BOOKS IN THE PINK
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Books in the PINK
Ahead of the Curve: Nine Simple Ways to Create Wealth by Spotting Trends
Investment success involves paying closer attention to your kids, gabbing with your girlfriends, watching E! and even shopping, says Hilary Kramer, AOL financial editor and author of Ahead of the Curve (Free Press, October 2007). Kramer offers timely tips for investing in the stock market, including look ing for hints in your everyday life. For example, instead of investing in corn, a key ingredient of ethanol and a current trend, an ahead-of-thecurve investor might buy stock in John Deere, the tractor company whose sales will likely increase with the rise in corn demand. Kramer also advises observing the demand for products around you, including toys your kids want and accessories both your friends and celebrities are buying.
Whitney Homans
Awake at Work
After attending a Buddhist seminary, Michael Carroll was determined to devote his life to spiritual study. But instead, he found himself seeking the spiritual path in the middle of Wall Street. In Awake at Work (Shambhala, February 2006), Carroll writes, "In our impatience to succeed and be come better, faster and more profitable, we overlook the fact that work, with all its pressures and problems, is encouraging us to be engaged, resourceful and alive."
Using 35 Buddhist principles, such as "be humble while ambitious," Carroll describes the balance between motivation and blind ambition. He defines humility as a combination of patience and attention to detail. Carroll suggests treating work like a journey, knowing the direction you are headed, respecting where you are and remembering what it took to get there.
Bre Edmonds
Don't Retire, Rewire!
Retirement traditionally meant a gradual retreat from the center of society, but according to Jeri Sedlar and Rick Miners, authors of Don't Retire, Rewire! (Alpha, November 2007), such a withdrawal is unnecessary. Before declaring retirement, plan what you'll do once you've stopped working and consider why you want to retire now. Many people retire just because they don't like their current job, which can quickly lead to boredom, stress and even depression. Some, for example, plan their entire lives around moving to exotic locations upon retirement, only to miss familiar activities and people so much that they return home within a couple of years. During retirement, stay active by doing something you love, the authors advise — which includes developing interests you've neglected and forging connections with old and new acquaintances. The key is not to lose energy but to redirect it.
Whitney Homans
Great Taste: Fresh, Simple Recipes for Eating and Living Well
Evelyn Lauder, a senior vice president of the cosmetics giant Estée Lauder, which had $6.3 billion in revenue last year, has compiled more than 100 of her favorite family recipes for In Great Taste (Rodale Books, September 2006). Lauder writes that breakfast should include small amounts of food rich in nutrients (like fruit and whole wheat), while lunch can be energizing and dinner, light on the digestion but deeply satisfying. Recipes vary from smoothies to salmon mousse to caviar and potato tartlets. A longtime women's health advocate, Lauder, who attributes her energy and stamina to her home cooking, plans to donate the royalties from the book to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Caroline Duncan
Happier
For those in agreement with Mark Twain that "Sanity and happiness are an impossible combination," help is on the way. In Happier (McGraw-Hill, May 2007), Tal Ben-Shahar, Ph.D., provides strategies for finding more satisfaction in life. "A human being, like a business, makes profits and suffers losses," says the Harvard lecturer, who teaches a popular course on happiness. For humans, the ultimate currency is not mon ey, but happiness. One way to achieve it is through the process of MPS (meaning, pleasure, strengths). By mapping out these three areas, you learn what job is best for you based on personal characteristics that overlap from all three categories. And whether you view your work as a job, a career or a calling can have a huge impact on your ultimate satisfaction.
Meg Suggs
The Imperfect Mom
Therese Borchard was a "closet perfectionist mom" until she confessed in a magazine to having allowed a friend's toddler to fall into deep, icy water. Afterward, women everywhere confessed to her their maternal transgressions big and small, which she gathered for The Imperfect Mom (Broadway Books, April 2006), hoping to "shed the unnecessary weight shouldered by most moms." While one mother worries that her decision to return to work "created a son with special needs," another learns to be "assertively imperfect" – teaching her children to be more self-serving. This after her daughter, for whom she was "unfailingly attentive, supportive, patient and encouraging," turned into "a total monster." Ultimately the book proves that no two parents are the same and you can't possibly be perfect – just "perfect enough."
