Book Reviews

5-stars

Seveneves

Part world-building, part Apollo-13, and part House of Cards. Skip the last third of the book though.

5-stars

Debt: The First 5,000 Years

A sprawling jeremiad encompassing everything from ancient Sumerian law and African slavery to the conquest of the Aztecs and the US going off the gold standard. A notorious anarchist, Graeber delights in attempting to refute conventional wisdom.

winning

The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch

"The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World From Scratch" [http://amzn.to/2ae0MmC] is a fascinating thought experiment about how to build the ideal manual for a reboot of civilization. Dartnell decides that a good post-apocalypse reboot manual has a few critical ingredients: 1. instructions for short-

3-stars

Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World

"Team of Teams" [http://amzn.to/2xvNlwD] was not bad for a celebrity business book. McChrystal effectively managed a remote workforce of thousands through his daily Operations & Intelligence meetings - I'm going to try to implement some of his ideas in SilviaTerra's weekly meeting.

2-stars

The Choose Yourself Guide To Wealth

Here's the thing about "The Choose Yourself Guide To Wealth" [http://amzn.to/2g4TNo9]: it's a poorly written rant... but it has some gems in it. Now, you can decide on your own whether you want to take life/business advice from someone who

4-stars

Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010

Before there was "Hillbilly Elegy", there was "Coming Apart" [http://amzn.to/2bq3nxq]. Murray - who is one of the most prominent and persuasive conservative thinkers of our time - explains how the "the increasing market value of brains, wealth, the college sorting machine, and homogamy"

fiction

The Picture of Dorian Gray

"The Picture of Dorian Gray" [http://amzn.to/2bGRZgQ] is much darker and significantly more homoerotic than I remembered this book being when I read it as a kid! The questions of morality, beauty, innocence, society, and intelligence all swirl around in this short but powerful book. It

3-stars

Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies

3 stars. A great overview of some of the research and political/existential issues around the creation of a superintelligent system. He describes various paths to potentially creating an superintelligence, including some surprising ones like whole brain emulation and eugenics.

5-stars

Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero

In "Dying Every Day" [http://amzn.to/2aOQE7J], one of history's greatest philosophers plays the tutor to one of history's most notorious dictators. Alexander had his Aristotle. Nero had his Seneca. Romm animates the famed Stoic and makes us see his world - an imperial

5-stars

The Hard Thing About Hard Things

"The Hard Thing About Hard Things" [http://amzn.to/2zbrNn4] kicked my ass. Ben Horowitz delivers lots of specifics and not a lot of fluff. He talks about the concrete scenarios that CEOs have to handle and provides detailed frameworks for thinking about them. His "Questions for

economics

Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy

A great analysis of the current state of affairs in America and an interesting argument against the "meritocracy". The book presents an in-depth examination of the functioning of meritocracies and how they can become corrupted.

4-stars

The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph

"The Obstacle is the Way" [http://amzn.to/2wpPVER] is Ryan Holiday’s case for ancient Stoicism as a practical philosophical choice for modern entrepreneurs and do-ers. And I must admit, I’m sold. But I’m conflicted about how to rate this book. On one hand,

4-stars

After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split in Islam

"After the Prophet" [http://amzn.to/2gAfWXZ] links the personalities and events of the early days of Islam to the recent history of the Muslim world. Hazleton deftly spins a narrative that transported me back to in time to the Arabian peninsula in the 600's and

2-stars

Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think

I feel conflicted about giving "Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids" [http://amzn.to/2vojFij] 2 stars. On one hand, it's written in an awkward, pandering tone and many of the arguments are very hand-wavy. On the other, this book may be responsible for a

fiction

Cryptonomicon

A bitingly sharp wit, irreverent self awareness, and a brilliantly tangled plot make Stephenson's book a delight. Although it's technically about cryptography during and after WWII, the book reads more like an action/mystery/adventure/historical thriller. Although Stephenson takes many seemingly irrelevant detours and doesn&

history

Anabasis: The Persian Expedition

Beautifully written, the "Anabasis of Xenophon" [http://amzn.to/2apWEFS] is one of the truly great accomplishments of world literature and serves as a model for much of what comes after. Xenophon himself was a total badass - a soldier/mercenary, general, philosopher, and historian. Historically, he pretty much

4-stars

Diamonds, Gold, and War: The British, the Boers, and the Making of South Africa

To figure out how the world works, you've got to "follow the money," and the gold and diamonds of South Africa have certainly generated more than their fair share of cash - especially for Cecil Rhodes's De Beers diamond company.

history

The Cold War: A New History

Gaddis does it again. "The Cold War: A New History" [http://amzn.to/29Kx8Vv] is an eminently readable account of the Cold War that places it in a larger historical, ideological, and strategic context. If you're alive today, you should probably read this book so that

science

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

"The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" [http://amzn.to/2j800Ng] is a difficult, dense read that requires a fairly broad familiarity with the history of science. Often overly professorial in tone and frequently repetitive, the book is a tough slog. Yet this book is one of the cornerstones of

5-stars

Hackers and Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age

I was looking at my highlights for Paul Graham's "Hackers and Painters" [http://amzn.to/2zxqNxL] and it seems like I basically highlighted the entire book. It's that good. At its core, this is a book about how changes in technology (particularly computer tech)

history

The Birth of Plenty: How the Prosperity of the Modern World Was Created

"The Birth of Plenty" [http://amzn.to/2aiu3wX] will blow your mind. The only other book of comparable scope and depth of analysis is "The Discoverers" by Daniel J. Boorstin. In "The Birth of Plenty," Bernstein claims that "...the four factors—property rights,

winning

The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists

"The Game" [http://amzn.to/2aiSD1l] is a surprising and irreverent look at pickup artists and how they operate. Sometimes it was hard to tell whether this was BS or not - but a few of my friends have had pretty good results! There are a bunch of tactics

history

Lords of the Sea: The Epic Story of the Athenian Navy and the Birth of Democracy

Hale's "Lords of the Sea" [http://amzn.to/2AtbLXl] is a non-stop adventure into maritime classical Greece. Hale has a gift for bringing the historical figures of the Athenian age to life with simple but vivid language. Hale is a wonderful storyteller and I particularly