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HOME WORTHY

HOW YOU CAN BELIEVE IN YOURSELF, BREAK LIMITATIONS AND BUY YOUR DREAM HOME WITH EASE

An essential read for those looking to buy a home.

Awards & Accolades

Our Verdict

  • Our Verdict
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A guide to buying a first property from a real estate broker and HGTV Canada host.

Rinomato offers personal-development advice that draws on her many years of real estate broker wisdom, along with frequent references to Napoleon Hill’s 1937 self-help classic Think and Grow Rich. She says that single women—who, she says, comprise 1 in 4 home buyers—are her favorite demographic to work with, though her book will be readily useful to any person hunting for their first property. The author’s approach is right on the money, as one’s living space is a deeply emotional topic, and naturally, purchasing your first involves more than budgets and spreadsheets. Buyers are juggling personal agendas, parents, societal expectations, potential partners, and lifestyle changes. As a result, Rinomato advises readers to ask themselves what they really want. The book alternates among three main sources: the author’s own life, case studies of her clients, and the self-improvement genre. What makes this book worth a read is its delightfully dressed-down style; the voice is forthright, plain, no-nonsense, with a touch of self-admitted snark. What comes through again and again are Rinomato’s profound empathy and fierce advocacy for people wanting to build wealth and independence through real estate. The self-help–speak becomes a bit repetitive, but readers will forgive this foible, as goal setting, focused visualization, and positive thinking are genuinely indispensable when undertaking such a monumental and personal project. Dipping into psychology and sociology, Rinomato shows how often people create their own obstacles, and she offers practical strategies and suggestions for overcoming and bypassing fears and hang-ups. The handy final chapter provides a useful summary of pointers, fine-tuned to each step in the property-buying process.

An essential read for those looking to buy a home.

Pub Date: May 20, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-5255-5532-9

Page Count: 240

Publisher: FriesenPress

Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2020

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SELLING 'EM BY THE SACK

WHITE CASTLE AND THE CREATION OF AMERICAN FOOD

A scholar's lively account of how White Castle, now a largely overlooked but still profitable also-ran in the domestic restaurant trade, made the once-scorned hamburger a US institution and launched the fast-food industry. Drawing on a variety of sources, historian Hogan (Heidelberg Coll.) first reviews the ethnic and regional character of America's food preferences prior to the 1920s. He goes on to document the accomplishments of the two men who founded White Castle late in 1921 in Wichita, Kans.: Walt Anderson, inventor of the hamburger, and Billy Ingram, whose marketing genius helped make Anderson's creation a staple of American diets. On the strength of standardization, quality control, a commitment to cleanliness, and conservative financial practices, they soon had a lucrative national network of faux-citadel outlets vending tiny ground-meat patties served with an abundance of pungent onions on diminutive buns for a nickel apiece; enjoining customers to ``buy em by the sack,'' the partners also pioneered the take-out business. Although it survived the Great Depression in fine style, White Castle was hard hit by WW II's home-front price controls, shortages, and restrictions. Having staggered through the 1940s, however, the company retained its fanatically loyal clientele in the cities while formidable new rivals (Big Boy, Gino's, Hardee's, Howard Johnson, McDonald's, et al.) preempted fast-growing suburban markets. Although no longer a leader in the field of franchising giants it helped create, White Tower occupies a rewarding niche that, thanks to effective management practices, promises to provide worthwhile returns for years to come. Informed and engaging perspectives on an often ignored aspect of cultural and commercial Americana. The 20 illustrations include contemporary photos of White Castle outlets and the company's early advertisements.

Pub Date: Dec. 15, 1997

ISBN: 0-8147-3566-5

Page Count: 230

Publisher: New York Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1997

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SALMON P. CHASE

LINCOLN'S VITAL RIVAL

Despite countless books about Lincoln and those in his orbit, Chase is an important figure who merits this capable study.

In a follow-up to Seward: Lincoln’s Indispensable Man and Stanton: Lincoln’s War Secretary, Stahr turns his attention to the president’s treasury secretary.

Salmon P. Chase (1808-1873) was also the sixth chief justice of the Supreme Court and a major player in pushing for Black emancipation and voting rights, and he created the first national bank system and paper currency at a time of deep conflict and crisis during the Civil War. Born in New Hampshire, Chase cut his teeth in Ohio law and politics, where he evolved from an ambitious dilettante regarding slavery to a ferocious defender of fugitive slaves and Black voting rights. His parents died young, leaving behind 10 children and “substantial debt,” and Chase went to live with one of his uncles, an Episcopalian bishop who founded Kenyon College. Like many Chases before him, he graduated from Dartmouth College and studied law until he passed the bar in 1829. In Stahr’s overlong yet sturdy narrative, Chase emerges a driven young man determined to make his mark. He headed a vigorous law practice in Cincinnati and served in the Senate and as the governor of Ohio. As the nation began to break apart along pro- and anti-slavery lines, Chase embraced the Whig Party but found ultimately that it could not incorporate the anti-slavery movement. He advocated first for the Liberty Party, then became an important founder of the Republican Party, on whose ticket Lincoln ran for president. While Chase was brought up multiple times as a presidential candidate, he was best suited as ally, and Lincoln relied on him, despite the rival status, as treasury secretary during the Civil War and then as chief justice. During his tenure as justice, he supported the first Black man to the bar and dissented strongly in a case that prohibited a woman from practicing law. He also presided over the Andrew Johnson impeachment, a key moment in this well-researched account.

Despite countless books about Lincoln and those in his orbit, Chase is an important figure who merits this capable study.

Pub Date: Nov. 9, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-5011-9923-3

Page Count: 832

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021

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