Every month we show what is on our reading table.

This month we added three new books.

We finished reading; ‘Just Kids”, “As Time Goes By”, “Sea of Tranquility”, “Cataclysm”, “The E Myth Revisited” and “The Shores of Tripoli”. We will drop “The Laws of Human Nature”, “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry”, and “Mastery” because of too little time and interest.

NEW

  1. “On Cats” (128 pages, paperback, 2015) by Charles Bukowski: Michelle was reading and asked me if I had read Charles Bukowski, sort of. After we deciphered the name; yes. Lots of very dark material. But his ode to cats; poetry and prose is not dark. From the Amazon description: “Felines touched a vulnerable spot in the unfathomable soul of Charles Bukowski, the Dirty Old Man of American letters. For the writer, there was something elemental about these inscrutable creatures, whose searing gaze could penetrate deep into our beings. Bukowski considered cats to be forces of nature, elusive emissaries of beauty and love.”
  2. “100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask” (480 pages, paperback, 2018) by Ilyce R. Glink: This popped in a web browser ad and I bought it. From the Amazon description: “From the most trusted name in real estate, a new and fully updated edition of the indispensable guide that helps first-time buyers land the home of their dreams.”
  3. “Commercial Real Estate Investing for Dummies” (400 pages, paperback, 2022) by Peter Conti and  Peter Harris: I stumbled across an ad for a video “How to Turn 2 Houses into 34 Apartment Units” by Peter Harris. Interesting, but I wasn’t impressed. Then I read that Harris was also the co-author of the ‘for Dummies’ book on Commercial Real Estate Investing. I have always been impressed by the ‘for Dummies’ books. They are always, in my experience, worth reading on that subject. I have flipped through it and it is excellent. From the Amazon description: “If you’re looking for more detailed advice on the commercial real estate market than, “Buy low, sell high,” you’ve come to the right place. Commercial Real Estate Investing For Dummies is where you can find the smart, straightforward, and accurate info you need to get your start―or grow your portfolio―in commercial real estate.”

Is it possible to turn two houses into a 34 unit apartment investment? Yes. We are about to trade (1031) one house, bought for $92K in 1999, currently yielding about $500/mon for a $1.5M medical office that will yield $6K/mon, net income. We put down about $10K back then to buy the property.

In the meantime, we are also accomplishing critical tasks. Here we are in Part 1 repairing a Polar Watch with Peter.

