Interesting read from FastCompany.com, many startup founders believe that making the time to read is more than just a relaxing habit but absolutely fundamental to the success of their business.
founders who have a reading habit find that it helps their cognition and, by extension, grows their companies.
Jessica Mah, the CEO of inDinero, goes one step further:
I also suggest books to my executive team, some I have not read, so they can learn different things and bring the best ideas up for discussion. It’s a team effort."Making Reading a successful habit will show up next quarter and next year, that you can bank on."
So monkeys, what books are currently decorating your coffee table? Reading mostly for leisure or work-only?
Any good recommendations?
I like reading books that are philosophically inclined, surreal or dark. Related to what OP said, it depends on how much information you can retain from what you read. For example, it's way easier to retain something from a book whether it be fiction or non-fiction rather than a scientific or research article since scientific/research articles need you to know certain things.
Sounds like you have an interesting bookshelf Name of Profit. I enjoy the occasional psychological thriller.
Completely agree as to retaining more info from books that does not require as much specialized knowledge. Gotta say, I was in the sciences and even with my background some articles were out of my expertise so it took a number of tries to get what I needed or the material was just too dry. Some authors of research/scientific articles know their stuff but not always the most capable in conveying that information (it's a gift to do both).
Reading "The Prize" by Daniel Yergin right now, fascinating book about the history of oil and how it changes global dynamics.
That's a good recommendation, solid book
The pleasure of finding things out by Feynman. It is a great short read during the train rides to work.
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion was a great read about how we perceive and process various external stimuli and how those processes can be taken advantage of.
Also currently reading Crime and Punishment, not through it enough to have a serious opinion but gonna push through since apparently its literary gold.
vanillathunder, AY01, and H. Dubya these are some great recs! Thanks, love the range. H. Dubya...my first attempt at Great Expectations (years ago) wasn't the most successful, pushed through a second time and it was rewarding. Sometimes it's about timing. Other times, it just wasn't for me and moved on.
I was just about to recommend Influence. I am currently 20% through it and enjoy it.
Current:
Last Man Standing (Jamie Dimon biography)
Do most of you read fiction or non-fiction?
I stick to mostly non-fiction in order to keep learning, but from what I hear, fiction offers a certain advantage in the sense that it improves your written and spoken English. I keep hearing that reading fiction is the easiest way to boost your GMAT verbal by a few points.
Agreed w/ both fiction and non-fiction notes. Flowery language in fiction definitely helps with complex grammar and reading comp on both the GMAT and LSAT (can personally vouch for the second).
That being said, I mostly read non-fictional, geopolitically focused literature as I find real events inherently more interesting (also develops reading comp, grammar less so).
Right now reading Invisible Influence. Tend to read lots of business books, philosophy, history, biographies. Just finished two Blockhain books with more coming as well. Totally agree that reading is absolutely crucial.
Reading is an absolutely essential part of my life. They say that "reading is food for the soul" and I strongly agree with that. Currently reading "Never Eat Alone" by Keith Ferrazzi. Excellent book for for building networking skills.
Just finished NEA, great book. He's at times mildly ostentatious, but perhaps deservingly so. Particularly liked his thoughts on connecting vs networking.
Maybe add "how to win friends and influence people" to that list. Great read.
Reading "A history of the world in 6 glasses" by Tom Standage. I like reading non-fiction, but I love fiction. A good novel is like a high cash flow, high growth rate, company, like Chipotle in it's hey day. Fucking drives me crazy.
I like to read some motivational stuff like: Level Up Your Life - Steve Kamb , The Happiness Track, "If you're so smart why aren't you happy?". About Wall st,: The buy side, Monkey Business, Liars Poker, All the devil of this world etc.
I am currently on "Losing My Virginity" by Richard Branson. It's so fun to read, and can learn a lot on his experience. Highly recommend. I usually like to read biographies (especially autobiographies) as you get all in one book. Anecdotes, history, philosophy and "skills".
I used to listen to audiobooks when driving and that was one of the books I listened to. Besides it having some very good content, it's a lot more entertaining to hear Branson reading it to you.
Plato's "The Republic"- It's unfortunate that the ideal society envisioned by Socrates differs from the one we are in currently. However, the arguments that Socrates has with several people is intellectually stimulating. Definitely worth a read. On a slightly superficial note (probably, if your VP sees you reading the book, his/her perception of you changes in a positive way)
The Heart and the Fist & Relentless
Both by Eric Greitens. He is a Navy SEAL, humanitarian, Rhodes Scholar, Republican nominee for Governor of Missouri, and much more. This heros accomplishments are endless and his books provide an incredible amount insight into the world.
