Announcing the PF Blogger Book Club!
Since the personal finance community is such a close-knit one, I thought it would be fun to start a virtual book club where we can read and discuss finance-related books together. I want this to be a low-cost way to interface with one another, and I hope that we can find books that keep things fresh and interesting.
The reading material does not have to be strictly Dave Ramsey how-to books (though it could be); it could be a biography of a business person, a personal finance guide that looks interesting to you, or (in my case as I’ll explain below) a women’s studies/sociology type book about wealth and money. The sky is the limit! If we get tired of reading personal finance and want to read something else, that is okay too.
Here are the details: each month, a point person will choose a book and host the book club on their blog for that month. The point person will be responsible for getting the discussion going by posting a review, and hopefully a few questions for everyone to ponder. The point is to get talking to one another, to meet new PFers, and to get to know old PFers better.
Here’s how to participate for October: either comment on this post or tweet (@deenadollars) that you want to join. We can use the hashtag #pfbookclub (I checked and no one uses it regularly), and I will keep a list of participants below. You have from now until November 1st to read the book, and on that day, my review will go up. For the next week, we will be discussing and talking about the book. You can either make your own review on your blog, or make extended comments on my post, it is up to you.
For our first book, we will be reading Shortchanged: Why Women Have Less Wealth and What Can Be Done About It by Mariko Chang. I selected this book because it is by a sociologist (though written for a broad audience), and it discusses women and money, which is one of my favorite topics. It has gotten great reviews from what I’ve read, and I think it will be a challenging, but very close-to-home read for many of us. Hopefully you can get the book from a library for free (I found it at my local library), but if not, it is available used on Amazon or half.com. If we have trouble finding it cheaply, please email me and I have a bootleg idea about how to fix this.
The point person’s final duty is to select a new point person for the following month: in November, Serendipity will be hosting the book club on her blog. (She gets to go next because we thought it up together. But let us know if you want to be the point person in December!)
Anyway, that was a lot of info. Please let me know if you are interested, and if you have any suggestions about how this should be run. This is a work in progress, so input is definitely welcome.
Happy reading!
$$ DEENA $$
Participant list (will update this as people respond):
Revanche
Insomniac Lab Rat
Serendipity
Budget or Fudget
Cents of a Country Girl
Tanya Snarks
Vanessa
Spenders Broke
Savvy Working Gal
Little Miss Moneybags
Stacking Pennies
Always the Planner
Tentative:
Investing Newbie
Stephanie at Graduated Learning
I’d like to join
Vanessa
September 14, 2011 at 1:17 pm
Sounds like a fantastic idea although I’m hesitant of committing becuase work and school gets crazy all the time. That said, if I do read the book, I would love to participate!
Investing Newbie
September 14, 2011 at 1:41 pm
Fantastic idea! I would love to participate, but I’m not going to add any obligations – even fun ones! – to my plate right now. I know I wouldn’t make the time to read a book outside of all the reading I have to do for class right now.
That said, when December rolls around and I gain, like, 40 hours of my week back after graduation, I’ll reevaluate, but I don’t want to make any commitments yet. First book sounds great though! Y’all have fun!
Red
September 14, 2011 at 9:19 pm
Yay for book club!
Serendipity
September 15, 2011 at 1:31 pm
I’m signing up for this. I recently received an email asking for a list of PF book recommendations for young women. I went to the library and checked out a bunch of PF books. While reading I thought it would be great to discuss them with others to see what they thought. Also looking forward to the first selection.
Savvy Working Gal
September 17, 2011 at 5:57 pm
I’d love to participate and host. I’ve been reading lots of pf books for women. I love the idea of the virtual book club. Sign me up for December’s!
diva
September 18, 2011 at 8:32 pm
It has been interlibrary loan requested…so let’s see when it gets here
L.
September 19, 2011 at 9:47 am
I AM SO IN!
I realize I’m late to the party in joining up, but I’m so excited about this!
Little Miss Moneybags
September 21, 2011 at 2:53 pm
Got my book yesterday! I’m so excited for this to start!!!
L.
September 23, 2011 at 6:51 pm
[...] running out of time, money, and food. I have not even picked up 365 Ways to Live Cheap or Shortchanged since I got them (out of guilt because exams were coming up). I lost the scarf in my [...]
September Goals: Recapped | Budget or Fudget
September 30, 2011 at 9:19 am
[...] Here are the details: each month, a point person will choose a book and host the book club on their blog for that month. The point person will be responsible for getting the discussion going by posting a review, and hopefully a few questions for everyone to ponder. The point is to get talking to one another, to meet new PFers, and to get to know old PFers better. -Deena at DeenaDollars [...]
Link Love! | Budget or Fudget
September 30, 2011 at 9:38 am
I would love to be a part of this book club!! Is it okay if I join?
asgreen
September 30, 2011 at 5:53 pm
Of course, the more the merrier!
deenadollars
October 1, 2011 at 11:05 am
Me! I’m in!
SP
September 30, 2011 at 8:42 pm
Just put the book on my request list at the library…will see if it comes available soon! So right now I’m “tentative”.
Stephanie
October 1, 2011 at 11:44 am
Great!
deenadollars
October 1, 2011 at 11:46 am
[...] Read 2 chapters of Shortchanged [...]
Goals-10.1 Edition | Budget or Fudget
October 3, 2011 at 8:53 am
I want to join!
Karen (@jhspoljunkie)
October 5, 2011 at 8:32 am
I would like to join too. Thank you!
Nancy
October 6, 2011 at 9:17 am
[...] 2 chapters of Shortchanged: Haven’t started yet (still reading 365 Ways to Live [...]
10.1 Goal Check-in | Budget or Fudget
October 6, 2011 at 7:12 pm
[...] Read 2 chapters of Shortchanged [...]
Goals 10.1 ed. Finale | Budget or Fudget
October 9, 2011 at 6:09 pm
[...] a book club: PF Book Club…need I say [...]
365W2BC: Take Two | Budget or Fudget
October 16, 2011 at 11:56 am
Add me to the list please! I got Shortchanged from Serendipity, and school has slowed down so much that it should be no problem for me to participate and host one after graduation. Yay!
Red
October 18, 2011 at 11:13 am
Just picked up the book yesterday! Started reading…it’s pretty dense to get through! But I’m working on it.
Stephanie
October 23, 2011 at 10:54 am
[...] what can be done about it I reserved. I’m planning on participating in Deena Dollar’s PF Blogger Book Club! I don’t have too much time to read it, but I’ll try to get through it as far as I [...]
What’s the opposite of a no-spend weekend? « Graduated Learning: Life after College
October 23, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Since my copy of the book is due at the library tomorrow, I posted my review today. I may post again on the first if I didn’t address your review questions. I enjoyed the book which brought up some alarming statistics.
Savvy Working Gal
October 23, 2011 at 2:24 pm
[...] Generation Earn by Kimberly Palmer and Get A Financial Life by Beth Kobliner I did read the Personal Finance Book Club book, Shortchanged: Why Women Have Less Wealth and What Can Be Done About It by Mariko Chang, but never [...]
2011 Year in Review: Networth Update, Looking Back, Looking Forward « Graduated Learning: Life after College
January 1, 2012 at 4:17 pm