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Originally posted by Denny Crane View PostHas anyone listened to the fs.blog book on Audible? I've never listened to an audiobook, and it seems like a book that you'd really want in a hard copy, but the kindle version isn't even out until Oct.Originally posted by Murdrum View PostI just bought it, I returned one I likely would have never listened to.
If you want to hold off until tomorrow, I'll let you know what it's like, I should have it finished by then.
No accompanying PDF either.Originally posted by Murdrum View PostTwo thirds of the way through. Outside of the odd philosophical quote that needed a 2nd listen here or there, it's easy follow.
Lots of focus on Munger among others.
You'll know lots of stuff, Occams Razor, Socratic Questioning etc...
It's more a collation of models than anything new and it's actually the first of a series, this the general models version.
Good so far and the first audiobook I've listened to at normal speed as I'm accustomed to listening to his voice at that pace during his podcast.
Last edited by Denny Crane; 12-10-19, 14:01.
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If I was to give John Banville a spin what would people recommend? I would have thought 'The Sea' just on the fact that it won the Booker Prize, but it has a pretty weak rating on Goodreads and I've seen a few things where people suggested giving him that award for that book was deranged.
I'm reading Kevin Barry's short stories 'There Are Little Kingdoms' at the moment and it's wonderful. Trying to read more Irish stuff in general over the last while.
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Originally posted by Fullof..It View PostLove his podcasts and have been listening exclusively to them on car journeys.
Have you read Ray Dalios principles? Im torn between it and FS release?
"Well, the first rule is that you can’t really know anything if you just remember isolated facts and try and bang ’em back. If the facts don’t hang together on a latticework of theory, you don’t have them in a usable form. You’ve got to have models in your head. And you’ve got to array your experience both vicarious and direct on this latticework of models. You may have noticed students who just try to remember and pound back what is remembered. Well, they fail in school and in life. You’ve got to hang experience on a latticework of models in your head.”
You can read them all here: https://fs.blog/mental-models/
Dalio's is more about his approach, meritocracy and alike. They're quite different, Dalios is certainly a better book but Parrish offering is still quite good too.
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Originally posted by Keane View PostIf I was to give John Banville a spin what would people recommend? I would have thought 'The Sea' just on the fact that it won the Booker Prize, but it has a pretty weak rating on Goodreads and I've seen a few things where people suggested giving him that award for that book was deranged.
I'm reading Kevin Barry's short stories 'There Are Little Kingdoms' at the moment and it's wonderful. Trying to read more Irish stuff in general over the last while.
This line from a scene in pool hall in Wexford
Just then, the air changed: a small troop of girls
arrived in, a battalion of three. They had vinegar in
them and they roved their dangerous eyes around the
habitutees and they were a carnival of cheap perfume
on young skin and whatever summer was they’d
trapped its essence and fizzed with it.
I always recommend Banville's early books The Newton letter, Kepler and Dr Copernicus which are often forgotten about.
His best work is the Book of Evidence IMOTurning millions into thousands
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Originally posted by Keane View PostIf I was to give John Banville a spin what would people recommend? I would have thought 'The Sea' just on the fact that it won the Booker Prize, but it has a pretty weak rating on Goodreads and I've seen a few things where people suggested giving him that award for that book was deranged.
"Sorry sir, that tables reserved," "But it doesn't have a sign?" "That's where John Banville sits". The way she cooed over the name made me take notice. Then the next day I read about the Novel Prize debacle!
I will read the Book of Evidence, thanks for the tip strew.
Originally posted by Keane View Post
I'm reading Kevin Barry's short stories 'There Are Little Kingdoms' at the moment and it's wonderful. Trying to read more Irish stuff in general over the last while.
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Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker. I read a couple of great books this year about human behavior, and this was one of the most interesting and profound. Both Jenn and John Doerr urged me to read it, and I’m glad I did. Everyone knows that a good night’s sleep is important—but what exactly counts as a good night’s sleep? And how do you make one happen? Walker has persuaded me to change my bedtime habits to up my chances. If your New Year’s resolution is to be healthier in 2020, his advice is a good place to start.
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Originally posted by Denny Crane View Post
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Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View PostHave three fiction books that have been hanging around in Kindle Unread for ages:
- McMurthry: Lonesome Dove
- Capote: In Cold Blood
- Rothfuss: The Name of the Wind
Anyone a recommendation as to what to read amongst those? They're all there for a good reason, but always end up skipping over them when looking for the next read.
Personally never been a fan a Capote. Style jars me, and i don't know the first one
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Currently reading Eat The Rich by PJ ORourke which has been pretty good so far, it was written ages ago about different economies but the writing has kept it interesting. I did laugh at this “The Albanians have a saying that a woman must work harder than a goat, because the goat eats grass and the woman eats bread”. Gives a sense of the time...