I'll add some more books at a later point.
Shoe Dogs - the memoir of the Nike founder is an excellent read.
Reading- Continuous Improvement (Originally Posted: 08/09/2016)
Hey everyone,
As we enter the peak of the summer doldrums, its the time for some reading to continue to stay ahead of the curve. Other than the obvious to stay up to date on trends, markets, and news, what's WSO reading this summer to continue to improve as an investor?
Dealbook (NY Times), Termsheet (blog), Irrational Exuberance and Why Nations Fail
Thanks for the reply, Dealbook and Termsheet were kind of what I meant by "news" though it was a vagueoverarching category.
Meant more books such as Irrational Exuberance, will check that one out though. thanks!
What Happened to Reading? (Originally Posted: 11/01/2012)
Monkeys, something I've noticed a lot over the past few years is that fewer and fewer people seem to be reading for pleasure. Obviously, within the past 6 years of my life, I was a senior in high school for 1 year, in college for 3, and working for 2 -- all of these things leave little room for free time...right?
Well, not really -- come to think of it, during college I did have a lot of free time, and while working a non-finance job I had more free time than I knew what to do with. Even so, as a kid who grew up reading a lot of books throughout my elementary and middle school days, I find myself VERY rarely reading for pleasure these days. What gives?
The issue isn't that there aren't books that I want to read. For instance, I've had pretty limited exposure to American literature -- Faulkner, Mark Twain, James Fenimore Cooper -- and even have a list of fiction that I want to dig into. To top it all off, if you've been keeping up with my blog over the past month or so, you'll know that I am currently on an "extended vacation" during which I'm traveling and doing those things that I purportedly didn't have time for in college. Now is the time to crack those books, but...I haven't.
And it's not even American literature...it wouldn't kill me to read some Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Dickens, Tolstoy, the list goes on and on. And why limit ourselves to fiction? Why not read some seminal works of political theory and philosophy -- from Aristotle to the Founding Fathers -- to get a better idea of how the world works and what role thinkers have historically played in its evolution.
Oh wait, Facebook. And eBay. And look, WallStreetOasis. Refresh, refresh, refresh. 2AM already? Zzzzzz...
So what does all this mean?
It's bizarre to think that, based on my own observations, people seem to be less likely to seek out reading materials on their own than they were even 20 years ago. Reading is a chore. It's something you do for that silly humanities class that you have to take despite being a finance major, and let's be real, who actually does the reading anyway? So will these classics be forgotten? Have we really entered an era where SparkNotes and the silver screen undermine the power and beauty of a novel like Les Miserables?
Hell, people even rarely read the "big" pop culture novels of today -- Twilight, Fifty Shades of Grey, Harry Potter, etc. These books require the attention span of a 5-year-old (literally) to get through, but nah, I'll just watch the movie, why bother reading. Note: I have not seen Twilight or any of the HP movies, and don't intend to.
Thoughts, monkeys? Do you read for pleasure? Do you feel that people today are reading less fiction and non-fiction than folks even 10 or 20 years ago? Is it good, is it bad? Discuss.
Thanks for reading. Now stop refreshing this page. #butseriously
If its important to you, you make time. I make a point of reading 20-30 pages per day no matter what.
i used to read for pleasure. but then i discovered drugs...
The problem is literature, philosophy, etc isn't pleasurable to most people. And I don't really see a problem with that.
Still try to read when I can.. thing is that I say should I be reading for fun or doing some reading for work and will I regret the answer later? Don't want to "miss something" in regards to my job, so usually I'll do work stuff.. such is life.
If I had an infinite amount of time and patience, I'd probably gobble up all the books I could get my paws on. But unfortunately, I don't. That's where film comes in. As far as pleasure and entertainment go, film is a far superior art form. Film not only has a narrative and dialogue and descriptions of characters and situations, but you also get moving images, you get sound and music, you get so much more and in so much less time - a concentrated blast of awesomeness. Film is also a more powerful medium for telling a story or conveying ideas and emotions. Of course, if you feel that your entertainment medium has to be limited to what was available in the 1700s...
