Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman
May 30th, 2011Title: Orange is the New Black
Author: Piper Kerman
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau (2010)
Sooo….it looks like it has been a while since my last review. I’m sure you are have been devastated without them. Hopefully it will give you some relief to know that I have been reading this whole time…just haven’t been writing reviews. I thought about giving a long explanation for the reason why…but to be honest, I’m just lazy. Anyway…I thought I would try to get back into it again. We shall see. OK. Here we go!
I was looking through a Starbucks recently and taking note of the books I want to read. Most of them were business books, but this one caught my attention because prison interests me. Not so much that I care to do personal research…but enough that I have read a couple of books (Like Newjack by Ted Conover) and watch those sweet TV shows on A&E.
Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman was an interesting look into life in a women’s prison. Immediately following college, Kerman was looking for adventure and eventually found it while traveling with a drug smuggling group. While at first she resisted actually being involved, she eventually agreed to carry money. Long story short…she got arrested after being ratted out. After 10 years of court time and delays, she was eventually sent to the Federal Pentitentiary in Danbury, CT. (Side note: This happens to be the city that I was born in. My family moved soon after that so I have literally zero recollection of the city. Nonetheless, I feel some sort of weird bond about it all. I understand this makes no rational sense).
The book takes you through the 15 months (later brought down to 13) that Kerman was sent to do time. Kerman is a pretty good storyteller and kept me entertained for most of the book. She does a nice job of describing the other people at the prison and how her relationships grew with them. It is obvious as well that she came out of prison a different person than when she went in…though I don’t think it had anything to do with rehabilitation. Because of the 10 year difference between her crime and her sentence, she seemed rehabilitated before she went in.
I think part of the intent of the book is to shed some light on the prison system and the terrible state it is in. There probably aren’t very many people who would disagree that the system probably could use some fine tuning…or an overhaul. That said, I kind of glossed over those portions because I am not interested in lectures about the prison system right now. There weren’t very many of these sections though, so it was OK.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone interested in prison life.
Rating: 3 out of 5
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The Big Short by Michael Lewis
August 2nd, 2010Title: The Big Short
Author: Michael Lewis
Publisher: W.W. Norton (2010)
Hurray for another Michael Lewis book! As long time readers of Letters on Pages might (but probably don’t) remember, Michael Lewis is my favorite non-fiction author. I have reviewed one recent book of his already. So there wasn’t much chance of me NOT liking this book. That said, I actually held off on reading it for a while because I wasn’t sure I wanted to read yet another book about the subprime mortgage disaster. But I was interested to hear what Lewis, a former Wall Street trader, had to say. Fortunately, as he usually does, he took a different viewpoint to write through.
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis is fantastically written look at the recent financial crash from an alternative viewpoint. Lewis wrote about the very few number of professional money managers who saw this coming even before the crash started to happen. And the fact that they saw it coming meant they could prepare for it…and made BILLIONS of dollars off of it.
It is kind of funny because his protagonists made a ton of money off of the deals, which means they were hoping the collapse WOULD happen! This is mentioned in the book…and to be fair to the traders…I don’t think they really wanted the crash to happen. I think that they saw it coming and no one else did. so they decided that if it definitely was going to happen, at least they could make a ton of money on it!
Apart from the arbitrage that these traders discovered, it was really interesting to read, with the benefit of hindsight, how arrogant most traders were. All they saw was a way to make money really fast, and didn’t appear to care about any consequences. As long as they made their profits…who cares! (By the way – these people kept all the money they made…it was the companies that they worked for that took the hits).
The only downside to the book was that there is an awful lot of finance verbiage, which gets a bit overwhelming for a dummy like me. But this is an excellent book and I would recommend it to anyone who has the smallest interest in what happened.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
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Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this book and this post contains affiliate links.
No Excuses! by Brian Tracy
July 19th, 2010Title: No Excuses!
Author: Brian Tracy
Publisher: Vanguard Press (2010)
This book looked interesting to me when I saw it because it is about self discipline, which is not one of my strong suits. So I sat down to read it…hoping it would fix all of my self discipline issues. Then something “good” came on the TV (I think it was American Pickers), that I had to watch. so after I watched that I got back to solving my self discipline problems. BUT then I got a message on Facebook that I had to respond to. Eventually I finished the book though, so I’m pretty sure my self discipline problems are a thing of the past!
No Excuses!: The Power of Self-Discipline by Brian Tracy has a pretty singular theme: Your life can significantly improve if you can implement self-discipline. There are three sections, which are broken up into individual chapters. Those chapters are very focused, with titles like “Self-Discipline and Character” or “Self-Discipline and Happiness”. While it is probably better to view the book collectively, it is nice to be able to read a chapter at a time and have it stand up individually as well.
Of course, the problem that most people have with self-discipline is that you have to do it ALL THE TIME, otherwise it doesn’t work. This is the main problem I have with these types of books. I don’t think they do a very good job of helping you establish the new habit. They show you the benefits of self-discipline, but don’t help you learn how to use it! I would think people like me, who have self-discipline issues, have a hard time learning the new habit…otherwise we would already be doing it!
All in all, it was an OK book. I think that this book was very similar to other self-help books in that they all kind of say the same thing. But I expected that going in.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
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Top 100 Sports Books
June 28th, 2010Hey Ya’ll. That’s right…I said ya’ll. Anyways, over at the best sports blog out there, Joe Posnanski is having readers vote on their favorite sports books and he is going to compile a list of the top 100.
I’ve got a bunch to vote on…so if you are into sports books, you should go to the post and add your vote in the comments!
