A few blog entries ago, I had written about the joy of reading fiction books. But these days, I would also say that reading fiction books has become a luxury for me. Due to time constraints, I can no longer spend much time on books that transport me to fantasy worlds or to a time and place that now exist only in history.

In recent years, the majority of the books I’ve been reading are non-fiction books on personal finance and self-improvement. A sample of the titles of the books I read last year and ones I’ve read this year will illustrate the situation:

• The 25 Habits of Highly Successful Investors: How to Invest for Profit in Today’s Changing Markets by Peter Sander
• The Barefoot Investor 2017 Update: The Only Money Guide You’ll Ever Need by Scott Pape
• Being Mortal: Illness, Medicine, and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
• Millionaire Women Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley

You get the idea; I’m making up for lost time because I was utterly clueless about personal investments until about three years ago. It was then that I started to realise that I should seriously start planning for my old age, now that I have already hit middle age! My job also requires me to have some basic knowledge of financial terms in order to do my job better.

I have also been reading more self-improvement books because I am constantly looking for ways to do things better or just have an awareness of different ideas that others have that I may learn from. I feel like I have to be realistic and pragmatic about what I spend time reading – fiction has therefore become a luxury only to be enjoyed occasionally. Somewhat sad but true.