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Summer reading

edited July 2013 in Off-Topic
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  • Thanks for the lead on Jefferson. Have requested at local library (weekend house at Guerneville, not SF)... I'm now #40 in the waiting queue. Must be a pretty good read!
  • edited July 2013
    thx mo and jo,


    @Maurice said:
    > I found myself wanting more.

    I leave you with this song title by a guy named Mick Jagger - "You can't always get you want" I wonder if Jaggar and Jagger are related. or even Jaeger (no, that's a bird:) )




    >What books are you reading this summer?

    If we count the summer as starting in May: this is what i read..

    Sleepwalk with me and other painfully true stories / Mike Birbiglia (any monologue by this guy is hilarious).
    http://www.thisamericanlife.org/sleepwalk-with-me

    Escape from Camp 14 - pretty good
    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/12/books/escape-from-camp-14-by-blaine-harden.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

    The Fine Print: How Big Companies Use "Plain English to Rob you Blind" / David Cay Johnston (all my notions shattered)
    http://www.npr.org/2012/09/20/161477162/a-close-look-at-your-bills-fine-print

    Mortality / Christopher Hitchens - excellent
    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/books/review/mortality-by-christopher-hitchens.html?pagewanted=all

    The Last Train To Zona Verde: My ultimate African Safari / Paul Theroux - excellent book
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/books/review/paul-therouxs-last-train-to-zona-verde-and-more.html?pagewanted=all

    next book to read - starting today ...

    Bad Monkey /carl hiaasen

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/18/books/carl-hiaasens-bad-monkey-features-a-cast-of-oddballs.html

    (I've read every book this guy has written, and they all have been fantastic.)



    I've seen this DVD this summer - its the best movie I've seen all year.

    Moonrise Kingdom - (if the imagery, soundtrack, and comedy - don't affect you - you must be a rock)


  • Found "The New Digital Age" (by Jared Cohen and Google chair Eric Schmidt) an enjoyable read.
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  • I just read and enjoyed Fraud Catcher, a crime thriller by Tom Cooper- it's great fun. I bought the book after David Snowball called it "fascinating" in February. About an Olympic runner who's also a fraud investigator, the hero also finds missing people, one a missing heiress. Some of his stories are investment frauds, one about a publicly traded company, another about elderly folks in a retirement home being cheated by an investment advisor. Other stories are set in Ireland, The Olympics, Baltimore (a crooked cop turned sleazy politician), Oxford and Switzerland, Virginia and Kentucky.

    A very enjoyable, fast paced, exciting and sometimes very funny book.
  • Just finished reading, The alternative answer: the nontraditional investments that drive the world's best performing portfolios. Bob Rice author. Short read for the number of ideas put forth. More for someone who has extra cash to use & with a (little) market knowledge.
    Have a good weekend...
    Derf

  • I started reading "House Of Cards", but I'm unimpressed and losing interest. Besides learning a few more interesting "facts" (wink, wink), I'm not getting anything more than what I have already gleamed about the financial crisis.

    Or maybe it was because last summer I read a book that was awesome, even though I read it two summers too late - "Griftopia"
  • edited July 2013
    Nice recommendations above, thanks everybody.

    I just finished finally "When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management," by Roger Lowenstein. A great read...here's summary from Wiki:

    image

    Also recently finished “The Greatest Trade Ever,” by Gregory Zuckerman and “Margin of Safety," by Seth Klarman.

    In middle of "Unconventional Success: A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment," by David Swensen and should finish "Running Money: Hedge Fund Honchos, Monster Markets and My Hunt for the Big Score," by Andy Kessler, on next trip to beach.
  • Finishing "Middle Men" by Jim Gavin. With my cat-like attention span, short stories are all I can manage. And this book was a particularly good collection.
  • Read "Wolf Hall" by Hilary Mantel. It is about the life of Thomas Cromwell told at a personal level of family, friends, and major historical characters.
  • Reply to @JoeNoEskimo:

