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July 25
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Abby
marked as to-read:
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Paperback)
by Mark Twain
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
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Abby said:
"Once I was talking about Huck Finn and I inadvertently switched the first letters of each word. Oops. It's kind of like I can't ever say "shift stick" about the type of car I drive. I always say "shit stick", no matter how hard I ...more
Once I was talking about Huck Finn and I inadvertently switched the first letters of each word. Oops. It's kind of like I can't ever say "shift stick" about the type of car I drive. I always say "shit stick", no matter how hard I concentrate on saying it right. Oh! I thought of another one. In nursery at church on Sunday, we were looking at pictures of the Salt Lake temple, and one boy blurted out, "That's an asshole!" Well, not really. He actually said, "That's a castle!", but I heard it wrong and started to cover his mouth. Do I have an advanced form of Terret's Syndrome?
...less
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July 23
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New comment on Danielle's review of
The Five People You Meet in Heaven
(see all 7 comments)
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Abby
marked as to-read:
The Discoverers (Paperback)
by Daniel J. Boorstin
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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Abby said:
"I wanna read this. Not because I know anything about it, but because Glenn Beck says it's an awesome history book. I am his blind and loyal follower (except for when he said that "Mamma Mia" is a horrible movie last week, because I still to...more
I wanna read this. Not because I know anything about it, but because Glenn Beck says it's an awesome history book. I am his blind and loyal follower (except for when he said that "Mamma Mia" is a horrible movie last week, because I still totally plan to see that)....less
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Abby
gave
to:
Richistan: A Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich (Hardcover)
by Robert Frank
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Abby said:
"I actually finished this book a couple days ago. I wrote most of a review, then my computer froze up and I lost it. I have been putting off writing it again. This book dragged for me. I spent a long time reading it. Part of that was because I lost it...more
I actually finished this book a couple days ago. I wrote most of a review, then my computer froze up and I lost it. I have been putting off writing it again. This book dragged for me. I spent a long time reading it. Part of that was because I lost it for a few days on the back of downstairs toilet. I hardly ever use that bathroom.
Anyways, it's a book about the "new rich", as in, people who have made their fortunes within the last, I don't know, 20 years. It talks about their yachts, and their houses, their butlers, their ridiculous "charitable" balls. It lead me to this conclusion: whether people are super wealthy or super poor, they can be real stupid with their money.
My husband is in the military, and I got a packet of info from our annual summer party last week. One section talks about what to do in a financial emergency. See, the army has some charitable organization that helps out military families (particularly during deployments) with financial crises, such as no money for rent, or a broken down car. Here is why I refuse to donate:
The packet entitled "Resources for a Financial Emergency" includes a bullet point on the front page, giving advice for families before coming to the military for aid: "Cut Expenses... Consider reducing or eliminating your cable television service, for example."
WHAT? So, they call for help paying their rent, and the person on the phone asks, "Well, Ma'am, have you considered reducing your cable television service yet?" The military spouse says, "Yep. I considered it a bit." Phone person says, "All right. Just checking. Now I'll send you free money." .
Anyways, people at one level are convinced they need cable television to survive. On another level, wealthier people are convinced they need 5 star hotels, room service and yachts. No matter what, you are rich in America. Just like I look at the people in this book and wonder how they can blow through as much money as they do and still want more, I am sure people from the world over would look at me and wonder they same. (Like, "You mean, you could afford a college degree that you never even USED?!")
One other point of interest is the wealthy's "charitable giving". It's more for show than anything. They never seem to give away enough to make it hurt. They use it as a way to gain respect from others, and climb some social ladder. For example, he interviewed one particularly annoying man who spoke repeatedly of his donations to charity. He said, "Oh, I just give and give and give. I just love helping other people. I just do it because I care so much, dang it." Then he added, "By the way, here is a list of all my recent charitable givings. You can publish them in your book. Actually, let me get you a spreadsheet of them so you get them all correct."
I had a professor at BYU I really liked. His name was Richard Johnson and he wrote a piece called "Wealth and Poverty". (Feel free to google it yourself, when I tried last time, it froze my computer and I lost this review.) It was very controversial. It boiled down to this: charity is not so much defined by how much you give away, but by how much you keep for yourself. You know, the widow's mite, like in the BIBLE. But people were seriously pissed off. Wealthy donors to BYU said they would not continue to contribute funds unless he was fired. Crazy stuff like that.
I agree with him. Giving a $10 million endowment to something, but keeping $2 billion leftover for yourself is not that impressive. And for your $10 million token, you get a building named in your honor, banquets for you, and news stories all over the community declaring you as awesome. Wouldn't you or I donate $100 for something like that? It's the equivalent for them. (According to some social theorists (I was a sociology major), the only true gift is an anonymous one. If you give it to someone and get the thanks and praise, you got something in return. The only way to really give a gift is to secretly do it and not get the credit. Kind of like parents wrap gifts for their kids and say Santa brought them, perhaps. Oh, wait. I guess they do get recognized, it's just delayed until the kids learn that their parents were Santa. Never mind!)
I realize how completely filled with blame I am. I am exactly like the richies in the book. I pay tithing and fast offerings. I donate to the Perpetual Education Fund and the church's Humanitarian Fund. But do I give enough to make it really hurt? Do I starve because of it? Couldn't the leftover food I toss out each year feed hundreds of people in another country? Hey, I didn't even give my kid anything for Christmas and pretend it was from Santa. (He was only a year old, anyways.) I did, however, find some toys he already had that I didn't think my mother in law had seen, and wrapped them up. I made sure he unwrapped them in front of her so that she wouldn't think I didn't get my kid anything for Christmas. She would've been mortified.
