Books and Reading

Books with Memorable Settings: Savannah, Nantucket and Ireland

May 20, 2013
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I’m drawn to books with a strong sense of place. The kinds of books where the setting plays a major role, almost like a character. So it’s not surprising that three of my favorite authors write books that fall into this category. Mary Kay Andrews I first discovered Mary Kay Andrews when I was getting [...]

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Get Out of Debt Like the Debt Heroes

March 25, 2013

Every day people find The Family CEO through search terms like these: How I got out of debt (199 searches so far this year) Get out of debt stories (135 searches) Getting out of debt success stories (82 searches) Debt success stories (77 searches) How I got out of debt blog (74 searches) Debt payoff success [...]

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Washington and Lincoln Facts and a Quick Killing Lincoln Review

February 18, 2013
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The nice folks at H&R Block have created an infographic for President’s Day. Some things I found interesting: Both of these guys were really tall. Lincoln was only 56 when he died. Why did I think he was older? There was no federal income tax when Washington was President and only two income tax rates [...]

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Will You Have Downton Abbey Withdrawal? These Things Might Help.

February 15, 2013
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Like the rest of the free world, it seems, I’m a Downton Abbey fan. Actually, my whole family is. From my parents to my husband to my college-aged daughter and high school son. We’ve all found something to love in Downton. My daughter actually drives the 30 miles or so from college to home each [...]

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Book Club Report: What Alice Forgot

February 1, 2013
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On Tuesday it was my turn to host book club at my house. Our book club began 10+ years ago (no one can quite remember exactly the year) when our kids were all students at the same elementary school. There are 12 of us, and while there have been a few additions and subtractions over [...]

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Happier at Home Book Giveaway

December 31, 2012
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The true secret of happiness lies in the taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life. – William Morris, “The Aims of Art” This quote is how Gretchen Rubin’s book Happier at Home begins. This quote is also how I immediately knew I was in the right place, because I have a [...]

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Book Club: Library Sale Edition

May 4, 2012

Last month I stumbled up on a used book sale at the library. I spent a glorious hour or so picking through books while I listened to two volunteer library sale staffers talk a little too loudly about some library gossip. Loved that part. Nothing like a little entertainment with your book shopping. Anyway, I [...]

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Interview with Author Zac Bissonnette

December 27, 2011

Zac Bissonnette is an Associate Producer at CNBC. He is also a writer and author of the book Debt-Free U: How I Paid for an Outstanding College Education Without Loans, Scholarships, or Mooching off My Parents. There are a lot of books about college on the market, but Zac’s is unique. For starters, Zac wrote the [...]

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Book Review: The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need

July 27, 2011

Fifteen years ago I tore an article out of Parade Magazine. The title was How to Invest – The Smart Way and the author was Andrew Tobias. I was intrigued by the author’s suggestion that a penny saved is actually two pennies earned. The reason being that money saved isn’t taxed, while money earned is. [...]

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Thank you Caitlin Flanagan!

August 25, 2006

A couple of months ago I reviewed the book To Hell with All That; Loving and Loathing Our Inner Housewife. Not too long after I posted my review I received an email from the author, Caitlin Flanagan, thanking me and offering to send me 10 autographed copies of her book for my friends. I put [...]

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