Anne talks about Sebastian Junger’s book, War; Patty shows off a novel about high end art thieves and forgeries and a book about making cities walkable as they grow.
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Archive for the ‘Business, Law & Politics’ Category
The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick’s dogs and their tale of rescue and redemption by Jim Gorant
by Maeve on October 6th, 2010
At first I wasn’t sure I could read a book about Michael Vick’s dogs. The world of dog fighting is a dirty rotten place, but the reviews for Jim Gorant’s book were so compelling that I decided to try. I am glad I did. Just as the subtitle states it is indeed a story of dog rescue and more importantly, redemption. The Lost Dogs chronicles the story of Vick and the Bad Newz Kennel, the raid on the kennel and then follows what happens to the dogs after they are taken from the rural Virginia location. Along the way readers learn about Vick, his friends and dog fighting and how they all came together and then all fell apart.
The story includes the detective work that leads to the arrest, trial and sentencing of Vick, but the main focus is really on the dogs. Fifty-one dogs were impounded during the raid. No one knew what would happen. Would they all be euthanized? In the end forty-seven of the dogs were saved and while not all are family pets far more than anyone originally thought are succeeding in a home situation. Gorant, a senior editor at Sports Illustrated, has written a book that will change peoples minds about pit bulls. It will also make the reader ask questions about why dog fighting continues to thrive and why there isn’t more done to stop it. It isn’t an easy read, but well worth it. The story, especially for the 47 dogs with new lives, is inspirational.
Beyond Luck by John Langhorne
by Maeve on June 30th, 2010
Do you know John Langhorne’s writings? John is a columnist for the Corridor Business Journal and the head of Langhorne Associates, a management consulting firm. If you don’t know John and you are interested in management and leadership you should try to meet him, but until you do here is your chance read his work. The 77 columns are short, to the point and there is take-away lesson in each one.
The book is divided into five sections – Management Practices, Management Principles, Leadership and Executive Behavior, Motivation and Morale, Jobs and Job Loss and Personal Development. I think the quote from Gayle Roberts, President Stanley Consultants, best sums up this compilation “Beyond Luck is a book that will remain on my desk, not on a shelf. Every page offers practical advice for managers and leaders in tackling the challenges of their daily work”.
Big Green Purse
by Maeve on July 18th, 2008
Big Green Purse: Use your Spending Power to Create a Cleaner, Greener World by Diane MacEachern is a great guide for a shopper trying to make environmentally sound decisions when shopping. Many of the suggestions offered by Diane MacEachern are common sense and are becoming more and more popular. MacEachern is an environmental writer and the founder of the website biggreenpurse.com. Big Green Purse is written, as you might have picked up from the title, for women. The author states that women spend 85 cents out of every dollar and collectively women can make a huge difference in the market if they act together. MacEachern explains when women harness the power of their purse – either by buying less or buying green – manufacturers respond. Big Green Purse explains exactly how each of us, man or woman, can make a difference – through small changes or more substantial shifts.
With easy-to-follow, specific information throughout, this book targets twenty-five key commodities where our dollars can have the most impact. It also provides standards-based guidelines and give readers "thumbs up/thumbs down" ratings to help make the shift to eco-friendly products, companies, and services. Big Green Purse highlights eco-cheap strategies to help save money but still live and shop green. The final section of the book is chock-full of resources MacEachern found useful, included are some very informative websites. You can use this book to make a huge change in your life or if you aren’t ready to do anything that drastic, select one or two of her suggestions. You might be surprised out how easy it is to be green and and make a difference.
Every landlord’s property protection guide : 10 ways to cut your risk now
by Maeve on June 18th, 2008
Every landlord’s property protection guide : 10 ways to cut your risk now is a part of the Nolo Real Estate Essentials series. Nolo is the well known and highly respected publisher of legal and business self-help guides . The book is written by Ron Leshnower, a practicing attorney with over ten years’ experience in residential real estate. The book offers 10 steps a landlord can take now to reduce risk and as well as find out what insurance you will need, be it property, liability, natural disaster, workers’ comp or some other type of insurance. The next section covers steps an owner can take to evaluate whether a property is physically sound.
The third section details how to make a property accessible to disabled tenants. The fourth chapter outlines how to remove environmental hazards from a property and the fifth how to prepare for disasters and emergencies.
The sixth chapter covers reducing the risk of crime at your property. Find out how to avoid fair housing complaints in the seventh chapter. The last three chapters are on adopting careful and consistent business practices, avoiding problems when hiring help and how to stay on good terms with Uncle Sam. By the time you have worked your way through the book you will likely have learned something you hadn’t planned on.
