They Sell Books at Thrift Stores for $1!

Who knew?  Why didn’t it even dawn on me that Goodwill and other local thrift stores sell books?  Decent books. Hardback for $2.50 and Softback for $1.50.  After having this discovered this truth, I went on a spree and purchased a plethora of books.  Now, let me explain, my spree was not just a wild free-for-all, I selected titles and authors in which I was already interested.  Books on personal finance, health, leadership, and self-improvement.  The stiff spine on 5 of these books indicates to me that they are new, unread books.  What a find!  Retail I would have spent $366.64 but in reality I paid $38.51.  Below is the list the books I bought and the retail price/purchase price.

The newest items to my library collection are:

The Road to Wealth by Suze Orman        $29.95/$2.02

Mad Money by Jim Cramer         $25.00/$2.50

Guide to Financial Independence by Charles Schwab      $12.00/$2.50

 

Do Not Apply-If you don’t know who Napoleon Hill is!

Admittedly, I’ve been scanning the jobs boards.  I came across a job posting stating something typical like “xyz company seeking abc candidate to perform 123″.  Then the last statement was simply this- “Do not apply if you don’t know who Napoleon Hill is!”  How intriguing.
Nowadays most people don’t have time for books but this extraordinary hiring manager has not only read significant books but has chosen not to even consider an applicant who doesn’t know about a particular author.  In fact, perhaps the reader of this blog does not know who Napoleon Hill is.  Well first he’s an author. An inspirational author of a best selling book of all time, Think and Grow Rich (1937).  Wikipedia has this to say about him:

 

Overview: Yes or No The Guide to Better Decisions by Spencer Johnson

Now this book, I found to be the most complex and thought provoking of the recent books I’ve read. I plan to read more Spencer Johnson books and his One Minute series. Yes or No The Guide to Better Decisions is a story about a young man who embarks on a hiking trip with a group of others.  They use this hike to reflect on their decisions and analyze how they could have made better decisions, sooner. There is a certain criteria that must be evaluated if you, we, are to arrive not only to good decisions, but better ones. Here I will review the Map to a better decision.

The Yes or No system lets you

• focus on real needs, versus mere wants
• create better options

 

Overview: Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson

Whilst at the bookstore after having read The Dip by Seth Godin, I continued on to look through the bestsellers.  I saw sitting there Who Moved My Cheese? I had heard of this book from Dave Ramsey’s radio show in which he has this, along with many other titles, on a required reading list for all new employees. With frugality in mind, I left the retail store and headed to the library. I checked out three books. Who Moved My Chesse? by Spencer Johnson, another Johnson book Yes or No the Guide to Better Decisions and another Godin, Small is the New Big. More on those to come in later posts.

My favorite books are the short ones. I’m talking two hours or less of read time.  Admittedly, my attention span is lacking so the longer the book, the longer (I mean months longer) it takes me to finish. I’m still in the middle of The Millionaire Next Door, Your Money or Your Life, and Think and Grow Rich. I especially prefer narratives as I find those are able to keep my ADD at bay. That is one reason why I like Andy Andrews books and also Who Moved My Cheese?

 

Overview: The Dip by Seth Godin

Perplexed by some of the on-goings in the workplace, I headed out to Barnes & Noble in search of something to settle my mind and grant me clarity. I did not know what I was looking for but knew the section I was headed to: Business and Personal Finance. I begin to peruse some of the titles, pulling a book of the shelf, placing it back until I came across this 96 page book. The Dip by Seth Godin. The author familiar, as I use to follow his blog and have more recently heard Dave Ramsey’s recommendations of his writings.  Being as frugal (read cheap) as I am, I curled up in one of the comfy chairs with my Grande Cinnamon Dolce Latte and begin to read.