Books, Books, Books!!!

Being stuck in the Congo, Becca and I have been reading alot. One of my goals for this year was to read one book a month, well since Christmas I have read all three Twighlight books, "The boy in the stipred pajamas", "the Book Thief", finished "blink", "The Five People you Meet in Heaven", "The Richest Man in Babylon", "The Walled Garden", and I am currently reading "The Automatic Millionaire". I thought I would do a small commentary on each book, so if some of you are looking for something to read you have some suggesstions, but you don't have to take my word for it. (Note the throwback to "The Reading Rainbow")

TWILIGHT-Becca has read these books a million time over, and loves them. I thought they were good, but most of the people who read this blog, probably already have read this series.

"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas"-good book, very sad. I would encourage people to read this book. I can't tell you what the book is about, because part of the mystery is not knowing what it is about until you start reading it. It is a short book and an easy read.

"The Book Thief"- Mary let Becca borrow this book, so I read it as well. This was my favorite of the books I have read so far. The story is set in Germany during World War II and is written from the narative of death. The story follows a young girl, her family, and her two best friends. I thought it was well written, and having death as the nararator was an excellent choice. This book is over 500 pages long, but is a fast read.

"Blink"- This book is by the same author as "The Tipping Point" and is a book on making quick decisions. The basis of the book is sometimes people get wrapped up in research and statistics and forget to listen to their gut instincts. Now the book isn't encouraging people go out and only make decisions based on gut feelings, but if you have a knowledge base in a subject, for example art, you may be able to tell a sculpture is a fake, when all this research done by scientists say its legitimate. This was a great book and made me think. It also discusses how our actions can be influenced. For example, we yawn when we see other people yawn, we do this because when we see others yawn our brain thinks we need to yawn. If I played a tape of someone yawning, it would most likely make you yawn as well. And since you have read yawn seven times, most people who read this will have yawned as well. I recommend this book, but if you don't like social science this book can be a very long read.

"The Five People You Meet in Heaven"- Short book, fast read, didn't like the book. I know alot of people who like this book, but for some reason I didn't think it was that good. Maybe I am not sentimental enough about things that this book didn't inspire me.

"The Walled Garden"- Decent book. This book is about Iran pre the 70's revolution. It follows the story of a grown women from high society in a unloving marriage who comes back into contact with her childhood best friend, who also happened to be one of the servents son. Thier friendship didn't last becuase of their different stations in life. The story is about how the differnt classes viewed things and how the friends/potential lovers are unable to fit into each others lives, even though they try.

"The Richest Man in Babylon"- I didn't know this book was written back in the early 1900's when I started reading it, but the advice it gives is still good now. This book is a money book that teaches a few principles in parable form that will help any person, and any income become rich over time. The book was okay, but I thought the parables make it harder to read. Especially when dealing with money, I want more current, detailed information. Short read though, so I encourage people to read it.

"The Automatic Millionaire"- Awesome book. I am currently reading it for the second time and this time taking notes. This book is similiar to the Richest man in Babylon, but is current and more detailed. This book teaches a few principles that if you abide by you too could be a millionaire. Now this isn't a overnight millionaire promise, nor is it a in one decade you could be a millionaire. This book is that if you set aside a certain percent of every paycheck and put it into a retirement account, with the miracle of compound interest you will be a millionaire when you retire. The recommended percent is at least 10%. Now most people who read this will say "I can't put %10 into a retirement account, I am already living paycheck to paycheck. Well I encourage you, if you have no money going into retirement to start off putting 2% into retirement, if you are already putting some money away, I encourage you to up it one or two percent. And every year, or everytime you get a raise, try to up it a percent or two. The trick is to do it right when you get the raise, before you get used to having all that extra money. The other trick the book teaches, is to make this all automatic, meaning that your company takes the money out before you even see it. That way you don't even now your missing it. I encourage everyone to read this book, especially all of my friends who just have finished school.

Well that post was long enough. I hope I encouraged some of you to pick up a book and to read. I will try to post in the next week or so, updating y'all on how I am doing on my goals. Accountability is a good motivator.
Tyler