[TSS] Guest Reviewer: The Big Short by Michael Lewis

Today is an exciting day here at Books and Cooks. It marks the first day I've had a guest reviewer on my blog. I'd like you all to meet Emerson Clauss; my friend, former employer,avid reader and book lover. As I mentioned in last weeks TSS post, Emerson reads some very interesting non-fiction books and we've decided to share them here on my blog.

“The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine” by Michael Lewis

Reviewed by Emerson Clauss

Uncovering maybe the biggest catastrophic event of the 21^st century, the Wall Street fall and the financial chaos it spurned, THE BIG SHORT sums it up to a tee. The book not only exposes the events and characters involved, author Michael Lewis explains, for those of us who possibly don’t understand a stock from a bond, many of the other hinkey products Wall Street peddles to investors of all kinds. For a seemingly fact filled set of circumstances, he makes this book interesting, intriguing and hard to put down.

Stemming from it’s origination in the early and mid-eighty’s, Lewis explains what derivatives are and how they are sold, traded and moved around the financial firms of the US and the world. He details what “Credit Default Swaps” are and how they came to be, and more importantly how they came to be abused. His explanations leave you feeling, rightfully so, as if it’s a large game of musical chairs… and the music just stopped.

He introduces us at first to a most unlikely small cast of characters, really outside of Wall Street and the big banks. They discover this unnatural set of facts and circumstances created in the financial world, that they themselves find incredible. And no one inside the financial world seems to notice or correlate this with the impending doom of the US financial system or problems created around the world.

We may feel we know the outcome of this story, but it is an unbelievable journey to unravel with Lewis and follow the events that lead to this catastrophe. Michael does not miss the fact that the laws that govern the trading and securities, to date have not yet been changed, altered or strengthened. This has the effect today, of leaving the Fox at the door of the Henhouse, while the rest of us are outside looking on and paying the tab.

Lewis doesn’t fail to show our Government’s total lack of oversight or failure to foresee this or to do anything to stop the madness. He shows how we (The US Taxpayers) stepped in to bail out irresponsible firms of all kinds, and end up buying their losses at 100 cents on the dollar. The Losers and Winners alike, made fortunes. The US Taxpayer just got skewered, again.

The facts and details are astounding. The cast of characters would be almost comical, if this weren’t true or didn’t represent a major malfunction of our “financial system”.

The book is a must read, if you want to uncover the truth about the depth of Corporate Greed, personal greed and how inept our government is to recognize or reel any of it in. “Definitely worth the price of the ‘ticket’”.

THE BIG SHORT

Author: Michael Lewis

Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company

Published: March 2010

Pages: 266

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'd like to thank Emerson for taking the time to share his thoughts on this very interesting and informative book. What appeals to me is that it seems to explain things in terms that are understandable to people who aren't familiar with the inner workings of the financial world. I have to admit that before reading Emerson's review, I wouldn't have considered picking up this book and now, I actually would like to read it.

Thanks again Emerson and I look forward to more of your reviews in the future!

The Sunday Salon: Exciting News!

Happy Sunday Saloners! Well, another great book week has passed and exciting things are planned for the near future here at Books and Cooks that I'd like to share, but first, let me tell you about my book week.

Last week I posted my review of ON FOLLY BEACH by Karen White. I was completely drawn in to this book, both for the writing and characters, but also for the interesting historical aspect of the affect of World War II on our nation's eastern seaboard. I welcome you to stop by and read my review. Today I've included information on how to win a copy of this wonderful book for yourself, so please stop by.

I finished reading Randy Susan Meyers; debut novel THE MURDERER'S DAUGHTERS this week. The book came out in January to really good reviews. I flew through this book in just days. I'll be posting that review by mid week and I'd love for you to check it out.

This week I'm reading FORD COUNTY by John Grisham. I used to be a HUGE fan and I guess I still am, but several years ago, I began to feel burnt out on his newer books. They just didn't hit me the way the older ones did. This book is a collection of short stories that all began as novels but just didn't go anywhere for him. I've only just started, but I have already recognized his writing from years ago in the pages and I am really enjoying it so far. It may sound silly, but its almost like reuniting with an old friend you haven't seen in years.

OK, now on to my exciting announcement! If you've followed my blog for any period of time, you know that most of the books I read are fiction. Although I have reviewed several non-fiction books, its just not something I devote a lot of time to. So, next week I'll be having a special guest reviewer for my Sunday Salon post. His name is Emerson Clauss and he is a good friend of mine and I can honestly say, probably the only person in my life (besides my blogger buddies) who loves books as much as I do. The difference between me and Emerson is that he reads nothing but non-fiction. So we thought it would be a great idea for him to share the books he reads here on Books and Cooks. We're both very excited about it. I worked for Emerson for ten years at his construction company and before that I worked with him at our County Builders Association where he was on the Board of Directors for many years. We've always shared our love of books and even though he doesn't read much fiction, he has always been a big supporter of my blog. I'm hoping to convince him to do this on a regular basis, maybe once a month. So I hope you will stop by next Sunday for his first review - I'm sure it will be as interesting and thought-provoking as the books he reads.