Taylor Mallory
Latin Chic: Entertaining with Style and Sass
Latin Chic (Harper Collins, 2005), a new title by journalists Carolina Buia and Isabel C. Gonzalez, takes the reader on an international culinary and cultural tour. Among 10 different parties, the authors play host to a bevy of Latin chic friends in places like Cuernavaca, the Hollywood Hills and the Argentine Pampas. Each exquisitely photographed chapter mixes up a menu of cocktails and dishes from across Latin America. Standouts include a Cuban kumquat mojito, a Chilean avocado butter and an Ecuadorian shrimp ceviche. There is also a primer on Latin wines and etiquette information (such as the proper way to smoke a cigar). "This book appeals to both Latins and non-Latins alike," Gonzalez says. "It's a reflection of how Carolina and I entertain."
Tiffany J. Davis
A Life in Balance
According to PINK contributor Kathleen Hall, Ph.D., "the single greatest threat to our lives is our lifestyle." In her new book, A Life in Balance (AMACOM, January 2006), she explains how to find balance and purpose – and prevent or minimize the dis-eases caused by chronic stress – in our busy lives by nourishing the four roots of true happiness: serenity, exercise, love and food. For each root, Hall outlines the incredible health benefits and how to achieve each goal. For serenity – which is "essential to the life of your body, mind and soul" – Hall walks readers through meditation, deep breathing, prayer, journaling and gratitude. She also explains why diets fail, teaches healthy eating practices and lists essential foods that prevent disease and retard aging, including fish, broccoli, blueberries, strawberries, green and black tea, and tomatoes.
Taylor Mallory
Lipstick Jungle
Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell's latest novel, Lipstick Jungle (Hyperion, 2007), out in paperback in August, profiles three powerful career women's struggles to be successful at work and life. Fashion designer Victory Ford fights to succeed; movie exec Wendy Healy's mother tells her how men should make more money than their wives; and magazine editor Nico O'Neilly works to become CEO while her marriage loses its lust. A la Carrie and the girls, these women's supportive relationships with one another are imperative to their success. Bushnell writes, "It was only with women that you could be really vulnerable – you could ask for pats on the back, without worrying about being seen as hopelessly insecure." She tells PINK, "Women discuss their career aspirations [with each other] and encourage each other to go for it."
Taylor Mallory
Prince Charming Isn't Coming: How Women Get Smart About Money
After being shaken by a financial crisis, Barbara Stanny realized that she could no longer depend on anyone else to fix her finances. In the 10th anniversary edition of Prince Charming Isn't Coming (Penguin Books, May 2007), Stanny explains: "Getting smart with money is as much about conquering fear and overcoming resistance as about learning facts and managing assets." She points out that while 42 percent of Americans with gross assets of $600,000 or more are women, 71 percent of women between the ages of 35 and 54 don't know how to invest. In her seven steps to educate women, Stanny writes that "perhaps the most powerful component in creating wealth" is compounding interest. She stresses that money on its own can't produce action or more wealth. Only financially responsible women can.
Kimberly Zych
This Day in the Life: Diaries from Women Across America
Ever wonder what your life would be like if you had chosen another path? For This Day in the Life (Three Rivers Press, December 2005), authors Joni B. Cole, Rebecca Joffrey and B.K. Rakhra asked hundreds of women across America to keep a "day diary" on the same randomly chosen day, Tuesday, June 29, 2004. The resulting book contains 36 complete diaries from vastly different women: a college professor and novelist who worries about her teenage daughters dating; a 65-year-old grandmother of nine who views her wrinkles as "the signs of having lived a while"; a soldier in Baghdad who congratulates herself on becoming more assertive; and a type-A television reporter on vacation with her children. "We are all burdened by so much ridiculous divisiveness," the book's creators explain, "most of it grounded in false assumptions – feminists aren't feminine, abortion supporters aren't pro-family, working women are at odds with stay-at-home moms. By sharing the perspective of another woman we gain a greater understanding of how much we all have in common."
