Ben Franklin’s Guide to Wealth is the modern version of the treatise The Way of Wealth by Richard Saunders, one of Ben Franklin’s many pseudonyms. Franklin practiced what he preached in the treatise, and it made him rich enough to have a full life, travel extensively, and follow his intellectual musings, which in turn led him to become an accomplished scientist, inventor, political activist, diplomat, and writer. Franklin wasn’t born rich. He built his legacy using his intelligence, curiosity, natural good sense, and proclivity for thrift and hard work. When he died, he left a fortune. Barrett and Mingo bring practicing what Franklin preached up to date for today’s busy lifestyles. It’s time to get back to financial basics. It’s time to think about what «rich» really means. It might mean not hiring someone to do lawn work, saving some money, and sharing time spent together as a family. It’s time to look for guidance from America’s original financial guru, Ben Franklin. Ben Franklin’s Guide to Wealth shows readers how to apply Franklin’s financial wisdom to their own lives. Quotes from the original treatise such as «If you have something to do tomorrow, do it today» and «Leisure is time for doing something useful,» are followed by the authors’ down-to-earth commentary. Barrett and Mingo—history and trivia buffs—offer their own sage advice on a range of financial basics, including debt, thrift, the value of work and business, developing financial responsibility, money and time, and preparing for the future. As the authors attest in the Introduction, we should listen to the way of Ben Franklin because «it works.» A clever, wise, and fun book, the financial advice in Ben Franklin's Guide to Wealth works as well today as it did 250 years ago.
From devastating remarks made by teachers («Addled, backward dunce» said about young Thomas Edison) to the rich and famous on campus (William Randolph Hearst kept a pet alligator at Harvard), this is a spirited and humorous collection of facts about teachers and students.
Erin Barrett and Jack Mingo are the Queen and King of trivia, relied upon by game shows including Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and game manufacturers. Millions of people read their daily newspaper column and together they've written twenty books. The sixth book in the Totally Riveting Utterly Entertaining (TRUE) Trivia Series puts a magnifying lens on the wacky world of writers. It Takes a Certain Type to Be a Writer will tell you everything you could possibly want, or were afraid, to know about writers, publishing, and the writing life. Bite-sized facts are organized into chapters including «Everyone's a Critic», «Stranger than Fiction», «From Bad to Verse,» «Kiddie Lit», «A Word's Worth,» and many more. You'll learn things like: where Proust wrote (in bed with gloves on); what Voltaire drank (70 cups of coffee a day); and how James Cain prepared himself for yet another publisher's rejection. (The title The Postman Always Rings Twice had nothing to do with the plot of the best-selling novel. It was a private joke of author James Cain. His postman would ring his doorbell twice whenever the many-times-rejected manuscript came back from a publisher.)
Every little fact cat lovers could want to know about the mysterious creatures that live in their homes is contained in this collection. For example, cats use at least a hundred different sounds to communicate and can pronounce thirteen vowel sounds and seven or eight consonant sounds; housecats typically blink twice a minute; and in ancient Egypt, the penalty for killing a cat was death!
What is it about the game of golf that can cause otherwise normal folks to lose all perspective? More than one person has seen their loved one become consumed with the details of the quality of wood used in clubs, or the type of cleats on their shoes. What is it about the game of golf that can cause otherwise normal folks to lose all perspective? More than one person has seen their loved one become consumed with the details of the quality of wood used in clubs, the type of cleats on their shoes, the distance between their feet, and the direction of the wind, not to mention statistics, statistics, statistics. Featuring more than 500 facts about the sport that Paul Harvey describes as “a game in which you shout ‘fore,’ shoot six, and write down five.” Readers learn that experts believe shepherds invented the game using their staffs to bat around stones and that 12 percent of all lightning fatalities happen on the golf course.
It's no joke that we are all fascinated by the medical profession and the people in it. With Doctors Killed George Washington, trivia mavens Erin Barrett and Jack Mingo explore accidental medical discoveries, medical follies, bizarre cures, and more. This titillating tome puts doctors and medical history under the microscope and exposes more than 500 little-known facts and outrageous oddities from the wild world of medicine. Did you know? Before the advent of surgery, ancient Egyptian doctors put their patients under by hitting them on the head with a mallet.
We are all fascinated by the legal system and the people behind it. With Dracula Was a Lawyer, trivia experts Erin Barrett and Jack Mingo explore lawyers we love to hate (until we need one!), the pitfalls in our legal system, celebrity lawyers, and more. This compendium puts lawyers and legal history on trial and exposes over 500 outrageous oddities from the wild world of law.
This latest romp through history, politics, religion, and science from the dyno-duo Barrett and Mingo is sure to tickle the fancy of trivia buffs everywhere. Amuse your date, impress your boss, bore your kids, or be the 6th caller to win a pair of tickets to the nose-flute band concert! All because you know that a Twinkie in the microwave will explode in 45 seconds, that you have a 1 in 3,448,276 chance of dying from a snake bite, that 342 cases of tea were tossed into the «hahbah» during the Boston Tea Party or that white rhinoceroses are not actually white but grey (you'll have to read the book to discover why). Barrett and Mingo, partners in life and crime (er, writing) can do a thing or two with random facts, and this book ranks right up there. From the time the Wallace family made famous books of lists of one kind or another, readers have found fascination–or maybe just food for their obsessions–in books like Random Kinds of Factness.
All the Buzz on Bees and Beekeeping What happens when a writer sets up a backyard beehive? You get a book full of fun and fascinating facts on bumblebees, honeybees, worker bees, and the rest of our favorite pollinators. A bee swarm of trivia, tips, legend, and lore. Writer and beekeeper Jack Mingo lives with half a million bees. So, it’s safe to say he’s picked up a thing or two at his bee farm. In this collection of humorous, unique, and often unusual observations, Mingo shows us a glimpse of the mystical and matriarchal world of bees and bee culture. A book full of bee facts, anecdotes, and advice. How many legs do bees have? Enough not to crowd your bed at night. They don't track mud or fleas into the house, and if you leave them in the yard they won’t bark and whine. They greet you with honey and beeswax, not dead mice. And these are just some of the reasons bees make the best pets. Whether you’re flirting with beekeeping, looking to save the bees, or growing into your role as reigning queen bee, there’s something new to learn. Step into Mingo’s quirky hive to get a taste of tidbits like: The role of bees in the Civil WarThe legend of caroling bees on Christmas EveThe color and quality of local honey If you enjoyed books like The Beekeepers Bible , The Bees in Your Backyard , or The Lives of Bees , then you’ll love Bees Make the Best Pets .