# BOOKS - What are ASF members reading?



## chops_a_must (4 February 2007)

Considering we have a music thread, I thought I might start a thread for the bibliophiles out there. I'm not sure if there are other big readers on this forum, but I'd be interested to see what people are reading anyway.

Finished 'Memoirs of an Infantry Officer' by Siegfried Sassoon today. It's been a while since I've read anything war related. I always enjoy his work, his free flowing style and the easy reading it creates. If anyone is into war stories, you'd probably love it as well. 

Just started Valparaiso by Don Delillo. Hopefully will have finished it sometime later tomorrow.


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## josh82 (4 February 2007)

Just read 'Fools Die' (1978) by Mario Puzo (author of Godfather) for third time. Would have to be close to my favourite book- just amazes me each time.


All his novels are great, he puts so much research into his novels and spent about 5 years writing each.


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## chops_a_must (4 February 2007)

Finished Valparaiso. Quite appropriate with all the banter about postmoderism etc. Ended up being about the search for self, and when the main character couldn't come to an adequate conclusion, he killed himself during a TV interview.

Now onto 'The Moon is Down' by Steinbeck.


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## imajica (4 February 2007)

Favourite Books

Patrick Suskind - Perfume - read it ten years ago and is still my favourite novel of all time - the recent film adaptation is also superb

Neal Stephenson - Snow Crash

Franz Kafka - The trial

Phillip K Dick - Do Androids Dream of electric sheep?

Laura Esquivel - Like Water for Chocolate

Jeff Noon - Needle in the Groove


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## jkool (5 February 2007)

Currently reading:
Peter Lynch's One Up On Wall St (kinda late bloomer aint I? ) and just finished Jerry Hopkin's Bangkok Babylon (tales of asian expacts since I am now one of them )

I can highly recommend both.


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## coyotte (5 February 2007)

Just started :
" The GOD Delusion "
By Richard Dawkins


Cheers


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## the_godfather4 (5 February 2007)

Just finished "The Rule of Four" by Ian Caldwell..... it was touted as the next DaVinci Code...... that should have been warning enough. Dont waste your time folks!  

While we are on the topic has anyone read "The Secret", its one of those self help books.... have been reading mixed reviews on it and was interested in seeing if anyone actually found it useful????


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## Julia (5 February 2007)

the_godfather4 said:
			
		

> Just finished "The Rule of Four" by Ian Caldwell..... it was touted as the next DaVinci Code...... that should have been warning enough. Dont waste your time folks!
> 
> While we are on the topic has anyone read "The Secret", its one of those self help books.... have been reading mixed reviews on it and was interested in seeing if anyone actually found it useful????



Is it the same as the TV programme a couple of nights ago on, I think, SBS.
Essential message is "as we think, we are".  i.e. we attract what we think about whether it be negative or positive.  
I basically agree with the philosophy, but found what I saw of the TV programme a bit full of "blurb" before getting to the actual essence of the philosophy.
A friend of mine who is a primary school teacher attended a requisite showing of the programme as a part of their teaching programme for this year.

Julia


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## nizar (5 February 2007)

Trading for a living - Alexander Elder (1993)


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## CanOz (5 February 2007)

nizar said:
			
		

> Trading for a living - Alexander Elder (1993)




Nizar, when your finished would you mind giving us a bit of a review on it. I'm in need of some good reading material.

Cheers,


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## Garpal Gumnut (6 February 2007)

I've just read Gen Peter Cosgrove's biography, a straight up and down story of an infantry soldiers career, from Duntroon to General. The element of luck is acknowldeged by Cosgrove, as it is with all our lives. It is an interesting take on mid 60's to now in Australia. I'd recommend it
Garpal


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## the_godfather4 (6 February 2007)

Julia said:
			
		

> Is it the same as the TV programme a couple of nights ago on, I think, SBS.
> Essential message is "as we think, we are".  i.e. we attract what we think about whether it be negative or positive.
> I basically agree with the philosophy, but found what I saw of the TV programme a bit full of "blurb" before getting to the actual essence of the philosophy.
> A friend of mine who is a primary school teacher attended a requisite showing of the programme as a part of their teaching programme for this year.
> ...




I saw that special on TV...It was about the book and they were also pushing the author's seminar when he comes to Oz. The TV show was a bit "infomercial" in its delivery but eventually got to the point.

Certainly got my attention though..... I have a close friend reading it now so will report back his thoughts before I get into it.....


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## rub92me (6 February 2007)

Uhm, didn't we already have a thread very similar to this? Anyway, just started reading "The Dice Man", by Luke Rhinehart, one of those cult books I've had on my "to read" list for a while. So far, so good.