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Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View PostThis is Going to Hurt is highly entertaining. Type of thing you'd read in about two days max.
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Originally posted by Raoul Duke III View Post
I'm guessing you dont have Goodreads?
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Originally posted by Raoul Duke III View Post
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I've read quite a few of his short stories.
You might enjoy one of the collections: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/11019..._dp_1101972122
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I bought Norwegian Wood today to try, I read some stuff online about where to start with Murakami, the aforementioned seemed to pop up most frequently.
I'll be missing the yearly target of 55 by quite a long way, I suspect I'll get to about 35, 30 or so of non-fiction which probably isn't too bad.
I'll lose out on audiobooks next year for the most part given the reduced commute but I suspect I'll physically read more.
I'll aim for the same target next year but with a higher percentage of fiction. I flew through A Man Called Ove, I Am Pilgrim and Ted Chiangs book of short stories so certainly worth adding more.
Keane & Sean getting through a ridiculous amount once again, I'd like to see what HJ and RD3 are reading for next year if yee are interested in joining the Goodreads group.
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Originally posted by Murdrum View PostI bought Norwegian Wood today to try, I read some stuff online about where to start with Murakami, the aforementioned seemed to pop up most frequently.
I'll be missing the yearly target of 55 by quite a long way, I suspect I'll get to about 35, 30 or so of non-fiction which probably isn't too bad.
I'll lose out on audiobooks next year for the most part given the reduced commute but I suspect I'll physically read more.
I'll aim for the same target next year but with a higher percentage of fiction. I flew through A Man Called Ove, I Am Pilgrim and Ted Chiangs book of short stories so certainly worth adding more.
Keane & Sean getting through a ridiculous amount once again, I'd like to see what HJ and RD3 are reading for next year if yee are interested in joining the Goodreads group.
Even though that's the less painful one.
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Originally posted by Murdrum View PostI bought Norwegian Wood today to try, I read some stuff online about where to start with Murakami, the aforementioned seemed to pop up most frequently.
I'll be missing the yearly target of 55 by quite a long way, I suspect I'll get to about 35, 30 or so of non-fiction which probably isn't too bad.
I'll lose out on audiobooks next year for the most part given the reduced commute but I suspect I'll physically read more.
I'll aim for the same target next year but with a higher percentage of fiction. I flew through A Man Called Ove, I Am Pilgrim and Ted Chiangs book of short stories so certainly worth adding more.
Keane & Sean getting through a ridiculous amount once again, I'd like to see what HJ and RD3 are reading for next year if yee are interested in joining the Goodreads group.
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Guest
Subjective list of the best works of the past decade.
I thought the non-fiction list contained quite a number of works which were not on your typical list, I've only read one but I've read other works by some of the authors mentioned.
It didn't contain Gladwell, Diamond, Kahneman among others who pop up regularly on these type of lists.
Also, I noticed a number of books highly thought of by people here on some of the other lists so perhaps worth a look through.
Non-Fiction: https://lithub.com/the-20-best-works...of-the-decade/
Novels: https://lithub.com/the-20-best-novels-of-the-decade/
Essays: https://lithub.com/the-10-best-essay...of-the-decade/
Memoirs: https://lithub.com/the-10-best-memoirs-of-the-decade/
Short Stories: https://lithub.com/the-10-best-short...of-the-decade/
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Done with Murakami and am onto to the fourth (and currently final) volume of Robert Caro's magisterial biography of LBJ.
It's as much a biography of America as it is of the man himself. Almost certainly the finest biography ever written.
Caro started writing this in 1974. He still hasn't finished, having moved to Vietnam to research the final volume. The first four volumes take you through to his ascension to the presidency and the monumental achievement that was the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
As he is now 83, it's pretty much an evens shot whether he dies or completes the final volume first. Any lover of literature and history will surely be funking the latter.Last edited by Raoul Duke III; 30-12-19, 13:37."We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."
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Originally posted by Raoul Duke III View PostDone with Murakami and am onto to the fourth (and currently final) volume of Robert Caro's magisterial biography of LBJ.
It's as much a biography of America as it is of the man himself. Almost certainly the finest biography ever written.
Caro started writing this in 1974. He still hasn't finished, having moved to Vietnam to research the final volume. The first four volumes take you through to his ascension to the presidency and the monumental achievement that was the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
As he is now 83, it's pretty much an evens shot whether he dies or completes the final volume first. Any lover of literature and history will surely be funking the former.
So you don't rate it?Last edited by Guest; 30-12-19, 20:29.
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Originally posted by Murdrum View PostThe 4th volume mentioned in that list above. I heard of the Caro series before on a podcast but over 3000 words not yet completed is quite the undertaking.
So you don't rate it?
Edited. It's genius."We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."