As for today, I'm planning to putter around the house, get some things done that I completely blew off yesterday to go shopping and try to squeeze in some good reading time. I hope your Sunday is peaceful and includes a good book.

[TSS]The Side Effects of Being A Writer - Guest Post by Karen Harrington

Recently I read Karen Harrington's amazing book JANEOLOGY and was blown away by it. It's one of those books that you really don't know what to expect but are completely satisfied with the journey. You can read my review here if you missed it before.

Today Karen has agreed to be my special guest and I'm so happy to have her! Karen and I have become online buddies through our blogs and Facebook over the last year or so. Recently we had a very interesting exchange about how personalities come across and more specifically how surprised I was at the drastic difference between how I've come to know Karen and the dark subject matter of her book. In this post, Karen has expounded on that in her own inquisitive and humorous way. So, without further ado, here's Karen in her own words . . .

The side effects of being a writer

You’ve heard those drug commercials with the laundry list of possible side effects.

This drug may cause stomach upset, drowsiness, changes in eye color, walking, driving or having an affair in your sleep, colored urine or amnesia.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the side effects of being a writer. They are often as unexpected and funny as those listed above (which are all REAL, by the way, depending on the drug used.) I’ve kept a diary of my experience as a debut author and I can tell you – I have a list of unexpected side effects, all of which make me smile.

- Strangers send me nice emails. (This is simply wonderful. Please email your favorite authors. Who doesn’t want a friendly note?)

- Strangers send me emails demanding to know more about the ending. (This makes me smile.)

- I only make about $1 per book. (But I get paid much more in other means than money.)

- People tell me the acknowledgements were one of the favorite things in the book. (Wow, I wrote that paragraph in what, ten minutes?)

- People ask me when my next book is coming out. (Squeeee!)

- Readers ask me how I could write the point of view of a man so believably. (I never thought about this when I was writing the book, but virtually everything I’ve ever written has been from the perspective of a man.)

But recently, our lovely blogger Lisa got in touch with me after reading Janeology and posed a new thought. She commented “I’m curious. I’ve gotten to know you a bit through Facebook and on your blog and was surprised by the dark subject of your book.”

Talk about things that make you think.

Lisa’s curiosity got me to thinking about the whole nature of public perception as it relates to blogging and Facebook. This is a fascinating area all by itself. For instance, one of my Facebook friends met a girl, fell in love with a girl and broke up with a girl – and I read about the entire relationship life-cycle via his Facebook status updates. Reading the intimacies of his joy through heartbreak – one sentence at a time – probably caused me to make assumptions about his personality. By the time of the break-up, I was ready to flog the girl who broke his heart. She seemed mean and cruel while he seemed so sensitive and misunderstood.

Was this true? Maybe. Or maybe he was the jerk. Or maybe worse – a stalker! Only he knows. But his Facebook personality certainly made him sympathetic.

Now, this whole topic makes me wonder if a writer’s virtual personality necessarily has to match his/her writing themes. Do I necessarily need to post things about human nature and the dark nuances of humanity so you’ll know I write novels about troubled souls? Perhaps I do, but the blog wouldn’t last for long.

When I was first published, I did whatever my publisher advised. If they said, start a blog, I did. If they said join every social networking site, I did. I thought I was blogging to sell books, but then I realized I was doing it for the sheer benefits of connecting with other people. A writer’s day is pretty solitary, but checking in with blog friends and Facebook pals is sort of like getting up and walking over to a co-worker’s cubicle and saying “Hey, did you get those TPS reports?”

So for this reason, I’ve created a blog that (I think) offers the kind of at-work discussion I’d like to have with you during a stressful day. Sometimes it reflects my writing themes, but mostly it reflects my writing struggles and my reading interests. When I take a break from writing a particularly emotional scene, it’s nice to switch gears and read a book review or write an opinion piece. Does this give an opposite impression from the themes of my writing? Well, yes. Only time will tell if that has an impact on my future readership. My upcoming novel, PRODIGAL SON, is about the ripple effect hypocrisy has on a family after their patriarch, a famous mega-preacher, falls from grace. Will it sway readers either way if, on the day this book is released, I post on essay on why I think the Snuggie craze is hilarious? Maybe so.

I guess what I’ve realized about my conversation with Lisa is this: Having a virtual personality is an interesting side effect of being a novel writer. And come what may, I’ll continue to do it because the social benefits are far greater than I could ever have imagined. (And where else can I write my opinions on Snuggie’s?)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can't thank Karen enough for graciously taking the time to write a special post for my blog. I also can't encourage any reader more to take the time and read JANEOLOGY. It's an amazing story that will stay with you long after you've finished the book. It touched me so much that I have begun my own journey into my family's history and am building my own family tree. With the help of Ancestry.com and my parents, I'm learning more about my ancestors than I ever thought I would. If you'd like to learn more about JANEOLOGY, read an excerpt from the book or contact Karen, please visit her website.

Karen, thanks again, my friend for sharing your thoughts and your talent.