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## chops_a_must (6 February 2007)

rub92me said:
			
		

> Uhm, didn't we already have a thread very similar to this? Anyway, just started reading "The Dice Man", by Luke Rhinehart, one of those cult books I've had on my "to read" list for a while. So far, so good.



Yeah, the closest one to this topic I could find was 'Your favourite novelist'.


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## rub92me (6 February 2007)

I meant this one...: https://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4763&highlight=favourite+book


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## chops_a_must (6 February 2007)

rub92me said:
			
		

> I meant this one...: https://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4763&highlight=favourite+book



Sorry about that. This one at least might be an ongoing one, like the music thread, which was my intention.


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## Garpal Gumnut (6 February 2007)

chops_a_must said:
			
		

> Considering we have a music thread, I thought I might start a thread for the bibliophiles out there. I'm not sure if there are other big readers on this forum, but I'd be interested to see what people are reading anyway.
> 
> Finished 'Memoirs of an Infantry Officer' by Siegfried Sassoon today. It's been a while since I've read anything war related. I always enjoy his work, his free flowing style and the easy reading it creates. If anyone is into war stories, you'd probably love it as well.
> 
> Just started Valparaiso by Don Delillo. Hopefully will have finished it sometime later tomorrow.




I've just finished "The Schopenhauer Cure" by Irvin Yalom. A nice book which starts well, sags 3/4 way through and has a feel good end. Its about group psychotherapy and a .... I'll let you read it yourselves

Garpal


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## the_godfather4 (7 February 2007)

Just knocked over "The Prophet" by Khalil Gibran in 2 days!!!!!...... Brilliant......Highly recommended! :star:  :star:  :star:


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## CanOz (7 February 2007)

the_godfather4 said:
			
		

> I saw that special on TV...It was about the book and they were also pushing the author's seminar when he comes to Oz. The TV show was a bit "infomercial" in its delivery but eventually got to the point.
> 
> Certainly got my attention though..... I have a close friend reading it now so will report back his thoughts before I get into it.....




I would be very interested in this as well GF4, please let us know how they go with it.

Cheers,


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## misterS (8 February 2007)

Cheating - want to share my favorite book of all time - not current reading.  The Third Policeman - Flann O'Brien.  Bit perplexed at the start, turns into a hilarious, absurd, black comedy.  It is impossible to imagine how this feller managed to make the English language do what it does in this book.


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## battiwallah (9 February 2007)

I can recommend Henning Mankel.  He writes about a Swedish police detective and his novels are very inventive with plot twists that make for excellent reading.


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## theasxgorilla (9 February 2007)

battiwallah said:
			
		

> I can recommend Henning Mankel.  He writes about a Swedish police detective and his novels are very inventive with plot twists that make for excellent reading.




On the 4th of April I will arrive back in SkÃ¥ne for the spring and summer...glad to see someone who actually knows where this is ...I can promise you there will be plenty of trips down to the strandskogen (sand beach forest) at Ystad over the summer


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## Knobby22 (9 February 2007)

imajica said:
			
		

> Favourite Books
> 
> 
> Neal Stephenson - Snow Crash




I liked his book, "Diamond Age" even more.


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## Mofra (10 February 2007)

coyotte said:
			
		

> Just started :
> " The GOD Delusion "
> By Richard Dawkins
> 
> ...



Interesting reading - half way through it myself. 
He does make some compelling points, although I wasn't quite convinced by his arguement against agnostism.


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## chops_a_must (10 February 2007)

Finished 'The Moon is Down' by Steinbeck. The anonymity of the setting led to me having trouble getting into the book (plus the week I've had), so I will have to read it again some time me thinks. I did enjoy some of the gentle philosophical themes in the book though.

Now onto 'Sherston's Progress' by Siegfried Sassoon.


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## chops_a_must (16 February 2007)

Absolutely loved 'Sherston's Progress' again. I think it is the third time I have read it. His whole trilogy is absolutely beautifully written.

And I'll quote the last words from 'Sherston's Progress': ... it is only from the inmost silences of the heart that we know the world for what it is, and ourselves for what the world has made us.

Gently and subtly philosophic. I'm not a huge fan of autobiographies, actually, there are only two I've ever liked. They include this trilogy and Albert Facey's 'A Fortunate Life'. I loved that book when I was 10, was absolutely addicted to it.

I enjoyed the last two Sassoon books I've read so much so I am going to go back and read the first in the series again (I haven't done so in years).

So yes, now reading, 'Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man' by Siegfried Sassoon.

P.S. 20/20, what do you think of Sassoon's poetry?


