Book Review: Visiting Tom

My review of Michael Perry's Visiting Tom: A Man, a Highway, and the Road to Roughneck Grace

If you are in a hurry, I suppose I can sum up my review by simply stating I love all of Michael Perry's books and this one is no different.  If Michael Perry is not known to you; do yourself a favor and head over to http://sneezingcow.com/ and get acquainted!

Michael Perry to me is one part "part time" gentleman farmer, one part fantastic writer, and two parts seemingly nice guy, plus a pinch of a poet and musician.  He is a terrific writer that blends stories of his life from his foibles as a person living in the country trying to keep chickens and a few hogs as well as trying to be a good father and husband.  I guess I can relate to Michael because we are first males around the same age.  In addition I like to think that we are guys that can use our brains, but do not mind getting our hands dirty too.


Visiting Tom is a book that introduces us to an aging neighbor of Michael's named Tom. Tom is a great example of the dying breed of guys like my father in law that could make or fix anything.  In the book we get to explore Tom's interesting life as well as Michael's.

I would also check out his other books:

Cold and Hungry

Well, as expected, it is still cold in Michigan.  Every winter makes me more determined to retire to the South.  Somewhere where it is warm and with long beaches for metal detecting!!

The first days of weight loss are going OK, as long as being hungry is OK LOL!  It is OK and even a nice reminder that I am actually doing something positive for my health.  I am kinda proud of a few hunger pangs.  They are talking about it hitting the 50's this weekend!  Woo hoo.  Looking forward to getting outside some.  I know such thinking is just folly here in Michigan, but is it too early to think winter might be winding down....

Review of The Snowball by Alice Schroeder

This is my review of the book The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life

Yesterday I wrote a review of a somewhat disappointing book concerning Warren Buffett.  I promised to provide an alternative one that I have enjoyed and this is it.  I have read this book several times and always enjoy it.  I really like that it allows us to see the very young Warren when he had no money yet was selling pop or newspapers throughout the neighborhood!  It is funny when you can see his entire life that in many ways what he does even today can be traced back to how he acted as a child.  I just love the way Alice Schroeder chronicles his life at many points and tells what he is worth so we can watch the power of compounding as Warren the Snowball picks up more and more snow.  I suggest reading this book.

Review of Tap Dancing to Work

My review of Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966-2012: A FortuneMagazine Book by Carol Loomis.

I really enjoy watching and listening to the wisdom of Warren Buffett.  I respect this track record tremendously.  However, what I really like is his ability to take a complex situation and boil it down to a simple, but wise remark.  I think he is brilliant.  So when I saw him and Carol doing the media blitz to promote this book, I knew I had to read it.  I didn't even take time to understand what the book was, I just instantly ordered it from the library.



I really was anxious to get into this book.  However, now I am so glad I only rented it and didn't buy it. I did not understand that it is basically a collection of articles written for Forbes magazine over the years.  The articles are about Warren (obviously) dating from 1966 to the present.  Before the reprint of the article, Carol Loomis writes a couple of paragraphs to bring the article up to date.  I have to admit I was disappointed.  Warren Buffett is such an interesting, albeit flawed person.  However, it did not shine through for me in this book :(  Fear not though faithful readers.  I have a great book on Warren Buffett that I will feature in my next review.