When I was younger, I pretty much always had a book I was reading, maybe two or three. You can do anything and travel anywhere with books. Having realized what a luxury reading is after having a family, I am dedicating time to read (not resolving, those are new years flings), replacing TV, DVDs and other activities that I really don’t enjoy as much. I want those around me to see, by example, what a wonderful thing reading and books are so they too, can go anywhere and do anything.
I have this massive (for me) list of books to read. The magazines are stacked high and wide just waiting for the day. Most I have skimmed and marked for potential comments. As usual, time is just slip slidin’ away, somewhere, which is where the dedication part comes in. As an aside, I did actually get Christmas boxed up and put away, cleaning out and consolidating so that I now have two newly emptied containers that I can put other stuff in. Gads. A little late, but I did discover a great way to store Icicle Lights. Get a five gallon bucket and run the lights around the outside of it. Use a close pin to secure the first part of the strand then, wrap on, keeping the handle up. Now they hang nicely without wrapping around each other in a tangled mess you have to deal with next winter, cursing the fact you should have put them away better. Inside the bucket you put other outdoor adornments, cords, lights that don’t have hangy downy things, etc. I hung the entire thing, up off the ground, out of my way, with a handy “S” hook, attached with wire, to a nail in the basement. I feel so smart! For those of you who already knew this, maybe not so smart. I might have discovered this sooner by the hubby is usually in charge of the outdoor adornment storage. Hopefully I didn’t just get a new assignment.
Back to the book thing. I am sure everyone has (I hope!) a list of reading they want to delve into. My intensely diverse list looks like this in no particular order;
Aftershock, David and Robert Wiedemer/Cindy Spitzer – predictions/assertions of what the true economic situation is and their recommendations, should be read just for mind expansion and reality check
The Black Swan, Nassim Nicholas Taleb – takes a look at the human inability to take into consideration what we don’t know, titled because until Europeans saw black swans somewhere else, they had no idea they existed
The Mood Cure, Julia Ross – depressed? Not so fast with the pills, this book explains the nutritional ways of helping your “mood” through natural sources
Extra Virginity, Tom Mueller – not what you would think by the title, got to give someone a hat tip for that, all about “The sublime and scandalous word of Olive Oil (whoda thunk?)! Apparently quite a bit to this, ironically I was shopping the other day and on some organic Olive Oil was a tag about the fact it was indeed what it professed to be!
We Still Hold These Truths, Matthem Spalding – exploring how we got to where government is in every aspect of our lives and potentially how to reclaim the future
Confessions of a Wall Street Whiz Kid, Peter Grandich – from drop out to financial “whiz kid”, Grandich shares his journey of life. His blog is great!
Critical Thinking, Joel Rudinow – picked it up at Goodwill and figure everyone could use a good dose of perhaps a different way to look at things
The Traders Book of Volume, Mark Leibovit – finance, i.e. trading, is one of my passions and I like to learn what I can
Crisis Investing, Doug Casey – I find myself in agreement with much, not all, of what Casey says about a lot of things. He has a free newsletter, fyi
Cure Tooth Decay, Ramiel Nagel – this is an interesting one, all about fats, nutrition, real food, following the Weston A. Price ideas. I saw him speak and decided the book was worth it.
Seed to Seed, Suzanne Ashworth – the seeming bible on seed saving, tons of people I know recommend it
Folks, this ain’t normal, Joel Salatin – Another author I really admire for basically putting his all into his passion of farming without compromise to anyone and sticking to his ideals. This guy is a straight forward hoot!
My selections are probably somewhat off the beaten path but ones I have found to be interesting and push me to think. Perhaps the list isn’t as diverse as I thought, but this is just for starters. My bookshelves carry many more I have picked up with well meaning intentions partially gone astray. Good thing about books is they keep well, quite non perishable generally. Goodwill and used bookstores are a wonderful resource if you don’t have to have “brand new” (I have an acquaintance whose wife will not read a used book, go figure). I am also amazed at the amount of titles the library carries! I am investigating taking a course and 75% of the books that are required reading I found at the library, very cool. Thank goodness for “renew”!
Reading does not have to incur a ton of money. The real investment is time and focus, which usually are much harder to come by. It can be fascinating, funny, thrilling, educational, emotional, etc, you are the driver, pick a destination. Reading something that makes you stretch yourself never hurts. The other investment you will make is by showing those younger ones what a great thing reading is, either by being a reader or reading to them. Grab a cup of tea, a book and venture on.
