What Are You Reading?

[Jmp63]

Finished this one On to the next:
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Finished this one Fantastic read! There’s always been a bit of comic relief in the series but, this was the first that had a good bit of it! Thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Taking a, albeit probably short, break from the Sackett Series to read book two of the Space Trilogy, Perelandra:

 

[Jmp63]

I finished reading The Tenant Class a few days ago, but life has been busy so I am only getting around to posting about now.

The base premise of this ~100p book is that there is no housing crisis in Canada (but the same could apply to the US as well), but rather that the system is working as designed to help the rich get richer and keeping the poor, poor.

His solution is that tenants need to formally unionize or at least form organizations and, when confronted by bad landlords who either raise rents or don't perform repairs, go on rent strikes. "Raising rents" means exactly that, even by 0.01%, and even more so, if the rent is more than the cost to upkeep the property (taxes, insurance, and maintenance), then a rent strike is in order. The author keeps referencing Marx and Marxist doctrine, so that should help you understand his underlying perspective.

He also advocates the government buying homes on the retail market and turning them into affordable housing rental units.

Verdict: Not worth the read as it is not a discussion but more like a rant
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Here's a sample...
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I find it important to occasionally read from those I disagree with. Some of the ideas proposed seem quite unreasonable but it’s good to challenge yourself! Thanks for sharing!

 

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

@Jmp63 thank you .

@The Count of Merkur Cristo nice. Is that based on the old movie or the new series coming out? Please and thank you .

Dogrescuer:
We'll...both TV series is based on the original book.

“To live fully — one must read fully”. CBJ

 

[The Knize]

Connelly is great! I love the Bosch series - the books are better but the Amazon series does a great job with the material. I haven’t jumped into the LL series but I’m gonna fix that.

I really like Connelly, too. I might like the Bosch series slightly more, but maybe not. They both occupy a consistent, compelling universe. I agree that the books are better, but Amazon did a great job. Highly recommended!

 

[The Knize]

I have not been able to locate the darn thing, but David Foster Wallace has an essay on the value of difficult books/writing that I thought was really good, when I read it long ago.

I did some further research. Looks like the essay I was thinking of might not have been written by DFW, and upon re-reading it does not seem particularly good nor really pertinent to what we are talking about in this thread.

Judging by various on line items, Hemingway's writing seems to attract strong opinions, pro and con, these days. I wonder how he is talk in college English lit classes these days.

 

[beginish]

Finished this one Fantastic read! There’s always been a bit of comic relief in the series but, this was the first that had a good bit of it! Thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Taking a, albeit probably short, break from the Sackett Series to read book two of the Space Trilogy, Perelandra:
View attachment 1815104

For me, this one was a challenge and a lot more abstract than the other two in the trilogy.

 

[rockviper]

I find it important to occasionally read from those I disagree with. Some of the ideas proposed seem quite unreasonable but it’s good to challenge yourself! Thanks for sharing!

Yes. Echo-chambers serve no good purpose.

Alas, this is pretty much a one-sided presentation and doesn't offer anything even remotely counterbalancing from the other side. I do agree 100% that Canadian federal and provincial governments (wrongly IMO) abandoned constructing social housing bank in the 80s and the imposition of rent controls, while seemingly good on the surface for tenants, brought the construction of purpose-built rentals (low/mid/high rise) to a near standstill for 40 years.

My biggest issue with the book is that he is dismissive of solutions that involve building more units, but says that existing units are simply owned by the wrong people (capitalists) and if rent is directly controlled by government then issues will be solved. My take on things is the we need to have MANY more rentals built (density, density, density!) as well as controls put in place around the numerous renovictions we see happening by corporations (i.e. REITs and such).

BTW I am a home owner but will rent later on either when we a) can no longer care for our property, or b) are travelling enough that a turn-key rental (may be a condo) makes more sense. My 87 year old mom is also a renter, so I can empathize with many tenants.

 

[Jmp63]

For me, this one was a challenge and a lot more abstract than the other two in the trilogy.

Thank you for the heads up! Hopefully it isn’t a slog to get through!

I believe you previously mentioned that the third is your favorite?

 

[Jmp63]

Yes. Echo-chambers serve no good purpose.

Alas, this is pretty much a one-sided presentation and doesn't offer anything even remotely counterbalancing from the other side. I do agree 100% that Canadian federal and provincial governments (wrongly IMO) abandoned constructing social housing bank in the 80s and the imposition of rent controls, while seemingly good on the surface for tenants, brought the construction of purpose-built rentals (low/mid/high rise) to a near standstill for 40 years.

It’s interesting, and sometimes frustrating, to hear the long term impact that decisions have. Concerning, to say the least, when governments refuse to look past the next election when making decisions.

My biggest issue with the book is that he is dismissive of solutions that involve building more units, but says that existing units are simply owned by the wrong people (capitalists) and if rent is directly controlled by government then issues will be solved. My take on things is the we need to have MANY more rentals built (density, density, density!) as well as controls put in place around the numerous renovictions we see happening by corporations (i.e. REITs and such).

Supply and demand! Been an issue with home buying the last few years too!

BTW I am a home owner but will rent later on either when we a) can no longer care for our property, or b) are travelling enough that a turn-key rental (may be a condo) makes more sense. My 87 year old mom is also a renter, so I can empathize with many tenants.

