ty1997's 2012 thread

Hello there, and welcome.

I haven't been reading enough, however you define enough. 75 will never happen for me in any year, but regardless I'm not happy with where my 2011 reading wound up (woefully lacking in particular during the second half of the year for undetermined reason).

But the 75ers have been a reading inspiration to me (oh, how you make my wishlist and TBR pile grow) so here I am, once again, with hopes for a better reading year and some jolly conversations.

Ah, there you are Tom!

Good. Thank you. My universe is now properly ordered. Carry on!

Hellooo!

Not so sure about the pug, but I'm love with this picture

2 > Hey there Stasia, hope the new year is treating you gloriously!

3> I'm not sure I can handle a content, cool, collected Richard. I might have to post *shiver* cat pictures if you don't start acting out soon.

4> Stephen, when's the LT party at your place?

>5 ty1997: You *like* that, that Festival of Tacky, that girlyroom with the little yap-slap mutt?! And you call yourself a gay man?! Turn in your card! Immediately, do you hear?!

(Is that better?)

NEVER!

>4 Ape:/8: What's this? Party at Stephen's??? I'm bringing cheesecake! I need an excuse to make it, there are three packets of cream cheese in the fridge that need to be used... :D *puts on party hat*

haha, Richard. I don't want that room, but I love the photo. Orderly assemblage of colors in book shelving (or in art in general really) has already appealed to me. My brain likes ordered, symmetrical things apparently.

Oh, Faith, I love cheescake. Now I'm really looking forward to Stephen's party!

Noooo!

A note: I'm going to China next week and am not certain what sites I will / will not be able to access. If I fall off the face of LT next week, fear not.

Another note: It's January 5 and I haven't even started reading for the year (pesky work backlog!). Hoping to remedy that quickly, with 24 hours off flying staring me in the face. I may start the year with the January #1book140 selection, which will be a bit ironic since I'm certain I won't be able to access Twitter on my trip.

Longitudes- January 1book140 pick

Welcome back!

I hope you have safe travels, Tom. We will still be here when you get back.

I wonder what would lead the Chinese to block LT...but anything's possible. My local liberry blocked it until I hollered.

China!? There are ASIAN women in China! *Drools*

*Ahem* ...sorry...

Thanks Jim and Stasia!

Richard, I'm not sure if it blocked, I'll find out tomorrow (I'm spending the night in Hong Kong and taking the ferry to the mainland tomor....err today I guess since it's 4:38am now)

Stephen I won't tell you that I'm going to Japan for a week after my week in China.

Well will you look at that? I read a book!

1. The Inimitable Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse

Bertie Wooster is a rich bachelor living the life in London between the wars. No one, including Bertie himself, has accused Bertie of being overly smart or in any way ambitious. In fact, anything that would interfere with Bertie's laid-back life of lunching, horse-betting, and partying makes Bertie's blood pressure skyrocket. This includes his Aunt Agatha's repeated attempted to get him married off Bertie to a women that will better him (in Aunt Agatha's estimate). Bertie's friend Bingo meanwhile falls in love with women seemingly every time he walks outside, yet something always seems to go awry for hapless Bingo.

Enter Bertie's valet, Jeeves. Not only is Jeeves excellent at his job, he is also smart and insightful, getting Bertie and Bingo out of many a tight spot, including when Aunt Agatha tries to (unknowingly) marry Bertie off to a thief and when Bingo gets himself in a spot of trouble pretending to be a Revolutionary (for a woman, of course). Jeeves is dedicated to fault....except on those occasions where Bertie insists on going against Jeeve's wishes and wearing a crimson cummerbund or purple socks.

There are 18 stories in this book which together form a novel but almost certainly were serialized initially since each story/chapter can be self-contained (latter chapters build on earlier circumstances, but each chapter has an 'ending' that would suit a serial reader).

The social satire is a bit lost on me, not being British nor having lived in 1920s London, but you get where Wodehouse is going. Though even if you don't, the hi-jinks of Bertie, Bingo, and the supporting characters are worth the read.

>18 ty1997: Excellent! Like the review, but cannot give it the richly deserved thumbs-up since you haven't posted it to the work page. Yet.

>18 ty1997:: Looks like a good place to start with Wodehouse! I haven't read one yet, but it's not for lack of want.

Congrats on getting book #1 of the year under your belt, Tom!

19> Remedied: review posted.

20> It's a fun, light read. Definitely recommend.

21> Thanks Stasia, feels good!

K thumbs-upped

Me too.

Woo-hoo! Thanks for the thumbs!

And LT works here, awesome!

Great news about LT working there - wherever there is this week :)

Stephen I won't tell you that I'm going to Japan for a week after my week in China.

