“Nine years. ‘Talk about a drinking binge that got out of control,’ I muttered to myself.”

– English Teacher X, Vodkaberg

Having loved To Travel Hopelessly, I’ve decided to review another of English Teacher X’s titles. Enjoy:

Vodkaberg: Nine Years in Russia

Vodkaberg is quite possibly the grittiest and most fun book that I’ve read all year. Set during English Teacher X’s nine year stay in Russia, Vodkaberg recounts the antics of a young man living in a city teeming with cheap booze and loose women. Despite the city’s portrayal as a rundown dump infested with thugs and low-level gangsters, the first half of this book had me desperately wanting to book a flight to The Motherland. The allure of super hot women, with a fetish for Western men, and non-stop partying had me overlooking the poor living conditions.

“Lord, do Russian women love high heels. At the supermarket, in a foot of snow, on ice, you name it. As a Russian girl once said to me, ‘I feel like I don’t have legs if I don’t have on high heels.’

As I walked around the city, beautiful high-cheekboned, thin, sexy women seemed to be everywhere, stalking around on high heels. My classes, on the trams, in the streets. Everywhere.”

Unfortunately, as time progresses and infrastructure improves, the party wears off. Women grow colder, drinks become pricier, and materialism begins to creep in.

“Culturally, it was now more like 1987 or 1988. Morning in Russia. A kind of blasé conservatism and shallowness. No longer were people excited about the great social changes – they just wanted to spend the money.”

During the second half of the book, a more melancholy tone sets in. The “English groupies” begin to fade away, and X starts to question some of the aspects of his life. There’s still plenty of debauchery: people get roofied, political assassinations are attempted, and copious amounts of vodka are consumed. Yet it becomes apparent that “the good old days” are over.

Despite the second act’s darker tone, Vodkaberg was still a highly entertaining read. If you’re interested in Russia, travel, or uncouth memoirs; I highly recommend this book.

P.S. English Teacher X is currently running a special offer: For the rest of March, all his titles are currently priced at only $2.99.

In case I don’t get around to reviewing them before the deal ends, I encourage you to also check out: How To Survive Living Abroad and Guide To Teaching English Abroad.

“While it’s true that I had had many failures in my hustling career, I’d also had many successes. I had created blogs that got thousands of readers and were widely linked across the Internet. More importantly, I had learned from my mistakes and didn’t repeat them, getting closer to perfection each time.”

– Matt Forney, Confessions of an Online Hustler

If you’re interested in making money online, you need to pick up a copy of Confessions of an Online Hustler, by Matt Forney. In the past three years I’ve read at least two dozen books about web businesses and professional blogging, none of which hold a candle to this book. For a first time author, Forney has managed to produce a comprehensive guide to online business that puts The 4-Hour Workweek to shame.

What I liked most about Confessions of an Online Hustler, was the fact that it was written honestly. Forney isn’t some quack selling pie in the sky theories, he’s a man who’s spent almost a full decade running various online ventures. Right out of the gates Forney addresses the age-old “owning a website will make you wealthy” myth:

“If you want money that badly, put this book down right now, march over to the nearest McDonald’s or Walmart and fill out an application. Whatever insultingly low wage they pay you is far more than you’ll ever make from online advertising.”

As I said, this is real knowledge being dropped by a real expert. I’ve never found this type of honesty in any of the other online business books that I’ve read.

Confessions of an Online Hustler also runs circles around it’s competition, because it actually gives practical advice. Rather than wasting the readers time with selfish brags (à la The 4-Hour Workweek), Forney provides advice and guidance to his audience. There’s an incredibly useful section on becoming a better writer, several chapters dedicated to construction of the actual website, and (my personal favorite) a guide on dealing with haters and stalkers.

If you’re interested in marketing, product development, making money online, or simply blogging for fun; I encourage you to pick up a copy of Confessions of an Online Hustler.

As an added bonus Matt Forney is running a special: between now and Sunday, all copies of Confessions of an Online Hustler will be available for half-off the retail price.

“The less you fear, the more power you will have and the more fully you will live.”

– Robert Greene, The 50th Law

Whether you fully realize it or not, almost all of us are afraid. Afraid of being mocked, disowned, rejected, and failing. What would you do if you could live without fear?

Enter: The 50th Law, by Robert Greene and 50 Cent. Built around 50 Cent’s rise from street hustler to mogul, The 50th Law examines how fearlessness and ambition breed success.

While I initially planned on reading this book for entertainment purposes only, I ended up learning some incredibly valuable lessons. As it turns out dealing drugs is a lot like being a law-abiding entrepreneur. In both games you can only rely on yourself, and you need to be fully immersed in your environment at all times. As teenage 50 Cent learned:

“The only way to survive was to admit that you were on your own, learn to make your own decisions, and trust your judgement.”

I found many of The 50th Law‘s anecdotes to be equally relatable and highly motivating. In the subsection “Reversal of Perspective,” I realized that 50 Cent and I share a similar life philosophy based off of Stoicism. This outlook allows for any negative situation to be turned into an opportunity:

“In this philosophy every event is seen as fated to occur. When you complain and rail against circumstances, you fall out of balance with the natural state of things; you wish things were different. What you must do instead is accept the fact that all events occur for a reason, and that it is within your capacity to see this reason as a positive.”

I found this book to be highly motivating, very insightful, and quite interesting. Reading 50’s life story also made me develop a new level of respect for him. If you’re interested in business and pushing yourself towards success, I highly recommend The 50th Law.