Book Recommendations

The cryptoasset field is very new and fast-moving. That’s why I’m especially impressed that a book on the subject is so useful! Whether you’re already an investor in the space, are looking to become one, or are a skeptical financial advisor who wants to keep your clients from throwing away all their money, this book is a great place to start. I was most excited the by deep historical context this book offered on the players and projects that are most often in the news today. This book skips the hype and goes right for the meat of the topic. (View on Amazon)

History, as its taught in US schools, looks upon Lincoln quite favorably. After all, he led the Union to win the Civil War, freeing the slaves in the process. From this book, I learned how the sausage was made. First, his ascent to the presidency was almost a fluke of history (except that he worked his ass off to outmaneuver his competitors) because he was relatively unknown on the national stage. Once elected, he maneuvered to get all of his former rivals into his administration and cabinet. It is by leveraging their relative talents and his strong sense of popular timing that he was able to win the war and free the slaves. A recommended read for any history buff. (View on Amazon)

I liked this book so much that I’m planning to re-listen to it soon with a notebook handy. I first heard Chris Voss on Shane Parrish’s podcast, and I really liked his style. He was a former FBI hostage negotiator, and shares stories from that world. Much of his content contradicts negotiation conventional wisdom, and I’m always a sucker for a contrarian view. Just a few examples: BATNA sets you up to fail. Getting counterpart to say NO is more important than YES. Don’t meet in the middle. (View on Amazon)

This was like a funnier, South African version of Hillbilly Elegy. I like Trevor Noah, I think he’s funny, and this was a nice window into his childhood. He tells stories of growing up as a semi-delinquent, and uses them to share broader info about South Africa, its cultural profile, the different neighborhoods he was exposed to, and of course apartheid. There are many serious topics, and Noah always finds a way to bring out the humor in some and be good humored about others. (View on Amazon)

JD Vance does a nice job of story-telling in this book about his hillbilly family and their cultural origins. He really gives a voice to his people that we “urban elites” are unlikely to have seen firsthand. Though I felt like I understood where he was coming from for a variety of personal reasons, the reality is I did not experience anywhere near the level of dysfunction that his family & their peers did. One question that he managed to answer for me in this book – why don’t the people in these going-nowhere towns just leave? I guess their reasoning is that their home equity is negative. While I don’t know if this is logically sound, it does help me empathize with their position. (View on Amazon)

Author Scott Galloway does a wonderful job of dissecting the business models and situations for Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google (often referred to as GAFA in popular press). For each company, he frames their competitive advantages and their vulnerabilities (which are few). I particularly liked his analyses, but equally disliked his “color commentary” on what they should do. His normative statements about what Apple should do with their pile of cash didn’t strike me as useful – I got the impression that he was purposefully stirring the pot to get attention (to his credit, it seems to be working). At the end, he has advice for the younger generation that’s getting into the workforce on how to make the most of their situations. I thought that this advice was really astute. (View on Amazon)

There’s a lot to be learned from Benjamin Franklin. It’s nice to learn it from the man himself. Not a thorough autobiography by any means. It stops abruptly, long before the American Revolution. Franklin would often engage in public projects for the benefit of his city (Philadelphia). When gathering support and funding for these projects, he learned to minimize his involvement by feigning to represent a group who asked for his help rather than “owning” the project. Nevertheless, he was always the one who seemed to initiate or expedite civic projects. One way he was able to accomplish this was by focusing himself on his 13 “virtues”, which he ingrained as habit by way of his 13 week journal. The book ends with a story about “paying too much for the whistle”, an error he committed and learned from early in life. (View on Amazon)

Andy Weir, author of The Martian, wrote another book set in space (or more accurately, the moon). It’s not as great as the Martian, but still a neat story with a bunch of science woven in. (View on Amazon)

Investor Ray Dalio likes to talk about principles. He’s been writing his down for decades, and using them to build one of the most successful hedge funds of all time. The first part of this book is basically an autobiography. Ray tells his story of growing up and founding Bridgewater Associates. He then discusses all of his life and work principles. There’s a lot of wisdom here, but to be frank the format doesn’t match with my style. I prefer stories rather than platitudes. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t value in this book – because there’s plenty to learn from him! (View on Amazon)

I had a basic understanding of Catherine’s (her birth name was actually Sophia) story from The Romanovs. This was a much deeper dive into her story, chronicling the journey of this minor German princess to the Russian throne. She ended up becoming more loyal to Russia than I think anyone could have expected, and worked during her reign to improve conditions for the peasantry. Interestingly, she tried to end the practice of serfdom, but had a tough uphill battle. Eventually, after a rebellion, she changed her position entirely and never tried to abolish it again. (View on Amazon)