What I Just Read

Interesting on a few levels. It's always fun to read a thriller/spy novel from a completely different era (this book dates from the early years of WW1), because while you're reading something fun you also get a window into a different historical period, exposure to different slang and expressions, and direct context on social norms of that period. Good fiction reads well regardless of era, but the extra context adds to the satisfaction.  Also interesting to think of protagonist Richard Hannay and what is it about him that's compelling. Not suave and elegant like James Bond, not huge and muscular like Jack Reacher, Hannay is sort of an everyman--admittedly with some unusual skills the author needs to make up from time to time to move the plot along!  The Thirty-Nine Steps was popular right from publication, and it essentially made John Buchan's career as a writer.   Finally, this edition, The Oxford World's Classics edition, contains quite a bit of useful biographic...

Not recommended for brand new beginners to Bitcoin; you'll want some foundation in order to really get value from this book. I'd first recommend completing a brief and easy reading list of 1) Saifedean Ammous' The Bitcoin Standard , 2) Ben Mezrich's Bitcoin Billionaires , and 3) Nathaniel Popper's Digital Gold .  Then, I recommend listening to at least a few long-form podcasts on Bitcoin (for example  Robert Breedlove on Lex Fridman's podcast , or a few episodes of Robert Breedlove's extensive podcast series with Michael Saylor ). After that, then tackle this book. And if you don't have the attention span to dedicate the necessary time to do these things, Bitcoin probably isn't for you. Yet.  This book is a generous gift from quite an original thinker, and I strongly encourage spending as much time as you can eavesdropping on Gigi on literally any podcast where you can find him (he's done a lot; start by searching "Gigi Bitcoin" on Y...

Workmanlike book about the early Usenet message boards that made up much of the internet's landscape in the early- to mid-1990s. While it offers helpful analogies for certain internet controversies today, I'd only recommend it to serious internet history geeks. It's not interesting enough of a read for the casual reader. However, books on technology ( and investing ) from past periods can offer surprisingly useful insights for current-day readers. The flame wars of the early days of Usenet rhyme with today's malevolently sarcastic social media arguments. Censorship battles of the 1990s give us a tiny hint of what they look like now. Spam, surveillance--we are grappling with the same problems today, just in far more extensive forms.  And then again, there are some issues that seemed like a really big deal to everyone back then that, once enough time passes, end up hardly mattering at all. I wonder what things we think matter today that don't, and what things we think...

Catchy, readable World War One-era spy novel that really gives you a flavor of the international intrigues of the period. Takes the reader through various countries in Europe, ending up in Istanbul, as the characters try to prevent Germany from bringing the Islamic world onto their side. As such the book foreshadows one of the great global demographic and socioeconomic conflicts the world is facing now, and it reminds me for the millionth time how much history rhymes. There are a few outlandish coincidences and meetings in the story, some of which are necessary to move the plot along. It reminds me of how Charles Dickens would do this--and just like Dickens, this author pretty much gets away with it! We chuckle to ourselves, enjoy the story in spite of the devices, and keep right on reading.  Finally, there's a really well-done (and surprisingly affecting) scene at the end of the novel where the main characters, right when things look the bleakest, each express gratitude for their ...

Derivative biography of an incredibly interesting dude, a man with a buoyant spirit, a glorious sense of fun and an interesting mix of humility and arrogance. Oh, and a total, total cad around the ladies, banging them left and right while he wrote some of the 20th century's greatest music.  In other words, this biography should have been much more interesting than it was, and one can't help thinking: what is it that makes a biography interesting? Why do some biographies feel like work to read, while others enthrall? Gershwin lived a fascinating life, yet this biography sputters, limps and frequently bores the reader. In fact it was more "work" for me to read this 180-page book than it was to read Emil Ludwig's entire 600-page Napoleon biography . Note that author Walter Rimler deliberately narrows his focus in this book, mostly portraying Gershwin's personal and emotional life, leaving out many aspects of his professional life, and directing readers to Gershw...

Provides helpful exercises and reminders for attitude shaping, goal-seeking and -setting, and for raising your personal standards for what kinds of life outcomes you are willing to conceive and work toward. The Millionaire Course reminds me of another worthwhile book, Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way,  in the sense that you "do" the book: you have to perform certain tasks and exercises, you will have to add certain habits and routines to your life, and so on.  This book is not for the passive reader. In fact, it's likely dangerous for the passive reader--that is, if that passive reader cannot tell the difference between reading and doing, and thus reads (and doesn't do) and remains in the blissfully ignorant state of thinking he's doing.  Finally, the book list included at the end of this book, as well as many of the titles the author mentions throughout the text, gives readers a tremendous resource for further reading and learning. See the end of this p...