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## 2020hindsight (17 February 2007)

chops_a_must said:
			
		

> 'Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man' by Siegfried Sassoon.
> P.S. 20/20, what do you think of Sassoon's poetry?



Mate - I've never been fox hunting in my life.    
PS I don't consider myself to be a valid critic of other people's poetry lol.
In fact critics I tend to despise - there are them that do, and them that criticise .  And I'm not as well read as you - but I'll check itout and get back ...  http://www.angelfire.com/wa/warpoetry/Sassoon.html


> HERO   By: Siegfried Sassoon
> 'JACK fell as he'd have wished,' the Mother said,
> And folded up the letter that she'd read.
> 'The Colonel writes so nicely.' Something broke
> ...




I tell a lie, I have read about him ... including some gruesome stuff, a man in the first war being hoisted into the air by a bomb, only to land in the rotting corpse of a fallen soldier - o boy - it was gruesome - and he went mad for a while of course - 
Sassoon ended up writing poetry in convalesence, yes?
was going to say too gruesome - but changed my mind - I must read more ! 
Apologies to you and Sassoon...

Here's one of my poems about the first war  :-


> IF THE WAR HADN’T GOT IN THE WAY
> 
> Its just a wee skirmish child over in France,
> Dad’s back in six months or a year,
> ...


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## chops_a_must (17 February 2007)

2020hindsight said:
			
		

> I tell a lie, I have read about him ... including some gruesome stuff, a man in the first war being hoisted into the air by a bomb, only to land in the rotting corpse of a fallen soldier - o boy - it was gruesome - and he went mad for a while of course -
> Sassoon ended up writing poetry in convalesence, yes?
> too gruesome for my taste mate
> 
> Here's one of my poems about the first war  :-



That was a really good read, thanks for that!

Yes, that's when he started writing a lot more and of course, met up with Wilfred Owen.

He does argue that he WASN'T mad. But it's kind of like the theme in Catch-22. If you refuse to fight due to "craziness" you have to, because refusing to fight is the only non-crazy choice. Yet, all those that agree to keep fighting are quite clearly crazy but can't be stopped. Lol!

However, in 'Memoirs of an Infantry Officer', there are periods where you can quite clearly see someone with classic PTSD symptoms. Probably testament to the quality in writing.


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## 2020hindsight (17 February 2007)

Chops, I read a book "Regeneration" about him  - was a few years back, and took me some time to remember it    - but it doesn't include much of his poetry, and I must check it out . 



> Regeneration is a prize-winning novel by Pat Barker, first published in 1991. The novel was a Booker Prize nominee and was described by the York Times Book Review as one of the four best novels of the year in its year of publication. It is the first of three novels in the Regeneration Trilogy of novels on the First World War, the other two being The Eye in the Door and The Ghost Road. The novel is based on the real-life experiences of British army officers being treated for shell shock during World War I at Craiglockhart War Hospital in Scotland.






> Sassoon's periods of duty on the Western Front were marked by recklessly brave actions, including the single-handed capture of a German trench in the Hindenburg Line. He often went out on night-raids and bombing patrols, and demonstrated ruthless efficiency as a company commander. Deepening depression at the horror and misery the soldiers were forced to endure produced in Sassoon a paradoxically manic courage, and he was nicknamed "Mad Jack" by his men for his near-suicidal exploits. Despite having been decorated for bravery, he decided, in 1917, to make a stand against the conduct of the war. One of the reasons for his violent anti-war feeling was the death of his friend, David Cuthbert Thomas (called "Dick Tiltwood" in the Sherston trilogy). He would spend years trying to overcome his grief.
> 
> Having thrown his Military Cross into the river Mersey at the end of a spell of convalescent leave, Sassoon declined to return to duty. Instead, encouraged by pacifist friends such as Bertrand Russell and Lady Ottoline Morrell, he sent a letter to his commanding officer titled A Soldier's Declaration, which was forwarded to the press and read out in Parliament by a sympathetic MP.
> 
> ...






> .He does argue that he WASN'T mad. But it's kind of like the theme in Catch-22. If you refuse to fight due to "craziness" etc



 exactly - it's coming back


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## chops_a_must (17 February 2007)

I have to check out that movie me thinks...

Thanks for that! It is much appreciated.


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## Garpal Gumnut (17 February 2007)

misterS said:
			
		

> Cheating - want to share my favorite book of all time - not current reading.  The Third Policeman - Flann O'Brien.  Bit perplexed at the start, turns into a hilarious, absurd, black comedy.  It is impossible to imagine how this feller managed to make the English language do what it does in this book.




