The End of Poverty

So I had a big accomplishment this week... I finished reading The End of Poverty.

Now, to a bunch of my friends that are currently reading it, or have recently read it, it may seem like an accomplishment just to get through it. (There was a lot of talk about how it was a difficult book to get through before I started on it, which made me kind nervous.) BUT, the accomplishment for me was that I actually found time to read a whole book, start to finish, in a relatively short period of time!

Now, I will say that there were portions of the book that dragged, and when there was a lot of economic jargon I was less than entertained, but overall it was an incredibly interesting read. A huge chunk of the book is dedicated to telling the specific stories of countries who have had some level of economic crisis, and how they have come out of that, some with great success, and others with more difficulty.

If I had the book here with me, I would probably put some great quotes from it here, but one of my friends is already borrowing my copy. Needless to say, it was eye opening for me. I may have realized that poverty existed in the world, but I did not really know to what extent, and what can be practically done about it. I am by no means an expert in economics, but I will say that this book has piqued my interest, and makes me long for a greater understanding so that I can better make a difference.

If you have the chance, and are maybe ready to read something that is a bit outside of what you would normally read, I would really suggest giving this book a try. Even if it means you just skim through it and read the highlights, I'm sure it can profoundly change the way you view things.