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I’m taking a break today — okay, most of this week — from strict tax blogging, because CHRISTMAS!
If you’re still looking for last-minute gifts or something to do over the holidays, then I recommend hunkering down with a blanket (if you’re somewhere chillier than Central Texas, where the Dec. 25 forecast high is 80) and a good book.
A recent ThinkAdvisor piece by Bryce Sanders offers some suggestions. His 10 books, a mix of novels and nonfiction, have hooks that should appeal to those in the financial advice sector.
None directly address taxes, at least from Sander’s or other online synopses, but I ended up adding a few of them to my personal purchase list anyway. Lucky for me, the hubby will enjoy at least one of them.
I’ll let you peruse Sander’s article “10 Page-Turners to Entertain and Inform Over the Holidays” — yes, it’s a slideshow, but with just 10 books it’s a pretty fast click-through — at your leisure.
But I did want to note the three books on his list that piqued my interest.
The enduring allure of mysteries: I tend to go more for fiction, and mysteries are my true love.
I credit that to my mom, who signed me up for a Nancy Drew book club when I was young reader. A new hardback adventure, starting with “The Secret of the Old Clock,” with Nancy (and Bess and George) solving the clues every month was the thrill of my young life.
It’s also why I have so many books. And probably why I’m such a fan as an adult of crime thrillers. So, it’s no surprise that Lisa Scottoline’s latest is on my reading/purchase list.
“The Unraveling of Julia” follows the aftermath of Julia Pritzker witnessing the death of her husband during a mugging. During her grieving, she learns she has inherited a mysterious Tuscan estate. Naturally, she flies to Italy to learn more. There, she becomes involved in a dangerous conspiracy.
Quick disclosure before going further. The link above to the Scottoline book, as well as the others mentioned in this post go to Amazon, where I am affiliate. If you click on them, or buy a product through a link, I will be compensated.
I will not, however, be offended if you opt instead to check your local bookstore for any or all of these volumes.
Maneuvering legal machinations: The next book is from another regular best-selling novelist.
“The Widow” by John Grisham starts with, of course, a Southern lawyer, Simon Latch, whose newest client is the titular woman whose late husband has left her a multimillion-dollar stock portfolio.
While Grisham is known for his legal thrillers, this is his first whodunit, and several reviewers have deemed it more suspenseful than his courtroom dramas. The reason? The initially innocuous estate matter ultimately ensnares Latch in a fight to clear himself of murder charges (all circumstantial) and, you got it, find the real killer.
Real-life redux? As mentioned earlier, nonfiction doesn’t typically end up on my recreational reading shelves since I spend most of my time dealing with and in the decidedly factual world of taxes. But then it’s the exception that makes the rule, right?
A bonus here is that the third book on Sanders’ list that made my cut is one I’m sure my history-loving hubby will enjoy, too.
It’s “1929,” Andrew Ross Sorkin’s examination of the most spectacular stock market crash in history, just as we near the 100th anniversary of that that tumultuous, momentous time.
Sorkin, the founder of DealBook and author of “Too Big to Fail,” the bestselling history of the 2008 banking crisis, gives us what most reviewers call a riveting narrative of that infamous stock market crash, whose ripple effects still shape our society today.
Using historical records and newly uncovered documents, Sorkin takes readers inside the 1929 market’s chaos, behind the scenes of a raging battle between Wall Street and Washington, and the larger-than-life characters whose ambition and inexperience in an endless boom led to disaster.
In addition, the 20th century’s great crash followed the Roaring ’20s. And it was preceded by a strong bull market.
Sound familiar? If your answer is, like mine, yes, the obvious follow-up questions are is history repeating itself, and if so, can we learn from it? I’m curious whether Sorkin’s answers are the same as mine.
If your book choices echo mine, and you check out my or any of Sanders’ other suggestions, drop me a note in the comments and let me know what you think.
And happiest of holidays to all my fellow bibliophiles and bookworms, whether the tomes are for you are for those on your nice list!
