5 Books To Add To Your Summer Reading List

Gina

Gina is the co-founder and co-author of The Wicked Wallet. She has a bachelor's degree in finance specializing in personal finance. Her goal is to make personal finance more accessible to the masses by sharing knowledge and insight on the topic.

May 9, 2019

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My April 2019 Book Report

“Those who lead, read.”

We all know that reading is good for us. Strengthening our cognitive abilities, providing answers to our questions and giving us different perspectives on a topic. But do we read enough?

Part of my New Year’s resolution was to read at least four books a month. It may seem like a lot, but honestly with all the juicy information out there – how can we not try to soak it all up? Plus, I find great enjoyment in gaining the type of knowledge that books render.

It should be said, that although some of these books I physically read, others where listened to. Regardless of the form, all of the books were entirely free through OverDrive. As I mentioned in hack #1, in 11 Hacks to Save More Money, I use this app to get all of my audio and eBooks completely for free. It’s a pretty sweet deal.

I used to love going to book stores and buying so many new books, yay self-education!… right? But soon I found an overgrowing stack of books on my dresser that I barely ever made a dent in. At that point, I decided that I should quit my book buying habit and only buy the book if it was not offered through OverDrive and they declined my request for them to purchase – and even then I told myself I had to buy it second hand.

I do sometimes miss the smell of a fresh book in my hands (I sound crazy, I know) but it has honestly become even easier for me to access my books because they are always readily accessible on my phone.

Anyways, here are some of my favorite books I have read over the past month. If you have read any of these books before, what did you think of them? Let me know in the comments section!

The Total Money Makeover By Dave Ramsey

If you are a Game of Thrones fan, I get it. I cringe whenever I hear Ramsey too.This is a very different Ramsey though.

Whether you follow the same beliefs as him or not, you have to admit that Dave Ramsey is a pretty smart dude. He has built up this huge personal finance empire behind him with a massive amount of followers. His philosophies resonate with thousands who feel as if they are drowning in debt, living paycheck to paycheck and never coming up for air. In this book, Dave lines up the steps that you need to take to live a financially responsible life.

Dave teaches people to live a debt free life. To pay off all debt, never to use a credit card and never to take out any sort of loan to buy anything including a home. He believes that owing money is a huge mistake, one he learned the hard way by actually losing over a million dollars when he was in his early 20’s.

My reasoning for choosing to read this book was more to understand Dave’s perspective on finance. As mentioned, I believe it takes some sort of genius to build up the kind of loyal following the way he has so naturally. I wanted to see how he was communicating his beliefs to really make them stick.

While I disagree with him on a couple of his teaching (I believe in not leaving money on the table A.K.A. by using credit card bonuses to your benefit), he sure is quotable. Some of my favorites from this book include:

“If you live like no one else, later you can live like no one else”.
“A budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went”.

Crushing It! By Gary Vaynerchuk

If you are anywhere on social media, odds are you have heard of Gary Vaynerchuck, or Gary Vee. He is hard to miss. Whether you think he’s a hardo or not, he makes some really valid points.

Gary prides himself on his work ethic. He is willing to put in the time and effort to actually get the results. You often will hear him lecturing others on excuses they are making or obstacles they are creating unknowingly to stop themselves from reaching their full potential.

In crushing it, a sequel to Crush It, he talks about his upbringing, perspective and how he became successful. Gary definitely put in the hours, stating that he didn’t take a single vacation for years and the only times when he wasn’t actually working is when he was with family. This book provided great motivation to actually see the flaws in my own work ethic and even better, how to fix them – how to be more productive, if you will.

Sharing quite a few insights, one of the most touching I found was that if you already have a job you enjoy, a sustainable income and time to hang out with your friends and family then you are already living a great life – enjoy it. Stop trying to trade up.

Favorite quote from the book: “Your intent will be reflected in your authenticity”.

The Book On Rental Property Investing By Brandon Turner

This book was one of my favorite real estate reads yet. Brandon Turner, the author, outlines every single step in the rental property process and how to be successful in each step. Each of the steps was presented in a clear and concise manner with actionable takeaways for you to implement in your own life.

Brandon has tons of experience with real estate. If you are a listener of the BiggerPockets Real Estate podcast then you already know that he was able to retire from his desk job in his mid-twenties because of his wise real estate investments. Pretty remarkable!

Anyways, if you are looking to get into rental property investing then this is a must read. Brandon even lists out the exact tools he uses to be a successful landlord while giving hundreds of tips and tricks along the way.

Whether you already own a property or you are looking to get started, this is a great read to ensure you are covering all the bases.

Favorite quote: “Life itself is so extraordinary and unique that the only thing keeping people ordinary is themselves”

The 4-Hour Workweek By Timothy Ferriss

Tim Ferriss is phenomenal. I am a big fan of his podcast (a bit lengthy but worth it) as well. In this book, Tim reduces the strategies he has used to be a prosperous business owner while traveling the world and adventuring into the unknown.

This book helps to summarize the ways in which to automate your business successfully and when to do so (spoiler – from the beginning!). He uses real life examples with lessons learned, failures and success stories to show for it. His stories show you how to make sure your business is not relying on you so it can be another form of a passive investment.

Tim also talks about his childhood, education and perspective on life itself. I found these parts incredibly interesting as well and they of course play into who he is today and what he supports.

Overall, this book is great for anyone who owns a business or would like to own a business but still have a life. If passive income is the goal – why can’t your business be passive too?

Favorite quotes:

“What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do”.
“People will choose unhappiness over uncertainty”.
“Focus on being productive instead of just being busy”.

The TB12 Method By Tom Brady

Not quite a business, real estate or finance book… but still a great read.

This book outlined Tom Brady’s exact method on how he has become so successful. Even if you aren’t a Patriots fan, you have to admit that being 41 (as of May 2019) and still being one of the best (the best) quarterbacks in the NFL is a pretty big feat.

Tom talks about his incredibly strict diet, workout routine, recovery schedule and mindset while offering up some stories from different points of his life. I found this book really motivating just for overall wellness. I would recommend it for anyone looking for a lighter read that also wants to partake in some self-development.

Favorite quote: “Wisdom is knowing the difference between the things you can control and the things you can’t.”