Post: #1

Thought it would be cool to have a thread about books we are reading, books we have read and books we plan to read. Anything you feel is worth sharing. Any topic of course.

I'll start with a couple:

This is Cuba: An Outlaw Culture Survives
by Ben Corbett
http://www.amazon.com/This-Cuba-Outlaw-C...0813338263

This is one of the most impartial accounts of Cuba I've ever read. Since Cuba and the politics surrounding it are so polarizing, it's hard to find accounts that aren't hagiographies of the Revolution or foaming at the mouth anti-Castro reactionaries. This guy spends time both in the countryside and cities of Cuba, talks about the lives of real Cubans, what it's like to be there, how both Castro as well as US policies have fucked things up for normal folks. I get the feeling he is no taking any sides and just wants to tell a human story of how people survive from the jineteros(street hustlers) to the guys that patch up old Soviet era technology trying to keep things running to the families in Havana that fear their apartment will collapse and kill them during the next rain because of the crumbling infrastructure. If you want to understand the real Cuba from the ground level, this book is a great place to start.


The Millionaire Next Door
by Thomas Stanley
http://www.amazon.com/Millionaire-Next-D...0671015206

I read this book quite some time back and it really blew open the doors in terms of thinking about how people become wealthy and all my misunderstandings of how wealthy people lived and accrue their wealth. This book is the reason why I drive a 10 year old car and have no intentions of getting a new one anytime soon even while I live in a city known for it's flashy cars. It taught me that contrary to popular belief, most millionaires actually live quite frugal lives. Most of them are self-made and not people that come from long family lines of wealth. There was an account of a Texan who was wealthy but lived a spartan lifestyle that said "Most people wear big hats but have no cattle. I don't wear a big hat but I have a lot of cattle." Something about that phrase has stuck with me through the years and influenced my thinking. I have great respect for the guy who is prodigious accumulator of wealth yet doesn't flash his wealth ostentatiously. The key to wealth according to this book is living well below your means, eschewing materialism, while investing the money in assets that appreciate in value, be it a business or securities. Most millionaires don't live glamourous lifestyles, they are more likely to own a business producing some boring product like bolts for aircraft while living on way less money than they could be. I read this book during the time real estate was soaring into the stratosphere and everyone around me was buying houses they couldn't afford, pulling out equity to buy plasma TVs, new SUVs and take vacations. Now these same people are broke. Reading this book was like visiting an island of sanity during a time of gratuitous consumerism.

Post: #2

The happiness Hypothesis - Jonathan haidt

A book everyone should read.

Post: #3

A Random Walk Down Wall Street - Burton Malkiel

If you want to delude yourself into thinking that short term investing in the Stock Market is a wise strategy, then do not read this book. Its a very interesting and convincing read. It's sold over 1 million copies, so its no secret. I've got all my stocks ("all" being not much ) in riskier index and mutual funds. REITs, small cap, and emerging market, because of my tender investing age of 27. The TSP system (the government equivalent of an IRA) has a "lifestyle" choice which basically steals from the book e.g. if you're 40 years from retirement you pick the "40" lifestyle fund which provides most of your percentages in the riskier funds (small cap, foreign, etc).

Post: #4

The vast majority of books are bullshit written by broke authors desperate to ekk out a living. I lost count of the number of books that proclaim to explain the economic collapse, but they're little more than a collection of scrambled narratives rife with predictable psychological pitfalls.

The only books worth reading are the ones that no one wants to read. Ones on probability and game theory are particularly useful. The more academic, the better. You won't learn shit from the second hand dribble tailored towards the masses.

Post: #5

The 48 Laws of Power:



An excellent book using historical examples of how to achieve and maintain power. A must read for every single person on earth. You won't be disappointed.

Post: #6

Yeah I plan on reading the 48 Laws of Power, got a copy with my last order from amazon, Roosh is a big proponent of this book and has recommended it on this site.

I think part of the reason why this thread hasn't gotten more replies is because there have already been a few past "recommended book threads".

I'm a big proponent of the book "The 4 Agreements", very good for inner game, positive thinking, overcoming self limiting beliefs. As far as game goes, I recently read "The Mack Within" by Tariq Nasheed and I gained some useful tidbits of wisdom, mostly about how women think, and the games they play, it's also good for "inner game." Currently I am reading a book that my former therapist recommended called "Your Erroneous Zones", it's a psychology book about changing negative modes of thinking, over coming the need for gaining other peoples' approval/validation, as well as taking full responsibility for your emotional/mental state.

