Book Reviews

The Power

With high-voltage satire, Alderman turns the world on its head - forcing us to recognize the violence and indignity suffered by women in our modern world as we watch the men of hers fall prey to the same dynamics....

5-stars

Circe

Beautifully written in sort of modern/mythic hybrid style, Miller's feminist retelling of The Odyssey surprised me. Miller expertly walks a fine line, adding substantive feminist themes while still respecting the underlying mythology....

4-stars

A Burglar's Guide to the City

Manaugh plays with the subversive idea that "burglars are... drunk Jedis of architectural space." He walks us through some of the most famous heists in history and how creative uses of the built environment played a role in their success....

5-stars

Narconomics: How to Run a Drug Cartel

Treating the global narcotics industry "as if it were a business like any other," Wainwright delves into how drug dealers have to deal with supply chains, HR issues, and digital disruption just like everyone else....

5-stars

The Looting Machine: Warlords, Oligarchs, Corporations, Smugglers, and the Theft of Africa's Wealth

Financial Times reporter Tom Burgis traces the illicit flows of tens of billions of dollars of African natural resource wealth to local dictators, Western corporations and financial elites, and - more recently - massive Chinese enterprises....

3-stars

Big Little Lies

I don't always read chick-lit, but when I do... someone usually dies. Liane Moriarty's "Big Little Lies" did not disappoint in that regard. In fact, it was one of the more creative murder mystery plot structures I've seen in a long time....

3-stars

To Have and Have Not

Hemingway bounces wildly between a bunch of different perspectives and somehow covers an enormous number of ideas in just 180 pages. Race relations, socialism, rebellion, crime, sex, greed, wealth, laziness, family life, gender roles, violence, nature, work, power, etc....

3-stars

Jane Lathrop Stanford, Mother of a University

The founder of Stanford University was murdered?? And the case was never solved?! And the first president of Stanford may have been part of the murder conspiracy... how had I never heard about this before?...

5-stars

Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson

Albom has created a masterpiece of the "sad-book-about-dying" genre (way better than the more recent "When Breath Becomes Air") and this short book is certainly worth a read for anyone thinking about the big picture....

4-stars

The Billionaire's Apprentice: The Rise of The Indian-American Elite and The Fall of The Galleon Hedge Fund

Details the Galleon Group insider trading scandal of 2009 and the central role that the Indian American immigrants played on both sides of the case. The "twice-blessed" wave of Indian immigrants hustled their way to positions of wealth and power, sometimes cutting corners along the way....

4-stars

Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue

How does one conduct a successful conspiracy? "Conspiracy" is a beach read for the grand strategy set. Written like a political thriller, it traces the origin and execution of Peter Thiel's secret crusade to take down Gawker....

4-stars

Red Sparrow series

The "Red Sparrow" spy thriller trilogy falls squarely into the "guilty pleasure" category for me... and I got a lot of guilty pleasure out of it!...

4-stars

Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life

Taleb strikes again with "Skin in the Game". This incendiary book is the source of his notorious "Intellectual Yet Idiot" essay, as well as several other fiery gems, such as "How to Legally Own Another Person."...

5-stars

Treasure Islands: Uncovering the Damage of Offshore Banking and Tax Havens

Reveals the mechanisms that are systematically shifting economic burdens from the wealthy to the poor and how this cheating destroys accountability between governing elites and the population at large, especially in developing nations....

2-stars

Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil

Mueller's argument is essentially that 1) the olive oil we eat now is crap and 2) this is because major players in the food business are systematically adulterating "extra virgin" olive oil in ways undetected and unpunished by the authorities....