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Tuesday, June 23, 2015

The Illustrated Guide to Selling You: Custom Design Your Work Life by John Boyd

The Illustrated Guide to Selling You: Custom Design Your Work LifeThe Illustrated Guide to Selling You: Custom Design Your Work Life by John Boyd
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a short book, so I will give it a short review :)

Pros: Makes you think about your own approach to career management and what you SHOULD be doing every day vs what you ARE doing every day. It isn't whether or not I am capable, it is whether or not I believe I am capable.

Cons: I felt that a core theme, if not THE core theme, was confidence, but there were several sections that didn't add to that concept. To me that more or less means they were detracting from the core theme. Maybe I missed the whole point?

Thursday, June 18, 2015

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley


The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag (Flavia de Luce, #2)The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley
My rating (this time): 4 of 5 stars

This was my second time through this book as well, and again, I enjoyed it.  But as with my re-reading of its predecessor, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, I can't give it a second 5-star rating.  It just didn't quite hold my interest as well this time through, and it seemed a little slow.  I did listen to it via audio book this time, but the reader/actor who read it was absolutely one of the best voice actors I have ever heard (Jayne Entwistle), and so I'm reluctant to lay any blame at her feet.

It is still a favorite of mine, and I intend to revisit the whole series, since there are new books at the end that I haven't read yet, but it doesn't quite shine so brightly the second time through.



Monday, June 8, 2015

The One-Page Financial Plan: A Simple Way to Be Smart About Your Money by Carl Richards

The One-Page Financial Plan: A Simple Way to Be Smart About Your MoneyThe One-Page Financial Plan: A Simple Way to Be Smart About Your Money by Carl Richards
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked the overall message of this book, but to me there is one huge, glaring omission: an actual one-page financial plan! His advice on goal setting was great, and I completely agree with the idea that finance is less about complicated models and more about behavior. Dave Ramsey has said essentially the same thing, and I have found this to be true in business as much as personal finance. Money/finance is not about spreadsheets and numbers, those are just the outward appearance of the discipline. It is about emotion and behavior.

But back to my concern, the one-page financial plan. In several places he prescribes what to put on this plan. He advises on what kind of paper and writing utensil to use. It is the title of the book! Why then, is there not a rough template of an actual plan at the back of the book that collects the ideas and shows it to the reader in a sample format that works? To me, this makes a useful concept worthless, and I could barely get to 3 stars on this one.