This book is filled with dolls made of ceramic, porcelain, metal, cloth, and wire. The variety and designs are unlimited. If you are a sculptor or dollmaker, you will get inspiration from seeing the creative works of these dollmakers. Order a copy from Amazon now.

Michael Lewis talks about his latest book, "Wall Street: Inside the Collapse", on 60 Minutes show

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How to Become a Famous Writer Before You're Dead, by Ariel Gore

This is an absolutely marvelous book which gives any writer or wanna be writer motivation, inspiration and practical methods for writing and getting published. I am almost finished reading it now and have derived much of real use from it. In short, the biggest lessons I took from it were that rewriting and rewriting again are essential, and that writing is just the beginning, with publishing the end game. No publication, no fame or cash or even feelings of closure. I am grateful to Ariel Gore for having put this book together for us. To read a more thorough review by an excellent reviewer, go to this link.

Rich Like Them: My Door To Door Search for the Secrets of Wealth, by Ryan D'Agostino

This book caught my attention. Having been wealthy for at least a year or two, and lost it, I was intrigued by the idea of someone profiling the lives of others and their paths to wealth. It is a very readable book, about quite down to earth people who generously told the author how they were able to accumulate luxurious homes, cars, and money in reserve. I saw myself in the pages, but of course in my present circumstances I am impoverished. Still, this book gave hope and promise. What is made once can be made again. Both consistent efforts and luck play a part in the wealth of many, and will certainly play a part in any recovery I might be able to make as well. I suggest this book as a great read to give you ideas on how to acquire money and then how to keep it and build it into even more money. Thanks to D'Agostino for taking the time and doing the door to door walking and talking for this book. He literally walked door to door to get interviews with these friendly and helpful people.

Chicken Soup for the Writers Soul, by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, & Gud Gardner

Lately I have taken great pride in spending time in bookstores without spending anything except for a hot latte. I use the time there to browse, read brief lines from the books that catch my eye, and write down titles and authors. Then in the days following, I go to the nearby newly constructed library and check the book out for free. After all, these are hard economic times and the need to hold onto the few dollars we have leads us to more traditional sources of books that we can get at no cost. Anyway, I found Chicken Soup for the Writers Soul and have spent the past two days soaking up the stories and guidance that the writers included in the book have to share. The stories tell of the support of parents, of the opportunities that public school teachers provided, and of those first days as a new writer. They are inspirational and motivational, and one can see oneself in the stories. The paths to becoming a full time writer are many, and I guess that is the main value of this book: it reveals that there are many ways to get there. Pick it up and spend some time with it. I guarantee you it will not disappoint you.

The Crimson Petal and The White, by Michel Faber

I read this marvelous novel some three years ago. At least it seems that long ago. I still think about it occasionally. Now it seems it is in development for a film version. The story centers on a love affair between a wealthy lavender farmer / perfumer / soap maker and his young prostitute beauty. He finds her and begins to be her benefactor and sex partner as he deals with a mentally disturbed wife and an ill daughter. The story progresses with the young lover striving to keep the relationship alive and using it to improve her lot in life. The ending is quite unexpected. You will find this book impossible to put aside until you have read all of the over 840 pages. Michel Faber is an amazing author of solid fiction. Of course you can order it in paperback from Amazon.

What I suspected is now a known fact: Goldman Sachs is a den of thieves

I do not think I have mentioned it, but by the day that Bear Stearns fell in after hours collapse, I had lost almost evey dollar of my retirement and savings funds in the messed up stock market. I had begun to trade in 2006, and was doing fine as long as the market was hot and going up. Then it turned sour,and despite all my amateur efforts to margin trade, I kept losing consistently, each time trying again only to lose more and more. I wound up losing my home to foreclosure, filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy and ruining my credit. I had to leave the house and took a temporary job in Arizona, which was a disaster. After three months I quit that miserable job and returned to California to take another job which also lasted just three months. I was maligned and abused in both of these jobs, and have now been employed just six months total in the past 4 years. I am broke and angry. I lost over $780K. At 63 years old, overqualified with waaaay too much education, there are no employers who want to hire me. I have applied for over 100 jobs (all of which I am qualified to do), with not even one call back. This is the American dream? More like a nightmare. I am glad to see the news being revealed of the depth of the corruption in our system and the devastation it does to ordinary people like me.