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12 STEPS TO YOUR FIRST STOCK

HOW TO TURN 1 MONTH OF EXPENSES INTO 1 YEAR OF FREEDOM

A well-crafted, easy-to-follow seminar on long-term investment.

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A beginner’s guide to investing in the stock market.

Debut author Hauptfuhrer offers a brief, accessible personal-finance tutorial designed for the first-time investor who has no knowledge of the field. Specifically, he offers counsel for long-term speculation, with the goal of transforming an amount of money that could pay for a month’s worth of expenses into a year’s worth. To that end, he advises the reader to think like a committed consumer and identify a product “addiction”—a purchasable item that he or she consistently, repeatedly buys—and then consider investing in the company that makes that product. He then lays out the basics for assessing the company’s future prospects for success, analyzing everything from its current profitability to the strength of its CEO. For a long-ball investor, he says, the point is to buy and hold, studiously refraining from micromanaging one’s stock holdings. This “stupidly simple strategy maximizes dollars-per-hour while minimizing taxes, fees, and stress,” he writes, effectively highlighting the strength of amateur investing, which is having the luxury of patience. Indeed, the whole point is to do as little as possible, so there’s no real incentive to hire a professional brokerage house or seek out costly consultants. The author describes specific companies that have proven to be successful picks and candidly discusses his failures, as well. This very brief work comes in at less than 50 pages, so it’s more like a pamphlet than a full-length monograph. The entire text is written in a very breezy, conversational style and presented with the aesthetics of a comic book, replete with cartoonish illustrations, which makes it an enjoyable read. Its message is clear and well-organized, and it provides immediately actionable instruction. Some of it is more philosophical than financial; Hauptfuhrer points out, for instance, that a successful long-term investor has to learn to trust his instincts—or “fact-based faith”—and resist the fear of short-term losses and the allure of quick windfalls. Overall, this is a sound, unpretentious primer for beginners.

A well-crafted, easy-to-follow seminar on long-term investment.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 44

Publisher: Dog Ear Publisher

Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017

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WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR

A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular...

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A neurosurgeon with a passion for literature tragically finds his perfect subject after his diagnosis of terminal lung cancer.

Writing isn’t brain surgery, but it’s rare when someone adept at the latter is also so accomplished at the former. Searching for meaning and purpose in his life, Kalanithi pursued a doctorate in literature and had felt certain that he wouldn’t enter the field of medicine, in which his father and other members of his family excelled. “But I couldn’t let go of the question,” he writes, after realizing that his goals “didn’t quite fit in an English department.” “Where did biology, morality, literature and philosophy intersect?” So he decided to set aside his doctoral dissertation and belatedly prepare for medical school, which “would allow me a chance to find answers that are not in books, to find a different sort of sublime, to forge relationships with the suffering, and to keep following the question of what makes human life meaningful, even in the face of death and decay.” The author’s empathy undoubtedly made him an exceptional doctor, and the precision of his prose—as well as the moral purpose underscoring it—suggests that he could have written a good book on any subject he chose. Part of what makes this book so essential is the fact that it was written under a death sentence following the diagnosis that upended his life, just as he was preparing to end his residency and attract offers at the top of his profession. Kalanithi learned he might have 10 years to live or perhaps five. Should he return to neurosurgery (he could and did), or should he write (he also did)? Should he and his wife have a baby? They did, eight months before he died, which was less than two years after the original diagnosis. “The fact of death is unsettling,” he understates. “Yet there is no other way to live.”

A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular clarity.

Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-8129-8840-6

Page Count: 248

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015

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ROSE BOOK OF BIBLE CHARTS, MAPS AND TIME LINES

Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.

A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.

This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.

Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005

ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8

Page Count: -

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010

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