Summer reading

We don't get sent home with summer reading lists anymore. But if you're like me, you have a running list all year round.

Well, it's always a hoot to see what other people are reading, which is why I joined the booklovers' site Goodreads.com a few years ago (want to be my Goodreads reading buddy, click here) at the urging of my friend Sarah.

Here is a list of what some Philadelphia-area authors have on their summer reading lists by Philadelphia Literary Scene Examiner Kathye Petrie: Philadelphia authors talk about their summer reading.

My summer reading list, which is evolving and is largely based on a) what books my well-read sister in Colorado sends me and b)what books people bring into work and recommend, currently includes "The Gathering" by Anne Enright, and "Angels & Demons" by Dan Brown (to be read before I see the movie).

I just finished "A Walk in the Woods," by Bill Bryson, which made me not only want to find some way to become a better, funnier writer, but also to hop on the Appalachian Trail as soon as possible and see a little bit of the sites he was talking about. Except for the incessant rain, blisters and body odor and lack of food other than raisins and Snickers.

Hmmm. I may be headed to the Delaware Water Gap this weekend...

Philly book-signing event this saturday

Acclaimed chef Marc Vetri, a James Beard Award winner, will be stopping at the Anthropologie store in his hometown of Philadelphia for a special book signing this Saturday, June 27, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.. Customers will have a chance to chat with Vetri about recipes, techniques and his debut cookbook, Il Viaggio di Vetri (Ten Speed Press, 2008). The book was co-authored by David Joachim and features photographs by Douglas Takeshi Wolfe.

Anthropologie is located at 1801 Walnut Street, Philadelphia.

Vetri is the owner of Philadelphia restaurants Vetri and Osteria.

Vetri is known for his rustic Italian cooking. This from Osteria's website: "Trained in Bergamo, Italy, by some of the region's most noted chefs, Marc Vetri brings a bold, contemporary sensibility to classic Italian cooking. Within two years of opening his eponymous Philadelphia restaurant, Vetri was named one of Food & Wine’s Ten Best New Chefs and received the Philadelphia Inquirer's highest restaurant rating. In 2005, Vetri won the James Beard Award for "Best Chef Mid-Atlantic."

Too bad he won't be cooking...

Three more new biz books that I haven't read

I don't know anyone who still uses a "live for today" attitude when it comes to finance.

Heck, I even, after mulling it over for about 30 min., put back a cute purse in T.J. Maxx the other day and decided to just go home and use one of the thousand other purses I already have (How's that for thrift?). Why did I have this moment of wallet consciousness? Because the $49.99 I could've laid down on that accessory will buy a few days of meals. And I think more about every single purchase I make now than I did, say, a couple of years ago, before my retirement savings got cut in half just like everyone else's ... But enough about me!

These three books, reviewed in brief by The Associated Press Personal Finance Team, take a look at a new attitude toward wealth.

Bookshelf: Is the richest man in town thrifty?