You bastard! Errr, I mean, enjoy your trip... :)

Tom, I've dipped in and out of Wodehouse's Jeeves stories, and always enjoyed them immensely. I find myself a bit lost sometimes at the period British slang, but enough makes it through translation to American English to be quite fun. A good first read of the year!

It really was a good first choice Rosalita, I hope to work some more Jeeves into my future reading!

2. The Burglar in the Rye by Lawrence Block

Bernie Rhodenbarr is an antiquarian bookstore owner in Manhattan. He's also a burglar. And a wiseass. These are all good qualities, but they get them into a spot of trouble when he takes a job for a woman he's just met and is philandering with (really, when in the history of literature has it turned out that the woman you just met and are sleeping with who hired you to burgle for her is on the up and up? Warning bells, Bernie!). Of course, when Bernie goes to perform the simple job of stealing some letters from a literary agent, he finds the agent dead and he's arrested for the job. Thus begins Bernie's job to figure out who really did it, while fending off countless suitors for those valuable letters. And having drinks with his lesbian best friend. (Bernie knows his priorities.)

This is apparently the ninth in a series of ten, but is the first I've read in the series. It's been on my shelf for who knows how long (5, 7, maybe even 10 years?) and I'm glad to have finally gotten to it. A light, breezy, enjoyable read and a fun character in Bernie. The who-did-it is a bit left field and knocks the score of the book a half letter grade for me, but still a fun a worthwhile read. I will probably dip into Bernie's back catalog or one of Block's other series in the future.

A couple of notes to keep me on track with my plans:

I've started reading Needful Things. I put that in print hear to publically attach myself to the book, so that I don't put it aside for a thinner tome (something I'm tempted to do at times when I foolishly get caught up in feeling like the slow reader around here.) Enjoying it so far and am glad to be back in classic King-land.

I have been wanting to read Great Expectations for a year or two now. I noticed a few months back that Dickens' 200th birthday is coming up in February, so GE will be a February read for me. Yell at me if that doesn't happen (preferably yell sometime around mid-February so I can correct my errant ways while there is still time).

I love this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKVcQnyEIT8

Yell at you for reading Chuckles the Dick, you mean? Glad to oblige! The Block sounds good.

I love Dickens. Fantastic author. To the corner with you, heathen!

Oh, I haven't read the Bernie Rhodenbarr series in quite a while! You described them well: light, breezy, enjoyable, with fun characters. It's funny how different this series is than the other Lawrence Block series I've read, the Matthew Scudder books. Those are quite dark, especially compared to The Burglar Who ... series.

I love Stephen King, but somehow never read Needful Things. I'll look forward to your review.

I've threatened to read Dickens but, OF COURSE, I haven't yet. I'm going to though, one of these days, just you wait!

>36 Ape: Why? Do you not like life? Do you need to put something in front of your eyes that's just so damn horrible and depressingly poorly written that your suicide note can simply be a post-it saying "i cannot go on" on top of a half-read copy of A Tale of Two Cities?

>34 ty1997: Neener.

Have never read P.G. Woodehouse. They sound like fun. Now Lawrence Block. I have read almost all of his books. over the years.

Richard: Nope.

*throws down a pillow*

Sad face. Richard picked on my favourite Dickens novel.

He picks on ALL Dickens novels..
think nothing of it.

*consoles Micky* It's a fine, fine book. Don't let Richard's irration upset you.

*puts out some lounge chairs for Kath so she doesn't have to sit on pillow on the floor*

Rosalita, I'm being a bit slow in reading NT, but promise I'll finish and get the review up! It feel pretty classic King so far.

Cindy, it sounds like I definitely need to try some more Block.

Stephen, you should read Dickens in February with me! Perhaps we can turn it into a group thing and get *everyone* in 75ers talking about Dickens *all month*.

I got a pinterest invite! err, ummm, not sure what to do with it now. BUT, I love this:

http://pinterest.com/kdd626/places-time-forgot/

I'm afraid Richard will abandon both our threads if we read Dickens at the same time. :_(

C'mon Stephen, be brave. Would it be a specific Dickens or will any of them do? Because I might join in...

*vomits on Tom's expensive new wall-to-wall carpet* Oh dear oh dear, y'all were talking about Dickens *reeetch* and I just can't stop myself from bringing up everything I ever ate when Dickens *hurl* is mentioned...oh dear oh no, did the pus sacks on my infected heel rupture and pour rank, thick, clingy pus all over when I puked that last time? Oh no. How awful!

But not as awful as reading...HIM.

