Books Read in May 2009

Here are the books I read in May -

Living in the Age of Entitlement: The Narcissism Epidemic by Jean Twenge
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
Dressed for Death by Donna Leon
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
Keeper by Mal Peet
Girlwood by Claire Dean
Millionaire Babies or Bankrupt Brats by Jim Fay & Kristan Leatherman
Packaging Girlhood by Sharon Lamb (perusal, not full reading)
The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis (modern day Afghanistan)

The one I am most excited about is The Outlier's. It is a non-fiction book that discusses the success of the so-called privileged. Basically, it suggests that highly successful people need a combination of timing, lucky breaks and dedication (ie 10,000 hours of practice) to become amoung the great. It's written in an easy to read, conversational manner, so it is funny and informative at the same time. Read it! And if you're really interested, here are some more posts regarding the Outliers:

The Trouble With Geniuses

My next favorite was the Millionaire Babies book. This is a book written by the Love and Logic authors. It provides an excellent discussion of how to hold kids accountable while teaching them life-long money managing skills. Hopefully so they won't graduate straight into the money mess that is the norm with most United States citizens currently (high debt, no savings, no delayed gratification skills, over-spending, etc.) I've been writing allowance and spending contracts all week! I can't say the kids love this, but they know their mom and know it's good to know what they are accountable for ahead of time - because with me there are usually no freebies!