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Completely free non-fiction advent calendar thread. One book recommendation a day from my best-of 2020 reading list.
Happy holidays
.
Happy holidays
.
Day 1: Skin in the Game by @nntaleb - not new but oh. My. Should it be required reading for leaders (and those who like to follow).
Preview quote: âBureaucracy is a construction by which a person is conveniently separated from the consequences of his or her actions."
Preview quote: âBureaucracy is a construction by which a person is conveniently separated from the consequences of his or her actions."
Day 2: Money by Felix Martin. I love money (well, the theory of money) This is one of the better Iâve read on the subject.
Preview of opening quote: âEveryone except an economist knows what âmoneyâ is, and even an an economist can describe it in the course of a chapter or so...â
Preview of opening quote: âEveryone except an economist knows what âmoneyâ is, and even an an economist can describe it in the course of a chapter or so...â
Day 3 : Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt (to fight zombie ideas)
âThe art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groupsâ
âThe art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groupsâ
Day 4 : Daylight Robbery by @DominicFrisby -because heâs hilarious. And everyone should know why weâre *still* paying all that âtemporaryâ tax (especially before all the new Taxes Are Coming in 2021).
Reviewers have called it âfuel for the post-Christmas lunch argumentâ.
It is.
Reviewers have called it âfuel for the post-Christmas lunch argumentâ.
It is.
Day 5 : The Year of Magical Thinking, by Joan Didion, because weâre all human (even me) & this year has highlighted memento mori...(& itâs important for you all to know I think about more than money & the madness of crowd)
âYou sit down for dinner, and life as you know it ends.â
âYou sit down for dinner, and life as you know it ends.â
Day 6 : Passionate Minds. Historical account of (my favourite) Voltaire and the woman who loved him, Ămilie du Châtelet.
â...You are beautiful
so half the human race will be your enemy
You are brilliant
and you will be feared
You are trusting
and you will be betrayed.â
â...You are beautiful
so half the human race will be your enemy
You are brilliant
and you will be feared
You are trusting
and you will be betrayed.â
Day 7 : The Deficit Myth by @StephanieKelton
This one might surprise you, but you owe it to yourself to figure out the long con, money laundering magic trick thatâs swapping real assets & labour for funny money, making the rich richer & the middle class disappear- like magic.
This one might surprise you, but you owe it to yourself to figure out the long con, money laundering magic trick thatâs swapping real assets & labour for funny money, making the rich richer & the middle class disappear- like magic.
Day 8 : In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, because you need to see how cheap human life is to complete strangers.
Day 9 : The Madness of Crowds by @DouglasKMurray - which was as prophetic as it was un-pc.
âDisagreement is not oppression. Argument is not assault. Words â even provocative or repugnant ones â are not violence. The answer to speech we do not like is more speech.â
âDisagreement is not oppression. Argument is not assault. Words â even provocative or repugnant ones â are not violence. The answer to speech we do not like is more speech.â
Day 10 : Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flack Catchers by (the legend) Tom Wolfe.
Oldie but a goodie - on social consciousness as a fashion accessory - youâll recognise all the characters, everyone is there!
(I wrote a bit about it here : http://m.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/86 ⌠)
Oldie but a goodie - on social consciousness as a fashion accessory - youâll recognise all the characters, everyone is there!
(I wrote a bit about it here : http://m.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/86 ⌠)
Day 11 : This is Not Propaganda by Peter Pomerantsev
The perfect side-dish to the satanic-panic around Facebook going on right now. Gets into the trade offs between power, censorship and centralistion of information flows, with wit and wisdom.
The perfect side-dish to the satanic-panic around Facebook going on right now. Gets into the trade offs between power, censorship and centralistion of information flows, with wit and wisdom.
Day 12 : Narrative Economics by Robert J Shiller
âEconomic fluctuations are substantially driven by contagion of oversimplified and easily transmitted variants of economic narratives. These ideas colour peopleâs loose thinking and actions.â (Apt, right?)
âEconomic fluctuations are substantially driven by contagion of oversimplified and easily transmitted variants of economic narratives. These ideas colour peopleâs loose thinking and actions.â (Apt, right?)
Day 13 : Hitler & Churchill by Andrew Roberts.
The prose sings and screams at you to listen.
âThere is no more shameless type of government than a perfect democracy, because it cannot admit of the possibility that its sovereign, the people, might ever be wrong.â
The prose sings and screams at you to listen.
âThere is no more shameless type of government than a perfect democracy, because it cannot admit of the possibility that its sovereign, the people, might ever be wrong.â
Day 14 : Letters to a Young Contrarian by Christopher Hitchens
âIf you care about points of agreement&civility then youâd better be well-equipped with points of argument&combativity because if you arenât the âcenterâ will be occupied&defined without your having helped define itâ
âIf you care about points of agreement&civility then youâd better be well-equipped with points of argument&combativity because if you arenât the âcenterâ will be occupied&defined without your having helped define itâ
Day 15 : The Red Queen, Sex & The Evolution of Human Nature by Matt Ridley.
Whatever scale you look at us, humans progress - past, present and future - is the result of a delicate dance balancing competition & collaboration. A book about biology-but just as much about politics.
Whatever scale you look at us, humans progress - past, present and future - is the result of a delicate dance balancing competition & collaboration. A book about biology-but just as much about politics.
Day 16 : De Profundis etcetera by Oscar Wilde.
On finding meaning amidst injustice. Beautiful. Profound. Unfair. Eloquent.
On finding meaning amidst injustice. Beautiful. Profound. Unfair. Eloquent.
Day 17 : What Does a Martian Look Like?
On why we (probably) havenât found intelligent life yet - because weâre looking for the wrong things in the wrong places (and reality is far weirder than we expect it to be).
Like Carl Sagen, but more fun.
On why we (probably) havenât found intelligent life yet - because weâre looking for the wrong things in the wrong places (and reality is far weirder than we expect it to be).
Like Carl Sagen, but more fun.
Day 18 : Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World by Rene Girard.
Because mirrors and scapegoats are everywhere right now.
(Pro tip : For once, Iâd actually suggest the audio book instead of the softcover, the dialectical style is more conversational than prose.)
Because mirrors and scapegoats are everywhere right now.
(Pro tip : For once, Iâd actually suggest the audio book instead of the softcover, the dialectical style is more conversational than prose.)
Day 19 : The Bone Woman by Clea Koff.
Cheating slightly, since I read this towards the end of 2019 - but it stuck with me: on the cheapness of other peopleâs lives.
Cheating slightly, since I read this towards the end of 2019 - but it stuck with me: on the cheapness of other peopleâs lives.
