Hail to Books!

If there is one thing I have to thank my dad for, it is my love for books. Whenever we had an assignment or a report, he would never sit down and help us. He would always say, in his cold, stern voice: "Check the library. It's all there!" Grudgingly, this is, I admit,good training for independence and self-sufficiency.

I think I was one of the lucky few in my grade school to have the complete Encyclopedia Americana, several volumes of Bible Stories, a really BIG dictionary (not the puny paperback type), the complete volumes of Children's Science Encyclopedia and all manner of other books. So I learned the valuable skills of research and fact finding, skills that would put me to good stead when I started going to school. In a pre-internet age, the library was my Firefox; the card catalog, my Google and Yahoo. The library excited me, making me hop from one book to the next the way we click on links on a webpage one after the other.

Over the weekend, I allowed myself to buy 6 new books. I don't buy books anymore at the suggestion of one of my design heroes, Karim Rashid, who waxes prolific over the concept of not storing any (unread) books so as not to clutter the home (he suggests that after reading them, to give them away or sell them).

I used to buy tons of books, which comprised the bulk of my expenses more than clothes, but found they cluttered my living spaces after I finished with the book. Which happened quite fast 'cause I read real quick--when I start a book, there is a compulsion for me to finish it till the end. I cannot somehow enjoy it if the reading is interrupted by a phone call or a meal. The moment, the emotion, is somehow gone and going back to where I left off always proved difficult for me. I would have to start over again.

But after finishing 5 of the books over the weeked, yes, five books in one go from Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning with naps in between (I still astound myself (and others) when I do this), I would say it was worth buying them new and not second hand. I learned a lot in one sitting what I would not have learned had I just went out to shop or hung out at some bar.

The books mostly focus on personal finance, house management, business, design and living life to the fullest and were the gestalt book of choice when I went to Fully Booked. They are the following:

1. The Four-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss
2. Screw It, Let's Do It: Lessons in Life by Richard Branson
3. Love is Not Enough: A Smart Woman's Guide to Money by Merryn Somerset Webb
4. Digipop by Karim Rashid, Albrecht Bangert and Conway Lloyd Morgan
and
5. Playing House: A Starter Guide to Being Grown Up by Celeste Perron

I enjoyed the first three books so much, I want to give a copy to each one of my friends. They are THAT life changing--or at least attitude changing. From this pile, I learned (or reaffirmed) that:

• You can do anything you set your mind to--all you have to do is start, never give up and never fear failure (Richard Branson and Timothy Ferriss)

• You can do in 30 minutes what normally is done in a day. It's all in your focus and efficiency (Timothy Ferriss)

• You can outsource your life--and be more productive in the details that count (Timothy Ferriss)

• You CAN travel around the world WITHOUT having to wait for retirement (Timothy Ferriss)

• Sometimes, 220 thread count sheets can feel way softer than 1,000 thread count sheets---it's in the way the thread is coiled (some manufacturers cheat this way) (Celeste Perron)

• The best household cleansers are the simplest: baking soda, Bronner's Castile Soap (which I use) and lemon juice.

• It's the end of ROYGBIV as we know it. Neon orange, high-tech silver and acid green should be the colors du jour in our environment (Karim Rashid)

There's more. But you have to read the books. :P Alam nyo, read the first two. Promise. It will change the way you think about work.

*The 6th book is something kikay hehe nahihiya ako to say the title. :P Basta it's about beauty. What I learned? The best beauty products are still the simplest: AHA, tretinoin, soap and antioxidants. I think I shouldn't have bought this book haha I already know this.