Rich Brother Rich Sister by Emi Kiyosaki & Robert Kiyosaki

I just finished reading this book a week ago. This is more of an autobiography rather than one of Robert's Kiyosaki's financial education books.

This book is about the balance between what you do and the role that money plays in your life and how the balance between the two can bring happiness. As Robert Kiyosaki says, "I don't think the love of money is the root of all evil. What we do for the money may be evil. For instance if I grow drugs or if I shoot people for money that could be evil but money by itself isn't". So the lesson to be taken here is to use money for good purposes.

The Locust and the Bird by Hanan Al-Shaykh

This story is about Hanan's (the author) mother's life. This book was originally written in Arabic which was later translated into English. It tells of the story of the sacrifices that her Lebanese mother , Kamila, had to make for love.

you need this book to get what you want by mark palmer & scott solder

Interesting title...that was what I was thinking when I picked up this book at the Big Bad Wold Warehouse sale. This book is about using psychology to get into other people's heads in order to get what you want.

How to be a Property Goddess by Smita Talati

This is a guide for women who want to be home owners. It covers all aspects of home ownership from buying and home maintenance to selling, investing and renting homes. 

Put More Cash in Your Pocket by Loral Langemeier

This book is about making more money by doing things that you already are doing (but most probably aren't charging for). It lists possible money making ventures and goes about showing you the steps that you have to consider such as the resources that you have or will need for your venture, your personality, deciding how much money you need to make in a month, how much time it will take for you to receive your first payment, testing the market, replicating and duplicating a business model that is already out there (as this implies that there is a ready market out there wanting what you have to offer), five key distinctions about your venture that makes you stand out in the market, your talk track where you describe your venture in a sentence or two and even the ask-for-the-cash talk track when you need to ask for payment.

This is a fantastic book for anyone thinking of doing some freelance work on the side to generate more income.   

Cleaning and the Meaning of Life by Paula Jhung

I purchased this book from BookXcess in April, I think. Well, what can I say, I just love Personal Finance and Organizing books.

This book is written in short bullets and easy to read and refer to. Paula writes the book in a humorous manner making reading about cleaning and decluttering your space a fun read. There are lots of ideas on how to organize, declutter and simplify your life in this book.

The New Frugality by Chris Farrell

This is another book which I purchased in order to educate myself on personal financing. Some things I learned from this book about how to be frugal with regards to investing:

• Keep fees razor thin
• Use dollar cost averaging which basically means putting the same amount of money into an investment regularly over a long period
• Rebalance your portfolio regularly
• You have to realise you can't consistently beat the market.
• Invest in index funds; don't bother with actively managed mutual funds.

the heart of success by rob parsons

this is another book that i purchased in the latest big bag wolf's warehouse sale last year. this book keeps you grounded on what's REALLY important and how to be a human being in business.

the money secret by rob parsons

i purchased this book in the last big bad wolf sale (last year --- yup, i'm still plowing through my purchases from that sale and fishing out something to read from that lot when i feel like something of a certain genre to read).

it's a simple enough book to read about money management. 

carolyn 101 by carolyn kepcher

this is a book which i purchased in popular's warehouse clearance in ikano recently.  i bought this book for RM 3!  

it offers some pretty useful advice for the corporate world.

casper the commuting cat by susan finden

casper waiting to alight the bus

casper with a bus driver

i haven't been chronicling the books that i've read recently and thought that i'd play catch up now.

i picked this up in the popular book sale in 1-utama.  casper is such an adorable cat!  he loves to travel on the bus --- something that the bus drivers knew but his owner didn't, until much later.  the thing about this cat is that he knew which bus to take and he would only ride on the first bus even though other buses would stop at the bus stop and get this, he queues up to get onto the bus!  the bus driver would say, "human, human, cat, human....." lol.  this book was written posthumously with much love.  casper is now in kitty heaven.  it's a must read if you're a cat lover.

a big little life by dean koontz

my fourth holiday read, another one of my bookcrossing finds thanks to mph.  

