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: 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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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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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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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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The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande is an excellently written book that shows how important something as basic as a checklist can be to do tasks correctly. Since Gawande is a surgeon, he focused mostly on how checklists can be used in hospitals to make sure everything is done consistently and properly. But he doesn’t limit the potential uses to just medicine – instead proving that it can be used in almost any application.

One of the main premises of the book is that seemingly obvious tasks get overlooked — because they are seemingly obvious. Gawande says this was prevalent in operating rooms. For example, while it wasn’t too common to perform the wrong surgery on the wrong patient…it still happened. This is because everyone just assumed that someone had checked those details! Gawande wanted to figure out a way to stop easily fixable mistakes. He took inspiration from other industries that already use checklists. The most obvious example is the aerospace industry. They are famous for having binders of checklists for every possible situation. The key, after much trial and error, was to make sure the checklists were short and simple so they could be followed even during extreme situations.

Gawande goes on to tell examples of other successful checklists in action throughout the world, while also telling the story of his attempt to create standardized checklists for use all over the world. The goal is to dramatically cut down on mistakes, which would save lives. (He was successful…otherwise it probably wouldn’t be a very interesting book.

Gawande has developed a wonderful skill at storytelling. Every example throughout the book has interesting people who have innovated interesting ways of improving their craft. From the surgeon to the pilot to the construction team, people are using one of the most simple tools to save time, money and lives.

I would recommend this book to pretty much everybody. There is much to be learned by reading it…and it will encourage you to read his other books as well!

Rating: 5 out of 5

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Title: They Dared Return
Author: Patrick K. Donnell
Publisher: Da Capo (2009)

I like action stories. I like war stories (which almost always are action), and I especially like WWII stories. I also like stories about German Jews escaping from Germany, joining the United States military, and re-entering Germany to do counter intelligence work. If you make a Venn Diagram out of those three things…you get this book!

They Dared Return: The True Story of Jewish Spies Behind The Lines in Nazi Germany by Patrick R. O’Donnell is a wonderfully written narrative about a couple of REALLY brave Jews near the end of WWII. A team of Jews, lead by Fred Meyer, went through training in the very early stages of official American counter intelligence. They they dropped behind enemy lines in order to gain a bunch of intel and end WWII. It is absolutely incredible to read about the things they did. Especially for these guys to know that if they were caught, and identified as Jews, they would be tortured and murdered. Yikes.

This book reads really fast…very much like a good mystery novel. In fact, I would be very surprised if this story didn’t get optioned as a movie. We love good Nazi killing spy movies here!

Anyway…I would highly recommend this book. It is really fun to read and you’ll learn a little slice of history at the same time!

Rating: 5 out of 5

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Step Back From the Baggage Claim: Change the World, Start at the Airport by Jason Barger is a fun, thoughtful book. The goal is to change the world one airport at a time! Well, actually, the point is that we can change the world by doing small things…but specifically the book is about how to change the world at the airport.

Barger decided to spend 10 days flying around the country and never leaving the airport. He wanted to observe the behavior of travelers as they made their way trough the airport. People get pretty stressed out and frustrated at the airport, so it was a good place to look. Based on the title, his goal was to get people to step back from the baggage claim so everyone can see and to help others with their bags. Great idea!

The book was thoughtful and a good idea…but I think the book could have used better editing. There were a number of places where the point could have been made more efficiently. The physical format of the book could have been done a bit better as well.

So, when my plane got back into Cincinnati…I figured I would give it a shot. I would tell everyone to back up a couple of steps! I was going to make a difference. I got off the plane and walked the 1,000 miles through CVG airport to get to the baggage claim. I approached the machine and prepared to change the world! I stepped up…and noticed everyone was a couple of steps back. Then one person helped someone with their bags. This was disappointing as I could not change the world. But I suppose it bodes well for society. But ultimately disappointing for me.

All in all…it was a very quick read…and sends across a good message. It is a book people should read if they are looking for encouragement to help make things better.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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The Odds: One Season, Three Gamblers, and the Death of Their Las Vegas by Chad Millman is REALLY interesting look at the Las Vegas sports betting scene. As the subtitle suggests, Millman took a look at three different gambling situations: a big time gambler, a new gambler, and the sportsbook (at the Stardust) themselves.  The contrast between the three was really interesting.  Especially the relationship between the Stardust and the “wise guy”, named Alan Boston.

The interesting aspect of that relationship was that the Stardust and the wise guys are in direct competition, a zero-sum game.  Yet at the same time, because of the massive amounts of money being bet by the wise guys…the sportsbooks want their business.  So the dynamic between “customer service” and hoping painfully that the wise guys lose is an odd one.

One of the main themes that I found while reading this book was that being a Las Vegas sports gambler is a very sad and lonely existince.  There didn’t seem to be a lot of happiness amongst that crew.  Of course, gambling is an addiction…and most people addicted to things don’t appear to be a particularly happy group anyway.  It was very sad to read the stories of people spending all day, everyday, at the sportsbook.  Even when they won a bet, there didn’t seem to be much joy…just relief.  Then the high would wear off and they needed to get another bet down.  The book certainly didn’t make it seem like a very fun way to live.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in psychology, sociology or sports.  It really does mix all three aspects into an easy to read story.  Millman is an excellent writer and storyteller.  I haven’t read anything else he has written…but I’m sure I will soon.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

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I Shudder: And Other Reactions to Life, Death, and New Jersey by Paul Rudnick is a very funny part memoir, part fiction book.  He has a very relaxing style of writing, which is always nice to read.  I never felt like anything that he wrote was forced…and that makes it a very fast read.

He tells his stories with great wit and honesty.  I found myself laughing quite a bit reading about his times as a writer for various movies and times spent with some pretty weird friends.  Oh, I should stop here and mention that he is gay.  It’s a theme throughout the book…though I didn’t think it was overwhelming. So if it would bother you to read a memoir by a gay person, you should probably stay away. Also…shame on you.

Anyway…as I said before, part of the book is a fiction tale about some really weird dude. Those sections were enjoyable to read and reminded me of reading a Chuck Palahniuk book. Well, kind of like a Chuck Palahniuk book minus the totally disgusting stuff Palahniuk writes about. And minus the fear of a lack of identity which is the only thing he can write about. I don’t know if that makes sense…but it should it you have read anything by Palahniuk.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. If you like memoirs, you will probably like this one too.

Rating: 4 out of 5

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