Recommended reads

Originally published in the Ketchikan Daily News, August 2014; written by Tammy Dinsmore

This summer I have been reading and listening to a lot of different things. The majority of the books I’ve checked out have been ones that I can pick up, read a short chapter or blurb and then put back down and move on to something else.

The two books I have been perusing through recently are “The Charles Schwab Guide to Finances after Fifty: Answers to your Most Important Money Questions” by Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, and “Not to be Missed: Fifty-Four Favorites from a Lifetime of Film” by Kenneth Turan. Both of these books can be picked up and opened to just about anywhere and read. They don’t have to be read from cover to cover, but if you want to get the most from them, you will.

In “The Charles Schwab Guide”, the book is laid out in a question and answer format, and begins with recommendations for people of every age, like figuring out what you are worth, making and sticking to a budget, reducing debt, creating an emergency fund, checking retirement savings, insurance and estate plans and finally organizing your records.

From there it moves on to what to prepare for with at least ten years before retirement. In Part 1 the first question is “How much do I need to save for retirement?” The author explains how to calculate what you may need when you retire, how much you will need to save to meet that goal and finally, talking to a professional, if you can, to help you realize your goals.

Other chapters in the book deal with the transition into retirement, life during retirement, when and how to file for Social Security and Medicare, and then on to estate planning and providing for your loved ones later on. There is a lot of very helpful information in this book.

I have really been enjoying “Not to be Missed”. Some of the films the author writes about are well known classics, like “Casablanca” and “The Godfather”. Others, like “Casque d’Or” and ”Kes” I’ve never even heard of. Hmmm, sounds like I may need to see about an Interlibrary Loan or two!

The book is arranged by decade and the films that seem to get the most attention are from the Nineteen Forties and Fifties. For each film the author not only describes the plot but may also talk about the director, the actors and actresses, the location and the feeling that he gets from the film. There are dramas and comedies and included are silent films, foreign films and documentaries, and they all seem to be personal favorites of the authors’.

At the end of each film review is a suggestion for another movie and a book (or books) for further reading. Listed at the end of the book are another 54 films the author recommends. Although some of my personal favorites are not included, I have still liked reading about the authors picks.

These two titles and a lot more are on the “New Books” shelves and waiting for you to come and scoop them up!