Of course, this only addresses the aspect of being entertained. For actual information or pure knowledge, like if you want to learn more about philosophy or finance for example, you obviously need some good ol' fashioned chopped tree.
I read a fair amount. I usually get through 4 books per month. Granted, a lot of these books are related to investing and politics, but that is what I enjoy. I might read a horror or fantasy novel every 2 or 3 months. But generally I like to live in reality, or something close to it.
I've read probably 90% of the "classics"...but as a teenager. I don't really have desire to revisit them aside from a few (Vonnegut, Steinbeck). I also probably read the equivalent of a small book's worth of news daily. I think that literature was read (and re-read) 100 years ago because there were so few choices.
I have the same issue of wanting to read but not following through with it despite having time. However I have no problem watching multiple movies in my spare time.
Reading for pleasure is terrific. There's nothing like cracking open "Middlemarch" at the beginning of the month and hacking away at it night after night after work until you're done at the end of the month.
Heck, I'm the WSO resident book reviewer--reading is awesome, and I refuse to get a Kindle or anything else like that. I enjoy reading precisely because it isn't electronic.
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I read during my commute/before bed and enjoy it a lot. I am currently in the middle of How I Became A Quant and just finished Ed Thorpe's Beat the Dealer. I find it a much better way to pass the time than mindlessly slashing fruits on an iphone (e.g. people at work are surprised that I know some financial history given that I'm a recent grad)
I always try to read at least 2-3 a week; at the beginning of every season I have a "bucket list" of books I want to read, and try to make it through at least 4 (out of 10+, so not like a grand success here). It's difficult given the time constraints, magical time-sucking power of the internet, etc. but worth it. I try to read mostly fiction or things completely unrelated to finance/banking -- I think it's important to stay grounded / have a broader lens...the culture and nature of the job can kind of make you boring otherwise.
I've been trying to justify buying a iPad/mini/Nexus with hopes that I would read more but in reality I would just watch more porn.
Story of my life.
I'm pretty sure alot of people on here have read Liar's Poker, Monkey Business and maybe even American Psycho.
Used to be a big reader and getting back into it. There's definitely something to be said for great books, whether fiction or non-fiction. Just finished Moby Dick which took about a year and would recommend it to anyone. It's long but worth the journey. Our generation is growing stupider in inverse proportion to the amount we read - just look at the grammar on this site and others and e-mails people send.
I was a huge reading nerd when I was younger, but I slowed down at the beginning of college. Just now trying to start up again; interestingly enough I feel more focused (placebo effect?).
There will never be a single joy of entertainment as brilliant and healing as holding a used or even new book for the first time and reading through it. Screw ebooks and I actually today just created a new book list so ill be going through it soon. Long live reading
I read every day but after reading fiction for years I have switched over to reading exclusively self help/development and spiritual type books because it has all the benefits of entertainment (and gets me really pumped up just reading it) plus I expand my knowledge base, understanding of myself and the world, and also improve a little bit every day. I used to love fiction but I now find I have lost all interest which is surprising.
Fully agree. My rate of reading has drastically declined since I was in high school and even earlier. I guess once you discover the other hedonistic aspects of life reading takes a back seat, which is really a shame as this should not be the case. I agree with you that Facebook and the internet-refresh society have taken some of the luster off reading, and I am trying to find ways to escape this trap as well.
Getting through the economist every week sucks up all my reading time
Same here. But the reading schedule includes WSJ.
Same here. But the reading schedule includes WSJ.
It has declined over the years due to this Internet craze and everything but u should make time for atleast some non-fiction which doesnt hv the word 'finance' in it.
yep, definitely read for please. Of course these days, it's consuming content on the tablet.
Speaking of books, any other bros looking forward to the Ender's Game film adaptation coming out in a few months? Novel won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards in the 80s, and rightfully so since it's so damn good. If the film adaptation is as good as the adaptation of Carl Sagan's work, it could be very promising. Someone should make a film adaptation of Stranger in a Strange Land, though that could get a little tricky.
I read Ender's Game last year and have very high hopes for the film.
The difference between a film and novel is like the difference between a double shot espresso and a tall cup of green tea. One might be better for you and much larger in volume, but doesn't quick pack the same punch.
Reading a nice novel by Jules Verne is much more pleasurable and relaxing than sitting on the laptop or watching a movie/TV. Also, reading let's you build a world the way you want to build it, with the book being used only as guidance.
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