What I Just Read

I read this unfortunate book so you don't have to. Readers looking at the cover art might assume they're in for a tell-all about Sam Bankman-Fried and the criminal scandal at FTX. In reality, most of the book is about stablecoin issuer Tether, and the author's futile attempts to prove it's a scam. This disorganized book breaks no new ground on either subject. It gets much, much worse, however. If you're already familiar with Bitcoin, blockchains and decentralized finance, you will be appalled by how little author Zeke Faux (a Bloomberg Business reporter!) actually knows about these subjects. In fact, if you're reading this book to learn about Bitcoin, this book will  actually make you dumber , as Faux embarrassingly recycles 2017-era cryptocurrency FUD throughout the book.  Someone please send him a set of FUD dice! [You can support my work here by buying all your Amazon products via any affiliate link from this site , or my sister site  Casual Kitchen . Thank y...

This is a history of a wealthy, well-connected South Carolina plantation family before, during and after experiencing an asteroid-grade event: the Civil War and the North's ensuing multi-year military and economic occupation of the South. The family quickly lost everything, became impoverished to the point of barely having enough to eat, and eventually scattered all over the country and world. They were once one of the richest and most important rice growing families in the entire United States; now no one knows who they are. Still more sad and sobering is how this experience changed the earnest, sincere, well-bred Christian matriarch of this family into an embittered and angry old woman--bickering with her husband, desperate for money, and starting little marmalade-making businesses in her 70s to try to make ends meet. [A quick  affiliate link to readers to the book here . You can support my work here by buying all your Amazon products via any affiliate link from this site, o...