James Garside
I was delighted to be given a copy of this book to read. I wasn't paid to review it but once I read it I kept meaning to leave a review.
I'm Twitter friends with the author of this book but don't know them personally in the real world. I like to think that if we ever met up we'd become fast friends and drink tea whilst talking about travel.
That said, I wasn't bribed in any way (including tea) to write this review.
I get an awful lot of books sent my way but this was one I actually wanted to read, and did read, and genuinely enjoyed.
I loved this book so much that I kept putting off writing a review because I didn't have time to do it justice.
It has taken me so long to review people's work (due to health issues and work priorites) that I've pretty much stopped writing reviews.
I rated this on Goodreads and kept meaning to go back and write a proper review but never had the time.
I've read a lot of unmemorable books on the subject of being a digital nomad. After a while most of them blur together.
So what a nice change to read one that is actually good, contains useful advice, and has a realistic perspective of what life on the road is like.
Kayla has worked as a digital nomad with a successful yoga practice.
I loved the refreshing humour in the book. It is disarmingly honest and forthright. No sitting on the beach with your laptop whilst sipping a Mai Tai. You could do that but you might spill something or get sand in it!
This is a far cry from the typical tech bro douchebaggery that you get with a lot of digital nomad type content.
Y0u get real advice from a real person who isn't trying to sell you on the dream of escaping your cubicle at work.
It also manages to give solid travel advice for women without being sexist.
That should go without saying, of course, but I've read a lot of travel advice and some of them are either incredibly patronising towards women or screechingly hysterical about men.
This book made we want to travel again. I long to travel the world with nothing but a laptop and my backpack.
If you know nothing about money and nothing about magic then this book will serve you well. If on the other hand you know just enough about both subjects to be dangerous, to yourself more than others, then you can probably skip it. There are better books on money and better books on magic. But it's nice to see both tackled together in such an interesting way and this is still a useful reference.
I read ‘The Crossroads of Should and Must' and it made me roll my eyes so hard that they fell out of my head so now I'm sat here writing without eyes or blind drunk drinking whisky in my underwear and questioning my life choices; it's hard to say really.
I was excited to read this book. It started life as a piece on Medium which went viral and was eventually expanded. Elle Luna is a designer-cum-artist who has inspired millions with the story of her path to success, choosing the ‘must' of her art over the ‘should' of her career, and how she pursued life as an artist. But the more I read the more I felt like I was missing something because it just seemed to state the bleeding obvious ad nauseam.
I keep thinking I should write snotty and sarcastic self-help books for people as bored, angry, cynical and jaded as I am but I'm afraid that only I would buy them. How about The Crossroads of ‘Well, duh!' and ‘No Fucking Shit?'
After saving as much as I could I recently quit the ‘should' of my job to pursue the ‘must' of travel and writing. It would be putting it mildly to say that, since then, things haven't gone according to plan.
I wanted to achieve Financial Independence — where you have enough money to live on without working — and I did so long as I die soon. I'm jobless (sorry ‘aspiring freelance') and can get by for about 18 months so long I don't mind being broke-ass poor and kill myself at the end.
All I ever wanted to be is a writer. So now I get to decide between whether I ‘should' get another crappy soul-sucking job or ‘must' somehow make a go of it as a writer. My feet are planted squarely at the crossroads of should and must. I should be exactly who this book is aimed at. So why don't I love it?
It's not like it's bad advice: Find and follow your true passion. It's not like reading it is a complete waste of time: It's food for thought if nothing else. And it's not like it's badly written: You can breeze through it in one sitting.
So what gives?
Maybe it's because it started out as a Medium article and probably should have stayed there. As I read it I kept thinking: “This is a blog post, not a book.” There's very little how-to advice, lots of padding, and virtually nothing new of substance here that wasn't already covered by the original post.
Maybe it's because I didn't relate to the author's personal story — if you can afford to rent a space in San Francisco in which to paint then you don't exactly have a problem — but that doesn't seem fair. One person's decision to create and pursue their art is as courageous as any other.
Or maybe it's just because I'm a failure. I wanted to love this book but my own navigation of the crossroads hasn't gone so well. I've driven my life into a ditch and I'm fucked if I know what I'm going to do next. Choosing to stand still, or do nothing, is still a decision; just not a particularly good one.
