It takes time and care, but financial freedom is possible
The publishing world only really wakes up from January 15, but there are some books being published in these early January days. Here are a few to get things started, a mix of non-fiction and fiction including books for younger readers.
How to Achieve Financial Freedom, Eoin McGee, Eriu, €17.99
Most people know savvy accountant McGee from the telly, where his first venture was ‘How to be Good with Money’, a weekly a reality show featuring a different person in each episode. Eoin advised his guests on how to consolidate their debts and end up with the deposit for a house. Those days are gone now, and raising a deposit for a house nowadays involves the use of a loaded firearm, a balaclava and a getaway car. And one would need to blag roughly triple the deposit amount initially indicated, just to be in with a shout of buying one of the two houses planned for this year’s build. Be warned, though – you might not have running water or power.
McGee’s latest book makes big promises. They’re laid out quite simply, starting with the ’30 Big Mistakes’ and how not to make them. He moves on to ‘Outside Influences’ – things you can’t control – and from there advises careful, meticulous planning. Books on money and personal finances can be daunting (not to mention boring), but McGee’s easy style makes it all very readable and he somehow manages to convince the reader that financial freedom is possible. It will take time (five years) and care and attention, but he insists it’s there for everyone.
The Odds of You, Kate Dramis, Bloomsbury, €14.50
There are many romcoms published in the space of a year and lots of last year’s offerings were full of ‘rom’ but had precious little ‘com’; in fact many of them were about as funny as the funeral of a close friend. This is not the case with Kate Dramis’s new book, where she has switched lanes from fantasy fiction to comedy with remarkable ease. Sage is a novelist who’s published one successful breakout book and now needs to come up with a second. But the juices ain’t flowin’! Theo is an up-and-coming actor who’s beginning to be noticed in public places and is having real trouble getting used to that. They meet on a plane and the paparazzi have a field day when they land, wrongly assuming they’re an ‘item’. And the story takes off from there. It’s whipsmart funny in a very American way, and Dramis’s take on American English versus UK English is part of the fun. A book to cheer you up on these short days and long, dark nights.
Destinations, Patrick Treacy, Olympia, €30
Once known for being Michael Jackson’s doctor, Patrick Treacy is no stranger to major celebrities and has done aesthetic work on a plethora of stars. Cosmetic surgeons sometimes get bad press and one wonders why doctors would choose to work in a field where excessive vanity is the name of the game, but Treacy has done lots of other medical work too. He’s been involved with many humanitarian ventures across the globe and that is what this, his 11th book, is about. He’s worked in Haiti, Mexico, Uganda and other countries, usually after a climate change incident has left innumerable people injured and in need of medical care. And it struck him while he worked in those far-flung, poverty-stricken countries that local cultures and religions play a huge part in his patients’ lives and even in their recoveries. Here he gives us a view of different lifestyles and beliefs across the continents, as witnessed through a distinctly Western lens, and it’s a fascinating read.
Children’s Corner
The Monsters at the End of the World, Rebecca Orwin, Puffin, €13.05
Sunny knows three things about the creatures lurking in the sea surrounding her hometown. They are violent. They are dangerous. They are monsters. But a chance encounter with a monster leaves Sunny reevaluating her beliefs. The ‘monster’ Mo is gentle and kind and is on a mission to find his lost brother. Sunny and the monster become firm friends, but there are other influences in Sunny’s town that lead her to realise it’s not the monsters she needs to fight, but her own kind. A beautiful novel about friendship and about our common bonds rather than our differences, perfect for readers aged 9+.
Nadia Islam, On the Record, Adiba Jaigirdar, Hodder, €11.60
This is a charming novel about connection, friends, family and faith. Nadia Islam is determined to become a journalist when she grows up, but she’s got a few years to go yet. Nadia and her family travel to Bangladesh for Ramadan but she is sad to be missing her first Ramadan fast without her best friend back home. She needs to find something to distract herself and so helps her journalist aunt research an article about climate change. But when her cousins challenge her to a Ramadan competition, she’s pulled in two directions. Should she join her cousins’ competition or stick with helping her aunt to finish her article? Will she opt for kids’ games or for getting the scoop? Recommended for readers age 9+, this lovely book will be in the shops from next Tuesday, January 13.
Footnotes
The first days of every new year are known for making, and breaking, resolutions. Just a reminder that there’s a Saturday morning 5k parkrun in public parks across the country and they’re free to join. So, if you’ve planned to run off those extra Christmas pounds but are already feeling the ‘loneliness of the long distance runner’, check out your nearest park and join others who are doing the same thing as you. It’s not all about the running, you know! Full details on parkrun.ie.
The Botanic Gardens in Dublin are running Winter Guided Tours daily, at 11.30am and 3pm for the princely sum of a fiver. This is another way to get out into the fresh air, to discover the history of the gardens and to bring some borrowed knowledge and expertise home to cheer up your own back yard or balcony. See botanicgardens.ie.