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Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View PostIt's amazing just how many of the best books are by female authors - maybe 80-90% when it comes to fiction. See that too on the NY Times bestseller list.
Dont make a point of choosing books by author gender (obv), but I'd guess 80-90% of the 300 or so books on my kindle are written by men.
The purpose of such lists is to encourage book buying.
I feel like I shouldn't need to explain this to a man of your erudition."We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."
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Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post
It's a bit strange though that we're all buying books where having the same gender as the author is seemingly so important without it being fully conscious in our decision making."We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."
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Originally posted by Raoul Duke III View PostIt's 2020 tomorrow. Who really gives a fuck which of the 57 () varieties of gender is ascribed to an author?
I read one of the latter's books which was quite good if tough going given that it is just written with some venom. Gessan was incredibly insightful on the podcast, big anti-Putin activist, clear and concise thoughts. You very much got the feeling that she was operating on a different level tbh, just really smart.
I also read the Jane Meyer Dark Money this year(kudos to HJ for the impetus) which again was quite good.
I concluded that given Traister & Gessan were not particularly big fans of the podcast host yet mentioned nothing as far as I can recall regarding any bias that exists around authors in a given genre, I figured it wasn't worth giving much notice to it as a potential issue.
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Originally posted by Murdrum View PostSubjective list of the best works of the past decade.
I thought the non-fiction list contained quite a number of works which were not on your typical list, I've only read one but I've read other works by some of the authors mentioned.
It didn't contain Gladwell, Diamond, Kahneman among others who pop up regularly on these type of lists.
Also, I noticed a number of books highly thought of by people here on some of the other lists so perhaps worth a look through.
Non-Fiction: https://lithub.com/the-20-best-works...of-the-decade/
Novels: https://lithub.com/the-20-best-novels-of-the-decade/
Essays: https://lithub.com/the-10-best-essay...of-the-decade/
Memoirs: https://lithub.com/the-10-best-memoirs-of-the-decade/
Short Stories: https://lithub.com/the-10-best-short...of-the-decade/
as per HH's point, i don't pay attention to gender tbh, don't even pay attention to the writer if i'm honest.
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This Goodreads thing looks good.
For no other reason than if I update it, it might stop me re-reading some books.
Stayed up to about 3am reading the LBJ book. All the way through the humiliation of the vice presidency, the drama of the JFK assassination, the pageantry of the funeral, the intense feud with Bobby Kennedy, and then, upon assuming the presidency, the legislative genius to force through Kennedy's entire program in a matter of days. The program that the Hill had successfully foiled when JFK was alive.
A study in power.
"We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."
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Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Postah really, so its been a 'thing'?! I guess that means its good in that case.
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Originally posted by Denny Crane View PostYeah I've been reading it on and off for about four or five years. It was originally mostly book recommendations. Looking forward to seeing their book in the new year
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Menta...=UTF8&qid=&sr=
It'll be interesting to see how the series progresses as "Mental Models" will be the theme if I remember correctly.
I thought the premium was only access to the forum or is there more? I considered it for Sam Harris but when I missed the boat on the free app for life I didn't bother.Last edited by Guest; 31-12-19, 16:46.
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Originally posted by Murdrum View PostSubjective list of the best works of the past decade.
I thought the non-fiction list contained quite a number of works which were not on your typical list, I've only read one but I've read other works by some of the authors mentioned.
It didn't contain Gladwell, Diamond, Kahneman among others who pop up regularly on these type of lists.
Also, I noticed a number of books highly thought of by people here on some of the other lists so perhaps worth a look through.
Non-Fiction: https://lithub.com/the-20-best-works...of-the-decade/
Novels: https://lithub.com/the-20-best-novels-of-the-decade/
Essays: https://lithub.com/the-10-best-essay...of-the-decade/
Memoirs: https://lithub.com/the-10-best-memoirs-of-the-decade/
Short Stories: https://lithub.com/the-10-best-short...of-the-decade/
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@Sean 95 books completed, that's some going once again.
I see you read alot of Taleb's relatively recently. What did you think?
I never got to the Bed of Procrustes or Skin in the Game. I kind of lost interest after Anti-Fragile.
Overall, I thought Fooled by Randomness was comfortably his best offering and The Black Swan or AntiFragile didn't really warrant it's own book.
The concept of the Black Swan coincided quite well with the last financial crash so he really took off but outside of the first book he was a let down for me.
One book in the domain of risk/uncertainty that I think is brilliant is: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...ainst_the_Gods
Basically a historical account of how risk and uncertainty became a field.
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Moving onto from LBJ (but eagerly awaiting Vol V), it's always nice to read about places you have never been and realistically never will be.
So picked up the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig, John Gimlette's tour through Paraguay. Gimlette is a fluent, learned writer and I've read previous books on Sri Lanka, the NE South American Coast, the trail of the US Amrmy through France in 1945 and other such diverse topics.