We are all too rich. We are all to greedy and dumb with our money. How depressing! Maybe I'll go rescue a cat from the shelter to feel better. Dale's out of town with the scouts, so he can't stop me. Ha ha!!!!!...less
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Abby
is currently reading:
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible (Hardcover)
by A.J. Jacobs
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Abby said:
"I started this book today. It's rather funny. The author decides to live as strictly biblically as he can for a year. For example, no wearing clothes of mixed fibers. Blow a horn at the beginning of each new month. Don't touch a menstruating woman.
...more
I started this book today. It's rather funny. The author decides to live as strictly biblically as he can for a year. For example, no wearing clothes of mixed fibers. Blow a horn at the beginning of each new month. Don't touch a menstruating woman.
Since my sister read this book, and she is under the impression that every good book I find was recommended to me by her, I'll tell the true story of how I stumbled across this book:
One the radio one day, Glenn Beck was talking about a book called "Just Do It". In it, a wife gives her husband the best birthday present she can think of: she says she will have sex with him 100 days straight. It's a book about their humorous journey. Apparently he gets sick or flies out of town on business, but she insists that they find a way to do it anyways. He's ready to throw in the towel, but she is competitive and unrelenting.
I went and looked online to see when they book was going to be released. There were some pre-release reviews about it. In one review, the author said something like, "It has a funny premise, but it's no A.J. Jacob's book." So I looked up A.J. Jacobs. And I found this book. See, totally not related to my sister at all. It was a book about sex that lead me to this biblical book, actually....less
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July 22
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Abby
marked as to-read:
Man's Search for Meaning (Mass Market Paperback)
by Viktor E. Frankl
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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Abby said:
"I just re-read my old kid favorite "The Devil's Arithmetic" for our book club. It made me in the mood for more books about Nazi death camps. Okay, not really. But this is probably one of those books I will be glad I read when I'm done.
P...more
I just re-read my old kid favorite "The Devil's Arithmetic" for our book club. It made me in the mood for more books about Nazi death camps. Okay, not really. But this is probably one of those books I will be glad I read when I'm done.
PS. We had the book club discussing "The Devils' Arithmetic" tonight. So far, I am not so impressed with my book club, god bless their hearts. Only two of us actually read the book. I suppose since it was my fifth-ish time reading it, I could act in proxy of the three who came who hadn't cracked the cover open. Instead of discussing the book, we talked about scary movies (I can't watch them without being traumatized for days) and how to cure warts (put a piece of duct tape over it). I guess I'll be glad I went if I ever get a big wart on my nose.
PPS. I felt smart. My friend at the book club was talking about a book written by a concentration camp survivor, but she couldn't think of the name. I mentioned this book and author. Yeah! It was the book she couldn't think of. Truth: I never knew what this book was about until I read about it online today. HA HA!...less
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Abby
marked as to-read:
Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life (Paperback)
by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Abby said:
"My sister and I want to write a book. It'll be sort of random, since we don't have an actual story, just funny anecdotes. This book sounds like that. So technically, reading this book will be preparation for my future writing career. I should probabl...more
My sister and I want to write a book. It'll be sort of random, since we don't have an actual story, just funny anecdotes. This book sounds like that. So technically, reading this book will be preparation for my future writing career. I should probably be paid for it. Where's my agent?!...less
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Abby
marked as to-read:
It Takes a Mother to Raise a Village (Paperback)
by Colleen Down
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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Abby said:
"This is our book club book for next month. Apparently I wasn't in charge of picking the book, someone else was. I thought it was my turn! Next month will be me, I guess.
I still have a month to pick an appropriate book with no swearing in it. Phew...more
This is our book club book for next month. Apparently I wasn't in charge of picking the book, someone else was. I thought it was my turn! Next month will be me, I guess.
I still have a month to pick an appropriate book with no swearing in it. Phew!...less
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Abby
gave
to:
The Eat-Clean Diet: Fast Fat-Loss that lasts Forever! (Paperback)
by Tosca Reno
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in April, 2007
Abby said:
"I read this book about a year and a half ago, when I purchased it. I'm glad I bought my own copy, since I was feeling a need to be re-motivated in my eating habits. Man, I love brownies.
It was sitting there on the shelf for me. I think this is a...more
I read this book about a year and a half ago, when I purchased it. I'm glad I bought my own copy, since I was feeling a need to be re-motivated in my eating habits. Man, I love brownies.
It was sitting there on the shelf for me. I think this is a great book to have in your house. It is easy to read, understand, and has great photos that make it easy to get into. I love books with lots of pictures.
The way she puts it, it seems ridiculous and unappetizing to eat greasy processed foods. I was really gung ho the last time I read it. I would get all nervous before going to a restaurant. What am I going to eat there? I'd get online and look at the menus and decide ahead of time. I'd get a side salad instead of fries with my sandwich on whole wheat bread. Once I asked if I could have my noodles in a meal whole wheat. The waiter acted like he'd never heard of such a thing.
I am back on the wagon, eating good again. At least for four days, since I started reading this book! Let's see how I'm doing in four weeks. Everybody cross your fingers tight for me. ...less
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July 21
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New comment on Abby's review of
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
(see all 29 comments)
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