What's Your Favorite Book?
Looking for some new book recs. I just finished Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, the only book I hadn't read yet, fantastic read btw. I'll read anything, so out of curiosity I would love to hear some of WSO's must reads.
What's one of your favorite books?
Nonfiction: Zero to One
Fiction: The Count of Monte Cristo
Both look interesting, thanks for both ill check em out
The Selfish Gene
Richard Dawkins is fantastic; this is a great read. Glad you agree.
If you'll really read anything, a few which might be "less obvious" come to mind (mix of fiction / non-fiction):
Norwegian Wood (Haruki Murakami)
The Pig that Wants to be Eaten (Julian Baggini)
What are the Odds (Mike Lindell)
Into Thin Air (Jon Krakauer)
Battle Royale (Koushun Takami, admittedly a bit pulp fiction but good fun)
I'm sure I'm forgetting some.
Into Thin Air was good - I have to mention "Man's search for meaning."
Godel Escher Bach
The Count of Monte Cristo
Being Mortal
To me, regarding Being Mortal, the biggest takeaway for me left me kind of sad. We don’t really get better from our illnesses/injuries, because our bodies are good at masking the effects. We might feel like we are 100% recovered, but we’re not. Until one day, there’s a tipping point and the body fails as the accumulated damage overwhelms us and we go downhill fast and die. I became a little less optimistic in regard to health.
Interested in what you loved about the book. I read it because someone I worked with really loved it.
I hadn't really dwelled on that much till you mentioned it now - reminds me that I should have left banking earlier and it's never too early to prioritize your health (but many times too late)
The main thing that stuck with me was how bad we as a society, and particularly the medical field, is at dealing with death and in particular, the final years of life. Everything I see around me, all the research funding, the focus of doctors, everything is about extending life rather than maximizing quality of life, especially in later years. The chapters where he talked about finding out what was important to patients in their final years and trying to make sure they could do those things, even if it meant they'd only live 6 months instead of 2 years.
I've seen people on meds in their final months where they hardly know what's happening around them, not even able ti recognise some family members. Off those meds, they may only have a week or two but it's a week or two where they can appreciate their final moments surrounded by loved ones and lucid. Reinforces to me how modern medicine / doctors don't understand death, only prolonging of life, and I hadn't appreciated that till I read Being Mortal
Was GEB super technical? I have it at home but only really got through a few pages.
Atlas Shrugged
Not even Rand’s best book, let alone a good one
For reference, you should read both, although I'll let you skip John Galt's three hour speech, Ugh, that sucked.
to quote the head of the debate team " that was an exercise in typing, not writing.
go back to reddit bozo
Meditations by Aurelius
A one from a guy in my high school. "Redeployment" I let my cousin's husband read the first story on the beach. The answer was after reading that was "nope, and he told her she couldn't read it either.
A lot of the books I’ve enjoyed had as much to do with the time in my life I read them as the story or subject matter itself, username included. If I really think hard about it, a book I couldn’t put down and still think about to this day is Ubik by Phillip K Dick, and really most of his works are pretty enjoyable and compelling. As far as non-fiction goes, I liked Napoleon by Andrew Roberts.
Fiction: Ender's Game
Non-Fiction: Power of now / a new earth by Eckhart Tolle
Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
Brave New Word - Aldous Huxley
Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton
All for different reasons, honestly I just love Crichton's writing and how much research he puts into it. Every book is a great read
Came here to say Slaughterhouse 5. Picked it up after a pretty tough year of only reading non-fiction/related to work, and it was a great reminder to keep some fiction in the reading diet.
Also recommend Viper's Tangle by Francois Mauriac and almost anything by Faulkner. Non-fiction, I've enjoyed Nassim Taleb's non-technical writings.
Fiction: The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
Non-Fiction: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wine Basics
The Power Broker - Robert Caro.
The podcast 99% Invisible (generally great one) did a series on it for those that don't want to read it, or read it eventually later.
Favorite books by stage in life. None of these assigned reading.
