Review: The Dark Wind

The Dark Wind by Tony Hillerman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I’ve bounced around reading this series, and now that I’m back to an earlier book, I find that it has more of what I like. Hillerman uses Indian religion and ways, and the unique locations in reservation territory to add some mystery to this mystery. I’ve noticed in later books that he don’t seem to include as much content related to the peoples or the location. I enjoyed this earlier story, where I found the different ways of life had to be explained and understood in their context. Reading this earlier book I feel I learned something, while Hillerman’s later books were more just entertaining.

I listened to this on abridged audio. I avoid abridgments normally, but ended up with this one. Unlike many abridgments, this one seemed to flow pretty well. Good job.

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Review: Retirement Fail: The 9 Reasons People Flunk Post-Work Life and How to Ace Your Own

Retirement Fail: The 9 Reasons People Flunk Post-Work Life and How to Ace Your Own by Greg Sullivan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There are many books on retirement released every year. There are many that are substantially identical, covering the basics of planning or describing issues. This is one that focuses on some of the issues that you don’t hear about as often in these books, at least not in the dozens that I’ve read. This covers things that people don’t always think about, like overspending on second houses, dealing with divorce, and getting the correct insurance, trusts, legal coverage, and advisors. The author has a confident and at times humorous voice, and I enjoyed reading this. Given I am well read on the topic, I didn’t find anything entirely new to me, but I did appreciate hearing a different advisor, with different anecdotes, pointing out possible pitfalls. This will help me avoid those problems in the future.

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Review: Work Optional: The Non-Penny-Pinching Guide to Retiring Early

Work Optional: The Non-Penny-Pinching Guide to Retiring Early by Tanja Hester
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Early retirement has become a meme, passed through exposure to any of a number of blogs and Reddit forums focused on the concept. There are a lot of these, grown over the past five years or so. The author is one of those blog authors, following her and her spouse through their investigation of early retirement, their efforts to get there, and their life after reaching, well, the promised land, of a sort. I have occasionally read articles from their blog as well as other blogs and many, many books on the subject. “Work Optional” covers the bases, discussing the concept of early retirement, the financial know-how required to be able to do it, and the ways your life can change after retiring younger than the average worker. Much of the book is how-to, with some sections of the author’s own experience. Anecdotes from the author and other early retirees are mixed in throughout the book.

I found the author on the whole covered what I expected, but added some unique suggestions. The best of these was near the beginning of the book when the author walks through a series of questions to document personal goals. I found this very similar to personal mission/vision/values training I’ve been through in my job, and going through this looks beneficial. The author does not prescribe a detailed financial plan, instead describing many options and some basic plans discussed widely in those online sources. The key here is that the advice offered is basic. I’ve found that individual situations are often nuanced so that basic advice is really just a place to start, and I’ve found no book that covers all bases. This one does a reasonable job with the basics, and replicates the financial discussions of many blogs and online groups. One of the biggest issues for early retirees is acquiring medical insurance. The book describes the options as they currently exist, but does not forecast any changes that could impact early retirees. I’ve always found ongoing availability of medical insurance is a great leap of faith when retiring earlier than the Medicare eligible age, and this book didn’t allay my concerns, although it does provide the author’s own story – successful so far. The shortest section is the author’s description of what it is like to be retired early, but that’s not surprising since her retirement has only lasted about a year when this book was written. This book includes some useful web links at the end, and has detailed end notes that many books do not share. Most of the writing of people in the author’s age group that have retired early is in short blog entries across dozens of blogs. Having a personal story at book length is appreciated. The author’s story of planning and attaining her early retirement is a welcome addition to the early retirement literature.

I received a pre-release copy of this ebook from NetGalley.


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Review: Say This, Not That: A Foolproof Guide to Effective Interpersonal Communication

Say This, Not That: A Foolproof Guide to Effective Interpersonal Communication by Carl Alasko
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was surprised that so many of the scenarios that the author describes here relate to dating. Then by the end of the book he is covering talking to your children. The intent must have been to ensure the book would be useful for decades for the purchaser. I found the scenarios of conversations were often over-simple, but Alasko usually provided commentary that I found valuable. The value to me was in repeating the oft heard wisdom of the ages – ends up Alasko agrees with a lot of the old saws, like “treat others as you would like to be treated”, and “don’t speak in anger”, and his scenarios illustrate these over and over. The book was short enough, and compartmentalized enough, that it went by quite fast. Enjoyable, as an example of a how-to conversation book.

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Review: Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World: Library Edition

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World: Library Edition by Cal Newport
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another in the large number of recent books bemoaning the loss of the ability to concentrate that seems to be plaguing the peoples of earth, particularly those with smart phones. Like the others, “Deep Work” includes a homage to the granddaddy of books on the powers of focus called, well, “Focus”. The author describes the issue and provides background and evidence, both academic and anecdotal. In the last half of the book, the author suggests some ways to bring focus back and to eliminate distraction. This is the same story I’ve already read quite a few times recently, but this seemed to me to be better told. I enjoyed the voice of the author, and his choices of anecdotes. This is really the first of these books to convince me that I am also suffering from this battle with distraction, and while I don’t think the author’s solutions will work for me, I will likely make some effort to pry back my attention from the little device in my pocket. Whoops, new news story. Be right back.

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Review: Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and What to Do about It

Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and What to Do about It by Richard V. Reeves
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When I come across a book that purports to tell me that how well-to-do people act, I look to see whether I myself act this way. Reeves defines upper middle class to be those households with income over $120,000 per year. He then goes on to say that those “rich people” do things to ensure their kids continue to be rich people. Things like saving for college. Reading to them when they are young. Working to get them good internships. Ensuring they have good schools and teachers. This is the suburban way, if not the American way, to get your kids ahead. I now realize that I should have spent more time getting my daughters the best possible internship in college. I didn’t realize that was part of the game I was being forced to play by society. I’m also now worried that my daughters chose careers where they thought they could do a good job making the world a better place instead of focusing on getting a wage that kept them lofty in society.

The problem the author exposes is that everybody likes their offspring to be “better”, and no one wants them to be “worse”. In other words, intergenerational progress. But the author is focused on one scale, that of income. The author identifies this issue, and in the end concludes with some policy suggestions that may help to combat it. Interesting. And not very likely. Good read for the description of the issue, to cause thought around the impact this issue has on society, and to identify those areas where you should help your kids, and maybe other kids, more.


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Review: The Good House

The Good House by Ann Leary
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An enjoyable listen, the story of an alcoholic small town realtor had a great voice. The subplot of a secret affair wasn’t so interesting, but the descriptions of Hildy’s normal days in a waning career, her increasingly alcohol-fueled blackouts, and her memories and attempts at romance were. Most interesting to me was the belief Hildy had that she was descended from Salem witches and had an ability to read people. (view spoiler)[ As her alcoholism worsens, she believes more and more in her “gift”. You could really sense this story becoming a crutch for the character by the end of the book, and that really felt well written. (hide spoiler)] Mary Beth Hurt's narration fit the character to a T. I would read more by Leary, especially on small town life.

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