Should versus must is a false dichotomy. Our lives are full of should that we have to turn into must. If you don't make your art a priority then it won't get done. As Tony Robbins said: “Don't should all over yourself.”
I probably should write nicer book reviews but I write this way because I must. It's all I've got in me at the moment. Writing is easy. Writing is also hard. These should not be thought of as separate things.
When I was younger I used to think that NSFW (Not Safe For Work) stood for Now So Fucking What? That's pretty much how I felt when reading this book.
Have you chosen between the roads of Should and Must? That's great. NSFW?
Growing up in Detroit is boring.
Being a childhood ballerina is hard.
Going to a good school is hard.
Giving up ballet to become an actor is hard.
Getting into acting school first try is hard.
Acting is hard but better than having a real job.
Working as a waitress is hard.
Working as a cloakroom attendant is hard.
Having parents that love and support you is hard.
The worst thing my Dad did to me is buy me a Barbie pink car.
He even painted a vanity plate for it that said *2B ... “Star to be.” Geddit?
Spending time by myself is hard.
Traveling alone is hard.
One time someone spoke to me when I was on holiday.
Seriously, I am not making this up.
Bad things have almost happened to people that I care about.
But anyway, back to me.
Being famous is hard.
Being a co-star, so not as famous as someone else, is hard.
I literally don't know what you know me from.
Peeing next to celebrities feels weird.
Here's a chapter full of emails from my friends about how much they love me.
Here's a chapter full of text messages that I sent my friends.
Shopping makes me feel better.
Being in love is hard.
I love my dog so much I want to make a necklace out of his teeth.
I love my husband so much that I use his full name whenever I refer to him in this book.
Relationships are hard.
Raising kids is hard.
Hollywood is hard.
Living in LA is hard.
In short? Life is hard.
But writing a book? That's super easy, right?
—-
I feel like I should qualify the above review for people who don't get the joke. For the record, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE AND ADORE JUDY GREER.
A friend quizzed me about the fact that I gave such a snarky review but still gave the book three out of five stars. So here is basically what I said to them.
I love Judy Greer too much to give it less than a three. Otherwise it would get a two out of five. She is literally the best person in everything that she stars in and I love her dearly. I so wanted to love this book!
It's not that it's terrible. It's just for something called “I Don't Know What You Know Me From: Confessions of a Co-Star” 1) She barely talks about the things she has starred in that you might know her from and 2) There are no real confessions.
I get the impression that Judy Greer in real life is lovely, funny, friendly, and far too nice to say anything bad about anyone. I could see the content of this book being an LA magazine column – fun, frothy, lightweight. But as a book it was disappointing.
I still love Judy Greer though!
Would you sell your soul to the Devil? At what price? How about if you knew you were dying and didn't have long to live? It's not like the dead have anything left to lose. But if the Devil's so interested in your immortal soul that he's willing to offer you anything in return then maybe, just maybe, someone's getting fucked on the deal.
Hobo John is a terminally-ill English guy, with a troubled past, whose bucket list is all about the blues. He's a blues aficionado on a journey across Mississippi to see what is considered by many to be the birth place of the blues. Delta Blues came from the Mississippi Delta and is one of the earliest styles of blues music.
On a drunken night in Clarksdale Hobo John enters into a Faustian pact with a devilish character, called Fat Man, who makes him an offer that he can't refuse. In exchange for his life, which is at its end anyway, he must cross over to the afterlife of the Mississippi Delta to record blues artists both famous and unknown from the 1930s.
It's a real ‘devil at the crossroads' moment but, unlike Vegas, what happens at the crossroads doesn't stay there. To begin with Hobo John has a blast hanging out with the souls of dead musicians but working for Fat Man is dirty business, with untold consequences, and there's always a price to be paid.
There's much more to the story, including twists and turns that I don't want to spoil here, but the plot isn't really the point. It's all about the music. You don't have to be a blues fan to enjoy the story but you'll sure as hell learn a lot about the blues along the way.
Robert Johnson fans will especially get a kick out of it as they catch references to songs like “Crossroad Blues,” “Me and the Devil Blues,” and “Hellhound on My Trail.” Legend has it that in the Deep South in the 1930s Robert Johnson met the Devil at the crossroads and sold his soul to become the greatest Delta Blues artist that ever lived.
