Books!

One thing that business school has done for me is it has rekindled my love for books. I used to read a lot but I guess as I got older I got busy with life, family and work so reading got pushed back to something that I rarely did. But now that I am as busy as I've ever been I am reading a lot more.

I also discovered some non-traditional ways to read as well. First, since I spend about two hours every day in my car driving to school and back, I use that time to listen to books from Audible. If you spend a lot of time in your car I highly recommend you check them out. For about $15 I get one book per month.

The second thing I recently discovered is Amazon's Kindle. In case you haven't heard of it, it is a new ebook reader and in my opinion is the best thing since sliced bread. I love being able to read the Wall Street Journal while laying on the couch and being able to read a book whenever and wherever I want. Feel free to ask me any questions about it but I'll tell you I think it is going to be a hit. It sold out within 5 hours of being released (luckily I placed my order within that time frame) and is currently on back order. But really, I can't recommend the Kindle enough. It is worth every penny!

So here is a list of books that I have read since July 2007, the books I'm reading now, and books I plan to read within the next couple of months (although that list is subject to change as books interest me). Two of the books were for class (The World is Flat and The Goal) but they were both excellent books so I'm including them here. The rest were just for fun.

Books I've read:

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson
How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt and Jeff Cox
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins
The Age of Turbulence by Alan Greenspan (this is a great book!)

Books I'm reading right now:

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel

Books I plan on reading in the very near future: (with the exception of the first one which I have in hard copy, I have samples of these books on my Kindle)

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre
The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin
A Term at the Fed: An Insider's View by Laurence H. Meyer
When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management by Roger Lowenstein
In an Uncertain World: Tough Choices from Wall Street to Washington by Robert Rubin
The Secrets of Economic Indicators by Bernard Baumohl
The Accidental Investment Banker: Inside the Decade That Transformed Wall Street by Jonathan Knee
The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

A new look

Well in less than a month I'll leave for Morocco with Nolen and David. David and I decided that we didn't want to tell anyone that we are military officers (for operational security reasons). David is going to grow his hair out but I've tried that once and I look terrible with long hair. So I've taken the other route and shaved my head and grew a goatee. It's certainly a different look for me but I like it. And one unexpected side effect is that my kid's friends think I look even more intimidating than before. Since I have two teenage girls at home that's not a bad thing :)