    thx for the recommendation. I'll put that at the the top of my books toread list. sounds like just what i'm in the mood for - good short stories.
  • I'm just starting this one: "Rethinking Public Leadership for the 21st Century" (2009) by Scott C. Paine who teaches communications & public policy at the U. of Tampa. By all accounts he's a remarkable individual. 161 pages. Engaging style. FWIW
  • edited August 2013
    Maurice- finally got a hold of the Jefferson bio and read it this weekend. Thought that it was well done, and pretty fair to all involved. Was fascinated to read that some of the New England/Northern states had made threatening noises re secession over the Federalist/Republican differences... I'd not run across that before. Also I found it totally ironic that at one point Jefferson was castigated as being insufficiently "Republican" by a small but vituperatively vocal splinter group of his own party because he tended to make pragmatic efforts to compromise at certain points. Deja Vu all over again, to quote Casey Stengel.

    Thanks for the suggestion.
  • a couple of interesting no mutual fund related books.

    just finished an interesting and entertaining book..


    What Makes Olga Run?: The Mystery of the 90-Something Track Star and What She Can Teach Us About Living Longer, Happier Lives Hardcover
    by Bruce Grierson


    An amazing and inspirational 95-year-old track star
    As of 2014, Olga has broken 26 world records in track and field and earned over 500 medals. She competes around the world in long jump, high jump, hammer, 100m and 200m. Throughout her athletic career, she has been one of the most outstanding ‘super seniors’ on the circuit.
    http://www.olgakotelko.com/books/

    http://masterstrack.com/2014/01/27386/

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/magazine/28athletes-t.html





    started reading this book by the Dilbert Creator...

    How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big // Scott Adams

    interesting interview..

    http://www.npr.org/2013/10/21/236207605/scott-adams-explains-how-to-fail-at-almost-everything-except-dilbert
  • Some good recent reads:

    The Prague Cemetary by Umberto Eco - a historically placed fictional account of a character who is willing to spin any false narrative about anybody as long as there is money to be made, a thinly veiled dig at some of the current media sources.

    The Ghost Runner by Parker Bilal - a gritty mystery/thriller set in Egypt in the aftermath of 9/11.

    The Guts by Roddy Doyle - a poignant sequel to The Commitments about growing old and dealing with cancer diagnosis in his unique Irish humor style albeit too gratuitously laced with four letter words which is a shame. Milan Kundera of Ireland with a foul mouth.

  • @Accipiter - I really liked Moonrise Kingdom but loved Beasts of the Southern Wild.

    @Maurice - just finished "Life" by Keith Richards. Maybe we should work out a swap.

    Other recents:
    "One Summer" by Bill Bryson, about America in 1927. Totally absorbing.
    "Flight Behavior" by Barbara Kingsolver. A thought provoking read about the financial, scientific and psychological intricacies of climate change.
    "Omnivores Dilemma" by Michael Pollan. If your curious about where your food actually comes from read this book.
    "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien. Vietnam to a 'T'
  • edited May 2014
    If you just want to get lost in thought - try something by Roger Rosenblatt. Here's a link to his entire page at Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=digital-text&field-keywords=roger+rosenblatt&rh=n:133140011,k:roger+rosenblatt

    I'm more of a "hot news" freak, but keep a copy of his "Kayak Morning" on hand for times when I just want to slow down and engage in some deep reflection (not often enough, I'm afraid:-).
  • @Mark

    "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien. Vietnam to a 'T'

    Thank you.
    Catch
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  • Nothing investment related outside of studying.

    In my free time I've recently reread all of Raymond Chandler (IMNSHO the best American author of the 20th century), and am currently reading The Long Ships by Frans Begtsson. Manly tenth-century vikings doing manly tenth-century viking things.
  • >Raymond Chandler (IMNSHO the best American author of the 20th century

    you should get your hands on some stories by David Foster Wallace. I would vote him the best.
  • Accipiter said:

    >Raymond Chandler (IMNSHO the best American author of the 20th century

    you should get your hands on some stories by David Foster Wallace. I would vote him the best.

