Adam

I've been reading Caits blog for longer than I can remember. Before the finance community was something I knew about, Cait's approach to heartfelt stories about minimalism and consumption was what drew me to read more. This book dives deeper with a narrative that winds through a difficult year.

Going much deeper into personal stories than I expected, the common thread is a story of growth – both towards having less stuff, but also for better understanding what leads to happiness. Editing down a life to focus on what matters is no small undertaking, and many of these stories have inspired me to look at areas of my life that could use a little editing.

The Silo series feels like a more realistic version of Fallout (the video game). This conclusion to the trilogy wraps up enough storylines and plots that just about all questions are answered - which was somewhat satisfying, but felt it was missing the same sense of mystery as part 1.

The Renegades series sounded somewhat shallow at first – from a storyline perspective. A world where various people have superpowers that form up into good and evil groups? I enjoyed how much this one expanded on the first, while starting to advance into how the groups in charge shaped society (or tried to). If I had the third book today I'd start on it immediately.

I feel like I know almost nothing more about Tim Cook after reading this – other than his role at Apple after Jobs passed away.

The idea of a single person company, or a small lifestyle business is increasingly interesting to me personally. In an age like today where one person can create something that provides value and people pay for, its amazing how low the barrier is to entry — assuming you put in the work.

It's not often the 2nd one in a series is better than the first one. For me though, I enjoyed this one more than the original. That's not to say it was a great book, but I did enjoy where it took the story. After reading the first in the series, I wasn't sure I would read anymore of it. After re-watching the movie with some friends, I knew I had to see where the story went.

When I first heard about “Lock In”, I thought it was just another pandemic book based on the descriptions. I was completely wrong! This book is much more of a combination of “Surrogates”, “I, Robot” and “Caves of Steel” – a detective novel with a sci-fi touch in a world facing a pandemic. The pandemic is different than the usual ones though. Instead of killing those affected, it locks them in, making them unable to communicate or move their bodies. This is where the ‘Surrogates” comparison comes in. The government develops a way for those affected to control robots which act as proxies for these people in the real world.

I enjoyed the world building in this one, as well as the main characters. The dynamic reminded me a lot of Caves of Steel, but without quite as much “Ohhh, of course that's it!” to the story.

If you're looking for a book of highlights around the park, this is a great reference book. It's organized into a collection of “focused days” each revolving around a specific topic: animals, photography, kids, birdwatching, fishing, geothermal features and more. As we drove around the park, we had this book handy and combined various days to create our own schedule.

The final book in the Crazy Rich Asians series. Although not my favorite in the series, it does a great job of buttoning up the various stories while still hinting at a future.

Some of my favorite stories center around con-men – people who find a way to take advantage of others. In the movies this is generally robbing from the rich, but back here in reality this is people praying on the weak. This book is half history lesson of scams, and half analysis of them. The constraints and structure of a con is explored and deconstructed many times over, evaluating cons of different types.

Lots of good advice on how on how to safe and live within your means. Great look at how most millionaires are not driving flashy cars, but purchasing used vehicles with research.

As last books in a series go, this was the most rewarding ending I've ever read. Topics introduced at the beginning of book 4 are handled. Topics that other authors might spend entire chapters on are only touched on briefly, and left for the reader to expand on.

After weeks (months?) of hearing me mention how great the “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up” was, Marilyn decided to pick this book up on a recent trip. It wasn't long before she devoured it and started quoting phrases like “if it's elastic, it feels fantastic” and the need to be able to fit a bottle of wine in your purse. Filled with great quips, it's hard not to laugh during this one.

I was looking forward to this one for a long time. From the end of Firefight when more background on Calamity was revealed, I was aching to know more backstory. The evolution of the world, and the new salt city stood out. Even the new epics had time to shine in this relatively short book. To say much more is a spoiler, but if you've already read the first two, you'll probably enjoy the finale. Maybe not love and rave about it, but it's a worthy ending to a fun series.

The 3rd book in Browns Red Rising series doubles down on some of the grit that makes it different than other scifi books around while putting strategy in the forefront. The deceit and planning kept me on my toes – even when guessing I knew what was going to happen I was constantly second guessing myself. A great ending to one of the best series I've read since The Hunger Games.

I'm a sucker for dystopian environments, and this one hit the sweet spot of optimism coupled with grit and a high level look at why the world is the way it is. The star of the story is the relationship between Melanie, a 10 year old genius girl, and her teacher. Melanie doesn't know it, but a fungal infection has taken over the worlds, and taken over her. It has turned the worlds population into “hungries” – zombies. The story unfolds as Melanie learns how she is different, and how she can fit into this new world.

I've watched a lot of zombie movies, TV shows and post-apocalyptic tales, and this one holds up. I'm excited to see a movie is in the works set to release in 2016!

The 4th book in the Dune series was my 2nd favorite so far. The 3rd book build on House Atreides in an unexpected way, veering away from Maud Dib to another darker path. This book takes that darker path and runs with it.

This short story is a follow up to Steelheart, elaborating on the story with the same characters. I enjoyed where it took the city and the characters after the book left me wanting more. The main villain Mitosis, an epic who can split into multiple versions of himself, serves to both advance the characters and our knowledge of the world – just what you would want in a short story set in the same universe.

Great follow up to the first of the series. Sanderson develops on the world in just the way you'd want - with twists and turns leaving you wanting more. I already can't wait for the next one in this series.

I'm a sucker for a good story with a clear villain that keeps the hero in the dark. Add to that a mix of science fiction meets Avatar and you have this series. While it's not the most original series I've ever read, it's just plain fun to listen to.

I'd heard the Sci-Fi channel was in the process of making this book into a mini-series and decided to give it a shot. Being an inspiration for Halo also tipped my interest. This one follows the idea of a Dyson Ring, which has always been an intriguing topic to me. The idea that one Dyson Ring could have the habitable area of 3 million earth-size planets is mind-blowing. The world was more interesting than the characters, unfortunately. There is some controversy about the minimized role of women in this book, which I'd also agree with.

While the other two books I read were more focused on dealing with tenants or building a large base, this one focused almost entirely on the why and how of investing in houses with the idea of holding them for a while.

This isn't a finance book or a memoir. Having read Tanja's blog for the last few years, I couldn't wait to see what she'd focus on. The result? A guidebook for how to retire early by following your own path. This one challenges you with questions, activities and thought provoking questions that help determine what could be your idealistic future. Much of the financial side may be old-hat if you read blogs or books in the FIRE community, but it's sprinkled with facts and data to help highlight the pitfalls common to lifestyle change. As someone who recently left their job, much of the vision casting and future focused questions were useful for reflecting on what I really want to do next, while getting another persons take on their first year after working.

I actually preferred the first book in the Wheel of Time series over this one, and neither were that great to me. It seemed like after the adventures in the first one, the characters started over in this book (I see why it was suggested I skip #1). The story had a few interesting parts – the alternate lines for instance – but was a small reference in a larger story of mostly waiting around and moving places.

Mistborn ends in a good place, but hints at some of the larger problems facing the world as a whole. Book 2 starts down that path letting a little bit more light into the world. The story was slower than part 1, but had good build up.