The weekend small business start-up kit
by Maeve on June 18th, 2008
Have you always wanted to start your own business? The Iowa City Public Library has a new book that might help you achieve that goal. The weekend small business start-up kit by Mark Warda is an easy-to-use resource that will help a reader get a new business up and running in perhaps a weekend’s time. The book gives your business a extra shot at success by helping you think through and put into place certain preliminaries, such as:
- Evaluating your chance of success
- Organizing your business in a form that is right for you
- Naming your business to beat the competition
- Preparing a business plan that gets results
- Financing your business while staying personally secure
- Locating your business for maximum exposure
The weekend small business start-up kit also includes a CD-ROM with forms to get you started and be successful in your new business venture. If this title doesn’t suit your fancy the library has many other books to help with new business ventures. You will find many more under the subject heading New Business Enterprises.
What Color is your Parachute for Retirement
by Maeve on May 21st, 2008
The venerable What Color is Your Parachute folks have a new twist on their popular title. The newest book in the Parachute stable is What Color is Your Parachute for Retirement. This title works much like the guides that graduating students and those looking to change jobs or careers have used for years. Richard N. Bolles and John E. Nelson have expanded retirement planning from just saving enough money to how to plan for all aspects of the next stage of your life.
What Color is your Parachute for Retirement uses the Three Boxes of Life- self-development, productivity, and leisure. The authors consider retirement as part of life’s journey and they offer a way to plan your journey to and through it. The ten chapters is the book range from 1. Will You Ever Retire? to 4. What the Retirement Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know to 7. Where in the World Will You Retire to the final chapter 10. Retirement Calling.
So if retirement is in your near or not-so-near future, take a look at What Color is Your Parachute for Retirement. You might just find this guide asks questions you have never considered before.
The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John Bogle
by Maeve on October 26th, 2007
John Bogle is one of the most respected investment writers in the business. Bogle, who founded The Vanguard Group, knows of what he writes. At Vanguard he pioneered no-load mutual funds along with introducing the first index fund* and his advice is to invest in index funds. The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: the only way to guarantee your fair share of stock market returns is all about how to become a better investor in 18 easy to understand chapters.
Bogle champions a simple approach to creating wealth and keeping it. If you don’t want to read the entire book, (it is a little book, just like it states in the title), at least take a look at the last chapter: What Should I Do Now? Bogle offers suggestions on what to do with your "funny money" as well as your "serious money" and outlines his investment strategy.
Read and prosper…
* Definition: Index funds are mutual funds that
attempt to copy the performance of a stock market index. The most
common index fund tries to track the S&P 500 by purchasing all 500
stocks using the same percentages as the index. Other indices that
mutual funds try to copy include: Russell 2000, Wilshire 5000,
MCSI-EAFE, Lehman-Brothers Aggregate Bond, and NASDAQ 100.
Source: About.com:mutual funds
Go Put Your Strengths to Work : Six Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance by Marcus Buckingham
by Maeve on October 15th, 2007
Marcus Buckingham, author of First, Break all the Rules and The One Thing you need to Know, has a new management title - Go Put Your Strengths to Work : Six Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance. This title is a follow-up to Now, Discover your Strengths. Buckingham outlines a six week plan to with six steps. Begin by identifying your strengths and weaknesses, capitalizing on your strengths, putting your strengths forward at work and diminishing your weaknesses and then communicating your strengths to others on your work team and your supervisors.
An interesting twist to Go Put Your Strengths to Work : Six Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance is the option of downloading the first two segments of the companion film series Trombone Player Wanted. If you have found other titles by Buckingham useful, take a look at Go Put Your Strengths to Work. If you have never read him before, you might find his emphasis on working with strengths a refreshing change.
The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferris
by Maeve on August 2nd, 2007
I don’t think so. I have to admit right off the bat that I haven’t read The 4-Hour Work Week, but I heard Mr. Ferris interviewed and read the book reviews and his premise just doesn’t hold water. Mr. Ferris, who describes himself as a "serial entrepreneur and utlravagabound", has written an extremely popular book that will make him wealthy and leave readers disappointed. That is if they actually believed they could learn his secrets of the 4-hour work week.
Mr. Ferris doesn’t believe in long-term retirement planning, it’s just too much work. Why not do what the super-rich do and hire out your work? The problem – unless you are super-rich how can you afford to have someone to do your work? The answer – outsource to India or some other developing or third world country. Yes, siree, Bob, you can pay someone to do your work and have all the time in the world to learn all those things you want to know and to travel to fabulous places, too.
Mr. Ferris has a nifty acronym to help you remember all you have learned: DEAL. D for Definition, E for Elimination, A for Automation and L for Liberation. The secrets to his methods are found in these four simple words. I could tell you more, but I am saving the details for my upcoming book, The Secret of the Two-Minute Book Review.