Post: #7

William B. Irvine's "A Guide to the Good Life - This book is a really good overview of stoicism, and the principles involved in it. Now over all I don't subscribe to the philosophy, but there are some very good lessons that can be learned without embracing the entire lifestyle.

Post: #8

currently half way into 'the millionaire fastlane' by mj demarco and I'm blown away...

Post: #9

Black Passenger Yellow Cab

Think Tucker Max + a societal analysis of Japanese culture from a black man's perspective.

If you have any interest in Japan, this book is 5 stars.

Post: #10

"Explorers of the Nile: The Triumph and Tragedy of a Great Victorian Adventure"

http://www.amazon.com/Explorers-Nile-Tri...0300149352

Post: #11

"Elementary Particles" - Michel Houellebecq, great red pill reading
"Liar's Poker" - Michael Lewis
"Post Office" - Charles Bukowski
"Notes from the Underground" - Dostoevsky
"American Psycho" - Bret Easton Ellis

Post: #12

"4 steps to the epiphany": about starting a company via bootstrapping and customer development

Post: #13

PS, just finished "The Lean Startup" and highly recommend it to anyone wanting to start a business.

Post: #14

Fiction - I'm not big on fiction - it has to be really good for me to care.

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy - imo the best writing I've ever read aside from Lolita and anything by E.A. Poe.

Another great American novel is Cold Mountain - the movie doesn't even begin to touch it. Again, great writing.

Too many to list in non fiction.

Post: #15

The Road by Cormac McCarthy - Pure unadulterated pessimism

Post Office by Charles Bukowski - Hate your job? Read this.

Howl and other Ooems by Allen Ginsberg - I wasn't a fan of any big names in poetry until I listened to him read it on a documentry

The Plauge by Albert Camus - The great absurdist epic tracking the lives of several people during a catastrophe.

The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac - This book helped me break a 10 year plus obsession with ideology and purist thinking. After reading through about a 1/4 of the book, I realized I could just beleive whatever the fuck I wanted and fuck the rules others set up for me: politically, culturally and most important, spiritually.

Post: #16

Spent, by Geoffrey Miller

The Age of Spiritual Machines, Ray Kurzweil

Post: #17

(11-27-2011 02:53 PM)ao85 Wrote:  The Age of Spiritual Machines, Ray Kurzweil

I've been meaning to read that for 10 years. Our Lady Peace did a concept album around that book.

Post: #18

I've been really getting into short fiction recently. An incredible short story is one of the harder things to write and all of these authors have several:

Roald Dahl's collected short stories: Every story ends with a twist, every story is fantastic. Make sure you are getting his adult fiction (although his children's books are timeless).

Flannery O'Connor: Southern Gothic writer. "A good man is hard to find" is one of the best short stories I've ever read.

Read Hemmingway. All of him. But read his short stories especially. The mind blow.

Post: #19

The Prize, by Daniel Yergin. Its a history of the oil industry. It shows you what really moves the world, from social issues, to war, to the whole economy.

Post: #20

Malcolm X - what a great story.

Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales - Man stuff right here. Read it.

Catch Me If You Can-story of Frank Abagnale...This guy lived the life on everyone elses dime. Although he was a con-artist, you have to respect this dudes intelligence.

Post: #21

The French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller


This book changed my life and inspired me to take time off my full time job to attend culinary school. I will enter the culinary workforce in a year or two to pursue my true passion and this book was one of the main reasons why. Beautiful pictures, tremendous insights about life, and even better recipes for the best food you will ever taste in your life. True perfection.

Bouchon and Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller are also highly recommended.

You need to have some experience behind the stove before you take on anything Thomas Keller related. For those who are just beginning or want to learn how to cook I would give them:

The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters



If you don't know anything about food or cooking this is the book I would give you. There is no other person on planet Earth who has influenced food and current culinary trends more than Alice Waters. Anytime you see "free range" or "organic" on the shelf, you can thank her. This is a perfect book for bachelors who have never been taught to cook or don't know how to make anything on their own. Just learning a few simple recipes and techniques can save you literally hundreds of dollars per month on food costs per month that you would spend by eating out. (Pasta, Rice, Beans, Soup dishes, anyone?) Plus her recipes are healthy and as good or better than anything you can get in almost any restaurant.

Voila!

Post: #22

this is all good stuff guys thanks to everybody