What I Am Reading

I just finished reading the book Superfreakonomics. I read the original, Freakonomics, in 2008 and was really looking forward to the follow-up. I really enjoyed this book. Much like Malcolm Gladwell, the authors of these books find really interesting problems to apply microeconomics to.

Freakonomics featured research done on drug dealers in Chicago. In Superfreakonomics they discuss research done by the same economist on prostitution in Chicago. If I would have known that economics would be so interesting, I might have majored it econ rather than business.

I ordered several books from Amazon.com before I finished Superfreakonomics so I would stay on schedule for reading twelve books this year. As it happened, I waited too long to order them. It took six days for the books to arrive, which meant I went two days without reading. I really wanted to get ahead of schedule, but I guess I will just have to keep trying.

I am currently reading The 4-Hour Workweek written by Timothy Ferriss. This book was recommended to me by a former coworker who is now doing engineering consulting. I ran into him at our last trade show in Las Vegas. He told me that he was working three days a week and that was too much. He really embraced the ideas in this book and recommended it to me several times.

Since that time, I have done some research on Tim Ferriss and have read his blog and watched some of his videos. He seems to be an interesting person. He has some different ideas on life and success. He speaks multiple languages. He seems to be a bit self-absorbed, but that may be why he has been successful.

So far, the book is not very easy to read. It is not written like a traditional book, but more like a book you order from an infomercial that is supposed to teach you how to get rich. This is a bit of a turnoff to me as it seems like a method to get rich rather than a useful book. I am not going to stop reading it, so I have to keep an open mind.

I would love to lead the life he talks about in his book. In his ideal life, you are not tied to a particular place. You are free to move about the world freely, using technology to keep your link to your career. He says that it is best to take mini retirements along the way rather than wait until you are old enough to retire. I agree with him in that I would love to experience things now, while I am still fully functional rather than wait until I am retired. This book aligns perfectly with my current lack of satisfaction with my career.