And let's face it, who knows anything about Paraguay? The only book I've ever read about it before was Graham Greene's The Honorary Consul.
And the title is awesome."We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."
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Originally posted by Murdrum View Post@Sean 95 books completed, that's some going once again.
I see you read a lot of Taleb's relatively recently. What did you think?
I never got to the Bed of Procrustes or Skin in the Game. I kind of lost interest after Anti-Fragile.....
I think it's probably worth observing that online poker players and former poker players are probably the worst audience for the points he is attempting to make, since persisting with the sorts of errors he feels are most egregious leads to lessons not soon forgotten over a sufficient sample size. I think it's also a fair observation that he has too many books and an insufficient number of unique points to make.
At one time I built models of catastrophic events so some of his points resonate but baring that tangential interest I've not enjoyed them. The exception being "Bed of Procrustes", books of aphorisms are a failing of mine and this one is quite good even if the Taleb tone persists. A friend met him at Kilkenomics a few years ago and apparently he's even more tedious in-person - if such a thing can be believed.
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On this years reading.
To be frank I've mostly been annoyed by my reading list this year - we the exception of the 10/12 titles I re-read which were as pleasant as meeting old friends and some recommendations received from here which were universally good.
Reading Borgia's Ficciones was a long-held ambition. It's beautifully done and elegantly clever. I'm sure some to the allusions and references escaped me but that didn't detract from the experience.
I had a surprisingly emotional reaction to A Man called Ove. I enjoyed it a great deal thanks for recommending it Hitch.
Why we sleep had a huge impact on my year and will continue to have a significant impact on my life I think - thank you, Denny Crane.
I am pilgrim was easily the winning page-turner - hat tip to Shrap for that I think.
Small Giants is a great book about what makes companies great. And I think about what types of companies great owners should strive to create. Would that it was more widely read.
Patrick Leigh Fermor is a fascinating character. A time of gifts is a fascinating chronicle of a most extra-ordinary time and journey. This takes a bit of getting in to but ultimately I found it rewarding.
Kevin Barry's Night boat to tangier is beautifully written as you'd expect. He has such a gift for capturing an authentic voice and idiom it's a pleasure to read.
I'm usually a big fan of John Connolly's Charlie Parker series, however this year's offering was a little weak I think, still good but not to the standard of the earlier ones.
Among the others
Chris Stewart - Driving over lemons is witty and entertaining in places. The two of Geoff Hill's(In Clancys Boots & The road to Gobblers Knob) I read were entertaining enough. Reading 2 of these close together was less than ideal though - I find his style of humour grows stale.
Slough House is a series of spy novels, slightly in the gritty Le Carre mould, with the addition of a Blackstrom-esk anti hero in Jackson Lamb. This is mental candyfloss I read them all in a couple of weeks and enjoyed them greatly. The candy floss comment might also be applied to Iain Pears Jonathon Argyll Series but the plots are noticeably worse.
I changed how I work during the year in order to have more free time, I've enjoyed that a lot but I rather expected to have an increased desire to read and it turned out if anything I had less, at least until the winter set in.
I feel the standard of my reading list was at least in part to blame. I'm more of a fiction than non-fiction reader and seldom find myself in the humour for heavy literary works. I'm thinking of creating a more structured reading list for next year something like- a handful of acknowledged classics ( I haven't read In search of lost time for example)
- some non-fiction from the to-read list
- some modern fiction sourced perhaps from one of the recently posted lists.
Have any of you tried that? Or alternatively, what approaches do people have to generating a reading list?
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Originally posted by Western_Sean View Post.
I feel the standard of my reading list was at least in part to blame. I'm more of a fiction than non-fiction reader and seldom find myself in the humour for heavy literary works. I'm thinking of creating a more structured reading list for next year something like- a handful of acknowledged classics ( I haven't read In search of lost time for example)
- some non-fiction from the to-read list
- some modern fiction sourced perhaps from one of the recently posted lists.
Have any of you tried that? Or alternatively, what approaches do people have to generating a reading list?
I watched a large portion of a religious themed discussion featuring him, he made a follow up point to Dan Dennett, no need to expand on how that ended.
On the above, something I planned on trying last year but will do this year is a couple of themed months.
I like Farnam street, Sam Harris and just goodreads for suggestions. I think the group here is quite good.
I had the idea of the theme because I struggled -as Hitch will agree to an extent- with Superintelligence by Bostrom.
After that, I assumed that by making an AI, Physics, Philosophy or any other challenging subject themed month you might grasp concepts more firmly and the books may become less challenging as they progress.
That's not saying it will work but its something I plan on trying.Last edited by Guest; 02-01-20, 21:10.
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