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Business and Personal FinanceAugust 2015
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"The key issue is jobs. You can't get away from it: jobs. Having a buck or two in your pocket and feeling like somebody." ~ Studs Terkel (1912-2008), American historian
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| The Aspirational Investor: Taming the Markets to Achieve Your Life's Goals by Ashvin B. ChhabraThis intriguing investment book is framed around the idea that an investor's goals for his or her life should be the primary focus of an investment strategy, not trying to "beat the markets." Though written for individuals who have the wherewithal to invest, it also provides a good overview of how investment strategies work (including Warren Buffett's), and explains how readers can analyze their own goals and tolerance for risk in order to create individualized Wealth Allocation Frameworks. Written by Merrill Lynch's chief investment officer, Ashvin Chhabra, this is an informative read for canny investors. |
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| Shadow Work: The Unpaid, Unseen Jobs that Fill Your Day by Craig LambertWhat is shadow work? It's doing the things that someone else used to be paid to do -- organizing travel, bagging (and ringing up) groceries, or depositing a check. Some of these changes trade service for convenience, but all of them have affected the job market, according to author Craig Lambert. He argues that shifting work from paid employee to unpaid consumer means fewer entry-level jobs, less personal interaction, and longer work days. Provocative observations for your next dinner party (which you'll no doubt cater yourself). |
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| Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires... by Nathaniel PopperWhether you've only heard of Bitcoin or know enough to have opinions on it (It's illegal! It's free market enterprise! It's convenient!), this informative explanation will keep you engaged. Charting the rise of the Bitcoin technology, profiling the characters behind it, and analyzing some of the repercussions it's already provoked, this "oddly entertaining if eminently geeky narrative" (Kirkus Reviews) provides a thorough education of the anonymously traded electronic currency. |
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| Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee VanceAs the founder of electric car company Tesla and aerospace manufacturer SpaceX, Elon Musk has made quite a splash in the last 15 years (not to mention his success with PayPal). For this biography, tech journalist Ashlee Vance had access to Musk himself, as well as colleagues, friends, and current and former employees. The resulting portrait of the ambitious entrepreneur will appeal to readers who want to know more about Musk's revolutionary ideas and his personal life. |
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| I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time by Laura VanderkamPacked with plenty of data, this book is based on the daily time logs of women who make a yearly salary of more than $100K and also have at least one child living at home...and it busts a large hole in the idea that women can't have it all. One major finding: these women had time for themselves without sacrificing sleep, work, or family responsibilities. If you're struggling to have or do it all, this uplifting, analytical book presents strategies used by these successful women that you may be able to utilize yourself. |
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| How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like... by Michael Gates GillAt the age of 60, former advertising executive Michael Gates Gill's career was over, he was newly divorced, and his finances were in ruins. To top things off, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. In desperate need of a job with health insurance, he became a barista at a Starbucks in Manhattan. Much to his surprise, his time spent making lattés alongside his younger coworkers ended up making him a happier and more empathetic person. How Starbucks Saved My Life is Gill's memoir of this life-altering experience; check it out for a riches-to-rags story of redemption and enlightenment. |
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| My Korean Deli: Risking It All for a Convenience Store by Ben Ryder HoweBen Ryder Howe was an editor at The Paris Review when his wife, a corporate lawyer, decided to buy and help run a Brooklyn convenience store to thank her Korean-immigrant parents for their sacrifices. But no one in the family, save Howe's hard-working mother-in-law (whom he refers to as "the Mike Tyson of Korean grandmothers"), had any idea how convenience stores operated. Balancing two bosses and two jobs -- one a "bubble of privilege," the other full of eccentric customers made cranky by changes to "their" shop -- Howe makes this tale of a family-run business into a "rollicking, made-for-the-movies story" (The New York Times). |
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| Hidden America: From Coal Miners to Cowboys, an Extraordinary... by Jeanne Marie LaskasFrom oil-rig drilling to long-haul trucking to berry picking, the U.S. would not be the U.S. without the many unsung workers who provide the food, energy, and goods we use every day. In this engaging book, author Jeanne Laskas offers character studies of individual workers whose often low-profile jobs contribute enormously to the country (unlike, say, those of reality TV stars). Like Studs Terkel's Working, Hidden America shares the stories of the hard-working men and women of the U.S. |
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| Hammer Head: The Making of a Carpenter by Nina MacLaughlinAs she approached 30, website editor Nina MacLaughlin was so uninspired by her desk job that she quit -- and answered a Craigslist ad for a carpenter's apprentice, despite her total lack of experience. Hired and mentored by the carpenter, MacLaughlin eventually mastered carpentry, joining a profession that is 98% male. Combining lovingly depicted descriptions of tools and practical skills with more philosophical musings on the nature of work, this memoir shows how taking risks can pay off big. |
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| The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap: A Memoir of Friendship... by Wendy WelchWendy Welch and her husband Jack had always wanted to own a used bookstore, so when the opportunity presented itself, they took the leap, despite widespread concerns about the viability of such a business. Renovating an old house in a small Virginia coal town, the Welches lived upstairs, while selling books downstairs. Here, Wendy chronicles their successes and mistakes as well as their eccentric patrons and the community they eventually came to be a part of. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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