A few weeks ago I posted my reading list from 2005. I highlighted the books that I enjoyed reading and, by implication, I panned books that I did not enjoy as much.

I received a number of emails from various authors. Although I am an avid reader of books, I suspect that my newly found popularity as a book reviewer is directly related to my search position in Google. Since roughly two months ago, the traffic on the site has doubled and looking at the logs, I am getting hundreds of thousands of hits from Google searches.

However, the action of one author was really quite impressive to me. I had purchased Robert Gignac’s book, Rich is a State of Mind, several months back. His book made quite an impact on me. After reading it, I thought to myself: “I wish I had read this book when I was 20”. And then I thought: “I could use most of his examples as a way to teach my own children about money.”

Robert made contact with me over email and asked me if I would give him some feedback on his work. And I was pleased to do so. He then asked if I would be willing to chat with him a little bit over the phone. I thought about that for a moment. I’m sure you can all relate to being a bit hesitant to make contact with people you do not know particularly if your only contact has been through the Internet.

I am, perhaps a bit reluctantly, getting older. And with age comes more confidence. I also did not perceive an immediate risk on my life and limbs. After all, I do know some kung fu. So, with remarkable courage, I accepted his offer to talk over the phone. And we did.

A great book on financial planning for Canadians and, based on my discussion with Robert, a great Canadian author. There are not too many authors who would take the time to reach out to their readers. Very impressive.