Micky, I think 'Read Any Dickens' makes sense. If we can get enough folks doing it, I'm sure there will be overlaps so it can serve as group reads as well!

Richard, 13 days to win you over still!

I have read A Tale of Two Cities
I have read David Copperfield
I have read Great Expectations

I am done with Chuckles the Dick for good and ever. It would be more fun to eat glass then drink Drano than to read another syllable from the pen of that bloviating gasbag of a hack.

But y'all knock y'all's selves out! I like plenty of stuff others don't. Stephen King, for example.

Thanks for the link to that wonderful page on Pinterest, Tom!

Fight SOPA. Do it for the kittens.

http://theoatmeal.com/sopa

You're welcome kath! I'm enthralled by those gorgeous pictures. They may start showing up in my thread here even.

>48 ty1997: Sweet. Well now I have to look at Dickens' bibliography to see which one of his novels I want to tackle next. Maybe Little Dorrit because the promo for the BBC adaptation looked good. :)

Great news everybody!!!

http://www.librarything.com/blogs/librarything/2012/01/announcing-the-february-d...

Thanks, Tom!

It was inevitable, this being the bicentennial and all.

Finished Needful Things. Have to get a review together, but general feel: it was all right.

Was out of books and in the airport, so picked up A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. Only two chapters in so far though.

Tablet and e-book reader ownership nearly doubled during the holidays

I'm surprised by the doubling -- I figured the big run-up had happened a couple of years ago. Also surprised that the increase was only to 19%. I figured everybody had an e-reader at this point!

(As an early e-reader adopter, I still love a good old dead tree book and, in fact, seem to be reading more of those lately than e-books. Go figure).

One day soon I'll have to get a Kindle. My wrists and fingers are complaining more and more at the effort required to keep the cheap glue bindings open.

Nooo Richard, don't do it! If you are going to favor technology, get bionic wrists and fingers instead.

I don't have a problem with ereaders (I don't have one yet either) but I am highly resistant to Kindles ever since this happened. Plus their practices with library lending are problematic as well.

>60 Ape: Lessee here, $150 for a Kindle Fire or $6,000,000 for bionicness...hmmm...

>61 MickyFine: I'm not happy about any part of Kindle as my ONLY choice, but for twinkiebooks like series mysteries and man/man smut it makes all the sense in the world.

>62 richardderus: Fair enough. :)

It's about the principle of the thing, Richard. What value does money have compared to the integrity of your soul?

I am an unashamed fan of Amazon and kindle.
I own a nook..
I have a kindle app on my iPad though..
an embarrassment of riches.

I own a v1 Kindle. For those who want e-readers, I am a strong proponent of e-readers that use e-ink since I spend all day looking at a backlit screen and want to avoid reading on one as well.

But my Kindle purchase was a necessity. I was traveling 70-80% of the time and just couldn't pack that many books. Now that I travel half of that, things are a bit more manageable. My kindle still goes with me and I use it at times, but when I'm home or not going on a long trip, I find I'm a Luddite who prefers DTBs. And the library across the street.

The Orwell thing infuriated me when it happened. Amazon becoming the next Microsoft scares me as well (and they are getting there quickly).

The ridiculous overpricing of many Kindle books is what really turned me off though.

Speaking of the library, I have a book due today (renewed it max time, never opened it, hate when that happens) so I walked it over to the library (I also have a hold waiting for me, yay!) and noticed that the parking lot was strangely empty. Sure enough, turns out that early this month they cut library funding and they are closed on Monday now.

Wondering how that will work, since I have a book due but the book drop was overflowing so I could not leave my book.

I know all the bad things about Amazon... I do.
But they have wonderful customer service
I love my Prime.. I get all sorts of things delivered to me at home..
Most of the time their prices are better. I am simply unable to help
myself..

Good luck with the library!

68 > I am a prime member, a Kindle owner, and a constant Amazon purchaser. I'm conflicted about it, but they haven't pushed to the point of Wal-Mart avoidance yet. I figure it will happen someday, and that will sadden me, but I totally get you.

>67 ty1997: Send them an email or let them know the next time your in the branch. They'll probably waive any fees.

As for Amazon, I tend to buy mostly DVDs from them (some of those One Day Deals are too good to pass up) but I almost never order books from them. Of course, while I'm a voracious reader, I'm very picky about the books I actually buy.

No fine had posted when I returned the book. Apparently the library was smart about it, yay!

I had resolved that I would just pay the 10 or 20 cents rather than argue about it, since along with the hours cuts have come layoffs, etc, so the library staff are already going through some tough times. I wasn't going to make a stink over a dime or two. Yay for no stink and no dime!