The author may spit at me for saying this but, at least structurally, the book has much in common with Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder. In that book the story is used as a way to give you a history of philosophy whereas here a similar conceit is used to give you a taste of the blues. Just enough to wet your whistle — like drinking whisky straight from the bottle.
Richard Wall writes like a motherfucker. I mean that in a good way. He's clearly passionate about the blues and has a deep knowledge of music history and blues lore. I'd love for the novel to be released as a dramatised audiobook with an accompanying soundtrack featuring Delta Blues songs hand-picked by the author.
Fat Man Blues is a wild ride. It's violent and bloody in parts but the writing is tight and visceral and remains faithful to, and worthy of, the music that inspired it.
You can buy the book here and check out his other work at richardwall.org
Originally published at themagicalbuffet.com
This book really got on my tits.
Maybe it's just that the title doesn't match the book. It isn't just that but let's pretend for a minute that it is.
You pick up a book called: “The Tough LOVE Book About MONEY: (You lack money because you Don't Know Sh*t About Money)”
What would you expect?
I'd expect a no-bullshit book about money. One that explains what money is, and how to get more of it, in a no nonsense way.
Instead this is a rambling new age self-help book about the law of attraction as it pertains to money.
If that's your usual bag then have at it.
But here's my two pennies' worth – for whatever they're worth:
Several paragraphs of dogshit does not a chapter make.
You're not allowed to say your book is tough love or no-bullshit if you're a proponent of the law of attraction – the law of attraction is total bullshit.
Don't say that people don't know shit about money if you know shit all about money.
He keeps saying money is just PAPER. I tried pretending that he was just being metaphorical but my brain kept blurting out: “He isn't being metaphorical! He just knows shit all about money!”
I like the general idea that you shouldn't give your power away to money. But this is by no means a ‘tough love book about money.' It's just a bunch of repetitive statements about the law of attraction.
At best you could try to take it as an attitude adjustment about money. But there are better books out there about money and better books about changing your attitude towards it.
Near the end of the book he even gets bored and starts to apply the self-same generic statements about changing your attitude towards money to changing your attitude towards god instead.
Cheque please!
To quote The Princess Bride: “Life is pain, highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.”
“Nassim Taleb is an insufferable egomaniac but at least his ideas are noteworthy and interesting.”
Please remind me that I said that in about six years when I've finished reading Antifragile as that's probably going to be the first line of my review.
about six years later
Okay, I've listened to the unabridged audiobook and all I can say is nothing has disavowed me of the above notion.
I've never met the man but, judging by this book, Nassim Taleb is a complete asshole. But he's my kind of asshole. Pretentious, egotistical, and probably right.
The book is worth reading for concept of ‘Antifragile' alone. Taleb invented the term to describe something for which he believes there wasn't a word:
Things that break easily under stress are Fragile. Things that withstand a great deal of stress, but eventually break, are Robust. But things that actually get stronger under stress are Antifragile.
He bemoans the fact that this word, which he invented, isn't in the dictionary; as though that somehow proves the need for it.
I told you that he was an asshole.
He then proceeds, at great length, to talk around the subject. Much of the book is taken up by digressions, delusions of grandeur, professions of his own genius, and decrying any naysayers or detractors.
He criticises journalists, academics, economists, doctors, politicians, and just about everyone else for their pomposity, pseudo-intellectualism, insincerity, dishonesty and bullshit.
This is fair comment but it's hard to take him seriously when his book is deliberately written in a style that is, by his own admission, difficult for us lesser mortals to understand.
A philosophy teacher once told me that ideas don't have to be true so long as they are interesting, elegant or useful.
Nassim Taleb is no doubt antifragile to my opinions — and the concept of antifragility is genuinely interesting, elegant, and useful — but he can still go fuck himself.
This is a completely ridiculous book. I mean that in a good way. A book so long and labyrinthine that you're not supposed to read it. But I read every word. Tools of Titans is essentially a collection of notes from Tim Ferriss's podcast taken from the best bits of interviews with people ranging from Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ariana Huffington to some random knob jockey that you've never heard of but has made a lot of money. It's split into three sections — Healthy, Wealthy and Wise. For about what feels like the first 2/3 of the book, in the Healthy section, it's full of advice from freakish superhumans that like to do things like jump in an ice bath or lift heavy objects whilst standing in a river. The only thing that makes that section interesting is it's so far outside your comfort zone that it pushes the boundaries of what you'd consider normal. There's some excellent advice, anecdotes and wisdom in the other two sections but it all feels a bit fragmented and the whole is less than the sum of its parts.
