This book is a memoir of a Marine (Jay Kopelman), who was sent to Irag during the Iraq war, somehow fell in love with this puppy called Lava. He want through quite a ordeal to get the puppy out of Iraq.

In a way, I believe the author sees a little of himself in this puppy -a little restless, lawless, and emotional. Rescuing the puppy in a way is like to rescue himself and his sanity and give him a sense of purpose from a country of insanity and war zone. With help from an Iraqi, a CNN Journalist, bomb-detecting kennel, he was able to fly the dog out of the country after the end of his tour. The fate of the dog hung on the balance throughout the story.

I was surprised to learn how badly Iraq has fallen into. This is not a country anyone would want to live in. The vivid account of the situation there (like separation of green and red zone, human bodies being eaten by stray dogs, constant threat of suicide bombing, and bomb-strapped cows, retarded kids and etc.) does send a chill through my spine.

The book reads like a novel but was in a journal format and kept the reader interested all along. Very nicely done. Looking at these pictures of Lava, I can see why people would want to preserve his little life. He is a miracle in itself (the odd was stacked against him) and gives us hope that things will get better for his homeland – Iraq and for the US men and women who are still there. Our thoughts are with you.

This is a rags-to-riches story. Chris Gardner would have been written off long time ago and would not stand a chance to succeed. He was a poor boy living through abandonment by his own father, several separations with his mother due to her going in and out of prison, verbal and physical abuses by his step father. Against all odds, based on his own drive to success and his mother’s encouragement (“You can make a million if you want to.”)

The most dramatic and interesting part of the story is that after he had some success with his medical equipment sales career, he became homeless with his boy, walking around in baby stroller in Oakland, BART station, San Francisco, all the while trying to make a career in the E.F. Hutton Brokerage house, sometime sleeping in the bathrooms of the BART station, or dark corner of the Union Square WITH his baby boy!

Armed with his SPD (Smart, Poor, and Deep desire to succeed) and several people’s help, he was able to rise through the ranks, founded his own firm and became rich. This story should serve as a good motivator for people stuck in the same situation. There is no question that Chris Gardner was a very smart person in his own right. Who would capture any seemingly unlikely chance to talk to a guy driving a Farrari sports car and ask him directly how he became rich. He was direct, charming, knew exactly what he wanted – to pursue his happiness that he desired in this world against all odds. No one else believed in him except his Mom and his little boy.

By any standard, he is a very good salesman. He just knows how to sell. His secret? Understand what the customer needs and sell them what they want, above and beyond their needs. Of course, it doesn’t hurt what he was selling was making money for the clients. The numbers speak for themselves. He also found a niche to sell into the rich black community that needs his service.

I haven’t got a chance to watch the movie version. But this audio book was so vividly narrated, I can feel all the emotions encountered by the author. Sometimes, it helps to be put in the deepest cycle of the life to shake someone out of his comfort zone and become the best he/she can be. This is a success story. If he can do it, there are many people can do it too.

As in the “Automatic Millionaire” book, this book started out working on the Latte factor and Double Latte factor. I guess he’s not getting the spokesperson job from Starbucks. It’s true that there are many frivolous spendings people do just to “spoil” oneself. For me, it’s the “joy” of being alive. Well, I don’t do latte and I only drink coffee of the day so my savings is not that much. I did manage to cut out my “fruit” salad from my lunch, saving me ~$4/day. Instead, I brought my own fruits, which costs < $1. That's roughly $3/day or $750/yr or $43K in 20 years, assuming 10% APR. Not bad. The next few chapters are for the credit card slaves who are up to their necks on credit card debts. This section is not particular interesting to me. There is some tips about paying mortgage biweekly or paying 10% extra per mortgage payment or add an extra payment every year. Budgeting doesn’t work. Make it automatic and pay yourself first: I long ago realized the budgeting is simply waste of time and try to do things manually simply don’t work well. These days, there are many on-line tools to automate the payments. It’s a waste of time not to take advantage of it.

Investment strategy: Bach suggests that all investment should be in 3 equal shares in real estates (including the equity of your home), bonds, and stocks. Try to balance the investment in all 3 areas. Investment should be “boring” and your life should be exciting, according to Bach.

Getting extra income: I waited a while to see how much the author is going to get everyone to save and not offer ideas to increase the income. I was not disappointed. His advise about getting a raise was enlightening. As a manager, I have never seen any employee coming to me asking for a raise, nor have I done it myself. But the question he asks, “Ask yourself or your boss if he/she would hire you now.” Wow, that’s a difficult question to ask oneself. It’s true that an excellent employee worths many times the “good” employees. And indeed, good employees are the worst kind because they are not bad enough to fire and not excellent enough to take on additional responsibilities. He also suggested using eBay to sell your goods.

Franchising: May be good for people who can manage and follow the rules. He suggested several good tips like: have some money to tie over, talk to people who already own the franchise, work at the franchise to see behind the counter, buy an existing franchise by asking the existing franchisee if they want to sell, and catch the growth curve.

The most expensive time is the hours you get paid for. This is another shocking statement for people who are making ends meet. In other words, if you’re getting paid by the hours, you’re not maximizing your worth. You should be leveraging your assets and talents to multiply your earnings.

Owning your home. Your home is an asset. Contrary to what Rich Dad said, your home is your asset. David Bach did not go into some long winged arguments but make it clear that for most people it’s the best investment you’ll ever make and the equity you build up is going to feed you in your old age. I agree with him. Not everyone is cut out to be a landlord and wanted to deal with finicky tenants.

Be a dream creator. Giving back by tithing.David Bach made it clear that getting rich is not the ultimate goal but the wealth created choices and freedom and ability to give back. Go and enable others’ dreams. Good point.

Teach your kids to start early and finish rich.Start them early and teach them about the basic financial wisdom from this book so they can start early and finish richer (than we).

Live in the joy. “When was the last time you had joy?” Be happy and do the things that make you happy. Having the financial freedom can make that happen.

I like this book more than the previous books. David Bach has reached certain level of maturity and acquired more wisdom. Of course, he would not consider buying his books or joining his membership a double-latte factor. Would he?