My top 5 are:
The Kid Who Only Hit Homers by Matt Christopher (kids book)
The Machine by Joe Posnanski
Moneyball by Michael Lewis
The Blind Side by Michael Lewis
Hurricane Season by Neal Thompson
http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2010/06/26/top-100-sports-books/
What Would Rob Do? by Rob Sachs
June 7th, 2010Title: What Would Rob Do?
Author: Rob Sachs
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons (2010)
I saw the title of this book and thought it was a funny concept. It is apparently an adaptation from an NPR podcast, though I am not smart enough to listen to that. My mental capabilities usually max out at sports stuff. Plus, the idea of the book kind of reminded me of Maxims of Manhood, which I reviewed last year.
What Would Rob Do?: An Irreverent Guide to Surviving Life’s Daily Indignities by Rob Sachs is a humorous book about how to handle different things that pop up in life. The chapters are short and to the point…which is good for my dwindling attention span. For each subject, he contacts an “expert” in the field and asks them the best way to deal with that specific situation. For example: In the chapter on how to eat at a Las Vegas buffett, he speaks with Craig Taylor, who is the executive chef for Treasure Island’s all you can eat buffet. (His advice, by the way, is to get the stuff that is hidden away in the back of the room…that’s the good expensive food!)
I did enjoy this book, and it is a good, light read for when you don’t want to take on something too serious. I got a little annoyed that Sachs kept referencing his family vacations to the Bahamas or constantly referencing the multiple places he studied abroad at…but I will chalk that up to NPR type influences on his writing.
I would recommend this book to pretty much anybody. It would be a good book to have on your coffee table that guests could check out a page or two and maybe even learn something!
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this book and this post contains affiliate links.
Broke USA by Gary Rivlin
June 1st, 2010Title: Broke USA
Author: Gary Rivlin
Publisher: Harper Business (2010)
Confession: I have a fascination with payday loans. There is a storefront right by the Chipotle that we like to eat at. Almost every time we eat there, I try to lure someone into a discussion about them. I’m not exactly sure why I am so fascinated with them…I suspect it is because they make me sad. So when I saw that this book was coming out, I thought it would be a good chance to experience them without having to drag my wife into a discussion. I think she likes it better this way.
Broke USA: From Pawnshops to Poverty, Inc. – How the Working Poor Became Big Business by Gary Rivlin is an interesting book about the relatively short history of the poverty business. Not that companies catering to poor people is new…just that the explosion of these companies has been recent. This book does a pretty good job of tackling a number of different topics but keeping it within a main theme. Payday Loans, Sub-Prime Lending, Pawning, etc… are all covered in the book.
One aspect of the book that I really liked was that Rivlin introduced a couple of major players early on in the book, and they continue to have appearances throughout. That kept the book consistent and familiar. While there were obviously a lot of different people referenced in the book, I feel there were two main characters: Allan Jones, who owns one of the largest payday loan companies in the country and Martin Eakes, the founder of the Center for Responsible Lending.
Now, one aspect I didn’t really appreciate in this book was the heavy handedness of the author. I don’t think he leaves any doubt about his personal feelings on the subject. The chapter describing Jones tries to subtly paint Jones as an arrogant, bad person. Unfortunately, it isn’t very subtle. The initial chapter on Eakes, however, basically describes him as a freedom fighter/angel from heaven (in different words though!). There is no doubt which character is the protagonist and which is the antagonist.
Of course, this isn’t to say that I don’t agree with Rivlin on who the bad guys are…I was just expecting it to be a little more even to allow the reader to make an unbiased opinion. That said, I think one of the main points of this book is that the “Crash of 2008″ can’t be blamed on one entity. People like having a singular “bad guy” to blame when things go wrong…but that just isn’t realistic…especially in situations like this. I think Rivlin is very fair…I think he makes it clear (though I don’t remember him saying it outright) that EVERYONE involved is to blame.
The banks should not have been so shortsighted to buy these mortgages. The smaller initial lenders should have been more honest with the actual costs. And while probably not directly related to the sub-prime crash…the payday lenders should also be more honest on what the actual costs are to a loan. It may only be $15 for a two week loan…but most people don’t pay it back that quickly. It becomes a never ending cycle of fees.
I know a lot of people have a lot of different opinions on these issues…and I am not here to convince anyone of anything. Your opinion is just as valid as mine is (well, maybe just a bit less valid!).
I am interested if anyone here has knowledge of payday loans, or has taken one out themselves? I would like to hear your side…because, as you know, I am always up for a discussion about this!
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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Book News: Google Editions
May 19th, 2010As some of you may be aware, Google will eventually take over the entire world. I, for one, welcome our soon to be rulers…because no matter how bad everything else gets I can at least be sure our information will be well organized. So we’ll have that going for us.
Anyway…their next target on the way to world domination is e-books…and like everything else they do, they plan to make it open. The information that has come out so far is not very detailed…but the main feature (at least to me) is that you can use their books on ANY device that accesses the internet. From PC World:
Unlike its e-book-selling contemporaries — Amazon, with its Kindle; Barnes and Noble, with its Nook; and Apple, with its iBooks — Google Editions will allow you to download and read books using only your Web browser. That means any device that can surf the Web is fair game: your laptop, your computer, even your Kindle, Nook, or iPad. No separate apps or interfaces will be required.
This reminds me of the DRM free music downloads that Amazon started to sell whereas Apple’s music could only be listened to on iPods. Eventually the iTunes store stopped selling DRM locked music. I suspect the same thing with happen for these e-books. You will be able to buy the book at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google Editions or wherever you can find the best price. Then you will be able to read it on whatever device you have.
Eventually everybody wins…and Google will have to find another industry to take down!