Taylor Mallory
The Wall Street Diet
How many times have you grabbed a Danish at the airport while waiting for a too-early flight, or eaten a high-fat meal while entertaining clients at dinner? Nutritionist Heather Bauer recognized these challenges in her clients' lives and used their experiences as a jumping-off point for The Wall Street Diet (Hyperion, April 2008), a book designed to help busy professionals with their specific food challenges. Among her suggestions: At the airport, try a one-stop breakfast of a skim latte and a piece of fruit. At a party, order your least favorite drink to slow down your alcoholic intake. At the office, "never let the sun set on a food gift"; instead take it to the reception desk or conference room. Sample diet plans are included, along with eating-out "cheat sheets" showing the calorie count for typical bar drinks and snacks, as well as popular restaurants like KFC and P.F. Chang's.
Cassie Dres
The Weekend Marriage: Abundant Love in a Time-Starved World by Mira Kirshenbaum
Is this what we've come to in our work-obsessed lives? The Weekend Marriage (Harmony Books, 2005) examines a new concern in today's rushed, stressed, work-focused society: helping time-crunched couples achieve healthier relationships. Instead of cramming a marriage into a weekend, perhaps reprioritizing how time is spent would be a better, more lasting solution. Nevertheless, Kirshenbaum insists quality time trumps quantity and offers "gorilla" success tactics varying from a week away by yourself before being joined by your husband to "skip the complaining. State your needs as simply as possible."
What Women Really Want
As women remodel their lives, they are also reshaping the American family, workplace and culture. "There has never been a better time to be a woman," write coauthors Celinda Lake, a political strategist for the Democratic Party, and Kellyanne Conway, a leading conservative pollster, in What Women Really Want (Free Press, 2005). Exploring the effects of today's women on our country, they describe 10 current trends such as generational compression (women across generations having more commonality) and a more baby-focused culture, and they make predictions for the next 10 years. Among them: There will be more pressure for affordable higher education and a more task-oriented, less time-obsessed workplace; unmarried women will be the number-one "get" for candidates in upcoming elections; and a woman will be on the presidential ticket.
Allison Sparks
Where We Stand: A Surprising Look at the Real State of Our Planet
Good news: The world is not coming to an end anytime soon. In Where We Stand (AMACOM, August 2007),Seymour Garte, Ph.D, shows why a healthy dose of optimism is justified. Better public awareness combined with more advanced technology has improved a host of issues, ranging from an actual drop of about 35 percent in carbon dioxide emissions in the last 40 years, to increased recovery rates for 93 percent of U.S. endangered species, including the bald eagle. Garte notes that as a result of the Montreal Protocol of 1986, world production of CFCs — a key cause of ozone depletion — has plummeted by 80 percent. While Where We Stand stops short of claiming that everything is getting better, Garte writes "we need to learn from our successes as much as from our failures."
Chris Moedjio
Women of the Vine
If you've ever thought the life of a winemaker is all champagne and caviar, think again. In Deborah Brenner's Women of the Vine (John
Wiley & Sons, 2006), the life stories of 20 women in the wine business have their share of hardship and hard work. Stephanie Brown, founder
of Divas Uncorked, works eight hours a day at her regular job and another eight on Divas. Stephanie Gallo, director of marketing for Gallo Family Vineyards, recalls how her father would not let her work in the marketing department without first selling the product. "He said, 'It's probably one of the most challenging jobs that you'll ever have, but you're going to learn the most about yourself — how to deal with … and … overcome rejection." For a change of pace, the book suggests trying one of wine writer Leslie Sbrocco's favorite combinations: champagne and potato chips, or rose wine with a burrito.
Christie Davis
