This book holds up pretty darn well--better than The Boxcar Children for sure. And Neil Patrick Harris was a great narrator. My 5-yr-old was engaged listening to the audiobook in the car, and even my 2-year-old listened and would pipe up every now and then ("Dog!" "Guppies!")

2.5 stars. I . . . am not sure about this book. I'm not sure if I would have enjoyed it without the P&P connection, but at the same time the P&P connection made some things hard to hear. (Liz and Darcy "Hate Sex???" Someone please pour bleach into my ear.) That said, I thought the author did a really smart job of translating the tone & characters into a contemporary setting without using implausible contortions to mirror every plot point of the original. Even the casual sex between Liz and Darcy does create context for a believable Proposal #1 Scene. Darcy wants to start a real relationship & thinks she feels the same way (she doesn't).

This book made me miss What Alice Forgot. Although at the end I could see similar themes (choices, long-term relationships, etc.) Moriarty is such a great writer, and I liked hearing all the Australian accents in the audiobook narration.

Enh. It was fine but I don't know that it adds anything new to what he has already written on the subject. If you've never read anything about minimalism this is a good place to start.

This book is 20 years old (pre-dot.com bubble, pre-2008) so it would be interesting to see what the millionaire pool looks like currently. When the authors were gathering their information in the 1980 and 1990s they were surprised to learn that a high percentage of Americans with a net worth of $1 million or more were non-flashy men and women (including 1st generation Americans) who lived modestly, budgeted carefully, and frequently owned their own businesses. In contrast, flashy high-earners who drove the best cars and lived in the nicest neighborhoods didn't have much net worth because their lifestyle met (or exceeded) their income. In some cases, their career fields (law, medicine, etc.) demand a certain standard of living that the modest millionaires (teachers, business owners, etc.) were able to avoid.

I have small beefs with the book, but can't really argue with the main message: wealth and an affluent lifestyle are not the same thing, and frequently do NOT go hand-in-hand.

I'm so happy to have this book to share with my kids! Despite Mormons' doctrinal belief in a Heavenly Mother, it can be considered inappropriate to talk about or even mention Her. This book does a great job of normalizing that. It includes lots of quotes from well-respected LDS leaders about our "Heavenly Parents," their love for all their children, and the purpose and blessing of families on Earth.

The way it is organized is similar to the authors' "Girls Who Choose God" series, making it easy to use for family discussions. The page on the left has a subject heading like "Families Begin with Parents," with a couple paragraphs of large text and a few discussion questions. ("How does your mom or dad show love for you? When you grow up, what type of parent do you hope to be?") The page on the right has an illustration and a quote from LDS leaders. I think my 5-yr-old would understand the text and questions easily, I'm not as sure about my 3-yr-old.

I also love the diversity in the illustrations. When I showed my new purchase to a friend she said, "Oh my gosh, there are brown people on the cover!" She explained that it can be harder to find mainstream LDS art that represents her kids, so she's excited when she sees it.