Colin Wright has the perfect life on paper. Or at least that's what I thought until I read this. He travels the world, moves to a new country every few months, and is free to do whatever he wants. What a pity then that his travel memoir My Exile Lifestyle is such a crushing disappointment. A shallow book about a shallow man who travels the world getting into shallow encounters with shallow people — mostly shallow sex with clueless groupies and shallow drug use with clueless hipsters — in places that you don't get any real sense of as the author is more interested in telling you at great length just how awesome he is.
God's dream for you is that you become the best version of yourself.
This is great advice, and a worthy goal, but religion has shit all to do with it.
Matthew Kelly is a gifted and powerful public speaker.
For me personally, as a benighted heathen, he's preaching to the choir with regards to personal development but Christianity and Catholicism leave me cold.
You can buy the audio version here.
This review is part of my “Operation buy nothing but by all means whore yourself as a writer in exchange for goods and or services.” Admittedly, the title needs work.
Anita was kind enough to gift me a copy of her book after I pestered her life out about it. I'd love to think that it was out of recognition of my awesomeness as a writer but it had more to do with Anita's awesomeness as a human and the fact that in the UK most of us have to pay for Interlibrary Loans. She put me under no obligation to write anything of course but when I want to read a book, blag a copy, and genuinely LOVE it, then by golly it's getting a review.
Anita Dhake was a lawyer but retired at 33 after saving like a motherf*****r until she achieved financial independence. She wrote about it as Thriftygal on her blog ‘The Power of Thrift', along with other witty and entertaining ramblings, and eventually this culminated in the book.
‘Operation Enough!' covers how to achieve financial independence but it's mostly about the why to, Anita's personal story, and what constitutes ‘enough' for you.
Now, taking the financial advice of someone who was only able to retire early because they earnt enough to be filthy rich is a bit like asking the underpant gnomes about what to do with your sock drawer.
But she's SO FUNNY!
She also has a thing about Judge Judy.
And explains finance using comical avatars.
So what's not to love?
I've done a lot of reading about financial independence. If you want the philosophy try Early Retirement Extreme by Jacob Lund Fisker. If you just want to know where to invest your money check out The Simple Path To Wealth by JL Collins. Or read Your Money Or Your Life if you want to kick it old school. Or any number of FIRE bloggers. But none of them are particularly fun or entertaining.
‘Operation Enough!' is hands down the most fun I've had reading about financial independence. If you're a reader of her blog, you'll love it. And if you read the book first, you'll fast become a convert and promptly start reading her blog.
Sure, the advice is pretty straightforward:
“Spend money on what you repeatedly do. After you buy the necessities, you can buy control over your life. Control your time. Do you have autonomy? Are you doing what you want to do?”
But sometimes you just need to be yelled at. The key takeaway bit of wisdom for me was: “The most valuable thing money can buy is freedom from worrying about money.” I agree so much with this! Whenever someone says to me ‘money is just for spending' I want to punch them repeatedly in the head. The best thing money can buy is freedom and peace of mind.
Operation Enough is an entertaining read. It's also proof positive that anything is more inspiring if you give it a silly name. I'd love to see more Operations books to come on other subjects. My own operations include Operation Leave The House and Operation Take The Stairs.
Above all else I hope that Anita keeps writing because she clearly has a gift for it. The whole point of financial independence isn't that you do nothing for the rest of your life — it's that you discover your passions and live your dreams once you've got all that money nonsense out of the way.
In a nutshell:
1. Get a caravan and other stuff for free
2. Live like a pikey
3. Say that you are moneyless despite all the stuff you still spend money on or other people pay for on your behalf
4. Write a book about it and speak at TED
5. Profit
I respect the politics and there are some interesting bits about ecology and permaculture. But as for usable advice on how to actually live without money in the real world?
Let me give you some examples:
Want to live somewhere for free? Squat illegally or get someone to give you a caravan.
Free food? Go through the bins or grow your own.
Did you know that you could clean your teeth using a mixture of ground up wild fennel seeds and ground out cuttlefish bone instead of toothpaste?
Yeah. I'll get right on that.
You can buy the book here.