving your inner editor aside while you let the creative juices flow. Even though this may not be groundbreaking advice, its particularly relevant for those of us doing NaNoWriMo or NaBloPoMo right now!

Buy Words @ Work at Amazon.

Words @ Work was provided to me for review by the author as part of a book tour.

Botany of Desire on PBS Tonight

Consider this a public service announcement for those of you in the US - Tonight at 8, PBS is airing a documentary based on one of my favorite non-fiction books, The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan. Here's an interesting article at mental_floss with more information.

I will be furiously packing, so I'm not sure I'll be about to watch the whole thing, but I definitely will be recording it.

Review: Walking the Bible

I read this book several years ago, when it first came out in paperback, and was just absolutely charmed by it. In it, Journalist Bruce Feiler, accompanied by Israeli archaeologist Avner Goren, visits the sites in the first five books of the Bible (the Torah). He meets Jews and Muslims, city dwellers and Bedouin, atheists and fundamentalists, children and famous politicians. He writes about food, culture, history, and, of course, God. Over the course of his trip, Feiler, who was raised Jewish but had lost touch with his faith, reconnects with God and discovers what it means to him to be a Jew. 

In addition to being a book about faith, this is also a fascinating book about history and travel. I think anyone with an interest in the Middle East or travel or religion will enjoy this book as much as I did.

Buy Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses on Amazon.

This was also a PBS documentary. I watched one episode but didn't like it as much as the book, and never watched the rest.

Review: Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife

A friend who read and loved both Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers and Mary Roach's other book Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex lent me this one. I've never read either so I can't do a comparison, though I was intrigued.

What happens when we die? Does the light just go out and that's that—the million-year nap? Or will some part of my personality, my me-ness persist? What will that feel like? What will I do all day? Is there a place to plug in my lap-top? In an attempt to find out Roach brings her tireless curiosity to bear on an array of contemporary and historical soul-searchers: scientists, schemers, engineers, mediums, all trying to prove (or disprove) that life goes on after we die. ...

Roach kept me engaged from the first page, with enough science to learn something new and enough anecdotes and stories to keep me amused. Roach, though, has a real dry sarcasm that grated on me a bit at times. Maybe its because of my religious beliefs, but there were times I felt like Roach was a little disrespectful of others' faith. I also felt like she was trying so hard to be skeptical, it was a little forced.

Still, Spook was a very interesting read. I found the early anatomy history, with various scientists trying to figure out where the soul is housed in the body, to be particularly fascinating.

Buy Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach on Amazon.

Review: No Dogs in Heaven?

Along the same lines as All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot (which I've never actually read, to be honest), No Dogs in Heaven? is a sweet memoir by an Ohio veterinarian about his practice.

Included is the telling of Sharp’s first day as a rookie veterinarian nervously preparing to inject a needle into a one-ton Holstein bull; finding a rash on a cute puppy whose lovely young owner bared her breasts to ask his opinion of a similar skin ailment; treating a vicious dog whose violent owner had stabbed it with a knife, only to treat the same dog two years later—now a sweet and gentle pet of an adoptive family; and caring for a kitten struck by a car who survived amputations of both right legs, somehow learned to walk, earned the name "Lefty," and was taken in by a family who loved him.

This is a quick, good-natured read, not too taxing, but enjoyable. Pet lovers will particularly enjoy it, and I could definitely see buying it for a friend or relative considering becoming a vet.

Buy No Dogs in Heaven? Scenes from the Life of a Country Veterinarian on Amazon.