This is kind of a clean up week, a sweep of some odds and ends left over from weeks past.
- The Investment Answer, Daniel C. Goldie and Gordon S. Murray. Frankly, once you get away from tips about frugality and basic household finances (topics I had covered about thirty years ago), finance books tend to lose me. This one riveted me because I could understand it. It made sense and I could see clearly how it applies. And I could also see clear action steps. Highly recommended.
- The Ladybug Farm books, Donna Ball. These three books are the purest kind of fantasy. Friends buy a big place in the country together to Change Their Lives and, despite various hardships, It All Works Out. Far, far from the reality of money pits, but sometimes escape is kinda fun, 'kay? ;)
- Lost and Found, Geneen Roth. The acclaimed diet (actually, anti-diet) guru turns out to have been one of the many Madoff victims. It's breathtaking, really, how many victims acted against the more most important investment strategy they knew -- diversify! And the author discovers her yearning for spending "highs" even after being brought low. It's almost anti-climactic that soon after losing it all, she published a best-seller. I think this is worth a read as an inoculation against being stupid with money.
- The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, Maggie O'Farrell. A story of what might have happened to "difficult" daughters in the Edwardian age and, taking the matter further, what might happen now with de-institutionalization. I found this a difficult read; you might like it better.
There are still a few leftovers, but maybe this next week's reading table will prove more interesting.
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