Post: #26

I go through a lot of books each year so I will probably add more, but most recent one off the top of my head:

Post: #27

I read a lot this year compared to 2012 and 2011 (about 30 books), but my two favourites were Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond, and Black Swan by Taleb. I thought Gun, germs and steel was incredible, because it was such an in depth study and there were lots of interesting points and case studies (such as why Tasmania was the most primitive country on earth). There were a few things which weren't explained (such as why England was the most successful European country when it lacked the advantages of many mainland nations, but overall I learnt a lot, and it triggered further reading as I want to learn more about Polynesian, South American history etc.

Post: #28

Just saw this:

Quote:As Erasmus, the 16th century scholar once put it, “When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.”

Post: #29

One book that really made me think hard this year:


Why? I'm 25,and her TED talk piqued my interest. IDGAF what you guys think/say about TED, but some seriously informative presentations and discourse have came on TED.

The main message is that people generally settle too much. Especially this generation, that are told "The world is YOURS!" and cannot make up their minds. Everyone ends up either settling in one way or another, whether it's marring the first "eligible" partner you see, settling for that crappy and uninspiring job, or lacking outright ambition and drive to get what you want. Your 20s is the time to plant your seeds in terms of career, travel, and finding that person of interest. Its a good read.

Post: #30

A Storm of Swords was the most enjoyable.

Lone Survivor as well.

A Dead Bat in Paraguay was also great. It's the first travel memoir I've read and there was no better place to start.

Post: #31

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen and Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes.

Post: #32

Hard to pick just one. I read some good ones this year and I'd like to share them with you all (in no particular order):

1. Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham:

http://www.amazon.com/Of-Human-Bondage-S...0451530179

This book is worth a read just to see how Maugham puts a story together . It's autobiographical in nature and, in addition to great storytelling, the characters feel lifelike. Good read.

2. Journey to the End of the Night, Louis Ferdinand Celine

http://www.amazon.com/Journey-End-Night-...0811216543

Celine writes in a very direct, combative style. I'm sure it's even more dope in French, but the no-holds-barred style that comes through in translation makes Journey to the End of the Night worth a read. Celine rips society apart here and his criticisms (as one can imagine) ring true today.

3. Albert Camus: A Biography, Herbert Lottman

http://www.amazon.com/Albert-Camus-Biogr...3927258067

This book is like 800 pages long and very well researched. Even with all the details I found myself reading large chunks at a time. Lottman did a great job of making such detailed book readable. I've always liked Camus and, if you do too, this is a must-read. If you only have a passing interest in Camus then skip... this book has more information than you'd ever need to know. PS Albert Camus was a sharp-dressed, stone cold player who would make The G Manifesto proud.

4. Madam Bovary, Gustave Flaubert.

http://www.amazon.com/Madame-Bovary-Clas...im_sbs_b_2

If you purchase this book, make sure you get the above translation. If not, at least avoid the Penguin Classic translation is widely reported as being crap. I don't remember if I read this book this year or last year, but, either way, this book was a trip. Flaubert profiles the modern western female 150 years ahead of her time. I'm 99% sure that the linked edition includes essays by Emile Zola and some others on Flaubert.

5. Antifragile, Nassim Taleb

http://www.amazon.com/Antifragile-Things...361&sr=1-1

Plenty of discussion on this book already and I don't have much to add save for the following: Fifty some-odd pages in I'm like, "Man, this guy is one cocky bastard." He is and it's all good. This book will change the way you look at the world unless, you know, you're one of those "Soviet-Harvard" types.

Post: #33

Fiction - Ex-Hero's by Peter Cline was pretty awesome. Superheros versus zombies? You know I'm in.

Non-fiction - A tie between The Second World War by Anthony Beevor or RN by Richard Nixon

Post: #34

The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald

Post: #35

(12-31-2013 04:35 AM)blkgatsby Wrote:  One book that really made me think hard this year:


Why? I'm 25,and her TED talk piqued my interest. IDGAF what you guys think/say about TED, but some seriously informative presentations and discourse have came on TED.

