Book Review: Money Advice Round Up

I've been on a bit of a finance kick lately. I think it finally struck me that I'm almost 30 (ok, a year and a half to go, but still) and I have no idea if my finances are where they're supposed to be. I know that everyone's situation is different, but I figured I might as well smarten myself up a bit and see if I'm on the right path.

That being said, finance and finance books make me want to take a nap. I minored in business in college, and I still have no idea how I got through those classes because I didn't know what was going on half the time. So I've collected some books that are easy to understand, hilarious, or short to make the process easier.

I Will Teach You to be Rich - by Ramit Sethi
If you only ever read one finance related book, read this one. It's written for 20 and 30 year olds and is freaking hysterical. Better yet, listen to it as an audiobook. I got a copy from my library, and the audiobook is narrated by Ramit himself. I don't even know how to describe this book. It's brilliant, full of common sense that no one seems to listen to on their own, and he talks about punching stupid people in the face. He's like the male, Indian, more financially savvy version of myself, and it's phenomenal. He tells you exactly what you should do with your money, and none of this full budgeting or Starbucks deprivation. It's not so much teaching you to be rich as it is teaching good money management. And while this book is a few years old, the basics still apply today.

The Smartest Investment Book You'll Ever Read - by Daniel R. Solin
Short, sweet, to the point. I know nothing about investing. This book teaches a tiny bit about investing. My favorite part about the book (one that I wish more books did) was the fact the author actually said go ahead and skip the next 5 chapters if you want to get to the good stuff. That's the kind of book I like,  one that tells you to skip the fluff and get right to the point.

The Richest Man in Babylon - by George S. Clason
I listened to this book on my commute and this is another one I would recommend as an audiobook. It gives financial advice in the form of tales from Babylon and ancient civilizations. Good advice on saving is still relevant, but I'm not sure if I would have been as interested in this book if I had been reading it. It was entertaining, but if I had to pick one book to read it would be I Will Teach You to be Rich.

The Millionaire Next Door - by Thomas J. Stanley
This was my least favorite of all the books. It just wasn't what I expected. It has very interesting information on the affluent in the country, they're not what you'd expect. While the information was interesting, the book was largely a collection of research data. While I didn't find it that helpful, my dad is a huge fan of this book. So to each their own.

So if you're looking to start reading some easy to understand financial books, hopefully this will help!

Literary Inspirations - BSC - Kristy's Great Idea - Stacey

"Stacy had on a pink sweatshirt with sequins and a large purple parrot on the front; short, tight-fitting jeans with zippers up the outsides of the legs; and pink plastic shoes."

Some things are so 80s that they should just be left there. Like a pink sweatshirt with sequins and purple parrots. And Stacey's supposed to be the grown up, boy crazy one.  Also, pink plastic shoes. Like jelly shoes? Because crocs weren't around back then and I'm blanking on what else that could mean.

Stacey was always way above me in coolness factors as a kid. I never wanted to be her because I couldn't identify with her, although I always thought she had some of the best clothes (after Claudia of course). However, I liked that she had diabetes (as weird as that sounds) because my aunt has it and it was something I could understand as a child. The boy crazy thing, not so much. I never could understand how Kristy's brother Sam, a freshman, was so into a seventh grader. But hey, Stacey was grown up. I'm pretty sure I was still playing with rocks in seventh grade.

Literary Inspirations - BSC - Kristy's Great Idea - Mary Anne

"I glanced at Mary Anne. She and I were still in our school clothes....Mary Anne was wearing a skirt and saddle shoes. Mary Anne's hair was, of course, in braids."

Poor Mary Anne. Her crazy dad made her keep her hair in braids and wear little kid clothes because he had issues after his wife/her mother died. For the first couple of books Mary Anne gets the short end of the stick when it comes to fashion descriptions. In fact, I think they mostly gloss over her and her pleated skirts and saddle shoes. I live for the day where I get to that book where she chops her hair and goes to the mall and tries on all the clothes that "new Mary Anne" would look great in. (Also, how do I remember that?!?! I haven't read that book since 4th grade - I don't even know which one that is!) But for now, it's simple shirts, skirts, and braids. Hang in there girl!

Literary Inspirations - BSC Kristy's Great Idea - Claudia

"Claudia answered it again, this time wearing a baggy yellow-and-black-checkered shirt, black pants, red jazz shoes, and a bracelet that looked like it was made from a telephone cord. Her earrings were dangling jointed skeletons that jumped around when she moved."

On to the fun outfits! We covered Kristy first last week in honor of her being president of the BSC, but Claudia is vp, so she's up next. As I said last time, Claudia is my favorite for a variety of reasons - mainly her sense of style and her affinity for junk food. My kind of girl. For some reason though, this outfit seems tame. I seem to remember really insane combos like mismatched shoes on purpose and stuff like paper mache snakes braided into her hair. Or something like that. Maybe in the next book...