OLD

  1. “A Darker Sea” (400 pages, paperback, 2018) by James L. Haley: This is the second book in the series recommended by Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit.com: “BACK TO NAVAL FICTION, I’m currently reading the Bliven Putnam series by James Haley and quite enjoying it. Early US Navy instead of Royal Navy, opening with the campaign against the Barbary Pirates. Well written and entertaining, highly recommended. Posted at 10:19 pm by Glenn Reynolds on Apr 15th, 2023”. From the Amazon description: “Prowling the South Atlantic in the Tempest, Bliven takes prizes and disrupts British merchant shipping, until he is overhauled, overmatched, and disastrously defeated by the frigate HMS Java. Its captain proves to be Lord Arthur Kington, whom Bliven had so disastrously met in Naples. On board he also finds his old friend Sam Bandy, one of the Java’s pressed American seamen kidnapped into British service. Their whispered plans to foment a mutiny among the captives may see them hang, when the Constitution looms over the horizon for one of the most famous battles of the War of 1812 in a gripping, high-wire conclusion.” Like the Alaric Bond British Fighting Sail novels, this is based on actual history of the US Navy and Marines.
  2. “The Schrödinger Paradox: Cataclysm” (139 pages, Kindle, 2023) by Holly Chism: Recommended by Sarah Hoyt on Instapundit.com on May 11th. From the Amazon description: “Unlucky jerk Tom Beadle was on watch at NASA when the collision alert sounded: a new asteroid, bigger than the dino-killer, headed for Earth. Big problem, but that’s why we have NASA, right? Except, after decades of budget cuts, NASA has no way to shove it off course. That job has to be contracted out. Will the private sector company his best friend from college works at succeed where the government option failed? Might be best to have a backup plan, just in case…”
  3. “The E Myth Revisited” (288 pages, paperback, 2004) by Michael E. Gerber: From the Amazon description: “An instant classic, this revised and updated edition of the phenomenal bestseller dispels the myths about starting your own business. Small business consultant and author Michael E. Gerber, with sharp insight gained from years of experience, points out how common assumptions, expectations, and even technical expertise can get in the way of running a successful business.”
  4. “The Shores of Tripoli” (419 pages, paperback, 2017) by James L. Haley: Recommended by Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit.com: “BACK TO NAVAL FICTION, I’m currently reading the Bliven Putnam series by James Haley and quite enjoying it. Early US Navy instead of Royal Navy, opening with the campaign against the Barbary Pirates. Well written and entertaining, highly recommended. Posted at 10:19 pm by Glenn Reynolds on Apr 15th, 2023”. From the Amazon description: “The first novel in award-winning historian James L. Haley’s brilliant adventure series featuring young midshipman Bliven Putnam as he begins his naval service aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise. Rich with historical detail and cracking with high-wire action, The Shores of Tripoli brings this amazing period in American history to life with brilliant clarity.” Like the Alaric Bond British Fighting Sail novels, this is based on actual history of the US Navy and Marines.
  5. “Sea of Tranquility” (272 pages, paperback, 2023) by Emily St. John Mandel: I read her book “Station Eleven” and loved it. Why not try another? From the Amazon description: “The award-winning, best-selling author of Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel returns with a novel of art, time travel, love, and plague that takes the reader from Vancouver Island in 1912 to a dark colony on the moon five hundred years later, unfurling a story of humanity across centuries and space. A virtuoso performance that is as human and tender as it is intellectually playful, Sea of Tranquility is a novel of time travel and metaphysics that precisely captures the reality of our current moment.”
  6. “Meditations” (211 pages, paperback, 2016, but really 2,000 years ago) by Marcus Aurelius: This is a birthday gift (see above) from my good friend and bee partner, Gene. Let’s see if it works: Psalm 19:14 “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” From the Amazon description: “Meditations is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 AD, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy.”
  7. “The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name” (352 pages, hardback, 2007) by Sally Lloyd-Jones: From the Amazon description: “What makes The Jesus Storybook Bible different from every other kids’ Bible? While other kids’ Bibles contain stories from the Old and New Testaments, The Jesus Storybook Bible tells the Story beneath all the stories in the Bible, pointing to Jesus as our Savior. From the Old Testament through the New Testament, as the Story unfolds, children will clearly see that Jesus is at the center of God’s great story of salvation—and at the center of their story too.”
  8. “Stand” (114 pages, paperback, 2022) by Pastor Jon Benzinger: From a local church we visited: “You are in the midst of the greatest attack on Christianity in your life. Make no mistake, the war is coming for you. The question is, will you be ready for it and will you fight or fold? This easy-to-understand book clarifies the change you’re sensing in our culture, at your church, your job, or your school, and gives you tools to stand faithfully against this aggressive and heretical attack on the gospel. Jon Benzinger is the Lead Pastor of Redeemer Bible Church in Gilbert, Arizona, contributor to the Redeeming Truth podcast, founder of helpingpastors.org, and President of the Redeemer Center for Church Leadership.”
  9. “As Time Goes By” (432 pages, paperback, 1998) by Michael Walsh: The Amazon description is: “You know what happens right after Casablanca‘s Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) walks off with Capt. Louis Renault (Claude Rains) into the mist? This novel. Walsh, a former crime reporter and Timemagazine music critic, can’t equal the beautiful relationships in the classic film, but he does give us a clever takeoff on the tale, with less romance but much more action. As Time Goes By is both a prequel and a sequel, fleshing out Rick’s mysterious life by flashing back to his 1930s New York gangland past and taking us with him, Ilsa, and Sam the piano man as they plot to kill Reinhard Heydrich, the Hangman of Prague. Rick Blaine started out as Yitzik Baline, who learned to shoot in the booze-fueled underworld of Tick-Tock Shapiro and Dion O’Hanlon. A fracas that made Walter Winchell’s column explains why Rick wound up in the Casablanca gin joint.” We will have an extensive Floating Book Review on this including an alternate plot.
  10. “The Laws of Human Nature” (624 pages, paperback, 2018) by Robert Greene. I came across this book at Barnes and Nobel and passed it in favor of “Memory’s Legion” and “It’s Elemental” above. But it intrigued me, so I searched on Greene and ended up buying this book and the next, “Mastery”. The Amazon description is: “Robert Greene is a master guide for millions of readers, distilling ancient wisdom and philosophy into essential texts for seekers of power, understanding and mastery. Now he turns to the most important subject of all – understanding people’s drives and motivations, even when they are unconscious of them themselves. We are social animals. Our very lives depend on our relationships with people. Knowing why people do what they do is the most important tool we can possess, without which our other talents can only take us so far.”
  11. “Mastery” (368 pages, paperback, 20113) by Robert Greene. I came across this book at Barnes and Nobel and passed it in favor of “Memory’s Legion” and “It’s Elemental” above. But it intrigued me, so I searched on Greene and ended up buying this book and the previous one. The Amazon description is: “Each one of us has within us the potential to be a Master. Learn the secrets of the field you have chosen, submit to a rigorous apprenticeship, absorb the hidden knowledge possessed by those with years of experience, surge past competitors to surpass them in brilliance, and explode established patterns from within. Study the behaviors of Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Leonardo da Vinci and the nine contemporary Masters interviewed for this book.”
  12. “Just Kids” (320 pages, paperback, 2010) by Patty Smith: I stumbled across my copy of Patti Smith’s song, “Because the Night”. I went down the rabbit hole and looked up the history of the song and Smith. I’m glad I did. She is an amazing writer. “Just Kids begins as a love story and ends as an elegy. It serves as a salute to New York City during the late sixties and seventies and to its rich and poor, its hustlers and hellions. A true fable, it is a portrait of two young artists’ ascent, a prelude to fame.”

The song was started by Bruce Springsteen and finished by Patti Smith. ‘Just Kids’ is the story about her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe. But her completion of the song was inspired by Fred ‘Sonic’ Smith, lead singer for the MC5 (Motor City 5) with whom she had two children.

  1. “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” (304 pages, paperback, 2019) by John Mark Comer: This book was recommended by DCE Maddie. Anxiety is a big problem in today’s world. From the Amazon description “Corrie ten Boom once said that if the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy. There’s truth in that. Both sin and busyness have the exact same effect—they cut off your connection to God, to other people, and even to your own soul.” From An Amazon review is: “Hurry to this, hurry to do that, hurry hurry hurry. The things I do and fill my life with aren’t even bad things. They’re, mostly, good things. This book isn’t about stopping doing those things but how to slow down, let my soul catch up with my body…”

Not pictured:

“The One Year Bible” with help from the “Lutheran Study Bible“.