2013 50 Book Challenge - Page 3

3. Lord of the Flies- William Golding

Believe it or not, I'd never read this before. Frankly, the first 150 pgs were pretty boring, although Golding's turn of phrase is quite good. The ending is ironic. 90% of the tribe breaks off and becomes Nazis and their actions ironically lead to their rescue.

I've heard nothing but good things about Vargas Llosa.

Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History by Selby and Campbell
A very fun and informative book on diamond thiefs and Antwerp's diamond district

Clockwise counting 3/50: Patricia Highsmith - Strangers on a Train (1950)

This is some great and disturbing stuff. I read the first three Ripley novels many years ago and loved them, followed with the fourth and final novel in that series and didn't love it as much. Highsmith's debut novel Strangers on a Train is a masterful story about a crazy scheme of "exchanging" murders, relentlessly pursued by a rich young mentally disturbed alcoholic and gradually involving and corrupting a reluctant young successful architect. Highsmith's writing is usually referred to as psychological thrillers but it rises high above your typical airport fodder and approaches the regions of, eh, art.

If you haven't read him yet, I recommend The Bad Girl.
Good boy falls in love with bad girl.
He treats her with tenderness; she repays him with cruelty.
It's just a fabulous gripping tale with South American and European settings and plenty of political and social angles.
It was called a modern Madame Bovary by some critics.

Do books of poetry count? What about short story collections? Anthologies?
If so, I'm all in.

I would think so - as long as they are "books" and you read them and you give the briefest of commentary / review. Anyone who starts the challenge and fails to reach 50 will be branded anti-intellectual. I think OP is off to a weak start but maybe he gathers pace in the year of the rabbit.

Reading a thick one at the moment.

I keep my list at Shelfari

This looks good, now time to start adding at least this years books to it.

Finished in 2k11 so far: In Cold Blood The Omnivore's Dilemma Disco and the Remaking of American Culture Lucifer (comic series) Alan Moore's Swamp Thing (comic series)

Thanks for the shelfari idea. Anyone actually uses this and is it good?

2.) All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan by Elizabeth Warren & Amelia Warren Tyagi



Alright, so this will probably sound corny but I don't care: this book completely changed how I think about money. Elizabeth Warren is, IMO, one of the great advocates for logical, simple perspectives on money. She doesn't try to say "Here's how to make a million dollars in a month!" She and her daughter Amelia offer conceptually simple guidelines for money. At its core, the book proposes a division of ones monthly net income as follows: 50% for Must-Haves (student loans, food, rent, car insurance, etc.), 30% for wants (cell phone, happy hour, J. Press ties, etc.), and 20% for savings. Recommendations are provided for getting one's Must-Haves at or around 50% and you have full discretion when it comes to the 30% wants.They are VEHEMENTLY opposed to credit cards, and for mostly good reasons. The advice is that you make sure you have $1,000 in liquid funds and then begin paying off credit card debt by putting that entire 20% sum in your monthly payment.

The book is loaded with other good advice. When you read the nuggets of wisdom you say, "shit, I knew that. But now it seems so clear." I am not kidding when I say that All Your Worth altered my view on money and finances. If anything, it erased that helpless feeling I always had when I thought about my credit card woes and dearth of savings. Highly, highly, highly recommended.

I generally hate comics but this was quite good.

How'd you like it?