Joad To Nowhere

This has been a productive trip for getting some reading done. I polished off "The Fountainhead" in about 10 days. Plenty of highlighted passages in that one. Bob Britt and I swapped gift books, and he bought me "Grapes of Wrath". I read all but the last chapter and then forgot it on the nightstand at a hotel. I bought another copy this morning and read the last chapter - at a cost of $30NZ - but it was worth it.

I know that book is often required reading on high schools, but after reading it for the first time this past week, I empathize with the characters in a way that few high school kids could. What constitutes a family? What is the definition of "head of the family"?

My parents were at the tail end of the Depression era and always had a tangible aversion to debt, their own parents even more so. The story must read like some strange cautionary tale to kids growing up with laptops and iPods. The Joad kids are thrilled to get a box of Crackerjack.

Next book on the list is "Under The Tuscan Sun", which has been made into a movie, I think. I found the "house diary" premise interesting and it cost 40 cents at the Salavation Army in east Nashville. We are about to do some home improvement and I'm hoping to get a few insights from a project much larger than the one I have in mind.

After that, I'll re-visit the financial planner workbook "Smart Couples Finish Rich". At least they do if they stop buying cameras.