Book: The Boer War Diary of Jan Leendert Moerdijk 1899 - 1902

Some time ago I met up with Chris Moerdyk for tea. We chatted about the books we were reading, and I mentioned that I had just finished The Boer War by Thomas Pakenham. He shared that his grandfather had kept a diary during the Boer War, and sent me a copy of the book a couple of days later. It was translated by his brother.  It was so interesting to get insight into that period, he had such a sharp wit, and it is endearing how much he cared for his horses. I am very grateful to have been able to get this sneak peek into our history of that time.

Book: Getting to YES, Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In, Roger Fisher and William Ury

This is a very generic book on negotiating skills, and as they say, each situation will require its own specific tactics.

Three things to consider:

• BATNA Best Alternative to Negotiated Agreement
• Communication
• Be prepared

I think there are better books to rather consider reading.

Book: Geldwolf, Carel van der Merwe

Initially I thought the author had confused the names of the main character's wife and mistress, then I realised that it was his writing style. I do enjoy good Afrikaans writing, and it was a good read for the long weekend. 

Book: The Talking Parcel, Gerald Durrell

I remember first reading this book in Std 5 (grade 7) and it was absolutely magical. It was the first time I had ever come across the name Penelope and the idea of a phoenix. I had been looking for it in all the second-hand bookstores to no avail, and could also not find it on Takealot. After a recent visit to the local Hout Bay library, I found it! It was such fun to reread it. 

Book: SynchroDestiny, Deepak Chopra

It was quite a read to get into the first few chapters, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading more on meditation, sutras and mantras, which are discussed in the second part of the book. For some time I have been wanting to learn how to meditate better, so it's rather apt that this book came into my possession. It is a book that I will refer to often as there are fantastic daily mantras.

Book: Botswana Time, Will Randall

What a wonderful African adventure Will takes the reader on. He has a marvellous writing style and sense of humour. I will definitely look at getting my hands on his other books too. 

Book: The 9 Steps To Financial Freedom ~ Practical & Spiritual Steps So You Can Stop Worrying, Suze Orman

I started reading this book years ago, then lost interest when I reached a chapter about planning for retirement; not that I don't think it is important, it was just that Suze makes a lot of reference to American regulations. The other day I saw the book on my bookshelf, and it irks me to have a half-read book 'staring' at me.  What I should have done initially was just to skip over that chapter, which I did this time around. 

There are three key lessons for me from this book: the first part of the book helped me to understand my relationship and thinking about money. She takes you through an exercise that digs down quite deeply to help you understand this relationship. 

The next lesson is the importance of respecting money; this really resonated with me, as 'respect' is one of our core values at Reputation Matters.  This links to Suze's second law of financial freedom: Respect attracts money ~ disrespect repels money. 

The third lesson is trusting yourself with your money. I've had a financial advisor for years, recently I started feeling that I have been taken for a ride; I only hear from him once a year when my investments need to be renewed/reviewed and he obviously gets a commission from it. He does not listen to a word I say, and I am doubtful that after 15 years he actually knows what it is we do. Suze encourages people to listen to their gut feeling, and I think that is the reason this book has crossed my path again, giving me that 'virtual' nod that you need to listen to that inner voice especially when it comes to investments and financial planning.