$20 Per Gallon: How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will Change Our Lives for the Better

AKKK! It's April 15th, and this is only the 3rd book for the month... lame. This time I read $20 Per Gallon: How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will Change Our Lives for the Better by Christopher Steiner.

So, I'll be honest- economic speculation isn't what I do in my spare time. I know you're shocked, but it's the truth!

Now, this is the good news: the book was really, really interesting. I only felt a little bit like a financial idiot. Most of the book isn't in the code of acronyms, thank heavens. There are stories, anecdotes, and facts, each of which is pertinent and engaging. Most of the facts I hadn't heard before, and it turned out I had no basis for the feeling of dread that this would be a collection of statements of the obvious. I had no desire to read 253 pages of "People will walk more" and that kind of obvious prediction.

So, the book is organized as a series of predictions based in how the United States will change as the price of gas increases- $6, $8, $10- all the way to $20 a gallon. There are semi obvious predictions, but it's deeper than that, and I wouldn't have thought of pretty much any of Steiner's predictions. Even better, there are times when I started to lose interest- but then it quickly moves on to yet another prediction. It keeps you on your toes and looking forward to the next prediction.

The bad news is this: I don't read economic speculation books in my spare time. This is NOT my idea of interesting, and it may not be yours. These book is full of facts, stats, and references- and that definitely isn't what I read in leisure. But, even for someone that doesn't care about economics, this was interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing which of Steiner's predictions come true. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to just about anyone, but it won't stop being a book about economics, and that's not my thing.

So there you go! Interested?