Taxable Talk

When I was vacationing in the Bahamas earlier this year, I took three books on fitness and nutrition to read. As I sat around in the sun doing next to nothing, I decided when I got back home it would be a good idea to improve my overall wellness; thus, I decided to spend my vacation reading something productive.

The first book was sent to me by the author, Luke Sniewski: PAIN: Why Your Productivity is Suffering. The book is aimed toward accountants (Mr. Sniewski is also a CPA) looking to improve their overall health, and I think it does a pretty good job reaching that goal.

First, the biggest negative about the book is the title. As a tax accountant, I deal with all sorts of acronyms. But I don’t think I’d use PAIN as an acronym in a wellness book.

PAIN stands for Poor posture, Aimless fitness, Improper nutrition, and Neglecting brain function. The recommendations on each of these subjects are, excellent.

For example, in the chapter on (aimless) fitness, Mr. Sniewski argues for using dumbbells and free weights rather than machines, compound exercise movements rather than isolation exercises, and working out on your feet rather than sitting down. These all match what I’ve been told by friends who are fitness trainers.

The area that most accountants get wrong is nutrition. I suffer from a form of arthritis; my doctor suggested I eliminate all wheat from my diet. Robb Wolf in The Paleo Solution suggests that wheat and other grains may be a cause of various autoimmune disorders (I’ll be reviewing Wolf’s book in another post); Mr. Sniewski’s recommendations mirror Wolf’s: eat real food, avoid high fructose corn syrup, sugar, and grains, and drink lots of water. I stopped eating wheat and it has definitely helped me. That’s not scientific, of course, but I haven’t had an arthritis flare-up since I stopped eating wheat.

This book is not a lengthy treatise on wellness. It’s a relatively quick read (146 pages), and you can buy it on Amazon for $12.95. If you’re looking to improve your life, it’s well worth your time to pick up PAIN: Why Your Productivity is Suffering. If you follow the recommendations, you will likely improve your life.

There’s nothing at all about tax in this post. You’re all forewarned.

Instead, this post focuses on my avocation—writing. My third book has just been released. Written with my good friend Nick Christenson, it’s called Winning Strategies in No-Limit Hold’em.

We consider in depth a few aspects of no-limit hold’em that have received little attention by other authors. We concentrate on betting in no-limit hold’em. We consider when bets and raises are in order, why we bet, and how circumstances change when we bet. As the centerpiece of the book we provide four chapters, one per betting round, discussing exactly how much to bet based upon many circumstances.

This book is aimed for the intermediate to advanced player. If you’ve been playing in the limited buy-in no-limit hold’em games and want to try deep-stacked no-limit hold’em, this is the book for you.

You can purchase this book today at Amazon.com. It should be available in book stores such as Barnes & Noble in about three weeks.

There’s nothing at all about tax in this post. You’re all forewarned.

Instead, this post focuses on my avocation—writing. My second book has just been released. Written with my good friend Scott Harker, it’s called Why You Lose at Poker.

We take the sixteen most common errors in poker, show you how to recognize them, and then how to eliminate them from your game for good.

If you love to play poker but just can’t seem to win consistently, this is the book for you!

You can purchase this book today at Amazon.com. It should be available in book stores such as Barnes & Noble in about three weeks.

“But in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” — Benjamin Franklin

As a tax accountant, I know that’s true. For Eugene O’Kelly, that was true in a very sad way. He was the head of KPMG in the US. In May 2005 he went to a neurologist. He was told he had just a few months to live.

Mr. O’Kelly (and his wife) wrote a superb book, Chasing Daylight. Last December, the publisher of this book asked if I would write a review. I said yes, even though I knew the book would arrive during tax season. Boy, am I glad I did.

This is a wonderful book, even given the morbid subject nature. Mr. O’Kelly leads us on his journey, and shows us how he made the most of his very limited time on this world.

I could say a lot more about the book. As an author of a book, with a second book soon to come out, I know how difficult is to write any book. This book rings true, from start to finish. I have a hard time imagining myself writing such a book, and I think we’re blessed that Mr. O’Kelly wrote a text that can show all of us how to enjoy our final days.