So I forgot about the library.

Huh? That’s right, for the last 15 years I would guess, I had forgotten that the library has plenty of books that I might actually would buy otherwise, waiting to be checked out.

I can attribute this sudden remembering to my dear wife, who took me to the library one day… my thought process went something like, “Oh crap… the library! how could I forget the library? It’s like… free books. And they actually have books I read. This is so confusing. The last time I was in one of these was like 15 years ago, age 10. I wonder if it disappeared during this long gap of time, cause I sure don’t remember it being here.”

Stupid eric.

Anyway, checked two books out, about halfway through one of them. In all likelihood I would have bought the two books which… after alittle cal-cue-luh-muh-cation on amazon.com, would have cost me……31.98 for new books, and 25.16 for used books… and that’s only for 2.

And, just because you might be interested, here’s what I’m reading:

A Random Walk Down Wall Street - while a fairly old book (first edition, 1973), this book forms a nice primer on the history of investing and does some analysis in to all the techniques involved in determining the best way to invest. The book has been updated numerous times, with the latest revision covering the tech stock bubble that occured in the late ninties and early 00’s.

Currently halfway through this book, it’s a nice refresher to the stuff I learned about finance and investing from my college education… though they tended to be alot more focused on theories and formulas there and less on actually “how” to invest.

What I’ve learned so far: Unless you are superhumanly brilliant or have a lucky streak thats approximately 30+ years long, using techniques and convoluted schemes are most likely not going to work over the long-term, and you’re probably better off using index funds and diversifying to lower risk where you can.

Decided to read based on reading this review as well as the reviews by readers on Amazon.

The Four Pillars of Investing - Haven’t read yet, but looking to delve into it upon completion of the above book.

Checked out based on review from same place as the above book, MyMoneyBlog.

FL: USB Missile Launcher - yes, its as cool as you could imagine (as long as you imagine it being fairly cool, and able to shoot max around 5 or 6m.)