The main message is that people generally settle too much. Especially this generation, that are told "The world is YOURS!" and cannot make up their minds. Everyone ends up either settling in one way or another, whether it's marring the first "eligible" partner you see, settling for that crappy and uninspiring job, or lacking outright ambition and drive to get what you want. Your 20s is the time to plant your seeds in terms of career, travel, and finding that person of interest. Its a good read.

I was just about to buy this book on amazon..and no kindle offer..damn.

Post: #36

I'll name two very different ones:

Jon Roberts' memoir, "American Desperado". This is the guy from the great "Cocaine Cowboys" documentary who at one time was importing more coke from Colombia to Miami than anyone. An incredible story, and a must for anyone who loves Miami (which means a lot of guys on the forum).

Jeremiah Denton's memoir, "When Hell Was in Session". Denton is a great American hero who endured more torture in North Vietnam more valiantly than any other POW (by general agreement). An unforgettable book.

It would be instructive to read these two books in relatively close proximity. One by a ruthless criminal, another by a great and saintly man. I believe that to love life to the utmost, one has to be able to take both of them in with complete absorption and sympathy. The world is a various place and it rewards a various mind.

Post: #37

'Filters Against Folly' (1985) by Garrett Hardin is a brilliant book.



http://www.amazon.com/Filters-Against-Fo...inst+folly

I also read 'Living Within Limits: Ecology, Economics, and Population Taboos' (1995) by him as well.



http://www.amazon.com/Living-within-Limi...367&sr=1-3

That book was recommended by Charlie Munger (the multi-billionaire investment partner to Warren Buffett).

Here is what Munger said about 'Living Within Limits: Ecology, Economics, and Population Taboos':

Quote:It is a summary of the major things Hardin has learned in a lifetime. He is a real thinker. That is a fabulous book.

Quote:I advise you to read it twice (which I did)...because it is the condensed wisdom of a very smart man.

http://favobooks.com/investors/55-charlie-munger.html

They are both very interesting books. Hardin has an amazing ability to think clearly from first principles when thinking about subjects. As such he comes to novel conclusions which are easy to follow and surprising. He is an incredibly smart guy who writes very clearly.

I am halfway through 'Filters Against Folly' and it is one of the best books I have read. Hardin has some amazing thoughts about the nature of economics, immigration and poverty. And the strange entropy like process which means you will always have poverty even in an economic system which starts out with an exact equal share of resources.

He also analyses the misuse of concepts surrounding the nature of inifinity in political debates. He also discusses the best way of preserving natural goods (such as forests) from being destroyed in the pursuit of rational economic growth. He is neither left or right in his analysis. And he often makes provides ingenious ideas for left and right type proposals which I have never considered before. Another obsession of his is his look at the strange otherworldy nature of exponential growth which underpins alot of economic ideals. He is also interested in the battles in society between the pessimists and the optimists. And he is interesting when he points out that the pessimists are often killed off (when the disasters they warned of occur) - and as such, their wisdom and outlook is rarely preserved for the future.

Hardin is an ecologist and as such is interested in the interaction between humans and the enviroment. Such an interest also means he has to ry and come to grips with the limits of human understanding when dealing with incredibly complex systems. In the chapter on this he goes into some detail about how even the most expensive system with the best people working on it will eventually go wrong. Since human nature is far from infallible.

Incredibly - the example he gives is NASA and the American Space Programme. He talks about the near misses involved in the programme and how it is inevitable that something will go disastrously wrong with it. Even though the smartest people in the world are working on it. Due to the complex technology involved in which the risks involved are multiplied through the system (Hardin is pessimistic about alot of the claims made about technology).

It is incredible since Hardin wrote the chapter (in 1985) exactly a year before the terrible Space Shuttle Challenger disaster which killed 7 crew members in 1986 when a single O-ring broke. It is rare you see such a prescient warning in print.