Literary Inspirations - BSC Kristy's Great Idea - Kristy

"I glanced at Mary Anne. She and I were still in our school clothes. I was wearing jeans and sneakers......and I was wearing a blue hair band."


And we're back with another nostalgic run of the Literary Inspiration series. I had so much fun doing the American Girl books a few years ago that I decided to turn to another one of my favorite childhood series - The Baby-Sitters Club books!

Did you love these as much as I did? They were apparently very polarizing books in the 3rd and 4th grade, and you either loved them and pretended to be the characters or hated them. Clearly, I loved them. It was my dream to be Claudia because she had the best outfits, was super artistic, had her own phone in her room, and had junk food hidden everywhere. The fact that I wasn't asian or the least bit artistic was apparently not an issue, and I was determined to be just like her. Only maybe with better grades.

One of the best parts of the books were the outfit descriptions. All the main characters got one, and if you were really lucky, sometimes there would be two or three outfits for one of the girls. Usually it was Claudia or Stacy, which is fine because they always had the best outfits anyway. And even though I want to start out with one of their outfits, I'm going to start at the beginning with book #1 - Kristy's Great Idea, and the founder herself, Kristy Thomas. Right now the plan is to do a set for each girl as described in the first book and then move on to the next book. I know there are like 200 of these things, so I have no idea how long this will last (or how many of these books I can find at the library).  But we'll try for the first 4/5 books and then see where we're at.

Book Review: Education of a Wandering Man

We're starting something new over here on Neroli Blossoms. To go along with my new direction for the blog (more on that later), I'm introducing my first book review! I also have some pretty fantastic ideas to resurrect the Literary Inspiration feature, but book reviews might become a monthly feature here. To kick things off, I'm starting with the autobiography of one of my favorite authors, Louis L'Amour.

From his decision to leave school at fifteen to roam the world, to his recollections of life as a hobo on the Southern Pacific Railroad, as a cattle skinner in Texas, as a merchant seaman in Singapore and the West Indies, and as an itinerant bare-knuckled prizefighter across small-town America, here is Louis L'Amour's memoir of his lifelong love affair with learning--from books, from yondering, and from some remarkable men and women--that shaped him as a storyteller and as a man. Like classic L'Amour fiction, Education of a Wandering Man mixes authentic frontier drama--such as the author's desperate efforts to survive a sudden two-day trek across the blazing Mojave desert--with true-life characters like Shanghai waterfront toughs, desert prospectors, and cowboys whom Louis L'Amour met while traveling the globe. At last, in his own words, this is a story of a one-of-a-kind life lived to the fullest . . . a life that inspired the books that will forever enable us to relive our glorious frontier heritage. 
- From Goodreads

First, a little bit about the author. He writes some of the best westerns that are out there. I never read westerns until I was in college and my husband introduced me to them. I was doubtful but I absolutely fell in love with his straightforward story telling and breathtaking descriptions of the west. The most incredible thing though, is that when reading his autobiography you realize he lived that life. He could be a character in his own books. 

L'Amour didn't have much formal schooling, but he loved the written word. One of the best things about this book is the endless lists of books he writes about. He has such joy listing each book he read and explaining how they influenced his life. If you're ever looking for classic or influential books to read, just crack open any chapter and you'll get a great assortment. He has such a love and respect for books that just permeates through every page. 

The other great thing about this book is the developing story of his life. He was a fascinating person and his life was just incredible. He left school to roam the world. He was trained to fist fight by some of the best at that time and fought prize matches to pay for his book collection. He took odd jobs across the country and traveled around the U.S. as a hobo on trains. He almost died in the desert in Arizona walking from a mining job back to town after the owner never came and got him. He talked to people who had known Billy the Kid. He took to the docks and traveled the world as a seaman. His other jobs included things such as lumberjack, fruit picker, and elephant handler. Yeah, you read that right. He worked with elephants. 


You don't have to like westerns to appreciate this book. And if you do ever want to try the genera, I'd highly recommend his Sackett series or "The Lonesome Gods". If westerns aren't your thing, but you'd still like to read some of his work, try "Last of the Breed" which takes place in Siberia during the cold war and is the story about a POW attempting to escape back to America through Siberia in the winter. Both are incredible! 

Guest Posting over at Library Educated

Hey, remember when I used to do Literary Inspirations? Yeah I miss those too. But my fantastic friend and book diva, Wesley over at Library Educated, asked me to guest post over on her blog today and we're talking about Brave New World.

We talk about caste systems, indoctrination, and how to make an all green outfit not look like a terrible St. Patrick's Day mistake. And make sure you check out Wesley's blog for tons of great book reviews and more intelligent posts than you get here.