Flann O'Briann, was a genius, compared to James Joyce by those more knowledgable than me. I can claim to having shook his hand as in his later years he took lunch at a Public service cafeteria , close to the College where I studied. It was a common trip for many undergraduates, he was a nice guy, and had his simple lunch interrupted many times, but from my memory he enjoyed it. 

Postmen can turn into bicycles, or "posties bikes" 

Garpal


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## 2020hindsight (25 February 2007)

has anyone else read any Flashman? - bludy hilarious.  
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Paget_Flashman
First novel "Flashman" included Afghanistan - the First Anglo-Afghan War. - prophetic.   


> 20th century author George MacDonald Fraser had the idea of writing a series of memoirs of the cowardly, bullying Flashman, portraying him as an antihero who cuts a swathe through the Victorian wars and uproars (and the boudoirs and harems) of the 19th century. Flashman - a self-described and unapologetic 'cad' - constantly betrays acquaintances, runs from danger or hides cowering in fear, yet he arrives at the end of each volume with medals, the praise of the mighty, and the love of one or more beautiful and enthusiastic women. Ultimately, Flashman becomes one of the most notable and honoured figures of the Victorian era.
> 
> ......He describes his only two talents as a gift for horsemanship and languages (but sometimes makes it up to four by adding fornication and cricket). He also had the means to impress important people he met, usually with excessive toadying. His other gift was his success with women. The list of his sexual conquests (see below) is long and includes several famous women. Despite his natural abilities and imposing figure, Flashman was a coward, running from the danger he constantly found himself in. He was also a bully to his (supposed) inferiors and found joy in creating trouble for people he did not like.
> 
> ...






> Fraser's research is extensive and the books illuminate the historical events they depict. The books are heavily annotated, with end notes and appendices, as Fraser (in accordance with the fictional existence of the memoirs) attempts to "confirm" (and in some cases "correct") the elderly Flashman's recollections of events; in many cases, the footnotes serve to aid the reader by indicating that a particularly outlandish character really existed or that an unlikely event actually occurred.
> 
> The half-scholarly tone has occasionally led to misunderstandings; when first released in the United States, ten of 34 reviews published took it to be a real, albeit obscure, memoir. Several of these were written by academics - to the delight of The New York Times, which published a selection of the more trusting reviews.
> 
> For the purposes of American publication, Fraser created a fictional entry of the 1909 edition of Who's Who. This lists Flashman's laurels as: VC, KCB, KCIE; Chevalier of the LÃ©gion d'Honneur; Congressional Medal of Honor; San Serafino Order of Purity and Truth, 4th Class.



Serafino Order of Purity and Truth, 4th Class lol


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## chops_a_must (21 March 2007)

Compendium of Dr. Vodder's Manual Lymph Drainage.

Physical state currently = shattered. Lol!


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## gordon2007 (21 March 2007)

I'm currently reading "Improve your memory". 

I forgot the name of the author.


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## BradK (21 March 2007)

Among my favourite books is Tim Winton's The Riders. 

Winton's descriptions of Ireland inspired me to get in a car and drive down the Irish west coast. How rugged, craggy and beautiful. And although I went in November, I never did get a chance to feel that cut through your bones wind off the Atlantic. Maybe next time. 

I also read Winton's Cloudstreet on a plane to and from Sri Lanka, and although thick, is a great read in one or two sittings. I can't think of a better book describing Australian working class life. 

For a start into Winton, check out That Eye the Sky. Great work. 

So, for a good read - you cant go past Tim Winton IMHO

Cheers
Brad


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## the_godfather4 (21 March 2007)

CanOz said:
			
		

> I would be very interested in this as well GF4, please let us know how they go with it.
> 
> Cheers,




Two close friends just reported back to me on "The Secret" and the verdict was unanymous......... Garbage! :bad: 

Basically what the author has done is "borrow" concepts from several other texts and combined them into his "own" concept...... All to do with the power of the mind and visualisation...... told me not to waste my time. Hope this helps.


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## BradK (21 March 2007)

the_godfather4 said:
			
		

> Two close friends just reported back to me on "The Secret" and the verdict was unanymous......... Garbage! :bad:
> 
> Basically what the author has done is "borrow" concepts from several other texts and combined them into his "own" concept...... All to do with the power of the mind and visualisation...... told me not to waste my time. Hope this helps.




Sounds like a wanky Po-Mo novel to me. 

If you are interested in something Po-Mo (if you are that way inclined), you cant go past If On A Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino. 

Very much worth wasting your time over. 

