christianreader | 2018 February Book List (Reply)

You Need a Budget by Jesse Mecham 5/5

This is an excellent resource for anyone who's trying to budget wisely. I appreciated the conversational tone and inspiring stories. I've looked into the YNAB software before, and I'm familiar with their "rules." But it was nice that the author didn't write this book telling people to go buy his software. He mentioned that it's available, but he also said you could follow the same idea with your own spreadsheet or with a paper and pencil. Mostly, he just gives his philosophy about how to use money, and I think it's sound advice. I especially enjoyed the chapter about teaching kids how to budget.

Totally His by Erin Nicholas 3/5

The third and final "Opposites Attract" book. This one is about the third roommate, Sophie. Sophie owns a theater and enjoys acting and putting on plays. When her theater catches fire, a dreamy police officer named Finn comes to her rescue. Finn has a large, boisterous family, while Sophie has purposefully avoided getting involved with big families. Her dad is a con man who tends to take advantage of anyone Sophie gets close to, so she tries not to get too close to anyone. Sophie and Finn can't help but fall for each other, and her dad wastes no time in weaseling himself into Finn's family, "borrowing" money and being given a place to stay. Sophie finds that she really likes being accepted as part of Finn's family, but she thinks she needs to stay away in order to protect them from her dad. I enjoyed the story, and I liked Sophie, but my favorite of the three is still the second one.

The Humans by Matt Haig 4/5

Math professor Andrew Martin has solved the Riemann Hypothesis, a major breakthrough in the field of math. However, the highly intelligent aliens who keep watch over everything that happens in the universe believe that humans are not ready for this breakthrough. The aliens know it will lead to not only the destruction of humans, but the destruction of other parts of the universe, including themselves. So they kill Andrew Martin and send one of their own to Earth, disguised as Andrew Martin, to make sure the knowledge of the solution goes no farther. In addition to destroying all the evidence, this alien must kill anyone who had knowledge that the solution even existed. This book is written from the perspective of that alien as he navigates the strange world of living as a human, and as he comes to understand the beauty of humanity. It's a lovely story.