Recommend a Book

I am in the middle of re-reading my entire Terry Pratchett collection (as a tribute to the man himself who passed away of course). Not just enjoying the books individually but seeing things I never realised the first time. Particularly the cross-linking between different books and how the ones I always thought of as outliers are not quite as far removed.
 
Reading Adapt by Tim Hartford at the moment - finding it fascinating. Essentially comparing natural selection / evolution in the biological world with the success / failure of business and governments. There's a great (small) section on why the USSR failed for example and also why D Rumsfeld made such a hash of Iraq.

It's really good - he's like David McWilliams in that he focuses on real-world events that most people can relate to, however, he offers a deeper level of economic analysis and we don't have to read about when he played soccer or worked in the Central Bank.

Anyway so far so very good.

Also, reading Steve Jobs bio by Walter Isaacson - Jobs obviously had some great skills & brought real change, but you'd be hard pushed to say he had any integrity!
 
Just finished Adapt by Tim Harford - very good read. Actually started another from him last night - The Undercover Economist Strikes Back. First impressions are very good. Hadn't realised that Macroeconomics was born out of the 1929 crash, I had assumed it was always there...

Also read Seve: The Autobiography - always has been my favourite golfer, however I just got the feeling from the book that his sense of importance was elevated. Not the best book in any case. For an auto-bio, Agassi's is really good.
 
I have just read "The Scrap" about 1916 by Gene Kerrigan. Excellent. It is a factual retelling of the events of Easter Week from the point of view of a small number of Volunteers. Detailed enough to be satisfying and dynamic enough to be interesting. There is almost no analysis just information. Which I think was an excellent approach.

This is completely different from GKs usual output, so don't be put off if you know and loath GK
 
Finished The Undercover Economist Strikes Back and it's excellent. It provides an interesting analysis of macroeconomic approaches and some of the pitfalls and difficulties in devising solutions and policies. There's a great section on Henry Ford and how by paying people above the odds, in a way, led to unemployment locally. Several sections are really very good and it's a book I will read again.

Picked out a few by Malcolm Gladwell over the weekend to - Outliers and The Tipping Point so will start one of these tonight.
 
I have just finished The Black Horse Inside Coolmore. It was written by a Welshman named Jones who is a former newspaper journalist and former employee at Coolmore. It is an excellent insight into the Irish and International multi-billions bloodstock industry from the people at the top and their employees at the bottom. A fascinating read to say the least.
 
Leper said:
I have just finished The Black Horse Inside Coolmore. It was written by a Welshman named Jones who is a former newspaper journalist and former employee at Coolmore. It is an excellent insight into the Irish and International multi-billions bloodstock industry from the people at the top and their employees at the bottom. A fascinating read to say the least.
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Sounds great - I'll pick this up
 
Reading "The Power of Habit" at the moment - about 3/4s way through and it's very good.
 
Firefly said:
Reading "The Power of Habit" at the moment - about 3/4s way through and it's very good.
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Finished this last night - very good overall. Got more out of the first 1/2 of the book than the second half. A good read if you're interested in understanding how habits (good/bad) are formed and how those evil corporations use tricks to get us to buy their stuff.

Started "The Everything Store" last night too about Amazon.com - start is very good but hope it's critical of Amazon as well as the inevitable, usual gush that such books contain.
 
The Everything Store was good enough - no major revelations really, just an insight into someone obsessed with expanding and efficiency. Amazon reminds of Germany in WWII attacking on all fronts. They've yet to turn a profit so if I was a CIO I think I would be putting my cloud-based infrastructure with Microsoft.

Reading "Winners" by Alistair Campbell at the moment and it would want to get better. I'm 100 pages in and it could be going to a charity shop!
 
The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow

Everything A Brief History of Time should have been. It's brilliant. It outlines in an easy to grasp manner the state of scientific thinking about the nature of matter and the universe, and the origin of the universe and of time. Couldn't recommend it more highly. Should be on the school curriculum.
 
cremeegg said:
The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow

Everything A Brief History of Time should have been. It's brilliant. It outlines in an easy to grasp manner the state of scientific thinking about the nature of matter and the universe, and the origin of the universe and of time. Couldn't recommend it more highly. Should be on the school curriculum.
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Did you ask Firefly before you posted in his thread?
 
Purple said:
Did you ask Firefly before you posted in his thread?
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LOL!

Anyways, just finished The Maximalist - very good. Tony O'Reilly ended up thinking he was Midas. Great insight into how competitive things are at the top. Also read Quintessentially Feargal: A Memoir - entertaining but a little safe and read it in a few hours.

Currently reading Thinking, Fast and Slow and it's amazing but a lot to it so will probably take longer than normal - although Game of Thrones has finished!
 
Firefly said:
Currently reading Thinking, Fast and Slow and it's amazing but a lot to it so will probably take longer than normal - although Game of Thrones has finished!
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Good book. Started really well but got harder to read the further I went into it.
 
Firefly said:
Started Bill Bryson "At Home" and it's really, really good. He has a wonderful way of making the mundane fascinating. Anyone with a passing interest in history would love it.
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You might like this easy to read, somewhat meandering, Bryson book 'One Summer: America 1927'
 
Just finished The Boys In The Boat and Unbroken. Loved both. Any other similar recommendations Firefly? There's something about that period of time in the USA between 1925 - 1939 that is fascinating for some reason.

Also read About Grace by Anthony Doerr (the author who wrote All The Light We Cannot See) - not bad but not as good by a long way. Too many descriptive passages and not enough story for my liking.
 
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