Just bought our first home last summer after renting for our first five years of marriage. I was fortunate to have an awesome landlady that owned a couple of local properties. I can relate however to the difficulty to purchasing a home, albeit from the time perspective to save up enough money to do so, the actual process of purchasing a house was very near to painless. We got to work with some awesome people along the way!

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and insights.

 

[Dogrescuer]

Just bought The Count of Monte Cristo at thriftbooks.

 

[ByMyBeard]

Connelly is great! I love the Bosch series - the books are better but the Amazon series does a great job with the material. I haven’t jumped into the LL series but I’m gonna fix that.

I really like Connelly, too. I might like the Bosch series slightly more, but maybe not. They both occupy a consistent, compelling universe. I agree that the books are better, but Amazon did a great job. Highly recommended!

I didn't realize Amazon had a series based on the Bosch character. My library doesn't have the Black Echo as an audio book, but seems to have all the LL series there. I'll probably work my way through those...eventually.

 

[The Knize]

I didn't realize Amazon had a series based on the Bosch character.

More than one. actually. I think there is Bosch and Bosch Legacy. Something like that. Both great.

 

[The Knize]

I think housing is an extremely tough thing from a policy and, thus, political perspective. I think we keep interest rates lower than they would be otherwise in order to support housing and people's investment in it. We no longer have a tax deduction for most interest payments, but we do for primary dwellings. We have all kinds of zoning restrictions on housing. One might think that closest into cities there would be the most dense housing, but we frequently zone things so that larger, more expensive houses are closer in, and then build freeways to the outer suburbs where there are apartment buildings so people can get to work. We restrict the number of people that can live in a house. Some places still have rent control. Property use is a long darn way from a free market. I am not saying any of this is wrong. I am saying it all involves lots of policy questions and is not really transparent.

I own a couple of rental properties. As a tenant I liked rent control. As a landlord I find it hard to justify taking potential dollars from me to give to my specific tenants, just because I happened to invest in a house. Etc., etc.

People do have to live somewhere though.

 

[rockviper]

Yup, it's not a simple problem, so there are probably not simple solutions.

 

[njpaddy]

Just bought The Count of Monte Cristo at thriftbooks.

Which edition of TCoMC? It's my favorite book of all time, and I must have a dozen versions. Since no two English editions are the same, I'm always curious if there's another edition I need to seek out. It's a book AD (acquisition disorder) of mine, along with James Thurber books.

 

[The Knize]

Yup, it's not a simple problem, so there are probably not simple solutions.

Yep, when you put it that way, I am not sure what my point was! My saying it is a complicated, multi-dimensional problem does not add much to the conversation, does it! I have not read the book. I am sure not an expert in zoning law and policy.

I guess I am somewhat interested in on what grounds <he is dismissive of solutions that involve building more units>. I am guessing that if the government forced the lowering of rent on the existing rental housing stock that demand for those units would far outstrip supply. It would have to, if current rents levels are set based on supply and demand. Reducing price would necessarily increase demand.

<that existing units are simply owned by the wrong people (capitalists) and if rent is directly controlled by government then issues will be solved> does not seem like it would be a simple solution. The difference between the government owning the units and regulating the rent that can be charged is not all that great. Is the author contending that the government should provide or do the equivalent of providing every individual that prefers to rent a place to live a low-cost unit to live in? I am guessing most renters are not clamoring to live in public housing. But what do I know. I am not addressing anything political!

I am adding this after posting earlier. I think I will sit out any further discussion, but I thought about what my previous point might have been. I guess part of my point is that that a book that simply concludes that the government ought to regulate residential rents and that that will solve all of the problems of the US housing market does not sound like it is providing very much insight into all the factors in play. Much less a book that rejects out of hand "solutions" that involve increases in the available rental units.

On some level I might be interested in reading a truly insightful analysis of the US housing market. One thing I would be interested in, and it might be a hard comparison to make, is how do US residential rents compare to rents in other developed countries.

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

Judging by various on line items, Hemingway's writing seems to attract strong opinions, pro and con, these days. I wonder how he is talk in college English lit classes these days.

We read Hills Like White Elephants in my Lit. 200s course when I went to college. I don't specifically remember everyone's reactions, but it certainly doesn't stand out in the course as one of the more heavily discussed readings that we had. Granted, the subject matter seemed far more taboo back in 1927 than it is today.

I just reread it, and it was a fairly simple and straightforward story. To me, it felt more like reading a screenplay than a short story. This might not be representative of Hemingway's other works though.

 

[beginish]

Thank you for the heads up! Hopefully it isn’t a slog to get through!

I believe you previously mentioned that the third is your favorite?

Very much. Much more of a thriller.

 

[ByMyBeard]

Finished this after watching Dune Part 2. It's not what I was expecting, and for me moved pretty slow to start with. I am intrigued regarding the potential film adaptation due to the way Dune Part 2 ended. On to Children of Dune.

 

[rockviper]

I recently finished Nicolas Bérubé's From Zero to Millionaire as he was a guest on a podcast that I listed to regularly. It only took about 3 hours to finish it, as all of the material was a review for me. It's basically about using passive Index ETFs and to forget about stock picking to beat the market. The best way I can describe this book is to say that it is a much lighter version of Burton Malkiel's classic, A Random Walk Down Wall Street.

Verdict: A solid, simple read.