Cheers
Brad


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## rub92me (23 March 2007)

Just finished 'Freakonomics'. Some interesting themes: causality between legalising abortion and crime reduction in the US, why and how Sumo wrestlers and schoolteachers cheat, why real estate agents screw you out of your money, etc.


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## chops_a_must (23 March 2007)

chops_a_must said:
			
		

> So yes, now reading, 'Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man' by Siegfried Sassoon.



Been a few weeks since I finished this one so can't remember specifics. It was definitely not as good as the other two books in the trilogy and far less thrilling and action packed. Still, well written and nice to read though.


			
				chops_a_must said:
			
		

> Compendium of Dr. Vodder's Manual Lymph Drainage.
> 
> Physical state currently = shattered. Lol!



Glad that is over, completed and achieved.

Seriously considering going to Canada sometime next year to continue my training.

Now reading, 'A Passage to India' by E.M. Forster.


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## coyotte (24 March 2007)

Mofra said:
			
		

> Interesting reading - half way through it myself.
> He does make some compelling points, although I wasn't quite convinced by his arguement against agnostism.




Does show you how powerful that "childhood teaching" on any subject can be though!

Douglas goes into this in Trading in the Zone.

Boils down to even the elderly are still being haunted by someone else's view -- taught to them as a child -- who in turn inflict some other poor innocent bugger -- so the never ending cycle goes on.


Cheers 
and I won't say GOD BLESS


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## nizar (24 March 2007)

Trend followers - Michael Covel (2003)

Some really great stuff in there.
The traders profiled in that book, their techniques and their results - incredible, and i believe it, coz these guys dont write books or do worlds tours and seminars, they actually make their money through TRADING.

Highly recommended.


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## drillinto (24 March 2007)

"The Rush That Never Ended - A History of Australian Mining"
By Geoffrey Blainey, Melbourne University Press, 1964
[The classic history of Australian mining]

"The Money Miners - The Great Australian Mining Boom"
By Trevor Sykes, Allen & Unwin, 1995
[This is a story of those who were more interested in mining money rather than minerals]


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## drillinto (31 March 2007)

"BRE-X: The Inside Story of the World's Biggest Mining Scam"
By Jennifer Wells, Orion Business Books, 1998

[A ripping tale of the mining industry]


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## Julia (31 March 2007)

"The Secret History of Al Quaeda", (sorry, can't remember the author now)
Author is editor of a British Arab newspaper and has had numerous meetings with Osama bin Laden.

Offers a different perspective on the anger of Islam.


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## billhill (31 March 2007)

Selling Sickness: How the worlds biggest pharmaceutical companies are turning us all into patients. by Ray Moynihan and Alan Cassals. Interesting read. Will make you question the real motives behind big pharma and the medical industry.


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## imajica (1 April 2007)

Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser

an eye-opening expose of the politics and horror stories that underpin the American fast food industry - a fascinating, although somewhat disturbing read


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## 2020hindsight (1 April 2007)

imajica said:


> Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser
> 
> an eye-opening expose of the politics and horror stories that underpin the American fast food industry - a fascinating, although somewhat disturbing read



Imajica, lemme guess , "thickshakes are about as good for you as chewing on a lump of fat".  Yet we keep buying em  .. sheesh.   You go to Singapore, HK, Indon etc and they've torn down blocks where Chinese restaurants used to be, and replaced em with MacDonalds.  In Indonesia, I've seen the beggar kids sit outside, and , almost like the little match girl, imagine the day when they can afford a Big Mac or some such  

As someone said the other day during a "Quality Assurance" talk - "QA means you get consistent quality - every step of the process is according to predetermined plans, and the product is always the same.   Like McDonalds",  he adds, "quality is always the same.   I keep hoping ... but ... it's always the same".


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## imajica (1 April 2007)

it goes deep into the politics surrounding the management of slaughterhouses, the abuse of unskilled migrant workers and the fact that due to the speed of the production line, faeces is leaching into the rendered meat - fecal coliforms are found in high concentrations in fast food burgers - there is s**t in the meat

I think I'll stick to Mod Oz cuisine, fast food is a  killer!


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## 2020hindsight (1 April 2007)

imajica said:


> it goes deep into the politics surrounding the management of slaughterhouses, the abuse of unskilled migrant workers and the fact that due to the speed of the production line, faeces is leaching into the rendered meat - fecal coliforms are found in high concentrations in fast food burgers - there is s**t in the meat
> 
> I think I'll stick to Mod Oz cuisine, fast food is a  killer!



- or as a Maccas manager said on TV the other day, no-ones taking the piss out of MY thickshakes 
Sounds bludy marvellous, m8, lol.  Couple of my kids have worked at maccas , and it did them good (workplace discipline) - but still a worry on the quality  - sheesh a Junior burger is an insult to the intelligents.