Fun Reading Nook Update

Quick fun fact for today - I was featured with a few other bloggers on an article by One Kings Lane featuring reading nooks! By the way, did you know they had a whole section devoted to articles on decor and furniture? They discuss the history of furniture, how to guides, and decor inspiration. How fun is that?! I may have spent a few hours indulging the history nerd in me and reading up on the background of sofa styles.

Fun Stuff Around the Web - The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

In honor of Valentine's Day and classic love I wanted to share something fun that I just recently discovered. A few things first - I'm not a Jane Austen fan. I've tried so many times, but I just don't find her stories interesting or engaging. I just don't care. Also, most of the female characters are incredibly annoying and I find myself wanting to bop them over the head instead of continuing the story. So I have no idea why I clicked through on this random link from Pinterest, but I did. And I found the most amazing web series I've seen since "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog" - The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.

This is a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice set as Lizzie's You Tube video blog. And I kind of love immensely in ways I never got on board with the original book. There are Newsie references! And awkwardness! And sex scandals! And impersonations of crazy southern moms and stuffy dads! And references to the original story! And Darcy is a hipster! And it made me giggle and squee like nothing had in a long time. I only discovered it late in 2013, but it started in early 2013 over several You Tube channels, tumblr, and twitter as the characters had their own accounts. It ended up being an Emmy award winning series, and if you make it all the way through, it's clear as to why. If you follow the link above you can see every part of the story in order. Personally, I discovered Lizzie's blog, and then found out that they had Lydia spin off episodes, which aren't essential, but have fun backstory that they couldn't fit into the main story. Anyway, I found out that I loved the story of these videos, even though I don't really love the original. And that's pretty awesome.

Little Library Nook

While we're on the topic of seating areas, I wanted to set up a little temporary reading nook until we can get the library done. (Again, it's not so much an actual library as a carpeted dining room that we're converting. Seriously, who puts carpeting in a dining room?) My grand dreams include a built in floor to ceiling bookshelf system, a few comfy chair, a side table, and a fully stocked bar. But in the meantime (and until we figure out how to build bookshelves and win the lottery) this little corner will do nicely. 

Originally I wasn't sure what kind of chairs I wanted for the library. My first instinct was a comfy lazy-boy style recliner, even if it's not the prettiest piece of furniture. But we have an old one that was handed down to us and I hate that thing with the fire of a thousand suns. Dramatic much? But seriously, the leather squeaks at every miniscule movement you make while sitting on it, it sticks to your thighs in summer, and is freezing in the winter. Plus I always feel like I'm sliding off it. So I poked around online a little bit to see what was out there, checked out the Chair Style Guide on One King's Lane, and realized that I kept being drawn to chairs with a bit more tailoring. 

I really like the Parsons chair style (and someday dream of having an actual dining room - with hardwood floors!- with Parsons chairs around the table) but I just didn't think that worked for a cozy little reading nook. Because above all else, comfort is my number one requirement when it comes to my furniture. It can be the prettiest/stylish/most trendy sofa or chair in the world, but if I can't curl up on it for hours then no thank you. This especially holds true for reading furniture. I take my reading furniture probably too seriously. 

I think this chair fits the bill for now, it's streamlined and has that modern look, but it's actually very soft and comfy. I'm really into the woodsy meets western look right now (it reminds me that it's winter in the rest of the country even though it's like 70 here and I just had coffee on my patio. Yeah you can hate me now...) and I like how the herringbone pattern goes with the rug and the simple style of the table. We'll see how it holds up after a several hour reading marathon. And while we're talking about decor, you know how in magazines and styled home photos everyone's bookshelves are half empty and styled beautifully with photos and trinkets? Yeah, this is my bookshelf - full to the brim with books and then some. No pretty styling here, and I wouldn't change that for anything. 

(Also, I may have overused parentheses in this post.) 

(PARENTHESES!!!)

Literary Inspirations - Madeline

This literary inspiration is based on Ludwig Bemelman's Madeline books. I suppose this is cheating a bit because these are fully illustrated books, but I loved them growing up and I've been thinking about French inspired things lately, so here we are. 

"In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines...The smallest one was Madeline." Be fearless like our redheaded heroine in a bright yellow or blue coat and lovely hat. Ballet flats will make sure you're comfortable as you're running around Paris, telling off animals at the zoo, making friends with Pepito, or even eating dinner. (I really just want an excuse to write "we love our bread, we love our butter, but most of all we love each other." Was I the only one who watched the tv show too?) Add a cheery red scarf to brighten up your day, and you're ready for your next big adventure!