By The AP Personal Finance Team

The "live for today" attitude that helped run up credit card balances and drive down savings accounts is getting a new look these days as Americans struggle through the recession.
Two new book releases present arguments about how to change that attitude, while one offers insight into the tactics wealthy people across the country used to reach their goals.
__________
TITLE: Whatever Happened to Thrift: Why Americans Don't Save and What to Do About It
AUTHOR: Ronald T. Wilcox
PUBLISHER: Yale University Press
PRICE: $20 (paperback)
SUMMARY: Wilcox, a business professor at the University of Virginia, examines the rational and irrational reasons underlying Americans' failure to adequately save, particularly among the poor. Coming amid a recession, the book isn't uplifting — it shows how many of us are ill-prepared to support ourselves in retirement. Wilcox also demonstrates that our shortcomings pose national challenges, arguing that savings are essential to economic growth. Rather then dwelling solely on doom and gloom, Wilcox offers public policy proposals to encourage thrift, as well as tips for boosting household savings. He also presents suggestions for corporate executives to improve employee savings plans. And while he argues the credit card industry and corporate America share plenty of blame for our collective savings failures, he advises to look at ourselves first.
QUOTE: "Truthfully, we are at the root of the problem; for the most part, it is not the companies, the government, or some evil spirit that possesses us and causes us to spend too much. We are just fallible human beings operating in the world we live in as Americans."
— Mark Jewell
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TITLE: The Elephant in the Room: Sharing the Secrets for Pursuing Real Financial Success
AUTHOR: Barry Bridger
PUBLISHER: Wiley
PRICE: $19.95 (hardcover)
SUMMARY: Bridger takes an unusual approach by creating a fictional narrative involving a man named Michael Davidson and his wife, Jennifer, talking with his wise, prosperous aunt about their financial troubles. This short book details the characteristics needed for financial security.
Unlike most personal finance books, there are no charts, graphs or worksheets, and no specific advice for budgeting, money management or paying down debt. Rather, the author focuses on the attitudes, values and behaviors needed to transform a financial life from month-to-month anxiety to well-planned security.
Bridger's aim is to get readers thinking beyond the numbers and focusing on their goals, and to understand that the key is not how much they earn, but how they spend it.
QUOTE: "Everything we do affects the way we earn money, save money and spend money. Everything we believe and feel affects the way we act. Those behaviors, the way we act, the things we do, affect our financial future."
— Eileen AJ Connelly
__________
TITLE: The Richest Man In Town: The Twelve Commandments of Wealth
AUTHOR: W. Randall Jones
PUBLISHER: Business Plus, an imprint of Hatchette Book Group
PRICE: $25.95 (hardcover)
SUMMARY: Worth magazine founder Randy Jones set out to learn the secret to becoming rich. So he interviewed 100 self-made business people prominent in communities large and small across the U.S.
Some, such as Bill Gates, Michael Dell and Carl Icahn, are well known, while others are not quite household names. But Jones found they all share certain traits.
Jones uses an easy-to-read style to present those traits as 12 commandments readers should follow to build their own fortunes. Sprinkling in quotes and insights from his interview subjects, philosophers and famous writers, he directs readers to do things like "Get addicted to ambition" and "Moor yourself to morals," and above all, not to pursue money for the sake of money.
Borrowing his title from the toast at the end of the movie "It's a Wonderful Life," he maintains that a rich life is one that includes personal fulfillment and contributing real value to the world, not just the accumulation of dollars.
QUOTE: "There are people who have loads of money, and there are people who are rich. There is a decided difference between them."
—Eileen AJ Connelly

Josh The Baby Otter

It's not often ... OK, it's never happened before ... that someone sends me a children's book to review. So when "Josh The Baby Otter: A tale promoting water safety for children" by Blake Collingsworth, and adorably illustrated by Ashley Spitsnogle, arrived in the mail, I didn't want to just ignore it.

"Josh The Baby Otter" (published by Blake Collingsworth, 2009, $8.95) is the tale of, well, a baby otter named Josh who is urged by his mommy otter to learn to float before he can go off and swim with his buddies. And, young Josh is told by his mom, he must never, EVER, swim alone.

"It's time we started talking to children about the dangers of water. Yes, water is fun, but ONLY WHEN WE ARE TOGETHER," the author writes on a release that accompanied the book.

The book includes a sing-a-long CD, along with words and music, to a song called "Learn to Float" that hammers the message home.

At the end of the tiny little book is when you learn that it's dedicated to the author's son, Josh, who died at the age of 2 and a half in the family's backyard pool, presumably trying to fill his water gun. The family's mission is to spread the news that drowning is the No. 1 cause of death to kids ages 1 to 4. All proceeds from the sale of the book go to drowning prevention education, instruction and the development of new innovative safety equipment through the Joshua Collingsworth memorial Foundation (http://www.joshuamemorial.org/).

It is obviously a labor of love and tragic loss. The book is dedicated to Joshua Collingsworth, with a small photo of the gorgeous toddler on the dedication page, and the back cover includes a photo and memorium.

My hesitation is that the book, however inviting with cute otters throughout, will scare the bejesus out of young children. I would like to pass this along to three of my nieces, ages 3, 7 and 9, who love all creatures furry, enjoy singing along of any type and continue to excel at their swimming lessons, but am concerned the oldest two will fixate on the child and his tragic death.

I feel for the author and his family. They have obviously been through hell. Maybe a little bit of scary is worth a whole lot of caution.

I will give the book the ultimate test of sending it to my sister. She will know within seconds whether she feels it is acceptable to be passed along to the girls.

Notably, the Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation has, as of May 1, donated a copy of this book to every elementary school in the Collingsworths' home state of Nebraska with a "plea to teachers and administrators to please read this book and talk to your young students before school recesses for the summer break."