I read a chapter once a week or so of The Hinges of Battle (Eric Durshmed).  Fascinating the fact that luck and chance plays such a part in winning (or losing) battles.  (as well as a lot of details of the battles irrespective of luck).  The weather around the Channel has saved Britain more than once etc.    Also just a lot of cunning by the likes of Hitler etc i.e. The manipulation by Hitler about an alleged attack by Poland to trigger the invasion into Poland. Chapter "Since This Morning We Are Shooting Back!!" - (how often do you hear that these days  )

And "genius" of Napoleon (or stupidy of his opponents?).  Napoleon's victory at Aussterlitz etc is told under chaper "A Confederacy of Dunces". 


> (after Napoleon tricked the Austrians and the Russians into leaving good defensive positions and going onto the open), "Before tomorrow night this enemy is mine... We must learn to live and to die" he said, "that is the great lesson of modern tragedy" (again how often do you hear that today) .
> 
> A spy had stolen the trumpeter's signals, and in the mist next morning French trumpeters sounded the stolen signals ... etc ... Napoleon watched with gleee ,,, etc His plan was pure genius. etc





Chapter on Custer also makes a good read,  "The Fool Who Rode to His Death".  


> extract from the book:- Though these events took place in a remote corner of the USA, the defeat of the US 7th Cavalry under "General" Yellow Hair was one of the most glorius moments in the history of the Indians.  But (the battle of) Little Big Horn was a Pyrrhic victory. Newspaper headlines stirred up public hatred to a fever pitch.  'No Officer or Man of Five Companies left to tell the tale, Squawks mutitate and rob the dead, Shal this be the beginning of the end?"
> Indeed it was the end ... for the Sioux. On a cold winter's day, 8 Jan 1877, Col Nelson A Miles with five hundred infantry and two cannon, caught Chief Crazy Horse andhis braves in the Wolf Mountains.  The noise from exploding shells so frightened the braves that they fled and Crazy Horse was forced to surrender. ... (Also went after) Chief Big Footofthe Souix, and massacred a wholle tribe.  With it Custer's former regiment gained revenge for its defeat at Little Big Horn. This was to be the last major Indian conflict".




Some contradictory reviews on that Amazon website :-
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/cu.../104-2733317-3722332?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books


> This book consists of superficial descriptions of ten different battles, wars, and leaders, including Attila, Napoleon, Custer's last stand, the Zulu war, the fall of Constantinople, etc. I enjoyed the description of the Zulu war, which seemed to me the best chapter in the book.
> 
> The author's questionable claims in his account of Custer's Last Stand made me wonder how accurate the rest of the book is. For example, he estimated that 10,000 Sioux and Cheyenne warriors were arrayed against Custer. That is a vast exaggeration. I would believe an Indian army of 2,000 -- maybe even 3,000 -- but 10,000? No. Not possible. Also, the author overestimates Indian casualties. He mentions "hundreds of dead and dying" Indians in one minor sub-battle of the engagement. No. Hollywood to the contrary, Indians had a well-developed sense of self-preservation and rarely pressed an attack in which they suffered heavy casualties. The evidence from Indian sources and on the battleground -- the most thoroughly studied of any in the world -- is that the Indians sustained only moderate casualties -- far fewer than the 250 dead of Custer.
> There's too much good writing on war to bother reading this book.






> another masterpiece by a true master.  Anyone who is interested in descriptions of various military encounters throughout the ages and written in a style that literally makes the pages flip over by themselves would need to look no further than this book - or, for that matter, any other book by this gifted author. The ten events recounted in this masterpiece are all described in such an engaging and exciting style that it becomes a question of willpower putting the book aside. The descriptions are always lively, detailed and, occasionally, tongue-in-cheek - thus making the reading so enjoyable. Readers who are not familiar with this author's works should allow themselves a real treat and read any one of his books - they will not be disappointed; those who are already familiar with them will know what to expect. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys history and likes to see it come alive - to jump out of the pages on which it is written.



