Welcome to The Melanie Group

I found two great non-fiction reads lately. The first is Maxed Out by James D. Scurlock. I knew that predatory lenders were a big problem when I wrote my course, "Flips, Frauds, and Foreclosures", but the extent of some activity is breathtaking. This book will enlighten you, inform you, and scare you. It is a very sobering look at the national economy, as well as the plight of many individuals and families in the United States. If this book doesn't make you want to swear off credit cards, nothing will!

The other non-fiction book I just read was Walt Disney by Bob Thomas. This biography of Disney is thorough, entertaining, and a great read. We were lucky to have a Walt Disney who could take stories and dreams and entertain us all the way he did. Disney was not a 'rags to riches' person; one of the things I discovered was that despite many commercial successes with early animation films like "Snow White" and "Bambi", what eventually pulled the Disney corporation out of the red and into the black was Disneyland.  I like to read biographies of people I admire; I can always find something they have done to emulate, to try to be better myself. 

Reminder: I find most of the fiction books I read at my local library! Support your local library--be a patron, make donations--a library truly enriches a community! My local library can be found at: www.jerseyshorepubliclibrary.org.