Everyday Millionaires, Chris Hogan

Everyday Millionaires, Chris Hogan

A couple months ago I read the book by Charles Stanley, The Millionaire Next Door. I feel this book is the follow-up to that one. It's a study of 10,000 millionaires and what they have in common, including what they did to gain their millions. This book, I feel, is less about the statistical data, and more about how you can apply it to your life and finances. 

Most millionaires studied in this book did not inherit their wealth. They worked, saved their money, stayed out of or paid off their debt, curbed their spending, and took advantage of their retirement accounts. No flashy ideas here, just good common sense.

It might be too late in life for me and my husband to gain millionaire status, but it's encouraging to know we can do better if we just try, and who knows, maybe we can get there. Already, we have paid off the majority of our "stupid tax" debt. We just have two bills to go, a credit card and my student loan, and we are debt free. That's the starting spot for building wealth. I am definitely going to try to do my best.

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Floor Sample, by Julia Cameron

 

Floor Sample, Julia Cameron

This is the autobiography of Julia Cameron, author of the popular book, The Artist's Way. As an artist, I have read her book, and thought it would do me some good to read about the author. First of all, I had no idea she had been married to the famous director Martin Scorcese. I also learned a lot of other stuff reading this---she was a journalist, a screenwriter, she has written plays and musicals, and other books. She was an alcoholic and drug addict and struggled a long time with it, and she talks about how even when she became, and stayed sober, how there was that desire for just one drink. 

She also suffered from mental illness. She would be fine for a while and then go off the deep end into crazy behavior and need to be put on medication and be watched closely until she regained her sanity. This happened multiple times.

She talks about how she came about creating The Artist's Way with her second husband, as well as other books.

I also learned that she also messes with the occult--seances, automatic writing, praying to the deceased, and more. 

This is the thing that has always bothered me about The Artist's Way. There's nothing wrong with doing a brain dump on three pages of paper each morning. But I always felt that to her, it could have involved automatic writing, which is allowing spirits or some paranormal being to speak through you and control your writing.

When I started listening to the Artist's Way Podcast, I became alarmed, when it got to her other books, she encouraged artists to create little gods or idols to symbolize something important to them, and to pray to them....as well as praying to the dead and waiting for them to guide them. To talk to your dead relatives. It was at that point I stopped listening to the podcast. As a believer in Christ, that goes way over the line of what is acceptable. 

I am glad I read this book, it answered a lot of questions as to what the author believes and accepts. It was interesting to read about the struggles she went through in her life with addiction and mental illness, and was amazing how many different achievements she had, simply because when she wanted to do something, she went for it. It was a very interesting book, and if you have ever read The Artist's Way, you might be interested in this. 

Would you like to buy me a book, or help keep my little free library stocked and maintained? You can donate here: paypal.me/AmyVanGaasbeck 

 

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

Legendborn, Tracy Deonn

My eldest daughter has recently taken up reading as a hobby, and she asked me to read this. She really enjoyed it, even though it isn't the genre she likes. Did I like it? Yes! I felt it was well written and I didn't have it all figured out, unlike many books I have read over the years.

This is the story of a southern black girl who recently lost her mother in a tragic accident. She has started college at a  mostly white southern college. She's trying to reinvent herself and just try to survive, all the while grieving the loss of her mother. From the first day she is at college, though, very weird things happen, things she can't dismiss or forget, and somehow she feels looking into these events might give her a key to understanding what happened the night her mother died.

This is the first book in a series, and she finds out things about herself she had no idea about, shocking things in her past and in her family's past that are brought to light and end up empowering her far beyond anything she could have imagined. 

Oh and did I forget to mention that Arthurian Legend is mixed into this thrilling and fun read?

Yes, there is magic, a fight against evil, and some witchcraft thrown in. 

There is also a look at racism, from a black girl's point of view, and this is written by a young black woman. 

I can't wait to read the second book in the series!!

Would you like to buy me a book, or help keep my little free library stocked and maintained? You can donate here: paypal.me/AmyVanGaasbeck 

 

Painting Horses in Oil, by Cindy Larimore

Painting Horses in Oil, by Cindy Larimore

I picked this up at a yard sale, as I can rarely pass up any Walter Foster books when I see them. I was pleased at how practical and useful this book is. There are a lot of beautiful paintings by the author of different breeds of horses and different poses, but even more than that, this book goes into a horse's anatomy, names the body parts, and shows muscular and skeletal views as well as differences in breeds, and particular things to look for in your subject. Horses were the first thing I learned to draw realistically in third grade, and I have painted horses a few times as an adult, but this book will definitely help me to understand the horse in order to paint it better.

Would you like to buy me a book, or help keep my little free library stocked and maintained? You can donate here: paypal.me/AmyVanGaasbeck 

 

The Road to Little Dribbling, Bill Bryson

 

The Road to Little Dribbling, Bill Bryson

I have read a number of Bill Bryson's books, and most of them I have enjoyed immensely. This is a fun book, the second he has written about traveling through Britain, where he lives. In this one, he travels along a somewhat straight line from one end of the isle to the other, and tells not only of his experiences, but also snippets of history and interesting facts mixed in. If you have never read Bryson's works, I would suggest starting with something like A Walk in the Woods for a good introduction to what he does and his style. Reading this book, one can definitely understand that he loves Britain and all the beauty held within.

Would you like to buy me a book, or help keep my little free library stocked and maintained? You can donate here: paypal.me/AmyVanGaasbeck 

Let's Make Some Great Art, by Marion Deuchars

Let's Make Some Great Art, Marion Deuchars

This was a fun book to go through. It's meant for most ages, maybe 10 and up. It is a hands-on book, you write and draw and paint in the book. You learn about various artists and what kind of art they created, and then you do some kind of exercise that ties in with that artist. There are a lot of random creative prompts as well. This book is inspiring to me, I think I want to do some kind of book of prompts. Gotta think about it and make it happen.

Would you like to buy me a book, or help keep my little free library stocked and maintained? You can donate here: paypal.me/AmyVanGaasbeck 

 

Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss

Swiss Family Robinson, Johann Wyss

I think this is my third time reading Swiss Family Robinson. The first two times were as a youth, when I was in school. This particular tome is part of the Every Child's Library, published by Saalfield. No date of publication, but is illustrated by Frances Brundage. It has some wear and some damage to the cover, but I still feel it's a lovely book, and worth keeping. Old books just feel better to me. 

This book was inspired by DeFoe's Robinson Crusoe, as was Gilligan's Island and Lost in Space, among so many other movies and tv shows, and probably books. Actually, Lost in Space might be inspired more by Swiss Family Robinson. Anyway, it's the story of a family setting out to colonize new territory, and they are shipwrecked near an island that conveniently has enough flora and fauna and conditions to sustain them. They all work hard to not just survive, but thrive, turning lemons into lemonade you could say, while waiting 10 years to be rescued. 

It's a fun book to read. I feel like it's not meant to be a deep read, but one that any age can just enjoy, with the spirit of adventure and resourcefulness throughout, with the idea of never giving up hope or faith that God has all things in his control.

Would you like to buy me a book, or help keep my little free library stocked and maintained? You can donate here: paypal.me/AmyVanGaasbeck