Glad the library sorted out... and also glad to know that you are a
fellow Amazon-er. I feel slightly less guilty when I run across other fans :)

Thanks kath. Between traveling around 40% of the time for work, and not owning a car* being able to shop and know that something will be at my condo in two days (even I'm not!) is quite nice...and dangerous :) (I think I have two twelve packs of Fudge Graham Zone Barson the way right now. Why? Because I was hungry and on-line!)

*The bus stops out front, the train is three blocks away, and my brother, who lives in the same condo building, owns a car so I always feel like I'm being a bit disingenuous if I suggest I have no access to transport. But I definitely don't have ease of driving myself to the store anytime I want.

The good news is that I'm well into my fifth book of the year. The bad news is that I've only reviewed two books so far because reviews sometimes stymie me. So herein lies two short blurb reviews to get me past the hump:



3. Needful Things by Stephen King
I read a numerous Stephen Kind books in high school partly because I was enamored by the fact that my public high school library had books with curse words in them. But mostly because I just liked the books. (The Stand is one of my favorite books.) Needful Things was pretty classic King though it felt slightly unoriginal at times, as if he was re-treading what I've read from him before. The materialism angle, however, seems even truer now 20 years later. 3.5 stars

A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
One of those books that I may never full digest because it is so rich and densely layered. Genius in parts. And no small feet that Egan made me care about some of the characters pretty strongly, even though most of the characters seemed like selfish, self-obsessed jerks (or maybe they were human? Was that part of the point? That we are all selfish, self-obsessed jerks to an extent? That's kind of depressing if so). 3.5 or 4 stars.

(Yes, Richard, I said hump. Down boy.)

...but who wants to get *over* a hump?

I really really hope you'll get your hump over to 11/22/63 soon. I am in love with this book, and I want converts!

Happy February everyone!

Richard > February looks like it will be a busy reading month for me. On top of Dickens month, 1book140 (which I've been trying to participate in and failing) has decided to do graphic novels this month - a genre I've struggled to break into, so I'm trying the group approach to see if it takes.

Did you 11/22/63 is alt history? That might be a tough sell for me. (But, I know you're a good salesman)

OH RIGHT! I forgot already, Dickens...yeah, I might troll that section of the local library when I visit tomorrow.

Chuckles the Dick is dead. Steve-O the King is alive. Whose coffers do you want to fatten, a dead bad writer's or a living excellent one's?

It was the best of lists (Murphy, Tristram Shandy), it was the worst of lists (A Tale of Two Cities, The Old Man and the Sea); it was the list of wisdom (1984, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man), it was the list of foolishness (David Copperfield, Double or Nothing)...

Haha. Hate Dickens all you want, that opening line of the A Tale of Two Cities is iconic and a pretty damn good opening line (even if you hate every line that comes after it :)

It's even better when you hear Richard quote it. Very amusing.

I've got my Dickens waiting for me after I finish my current read. What did you pick for your read, Tom?

>82 ty1997: It is long, it is tedious, and it is ponderous. It's also a satirist's dream, practically makes fun of itself! Like most of Chuckles's work.

I'll be reading Great Expectations (once I finish Ready Player One). Somehow, I've never read Great Expectations so it's time.

>86 ty1997: I had a mean joke all cued up and suddenly thought...why? He's already drunk the Kool-Aid. *sigh* Well, everyone needs a fatal flaw.

I had a dream that my youngest would move into the same area as my oldest..
who does not have a car. It was considered for a while.. but then, my youngest found a job elsewhere..
sigh. I wish I had the two of them in one spot!

Nice, I haven't read Great Expectations yet either but I decided to go with Little Dorrit. Then I can watch the BBC miniseries with Matthew McFadyen afterwards. :)

I checked out a copy of The Mystery of Edwin Drood from the local library, Tom. Woohoo. Dunno when I'll ready it though, or IF I will. I have two books on Mona Lisa to read first.

I'm going with Oliver Twist, which I am shocked to have never actually read. Started it this morning, and am already appreciating Dickens' sly humor (or in his case, humour).

Look at all the Dickens love! Kath! Micky! Stephen! Rosalita! So excited! Oliver Twist was my first Dickens, I read it as a child and loved it. Still one of my favorite books.

I haven't started my Dickens yet (still finishing Ready Player One) but soon!

Wow:

Pinterest Drives More Traffic Than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn Combined STUDY

Pinterest is highly addictive. I now avoid it for fear I'll lose at least two hours a login.

I pinned a chocolate chip cupcake recipe today (with brown sugar butter cream icing)

Just saying......

This is a complete depressing and anger-inducing article, but I had to share it.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/one-towns-war-on-gay-teens-20120202

INFURIATING!