anyone who has ever loved a pet would get dean koontz's sentiment as he writes about trixie koontz, his daughter (as he refers to her).  that's trixie on the cover of the book, by the way.  every new chapter has a snapshot of trixie.  i particularly love the one where she wears ribbons in her hair --- sooooo cute! a MUST read if you're a pet lover.

a big little life by dean koontz

my fourth holiday read, another one of my bookcrossing finds thanks to mph.  

anyone who has ever loved a pet would get dean koontz's sentiment as he writes about trixie koontz, his daughter (as he refers to her).  that's trixie on the cover of the book, by the way.  every new chapter has a snapshot of trixie.  i particularly love the one where she wears ribbons in her hair --- sooooo cute! a MUST read if you're a pet lover.

retire young retire rich by robert kiyosaki

i came across this book in the bookcrossing zone in 1-utama just before going on holiday.  i found a lot of things in this book that made A LOT of sense.  is someone trying to tell me something???

secrets of a shoe addict by beth harbison

this book presents an interesting way of getting out of debt --- phone sex!!! this is another one of my big bad wolf warehouse sale purchases. 

call of the mall: why we buy by paco underhill

i  just finished reading this book.  i bought this book in a book sale a few years ago.  don't know why i never got around to reading it until now.  okay, it appeared to be a very "factual" (= boring) sort of book.  that was until i picked it up and started reading it.

it's an eye opener with regards to how malls and retailers get you to shop.  it also explains why people go to malls.  not everything is new information for me though as i spent quite a number of years as a store designer so i am aware of some of the stuff that this book presents.  still, i enjoyed reading this book.  even though it presents facts based on years of research, it's written in an entertaining manner which makes it very easy to read.  i am thinking of look out for the other two books by paco underhill why we buy and what women want.  wonder if i might find those in bookxcess...

Himglish & Femalese by Jean Hannah Edelstein

i forgot to blog about these two books which i finished reading BEFORE i started on the Secret Shopper's Revenge.

Beyond Words by John Humphrys (can't seem to find the book cover online --- got to take a pic of it myself when i get the chance) gives an interesting take on how we currently use language and what they REALLY mean. i purchased this book in big bad wolf warehouse sale last year (yes, it has been sitting in a pile of yet to be read books in the corner of my living room!!!).

i purchased this book (from the latest big bad wolf warehouse sale, where else???) thinking that it is a book about how men and women use language. it turned out to be a about relationship. 

Why is God Laughing by Deepak Chopra & 50 Ways to Find a Lover by Lucy-Anne Holmes

deepak chopra has written many books but i never got around to reading any before this.  i borrowed this book from a colleague after seeing her reading the book at work. this is one of those "zen" books that you'd pick up if you're into finding the meaning of life.

i bought this book in the recent recent big bad wolf warehouse sale. 

The Sum of Our Days by Isabel Allende

i finished reading this book on monday.  it kept me up late at night trying to finish reading it.  yup, it's another one of my bookcrossing book finds.  thanks for the contribution, mph  :)

eat, pray, love by Elizabeth Gilbert

this is my latest just completed read.  truth be told, this is one book that i have heard a lot of hype about (oprah was raving about it), kept picking up a copy and browsing through it in bookstores but never really felt the urge to purchase it (it wasn't on my list of must reads).

so, how did i get around to reading the book?  well, i was talking about it with a colleague at work and i happened to mention that i thought that it was a lot of hype, that it was written from an american's perspective about "finding spirituality" when really it is nothing more than about the writer's mid-life crisis and realization that she wanted to get out of her present life.  it is about being able to slow down and accept things as they come rather than expecting things to happen as often is expected by western values.

so, this colleague of mine offered me the book to read as although she bought the book four months ago, she never got around to completing it (she only got as far as readubgting the first part of the three part book) as there were too many parts of the writer sobbing on the bathroom floor in the middle of the night.  that was when she offered it to me... it was kind of a challenge, sort of "see how far you can get before you give up on it".

although i never found the book as enlightenig as oprah, and perhaps half of the world, did, i did finish reading the book.  okay, it was readable but was there anything i found enlightening in it? sadly, no  :(

like i said before, it would be enlightening if you're an american indulging in way too much of me, me, me, i guess.