Literary Inspirations - Call of the Wild

Today's Literary Inspiration is based on Call of the Wild by Jack London. I had some fun with this, truth be told I read this book back in elementary school, but I wanted to see if I could make one of these based on a book with animals as the main characters. It was surprisingly easy actually, but Babe definitely isn't next on the list!

Prepare for the cold blast of the arctic wind as you drive your dog sled team across the hard tundra. Zip your parka up tight and slip into your fur lined boots as you harness up the dogs, giving them an extra pat and a piece of jerky. Warm your hands by the campfire and tie your scarf securely around your neck. No one said delivering mail across the Yukon to the miners was an easy job!

Literary Inspirations - Heidi

It's been a while since we've done one of these, and keeping with the snow and winter theme, this set is inspired by Heidi by Johanna Spyri. 

The hills are aliiiiive....oh wait, wrong story. The snowy alps are a wonderful place for a young girl to grow up, with plenty of goat cheese, bread, and milk drunk out of a bowl. Pack a lunch and put on your red shawl to go with Peter up the mountain with the goats. Don't forget a straw hat for those sunny days!

Literary Inspirations - Peter Pan

We haven't done one of these in forever! This literary inspiration is based on the book Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

All it takes is a little faith, trust, and pixie dust! A pirate hat for wearing on board the pirate ship, Indian moccasins to walk silently through the woods like Tiger Lilly's tribe. A secret forest hideout with the Lost Boys. Watch out for the mermaids - they aren't friendly! And the crocodile is your friend, if you're not Captain Hook! 

Literary Inspirations - The Wizard of Oz

This week's literary inspiration is The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Wizard of Oz 

Blue and white checked dresses - so smart of you to dress in munchkin and good witch colors - along with magical silver shoes will make you quite the fashionista on your way to the Emerald City. (Fact: the original shoes were silver, they were changed to ruby red in the 1939 movie because they would show up better on screen! Did I just wrench your world apart with the true color of the shoes and now your life is meaningless because all this time it's been a lie? Well um sorry, but I included some red sparkly nail polish called Ruby Slipper to ease your suffering.) Follow the yellow brick road with your trusty dog, Toto, and a picnic basket to carry food in. Just make sure you watch out for fields of poppies that put you to sleep, and always keep a pail of water on hand to melt evil witches!

Literary Inspirtation - The Scarlet Pimpernel

It's about time we had another one of these isn't it? This week's literary Inspiration is The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy.

Showing your admiration for the masked hero involves wearing lots of red and florals. Secret notes passed between members, destroying evidence by burning it, sipping a mug of ale while waiting for your boat to leave to take you to France to help rescue those threatened by the guillotine. A cloak and various masks and disguises help conceal your true identity.  

Literary Inspirations - Louis Lamour

This isn't a classic book, nor is it even a specific book, but this week's literary inspiration is based on the collective series of western stories by Louis L'Amour. I have to thank my boyfriend for introducing me to his works, they are highly entertaining and all of them (at least all of the ones I've read) usually seem to have a few similar elements:

Sitting around a campfire after a long day of riding the range, taking your tin cup and a pack of coffee out of your saddle bag to prepare for dinner. Rolling out of your blanket the next morning and putting on your hat and boots - it's the first thing a cowboy puts on after all. Some good solid jeans and a comfy shirt to get you through the day, and a pair of moccasins to slip on when you need to sneak through the brush unheard. Add some native jewelry to dress it up, we are women after all, and since most places frown upon carrying a six shooter with you, you'll have to do with a necklace instead.

Things I love Thursday

A mini version of TILT:

I found a new favorite Tumblr! I Love Reading and Writing. I'm not a writer, but I love reading so this makes me smile.

All photos from I Love Reading and Writing

Literary Inspirations - The Count of Monte Cristo

I'm way overdue for one of these but I've been a little busy lately! Anyway, this week's literary inspiration is The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (yes, I also did The Three Musketeers by him)

Count of Monte Cristo

Years spent locked away in a dungeon only to find riches beyond measure. Wealth in Parisian society, Italian masquerade celebrations, incriminating letters, runaway carriages, and lethal poison - all part of the plan of ultimate revenge. 

Literary Inpirations - Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner

This week's literary inspiration is a bit different. I've been doing classic books, so I thought why not try poems? Not surprisingly poems are a lot harder to make inspiration boards from since so many of them have to do with vague ideas an intangible things. But I decided to try anyway with one of my favorite poems: "Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It...sort of worked. It mostly just ended up being a bunch of nautical themed stuff, but I love that look so it works for me!

Ancient Mariner

Blue and white stripes, rope knot bracelets, a helm necklace. Brass telescopes keep you heading in the right direction. Pillows and rings with sailing ships remind you of adventures on the high seas. Side tables made of ship's rope add a nautical theme to any room. Have your own adventures with a light house as your safe beacon and an albatross as your guide.