Our Iceberg Is Melting by John Kotter and Holger Rathegeber

Learn some fundamental principles of leadership by reading this humorous fable story.

Through narrating how a group of penguins went ahead to convince the entire herd to react to the melting iceberg, the authors bring across the Eight Step Process of Successful Change.

1) Create a sense of urgency in the colony to deal with a difficult problem
2) put a carefully selected group in charge of guiding the change
3) found the sensible vision of a better future
4) communicated that vision so others would understand and accept it
5) removed as many obstacles to action as was practical
6) created some sort of success quickly
7) never let up until the new way of life was firmly established
8) ensured that the changes would not be overcomed by stubborn, hard-to-die traditions

Rating: 9.5/10

The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason

Learn the path to riches by reading the stories of Babylon. Over a mere hundred pages of wisdom generated from the realms of the wealthy city.

"The Richest Man in Babylon" educates one with the most fundamental financial notions.

Rating: 8.5/10

This is your Life, not a Dress Rehearsal by Jim Donovan

I borrowed this meaningful book from Andrew and completed in one day.

This is a very easy and simple to read book but it brings out much meanings to the ordinary man. For example, the author mentioned that all the people featured in the orbituaries thought they could live another day.

The author applied much of his concepts based on Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill but in a much direct manner and simplified basis. Over just slightly more than a hundred pages, the author managed to cast many important lessons deep into the mind.

Rating: 9/10

You and Your Money by Lois A. Vitt & Karen L. Murrell

I received this book as a gift from Wee Keat and Hwee Peng for my birthday.

You and Your Money is a very handy book for anyone that wants to start educating themselves financially. The authors use case studies of various individuals and their predicaments to illustrate their points throughout the book.

Even if you are already well-versed in financial education, You and Your Money contains a short little test that you could take to determine your values type. With the assessment, you can better understand yourself and how to minimise conflict with your family or spouse.

The down side of the book, I would critic, is that it gets dreary sometimes with too many examples.

Rating: 6.5/10

Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

If you think Economics is for the boring geeks, Freakonomics will be a great book to dispel that myth. Economist Steven D. Levitt is not the typical number-crunching Economics professor (he even self-proclaims that he is poor in mathematics). He posed interesting, if not wacky questions that could be solved using an Economics sense.

There is no unifying theme in this book. Here's a sneak peek:

Introduction: The Hidden Side to Everything
What do Schoolteachers and Sumo Wrestlers Have in Common?
How is the Ku Klux Klan Like a Group of Real-Estate Agents?
Why do Drug Dealers still Live with their Mums?
Where have all the Criminals gone?
What makes a Perfect Parent?
Would a Roshanda by Any Other Name Smell as Sweet?

Although some of Levitt's points are controversial (such as Legalisation of Abortion caused a reduction of crime in America), they have their due merits. Levitt simplifies Economics by emphasising on fundamentals of the subject (i.e. Humans respond to incentives; holding all other variables constant when comparing; causality, etc.)

Refer to the Freakonomics Blog for ongoing wacky questions and solutions.

Overall Rating: 9.5/10

Secrets of Millionaire Investors by Adam Khoo & Conrad Alvin Lim

If Rich Dad, Poor Dad is all about building hypes around your dreams and imagination, this book by Adam Khoo & Conrad Alvin Lim is definitely a practical book for beginners to pick up investing.

The usual investment book would just cover the basics and fundamentals of stocks, options, funds, etc. But Secrets of Millionaire Investors goes one step further by including snapshots of graphs for analysis as well as online broker sites where beginners can just log into and start investing.

Secrets of Millionaire Investors covers investment in stocks, different strategies (sometimes contradictory) in the buying and selling of stocks, and options.

I would seriously recommend anyone who is interested in investing to start off with this book as it is easy, little hype and very practical.

Ratings: 9/10

Further Readings:
Online Trading For Financial Freedom. Online Stock Trading, Daytrading And Short Term Investing Strategy For Beginning And Experienced Traders Alike.

Parties and Politics - A Study of Opposition Parties and the PAP in Singapore by Hussin Mutalib

This is a holistic analysis on the 4 significant political parties in Singapore -- namely, the Barisan Socialis, Worker's Party, Singapore Democratic Party and PKMS by Associate Professor Hussin Mutalib of Department of Political Science, National University of Singapore.

The Author gives a brief description on how local politics evolved from a 2-party rule into a 1-party dominant political system. From the historical ontext of politics before 1963, the Author moves on to case study Singapore's opposition parties. He then gives his analysis on the impediments to a viable opposition in Singapore and concludes with the future prospects for these opposition parties.

Barisan Socialis was, at one time, the strongest opposition to the PAP government when it splintered off from the latter. Worker's Party is the longest opposition party to exist in Singapore. Singapore Democratic Party is a relatively new political party formed in 1980 but won a seat (by Chiam See Tong) in 1984. PKMS, a Malay-first Political Party surviving in a Chinese-dominated society.