-.-

Lest I forget (never!) let me a wish a very happy 200th birthday to Mr Dickens.

When is cholera's birthday? I want to celebrate that.

Oooh, I like Richard's idea!

Oooh, I like Richard idea!

Now you've gone and done it Richard.

...!!!! *snorts coffee up my nose*

:D

Hmm, really gross infection or Charles Dickens? I pick Dickens, every time. :P

What about a really gross infection of Charles' dickens?

What exactly does that look like? Large novels start growing on you?

I was thinking that Charles Dickens just got gonorrhea or something. I don't think cholera affects that area...hmmm, unless we can bio-engineer it to. I wonder how that would work...

Ew. You were right, Tom, now I've gone and done it.

*Sigh* I'm afraid Grammar and I have an abusive relationship. :(

>109 ty1997: AMEN AMEN I SAY UNTO YOU BRETHREN AND SISTERN!!

>109 ty1997: I do like that one. Reminds me of some of the stuff that crops up on Dear blank, please blank, which I don't keep tabs on much anymore but found pretty entertaining some days.

Stephen, one my biggest failing on the Internet/computers is that I seem to type about 10% faster than my brain works, resulting in unintended typos and word swaps which make it look like I have no semblance of grammatical understanding. I am constantly having to proof for these fat-fingered, fat-brained errors.

Yes, I don't generally re-read my posts and even so I've found some horrendously silly errors. I don't proof read my review anymore either.

Even outside of typos though, I have some very lackluster grammar skills. It makes it all the more discomforting that there are so many people who know less than I do.

>109 ty1997:: Sigh. If only she were into dominance.

99% of the way through my taxes. Wasn't that a sexy way to spend four hours on Friday night.

*collapses*

Sorry. Life is too short.. and I have other things to make myself crazy over... but do carry on!
Someone has to care!

I guess this means Tom is No More. He is an ex-Tom. He has hopped the twig, joined the Choir Invisible, handed in his dinner pail.

I Am Saddened.

I will miss him. ...so...where did he put my clothes...?

*falls on floor, breathing shallowly*

*slowly gets ups*

Work...life...craziness. Books? What are books? I've seen so little of them lately.

Richard! Sadness is disallowed! Smile and sunshine and puppy dogs (but no evil cats)!

Stephen, I know exactly where your clothes are. Burnt up in the fireplace. Bwahahahahaha!

*falls back to floor*

WORK IN PROGRESS POST - trying to remember the (too few) books I have read since I last updated, and get them added to my library if missing, and write review blurbs

Flagrant Conduct
Intelligent Investor
How To Read A Financial Report
The Little Book That Beats The Market

I'm just pleased and happy you're back home again, among those who love you. Now, prepare for those forty lashes given to all faithless abandoners. Would you like a bullet to bite down on?

xo

Hurray! Errrr, I think I'll be covering my eyes during what is about to proceed. I'd ask for a blindfold, but...

I heard Stephen volunteer to take my lashing for me. What a fine chap he is, eh?

Did not! Lashings scare me, I would never except one voluntarily. The only punishment I like involves fuzzy handcuffs and feather dusters...but, on second thought, even those have horrifying implications. No, definitely no lashings for me, you'll just have to accept the consequences for your actions yourself, sorry. :(

I'll fetch the whip.

*limbers up whippin' arm*

5. Flagrant Conduct by Dale Carpenter
In 1998, John Lawrence and Tyron Gardner were arrested in a Houston apartment for allegedly having gay sex. Such begins the fiver-year leading up to the landmark 2003 Supreme Court case Lawrence v Texas which ruled, as everyone with common sense (i.e. not the state of Texas and several other states who had so-called sodomy laws targeting homosexuals) already knew: What gay people do in their bedrooms is none of your damn business. (You can't help but be disturbed that it took until 2003 for this to happen, and it the case was never considered a slam dunk.)

Dale Carpenter, based on numerous interviews performed over several years, draws a portrait of the players, both witting and unwitting, involved in the case from Lawrence and Garner to the local police, the local and state courts and the advocates and lawyers. To his credit as an author, every character is drawn as the nuanced human they are, rather than good or evil black-and-white caricatures, and although you know the outcome, the book is still a riveting read.

-----------------------

You'll recognize a theme here. I want to get some of my money out of low-interest savings and have it work better for me, so I've been reading up on investing a bit.



6. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
The classic and seminal investing book by the father of value investing, with updated commentary using current examples by Jason Zweig. A must read for this category.



7. How To Read A Financial Report by John Tracy
Disclaimer: I have an accounting degree (though I don't working in accounting) so this book was mainly a refresher for me. The intended audience non-accounting, non-finance types and it may serve well as a high-level introduction, but the subtle 'Wringing Vital Signs Out of the Number' is never really met.