    Fair enough. There are some Foster Wallace essays I love. The one on Federer, for instance. I never attempted any of the novels out of pure fear.
  • edited August 2014
    re; DFW


    The IRS novel published posthumously was pretty good - The Pale King (and not overly long).

    three of his best I think (you may have read these if not you're missing out:)



    https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxyaGV0b3JpY2lpfGd4OjYwMjliZmYyYWI3NzI1YTk

    http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2005/04/host/303812/

    http://harpers.org/wp-content/uploads/HarpersMagazine-1994-07-0001729.pdf
  • edited October 2014
    very interesting and engaging book. fast read for a long book.

    If that kind of thing is interesting to you.

    Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic,

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/21/books/review/spillover-by-david-quammen.html

    all about Marburg, Ebola, and other viruses how they spread, etc.
  • edited September 2015
    If you are interested in a bit of history behind mp3 and music industry, suspense, hunting down hackers, decline of cd, etc. this is a pretty entertaining and informative book. I liked it.

    the writing is similar to Michael Lewis's books...


    HOW MUSIC GOT FREE: The End of an Industry, the Turn of the Century, and the Patient Zero of Piracy / By Stephen Witt

    http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2015/07/06/witt-how-music-got-free

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/26/books/review/how-music-got-free-by-stephen-witt.html?_r=0
  • TedTed
    edited September 2015
    @ MFO Members: This thread dates back to 2013-14, one would think a new thread woud have been in order, like Summer Reading 2015. Lets make that happen !
    Regards,
    Ted
  • edited September 2015
    Ted said:

    @ MFO Members: This thread dates back to 2013-14, one would think a new thread woud have been in order,

    splitters vs. lumpers ideologies

    reading is timeless.
  • Ted, some of us are slow readers.
  • Hi Guys,

    “There is always a well known solution to every human problem – neat, plausible, and wrong.” That wisdom comes from H.L. Mencken. You can double down on it when investing.

    Will Rogers put it that “It isn’t what we know that gives us trouble, it’s what we know that ain’t so.”

    Charles Darwin (along with Alfred Russell Wallace) is credited as the founder of modern evolutionary theory. Surprisingly, many researchers do not acknowledge him as an especially brilliant mind (I do). They attribute his success to his perseverance, his attention to detail, and mostly to his willingness to seek proof that he was wrong. He consistently deployed Karl Popper’s falsification hypothesis.

    I try to follow that rule when making investment decisions. I seek diverse perspectives, both the positives and the negatives. My reading material is selected with that same falsification goal to guide my final choices. Keeping an agile, open-minded approach should ultimately produce superior long-term returns. Change happens.

    This summer, I read David H. Freedman’s book simply titled “Wrong”. Its subtitle is “Why Experts Keep Failing Us – And How to Know When Not to Trust Them”. It is a thin book of under 300 pages, but it is full of fun stories and exploitable ideas. I recommend it.

    I am just now completing a reading of Mark Skousen’s “The Making of Modern Economics”. Skousen is a Libertarian and tends to favor the economic modeling of the Austrian school and the Monetarist tactics of Milton Friedman.

    I chose to purchase this rather expensive volume as a counterbalance to my earlier readings of Robert Heilbroner’s classic “Worldly Philosophers” and John Kenneth Galbraith’s popular “The Age of Uncertainty”. These latter works favor the Keynesian economic modeling.

    All models are simplifications and are not complete solutions. They all incorporate numerous assumptions and approximations. They work under some circumstances and fail under other scenarios.

    The Austrians want small government, the Keynesians want big government. That’s precisely why the Darwin approach is so useful. The experimental data should be the final measure. I actually recommend all these economic books with the cautionary warning that the author’s proclivities do surface. All readers must be alert to that reality.

    I hope you find this a practical addition to MFO Summer’s reading list.

    Best Regards.
  • Heh heh ... Trail guides to the Northern Cascades NP, Kootenai-East Kaniksu NF, Jasper National Park (AB), and beginning to make headway on Alaska.
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