Reading Railroad

I used to hate reading...I blame my Xavier freshman English class. There was just no way to finish 50-75 pages of a book every night with all the other homework they piled on. Thank God for Cliff's Notes. Maybe some day I will go back and actually read all those classics...

It wasn't until after I graduated from college that I began to appreciate it. Now, it seems like I can't get enough. I almost always have a book (or an iPad/Kindle version) on my bedside table or in my carry-on bag. I have read several really good books recently. Some are just light, fun, mindless entertainment. Some are financial. Some are spiritual. If you have a few extra hours, and reality TV re-runs just won't cut it check one out.

You Know When the Men Are Gone- An amazingly insightful depiction of life as a military wife. I don't know how much is accurate (it is fiction after all), but it really opened my eyes to the sacrifices these women make while their husband are off fighting for our freedom. I finished it in two days because I couldn't put it down.

I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti- A memoir of good food and bad boyfriends. It was full of good recipes and humorous stories of failed relationships. So much more fun to read about bad boyfriends, than to actually have to deal with them, haha!

You Can't Drink All Day If You Don't Start in the Morning- Another book with great recipes, this one is full of funny anecdotes about living in the South. The author is from North Carolina, which makes me love it even more. I have read a few of her other books and can't get enough, she just has such funny observations about life in the South.

Water for Elephants- It must have been good if they made a movie out of it! A wildly interesting book about life in the circus. Reese Witherspoon is starring in the movie adaptation, and I'm sure like always, the book is better than the movie so read it first!

The Richest Man in Babylon- If you have any interest in taking control of you own finances, getting out of debt, saving for retirement or learning about your own relationship with money this book is the perfect starting point. It puts everything in simple terms, using parables (like in the Bible) about the richest man, in the richest city in history and how he got to where he was was. Whenever anyone comes to JJ or myself for financial advice, this is the first thing we recommend to them. READ IT.

I just started a book by Beth Moore, who writes lots of Bible studies and books about faith, so I will let you know how it goes. I am trying to maintain a good variety for myself, switching between financial books, spiritual books, and what I like to call "mind candy"...perfect for vacation reading.