8. The Little Book That Beats The Market by Joel Greenblatt
It's commonly known that even if you are lucky enough to find a method that beats the market, once it becomes commonly known it and everyone jumps on board it can, by definition, no longer beat the market. I was drawn to this little book at of mere curiosity what the author's simple 'magic formula' may be, and he makes a good case for it. Still, the cat's out of the bag.

9. Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer

I have always been awed by the creativity and innovation and how new ideas come us out of (seemingly) thin air but we can't explain why. Jonah Lehrer, in the first half of Imagine shows us that science is beginning to learn what happens in the brain when creativity happens as well as types of situations that can be conducive for creativity, but the creation of the that new thought, the combination of two distinct parts to make a new, and sometimes amazing, creation is still magic. The second part of the book is even more fascinating as it studies how creativity works best in groups, why brainstorming doesn't work, and how urban areas breed creativity.

I think your strategy to get out of your punishment by distracting Richard with books was a huge success. Congrats! :)

Brainstorming doesn't work? Why is that?

One of the tenets of brainstorming is to treat every idea like a good idea in order to encourage sharing of ideas -- basically, you eliminate any non-positive forces in order to avoid stopping people from sharing. But it turns out that it is more effective to foster and environment where (constructive) criticism, analysis, and discussion of ideas is fostered. You have to balance that environment to keep (you don't want people to be mean -- that will hurt, not help) but the brainstorming mantra that 'every idea is a good idea' is simply false - some ideas, while well-meaning, are crap. You need to vet and then get rid of those idea.

Here's Jonah Lehrer, the author of Imagine and a much better writer/explainer than me, expounding on the topic in the New Yorker.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/01/30/120130fa_fact_lehrer

OIC

Editing the brainstorm. Sorta kinda almost.

I think that's a fair summation. The author does not assert that generating ideas as a group is a bad idea (in fact, he would say it is necessary) but he (and many researchers) reject some of the classic tenets of brainstorming, particularly the 'no criticism' approach.

When we used to brainstorm in my scenario planning group at TG, there was a brainstorming part and a winnowing part to every discussion, planned from the beginning to be such.

It worked.

10. The Behavior Gap: Simple Ways to Stop Doing Dumb Things with Money by Carl Richards

Sometimes we need to be reminded of common sense and that is what Carl Richards attempts to do in The Behavior Gap. Richards is an investment advisor, but this book isn't about what to invest in because that varies by person, age, need, goal, etc. Rather, Richards is reinforcing some the mistakes we make that cause us to lose money and perhaps not make our goals: Jumping into a 'hot' investment at a peak price, buying when the market is up and we feel positive, selling when the market is down and we feel negative, etc.

There's not necessarily anything new under the sun in this book, but the author doesn't claim to have discovered a grand new theory. Instead, he related anecdotal stories from his experience to illuminate important points we should remember.

A few takeaways from the book that I appreciated:
Don't do financial planning and get hung up on money. Instead do life planning, and then set up your financial goals and investments to enable your life goals.
- We get emotionally attached to our investments. To overcome this, use the Overnight Test where you pretend someone sold all of your investments overnight and you know have all cash in your portfolio. Ask yourself if you would re-buy the same investments now. If not, then why are you still holding them?
- Ignore CNBC, Jim Cramer, and even whether the market went up or down today. What the market does int a day does not and should not impact what you do. Make your investment decisions based on your goals and then stay the course.
- Focus on your personal economy and not the global economy. You can't control what goes on in China's economy or the price of oil. You can control what you do with money, spending, and investments.

The overall message is that planning and avoid thinks that will cost your money is simple, if not necessarily easy.

Good distinction: It's simple, not necessarily easy.

An interesting fact I picked up from The Behavior Gap. Researchers at Princeton found that money does impact happiness -- at least up to $75,000/year. Above that income level there is no discernible impact on happiness.

Time Link
Princeton Link

At a certain point, wealth has a negative impact on happiness.

Turing's suicide is a tragedy underknown in the world. I dream of a major-studio big-budget biopic starring someone like James Franco that neither whitewashes nor sensationalizes Turing's taste for rough trade.

Turing's post-Enigma story is one that constantly surprises, shocks and saddens me. I've known about it for so long but, for some reason, every time I'm reminded of his story it seems to stun me like a news item that is breaking. Perhaps the fact that his story seems to be missing from the public consciousness is what drives my absent-mindedness? Hopefully his centenary serves to bring his great achievements and the way he was wronged to the forefront and get his story properly told (but please, not with James Franco)

Heh. Now it *must* be Franco, just to annoy you.