I can't wait to finish off the rest of the book. I am still reading the book so it is hard to give a coherent overview. But - I just hope the above is enough to convince some of you to check out this guy's work.

Cardguy

PS The two books above pretty much collect all of his major writings.

Post: #38

Thinking Fast and Slow

Grain Brain

Post: #39

(12-31-2013 07:12 PM)pitt Wrote:  

(12-31-2013 04:35 AM)blkgatsby Wrote:  One book that really made me think hard this year:


Why? I'm 25,and her TED talk piqued my interest. IDGAF what you guys think/say about TED, but some seriously informative presentations and discourse have came on TED.

The main message is that people generally settle too much. Especially this generation, that are told "The world is YOURS!" and cannot make up their minds. Everyone ends up either settling in one way or another, whether it's marring the first "eligible" partner you see, settling for that crappy and uninspiring job, or lacking outright ambition and drive to get what you want. Your 20s is the time to plant your seeds in terms of career, travel, and finding that person of interest. Its a good read.

I was just about to buy this book on amazon..and no kindle offer..damn.

Sure it does. At $8.99, that's money you'd spend on ONE drink at the bar. I'd rather spend that money on a good book that you'd remember years from now vs a drink you'd forget about days later.

Post: #40

Being UK based, I can only buy kindle books on amazon.co.uk. They don't have that book on co.uk

Post: #41

Siddhartha and The Way of Men

Currently reading 48 Laws of Power, this will be a lifelong reference book. I'm reading it slow to really understand each law.

Post: #42

(12-31-2013 09:26 PM)Consul Wrote:  Thinking Fast and Slow

Grain Brain

Thinking Fast and Slow was also up there for me too.

With the love that Nassim Taleb gets in Red Pill forums/blogs, I'm surprised more people haven't picked this one up yet.

Hate to use this term, but it can reveal a whole new perspective on "inner game".

Post: #43

I also forgot to add All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Marie Remarque.

For those of you that don't about the book, it is a novel about World War I from the perspective of a young German solider.

It is very poignant and a great read. Highly Recommended for anyone interested in WWI or, in general, looking for a great book.

Post: #44

(12-25-2013 04:27 PM)LeBeau Wrote:  I go through a lot of books each year so I will probably add more, but most recent one off the top of my head:

I was asking about investment books in another thread. As such - I am going to check this one out.

Post: #45

Winston Churchill Trilogy by William Manchester and Paul Reid.

Griftopia by Matt Taibbi and the Big Short by Michael Lewis. Both about the 2008 crisis. I basically knew nothing about the financial crisis prior to reading these two books. I thought they were both very good.

John Dies at the End by David Wong. It is fiction. It is incredibly stupid. But it was one of the funniest books I've ever read. This Book is Full of Spiders is his follow up. It is pretty funny too, but not as good as the first book.

Tyson's bio was up there two. Definitely one of the most entertaining stories I've ever read.

Post: #46

Good books!

The Tyson, Taibbi and Lewis books are brilliant.

Post: #47

For the fans of "The Big Short" here's a new full chapter interview with Kyle Bass, who was featured in that book:

http://www.drobnycapital.com/books

Post: #48

(01-03-2014 07:40 PM)cardguy Wrote:  Good books!

The Tyson, Taibbi and Lewis books are brilliant.

I know I picked up Tyson and Griftopia on your recommendation. Not sure where I picked up the Big Short from. Good Stuff all around though.




All of those financial books on that link sound good. I'll have to see about picking them up.

Post: #49

I read Alexander Dolgun's Story after seeing it on Roosh's blog a while back. It is a page turner and I started to re-read it in the last few days.

The only other thing of note I read was Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs. It was pretty in depth and didn't candy-coat how much of an ass he was in many respects.

I've been avoiding fiction, for the most part, but my tastes may change.

Post: #50

Excellent year for autobiographies. The Tyson, Schwarzenegger, Steve Jobs and Alex Ferguson (a UK soccer manager) books were all great.