In elementary school: a book collection for kids on the greatest battles in human history (Joan of Arc, Mongols, Zulus vs the British). I can’t find the title. Stirred up my love for history.
In middle school: Lord of the Rings (I loved the Hobbit cartoon movie but The Hobbit was thick and hard to read - too many names and places - LOTR was much better for a kid to read and long before the movies, thought it would make an excellent movie).
High school: the biography of Jefferson Davis (President of the Confederacy, understanding that there are good people on the wrong side, making difficult choices)
While in college: Vandals Crown (break eggs, in this case it was currency traders vs central banks)
The summer before starting in finance: Term Sheets and Valuations: a line by line look at the intricacies of term sheets and valuations (good structure is value; add value)
Early in my career: Think and Grow Rich (advice I never got from my parents)
While pondering the global world order: On China (understanding Chinese leaders mindset)
While unemployed: The Alchemist (pivoting to your authentic self)
Mid-Career/Life: Creativity, Inc. (story of Pixar, they seem to make hits that match the National mood)
+1 SB in particular to The Alchemist. One of those rare books that can literally change your life and is a short read as well.
Thank you IBWriterMachine
I can resonate with Think and Grow Rich, such a great read. I have been a big LOTR fans since elementary school. It's timeless. I appreciate you sharing the timeline alongside your recs, so I'll be sure to read these. Thanks brotha
Thank you StudyWizard
I feel like you may be misremembering this, LOTR has a lot more names/descriptions than The Hobbit which is a lot more whimsical. I read both then too and greatly enjoyed them separately for different reasons.
Thinking fast and slow Daniel khanaman
im very embarrassed to say that i've read very few non fiction books since Uni finished other than some things on business turnarounds etc (or perhaps I don't remember them anymore....and I don't count non fiction).
recently read 5000 years of debt by David Graeber after someone recommended it here and really enjoyed it. I think the combination of anthropology, history, and finance was really interesting. anyone got any similar recommendations?
No need to feel embarrassed bro, and I think reading is anything you want it to be. You could have said you only read Magic Treehouse books, and I would still be stoked for you. Reading in any form > no reading.
Regardless, here are some recs I think you will enjoy based on 5000 Years of Debt; I have all of these on my bookshelf:
The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World
Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World
The Great Crash of 1929
Manias, Panics, and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises
Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk
thank you! will check these out :)
I recently finished The Three Signs of a Miserable Job and really enjoyed it. I took notes and plan to revisit it regularly. It’s a great read for reflecting on your own work life and becoming a better manager—helping to increase fulfillment both for yourself and your employees
The Stranger, Crime & Punishment, Invisible Cities
some non fiction favourites
favourite fiction book is probably Layer Cake (it's hilarious) or Shogun by James Clavell (haven't seen the tv show yet)
You don’t mean Xenophon’s Anabasis?
I liked that but I prefer Alexander's. Arrian was inspired by/copied Xenophon's Anabasis
Noble house is his magnum opus
I need to buy all his books
The Stranger by Albert Camus
Republic by Plato
Anything Nietzsche
Pale Blue Dot
Atlas Shrugged / Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
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Favorite book? Impossible for me to pick just one, but here are a couple that would be on my shortlist (which I can almost guarantee no one on WSO has read before)
Kaizoku to yobareta otoko (literal translation "A Man Called Pirate"). I had to literally teach myself Japanese to read this because it is still only available in Japanese (has not been translated into English, as far as I can tell)
Пикник на обочине (English title: "Roaside Picnic") Originally written in Russian, but translated to English and widely available (unlike my previous recommendation)
Fantastic, thanks for sharing these. Never heard of them, so I will check em out. Dont know about learning japanese though, maybe you can sell me on it. What about A Man Called Pirate drove you to learn japanese to read it lmao
You're a funny guy Jeremy Clarkson, my respect is earned.
Favorites I read in the last year are On the Beach by Nevil Shute and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. Both are excellent reminders of what truly matters in life and beautifully written stories.
Non-fiction I really enjoyed Walter Isaacson’s biography on Leonardo Da Vinci.
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