Seriously though, who else would dare?

I'm still mad at him for screwing up Anne Hathaway's Oscars. Plus his brother Dave is cuter.

139: I would think human emotion would be too complex to easily quantify something of this nature. One of the reasons you won't see me reading books on the topic of psychology/sociology very often is because they try to force blocks a a bajillion shapes into their generic predetermined holes.

The same thing sort of applies to the brainstorming thing. Too many psychologies of too many people to bluntly say "good ideas come from ~this~ setup." What is more important is knowing your group, knowing the people around you, and figuring out what works best for you. :)

CUTER?!? *SPRINTS off to google Dave Franco*

I finished books! Plural! Now to write reviews.........

...books?...you mean...you READ?

Wow. The things one doesn't know about people.

It's been known to happen on occasion. But don't tell anyone cause I don't want to get a bad reputation.

Next thing, you'll be tellin' me you're a hoMOsexual. I swaNEE!

Is that like those people that are attracted to grifters who ride on freight trains? Or is that hobosexuals?

I thought they meant men attracted to African American men: homeysexuals.

11. Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs

In the early 1960s, as American cities continued their decline into blight, as the suburbs ballooned, and as city planners tried urban renewal methods such as building massive projects and installing huge expressways, one community activist (or perhaps "active community member" would be more apt since activities implies troublemaker and active community members should be viewed as no such thing) believed that these planners, and planning in general, were going about it all wrong. Her name was Jane Jacobs and she decided to put pen to paper, and oh did she ever:

"This book is an attack on current city planning and rebuilding. It is also, and mostly, an attempt to introduce new principles of city planning and rebuilding, different and even opposite from those now taught in everything from schools of architecture and planning to the Sunday supplements and women's magazines. My attack is not based on quibbles about rebuilding methods or a hair-splitting about fashions in design. It is an attack, rather, on the principles and aims that have shaped modern, orthodox city planning and rebuilding."

That, my friends, is the first paragraph of the book. If you're not already in love with a woman, who had no formal training in urban planning other than what she knew from her own thorough observations, would throw a grenade into the doubtlessly male-dominated world of 1961 urban planning, then I will never be able to make you love Jane Jacobs. But I will at least try to make you interested in her seminal work.

Jacobs views large American cities as unique from the (then even more common) small town life in America. In her view, there were few secrets in small towns because everyone know someone or at least knew someone who knew you, and this knowledge helped to keep actions in the community in check. In contrast, cities are made up of strangers. Lots of strangers. So a different system is needed to drive a safe and economically vibrant community. In Jacob's view, the main driver for both safety and vitality in neighborhoods was streets with lots of foot traffic, at all hours not just certain hours, and lots of eyes (such as stay-at-home parents and business owners) watching them (in the natural course of their days, parents watching children playing, etc). Jacobs envisioned four components, all of which were required, to make a neighborhood thrive:

1. The district, and indeed as many of its internal parts as possible, must serve more than one primary function, preferably more than two. These must insure the presence of people who go outdoors on different schedules and are in the place for different purposes, but who are able to use many facilities in common.
2. Most blocks must be short; that is, streets and opportunities to turn corners must be frequent.
3. The district must mingle building that vary in age and condition, including a good proportion of old ones so that they vary in the economic yield they must produce. This mingling must be fairly close-grained.
4. There must be a sufficiently dense concentration of people, for whatever purposes they may be there. This includes dense concentration in the case of people who are there because of residence.

Jacobs divides the book into four sections, laying first the groundwork regarding how cities operate so that in the second part she can describe in detail each of her four criteria. The remaining parts of the book go into further detail about implementation, with more than one reference to Robert Moses (Jacobs is at least partly responsible for stopping his plan to raze parts of her neighborhood, Greenwich Village, and others such as Soho and Little Italy in order to build a twelve-lane Lower Manhattan Expressway. Moses is profiled in the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Caro which has been on my long list of books to read and is now due to be upgraded to my short list).

Jacobs knew cities. She watched cities. She loved cities. And she clearly didn't shy away from fighting for what she knew. This book can be viewed as her manifesto on cities and had become a classic for the field. It is highly recommended.

And just, I stumbled across this profile (I avoid calling it an obituary because it reads like a celebration of a rousing life) of Jacobs printed in the NYT when she died. in 2006.

12. A Trick of The Light by Louise Penny

No one in this group can possibly need an introduction to the Three Pines / Inspector Gamache series at this point. This is another superb entry, and perhaps the one where I realized I'm not even sure I case whodunnit anymore, just as long as people keep dying in Three Pines so that Ms Penny can keep writing about her superbly crafted characters. As with the other books, I fell even more in love with some characters, got more annoyed at certain characters, and tired a little of certain character's problems. In other words, I visited with friends.