PS .. My guess is that those reviews were done by a) his mother-in -law,  and b) his best drinking mate respectively  
I'm enjoying it because the chapters are self contained.  (but if you want a laugh while reading about battles, stick with Flashman, as I posted back there a bit - hilarious )


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## 2020hindsight (1 April 2007)

More on Flashman 
Review on Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Flashman-Nove...3722332?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175384505&sr=1-2 


> the first and still the best.  It is hard to believe that this first book of the Flashman series is now nearly 30 years old. Written as if it is an actual published memoir (later books put "a novel" on the cover, probably to protect the publisher from receiving annoying letters of shock and outrage from the truly ignorant and profoundly clueless). This is a book for lovers of historical fiction, military fiction, or British history, but will be enjoyed by those who otherwise would never read in these areas. They are books of humor, following a knave and poltroon -- Harry Flashman -- as he stumbles into many of the great events of the 19th century (often fleeing irate husbands). Events he has visted so far include Little Big Horn, the Chinese Boxer Rebellion, the Indian Mutiny, the American slave trade, and the Prussian court where he was forced to act as a royal imposter. To the world he is seen as a great heroic figure, a development that Flashman finds hilarious yet endlessly useful. This first book introduces the Flashman character, beginning with his being expelled from school, forced into the British Army, and suddenly finding himself in the midst of the disasterous British Afghan campaign. *The only books that ever left me laughing harder were the original three books of what should have remained the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy "trilogy" by Douglas Adams. Highly recommended, though with this warning: reading this book and its successors will leave you considerably more educated *about the important events of the last century *without you even realizing it is happening*


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## noirua (1 April 2007)

Here is a link to "Flashman", of "Tom Browns Schooldays" and Billy Bunter:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashman

About the novel "Flashman":  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashman_(novel)


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## drillinto (1 April 2007)

"The Billion Dollar Windfall"
By Morton Shulman, William Morrow & Company, Inc., 1970

[This book is about the Texas Gulf discovery of a $2-billion body of copper, zinc, silver and other ores near Timmins, Ontario, and how the SEC filed a landmark insider case against 13 Texas Gulf employees, charging violation of disclosure regulations.
It is a fast-moving yarn written with a sort of bemused indignation at how men and women - and corporations - behave when they are faced with a chance to get rich quick]


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## 2020hindsight (1 April 2007)

drillinto said:


> ...It is a fast-moving yarn written with a sort of bemused indignation at how men and women - and corporations - behave when they are faced with a chance to get rich quick]



lemme guess m8, the Amish amongst em  resist temptation,  and get trampled underfoot by the "Christians" and others


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## drillinto (5 April 2007)

"Hemlo - Inside Canada's New Gold Rush"
By Matthew Hart, Douglas & McIntyre Ltd, 1986

[A fascinating account of a modern gold rush. It moves easily from the bush to boardrooms as it describes the technical skills and financial manoeuvrings that went into developing Hemlo]


----------



## jammin (5 April 2007)

I have just finished Making money from CFD trading by Catherine Davey and commenced Fair Share by Tom Scollon.
I also have just finished Air Battle Force by Dale Brown, (read when I felt like a change from Catherine Daveys writing style). They balance each other nicely.


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## jtb (5 April 2007)

'Status Anxiety' and 'The Architecture of Happiness' Alain De Botton. 
_
Something Kenna's may find worthwhile due to the philosophical bent._

2020 
On war related novels I recently found 'Stalingrad' gripping and also think you'd enjoy 'Uriels Machine' from your astronomical interest.
_I have an interest in pre-christian literature._

Have spied a copy of 'Mein Kampf' @ my local book shop but don't know if the academic value is worth it 

Could go on and on.........................

Anybody read the 'God Delusion' yet?


----------



## Sodapop (5 April 2007)

Dabbling in two texts right now... A Short History of Nearly Everything - by Bill Bryson 

And 

Dreadnought - Robert K. Massie... Outlines (in great detail) how Germany and Great Britain hurtled down the road to WWI - seen through the naval arms race and political/imperial struggles between them...


----------



## 2020hindsight (5 April 2007)

jtb said:


> On war related novels I recently found 'Stalingrad' gripping and also think you'd enjoy 'Uriels Machine' ..._I have an interest in pre-christian literature._



thanks jt, -   I'll check em out.   (I don't read more than 2 or 3  books a year ,  most of my reading is on the internet)

By pre-christian you mean? lol - hek, Chaucer was 14th C ?? lol.
I post some here for you to enjoy   (PS I'm not taking the p*** - just interested in what you mean. (?)
You thinking Dead Sea Scrolls maybe 

And I notice Sodapop's reference to Bryson 's "Short History on everything " - have heard rave reviews on that by havent personally read it .


----------



## Sodapop (5 April 2007)

2020 - Give it a crack - it is a really great primer on the universe around us and all that exists in it... Bryson makes even astrophysics and quantum physics (stuff which i should be interested in - but never really got into) readable, understandable (on a laypersons level mind you), and GASP interesting... Difficult to put down - when you are unraveling what most authorities (as best as they can ascertain) believe to be the reasons for everything being the way it is...


