Business and Personal Finance
Hi readers! We wanted to let you know that this will be the last issue of the Business and Personal Finance newsletter -- but you can find the books you're used to seeing here in the existing Biography and Memoir and History and Current Events newsletters. We'll also be expanding the Mind and Body Fitness newsletter to include career and personal finance topics (and renaming it Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise). You can subscribe to all these by clicking on the "manage subscriptions" link at the bottom of this newsletter. Happy reading!
AgeProof: How to Live Longer Without Running Out of Money or Breaking a Hip
by Jean Chatzky and Michael F. Roizen with Ted Spiker
Written by two well-known experts (one on finances, the other on health), this guide aims to improve both your health and your wealth, using principles that can be applied to both areas. Covering eight different categories from breaking bad habits to assessing your needs, AgeProof offers strategies to help you increase healthy habits (whether financial or physical) and maximize your quality of life as you age.
Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You're Not)
by Beth Kobliner
The earlier you start teaching your kids about money management, the better off they'll be, argues bestselling personal finance author Beth Kobliner. But don't worry about teaching them stock-picking strategies (especially if you don't understand them yourself) -- instead, teach them concepts like living within their means and the importance of saving. With age-appropriate advice that covers everything from allowances to avoiding debt, this informative and often funny guide is a practical choice for parents.
A Man For All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market
by Edward O. Thorp
In the 1960s, math prodigy Edward Thorp used both card counting and a wearable computer to help win at Las Vegas casinos; later, in the stock market crash of the 1980s, he actually came out ahead. Daring, contrary, curious, and gifted with the ability to do complicated math in his head, Thorp sees challenges where others see warnings (like..."the house always wins" and "you can't time the market"). In this memoir, he shares the many ways he's tested the odds in search of success. "Fascinating," says Booklist.
Valley of the Gods: A Silicon Valley Story
by Alexandra Wolfe
Curious about an unusual experiment funded by PayPal entrepreneur Peter Thiel, Wall Street Journal columnist Alexandra Wolfe follows a few of the recipients of the $100,000 grants, which send gifted teens to Silicon Valley rather than to college. Housed in dorm-like spaces and encouraged to launch startups rather than attend English 101, these bright (and often quite odd) young people make for a fascinating anthropological survey of high-tech would-be entrepreneurs. Fans of the television show Silicon Valley will feel right at home.
Players: The Story of Sports and Money -- and the Visionaries Who Fought to Create...
by Matthew Futterman
In this insightful examination of the economics of professional sports, Wall Street Journal reporter Matthew Futterman reveals how professional athletes were transformed, over just a few decades, from underpaid workers to multimillionaire celebrities. The catalyst was Mark McCormack, the first agent to make representing athletes a full-time business, starting with golfer Arnold Palmer. Following McCormack's success, professional sports became big business on a global scale. For an equally engaging analysis of economic strategy in sports, try Michael Lewis' Moneyball, which focuses on Major League Baseball.
Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle That Defined a Generation
by Blake J. Harris
In the early days of digital home entertainment, back in the 1990s, the explosion in popularity of video games was spurred in part by the rivalry between Nintendo and Sega. Their battle for supremacy -- and the differences between the two companies -- drives this enjoyable read. Drawing on interviews with former Sega and Nintendo employees, Console Wars frames Nintendo as Goliath and Sega as the unconventional underdog that revolutionized the industry...and that's before Sony came along. Whether you're interested in the business or just have fond memories of playing Sonic or Super Mario Bros, you'll want to give this "remarkably detailed and fast-paced" (Booklist) account a try.
Brick by Brick: How LEGO Rewrote the Rules of Innovation and Conquered the Global...
by David C. Robertson with Bill Breen
Founded in 1932 by a Danish carpenter whose son later perfected the plastic snap-together brick system in the 1950s, LEGO is named after a Danish phrase that means "play well." Though the toy company struggled in the 1990s and neared bankruptcy around the turn of the century thanks to numerous poor business decisions, it was able to turn things around by returning to its founding principles. Brick by Brick -- which is as likely to be enjoyed by LEGO enthusiasts as it is by business students and leaders -- explains the history of the family-held company and the decisions that helped it find success, flirt with disaster, and reclaim success once more.
How Music Got Free: The End of an Industry, the Turn of the Century, and the Patient...
by Stephen Witt
Between 1997 and 2005, author Stephen Witt downloaded (for free) nearly 15,000 albums, which prompted him to look into exactly how he was able to do this. The result is a fascinating exploration of digital technology and music piracy, beginning with the invention of the MP3 format in the 1980s. Also featured: the North Carolina man who smuggled thousands of new releases to a prolific file-sharing ring, the rise and fall of Napster, and the music industry's (mostly failed) attempts to stanch the bleeding.
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Rockford Public Library
215 N. Wyman St.
Rockford, Illinois 61101
www.rockfordpubliclibrary.org/