>152 ty1997: Review not on book page. Place there that thumbs may be upped. Your prompt attention to this matter is appreciated.

*smooch*

I second that request. Great review of The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Ty!

oh, good reminder! I often don't post my reviews outside of this forum since most of my reviews are short blurbs at best, but Jane Jacobs inspired me (I actually had to hold back from writing more!). Thanks for reminder and the nice feedback folks!

Thumb duly upped.

In which one of my favorite books gets an epic movie trailer

Hm. If anyone can do it, it's the Wachowskis.

13. No One Shouted Stop by John Healy

John Healy was an 20th Century Irish newspaper reporter from the west of Ireland. In the 1960s, he wrote a series of articles (which proved to be so popular that they were compiled into this book) about the death of rural Irish towns, using as a particular example Charlestown, County Mayo, where Healy himself was from.

The west or Ireland was then (and is now) a heavily rural area with small market towns such as Charlestown anchoring even tinier surrounding farming villages. My interest in this book, and the reason I spent almost a year tracking down an available copy from a library that I had access to, lies in the fact that my grandmother grew up in one of those tiny villages surrounding Charlestown. Whenever her family would have needed something from the butcher they would have gone to Charlestown. Every Sunday they would have walked to Charlestown for Church. So, in a way, this is a story of my grandmother and her family. Or, more accurate, my grandmother and her family are part of this story.

Healy writes about a well-known issue in Ireland, particularly rural Ireland: emigration, especially among the young who feel they have no opportunity in their towns. Among those who don't leave Ireland, many flock to Dublin, a further hit to the small towns of the West. (And as we all know this has continued, perhaps even accelerated, since Healy wrote these articles 50 years ago). Healy is angry at policies that he feels continues the needless emigration, including failure to provide the equivalent of high school education (free public education did not come to Ireland until the 1960s). Even when someone tried to open a high school (prior to free education) in Charlestown, it was opposed by the Church who was against co-ed education and the school didn't last long teaching both genders. Healy is angry that, without education, those who do emigrate are doomed to poor jobs in foreign lands. Healy is also mad about the lack of support of farmers and believed a vast rural renewal program is needed.

The most poignant part of the book is when Healy talks about the trains picking up emigrants. Parents and young adult children stand the Charlestown platform, stoically holding back tears, acting strong, all the while knowing they very well may never see each other gain. Then the train pulls in, and the youth who boarded at the last station have lost their composure as reality set in and the train pulled out; a train full of bawling young people, now realizing nothing will ever be the same and their family is but a memory. Though we never discussed it, that's the experience of my grandmother.

The one part of the book that troubled me was that Healy seemed to consider moving to Dublin to be as regrettable a loss as emigrating outside of Ireland. In his view, both were losses to Charlestown, rather than seeing one as a loss to Ireland and one as a retention for Ireland (if still a loss to Charlestown).

I don't know if this is a book to recommend to most people even if you can lay hands on a copy. As a historical lament on a changing way of life, it has sociological significance, but I couldn't help but feel like Healy was saddened by inevitable change. The move to cities should not be viewed as a bad thing, the focus should be on encouraging those who leave the west to move to Irish cities, rather than foreign cities.

Yet, I don't think John Healy and I are really all that different. Healy wanted desperately to save what he knew and loved (as we all want to), a rural way of life that was quickly changing everywhere.. I grew up not far from New York City, and that great city has always been the anchor of how I see the world, how I see living; rural life has always been foreign to me. While I can't relate specifically to Healy's desire to save rural Western Irish towns, I can sympathize about wanting to save a way of life you know and love based on memories of a crumbling NYC in the 1970s and 1980s, and the vision that our great cities would finally give up and die as suburbs continued to expand. (Something that I am happy to see is finally reversing. A feeling John Healy never got to experience.) The irony is that my world view is only built around NYC because my grandmother emigrated there in her youth, met a nice Irish man from the neighboring County back home, and raised a family in the Bronx. The reason Healy's rural Ireland is foreign to me while a large US city feels like home is because my grandparents chose to emigrate from one to the other.

Hi Tom, I know life's gotten away from you here this year, but I wanted to be sure to leave a holiday note here. We're heading into Christmas, gawd help us, so your time will be even more limited. But I do hope you'll come back and play in the sandbox next year, and not pressure yourself about books read or other such faff.

I hope you're not freezing your freezables yet. Seems pretty chilly there in Chicagoland. So far we're mild, for which I'm grateful!

Holiday hugs and smooches
R