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## imajica (5 April 2007)

a classic novel I still rate would be - 

Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness

a metaphorical journey into the darkness of the human psyche represented through the literal journey of a colonial imperialist venturing deep into the transgressive abjectivity of 'deepest, darkest Africa'

Apocalypse Now - the Francis Ford Coppola film is based on this narrative with the context being shifted to the vietnam war.


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## jtb (5 April 2007)

2020hindsight said:


> thanks jt, -   I'll check em out.   (I don't read more than 2 or 3  books a year ,  most of my reading is on the internet)
> 
> By pre-christian you mean? lol - hek, Chaucer was 14th C ?? lol.
> I post some here for you to enjoy
> ...




Cool'

PC meaning cultures prior to the enlightenment of the crusades, inquisitions,  assorted bastardry in the name of the 'church', empire that sort of thing.

Unfortunately the classics don't hold my attention for long (re:chaucer) I find literature for literatures sake punishing (bit like modern art) although have tried to read many of the 'greats' I find myself skimming to finish.
Just not my cup of tea.
I read some modern philosophy but mainly biography's / business / science.

'The Last Explorer' about south australian born Hubert Wilkins (who I'd never heard of!) should be part of the curriculum imo.


----------



## 2020hindsight (5 April 2007)

Sodapop said:


> 2020 - Give it a crack - it is a really great primer on the universe around us and all that exists in it... Bryson makes even astrophysics and quantum physics ... readable...



lol - k m8 - as long as I don;t have to read (or watch) anything about the bludy A team


----------



## 2020hindsight (5 April 2007)

jtb said:


> ... although have tried to read many of the 'greats' I find myself skimming to finish.



I see what you mean now - set in prechristian period  - me too.

lol , I had a friend way back - did a speed reading course, swore by it, , he could read a book in one day etc.  
turns out he would happily "skip every second line " lol 
now personally, I really enjoy the english language -  - i read and re-read lines , if I really like a phrase I scribble it down somewhere...
I get bogged down on words  - (to a fault)
no way could I skip lines like that  - an insult to the author (IMIO) in my ignorant opinion  

I really enjoy stuff about explorers too - fascinating how they meet problems and overcome them .  and just as an anecdote ... I've always enjoyed that joke, so many places and so much infrastructure named after Hume ( Dam, Highway etc) , and ...
 so few places named after Hovell 
(perhaps you see what I mean about enjoying words) 
sorry, I'll shuddup now . 

PS Here I have to make a confession.    There is only one way I can "read" a book quickly / efficiently, and that is to get a "recorded CD" version from library or similar. I love accents, love books well read by clever actors, some blokes can use a dozen accents in the same novel, Welsh, English, Cockney, Scottish, even Aussie lol, - brilliant.  When I drive long distances ( talking Syd - Melb or Syd - Bris) I listen to a book or two. 

IMPORTANT ... This is the SAFEST and SUREST way to avoid getting drowsy, serious!!! - (try it , really !!) and when I get to the destination, ....

I'll drive around the block 20 times if necessary , to let the last chapter finish lol.

Imajica - re Conrad, he spent a lot of time writing in Bangkok - at the Intercontinental Hotel.  I went there once to see a friend, he had met a girl in a bar who talked him into doing an ad - for Arrow shirts - so , lol we go there , I watch - turns out they are short and I 'm invited to join the ad as well, - quick trip to the local "Woolies' to get me a shirt" - Mr Arrow turns up , covered in bludy makeup lol, his shirt is pinned up at the back to make it look like a great fit , lol - (bludy con artists) - and we do this ad where we are all dumb press, and he is the centre of attention , and we ask him questions (as I recall I kept asking him "and what do you think of the current price of rice in China" - must have asked him that 20 bludy times lol .  And eventually he starts to sweat under the arms so we have to call it off thank crise.   And I get my money cash - and lol , my mate never did get paid ("it's in the mail" etc)  - I think the girl who he met at the bar does this for a living, lol.

I'm told that ad used to be played in the cinemas in Bangkok. who knows, who cares . 
but (Sorry m8), whenever I see the name Joseph Conrad, I think of that hotel foyer


----------



## drillinto (7 April 2007)

drillinto said:


> "BRE-X: The Inside Story of the World's Biggest Mining Scam"
> By Jennifer Wells, Orion Business Books, 1998
> 
> [A ripping tale of the mining industry]




Still haunted by ghosts of the BRE-X scandal

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21510487-5005200,00.html


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## drillinto (12 April 2007)

"Barren Lands. An Epic Search For Diamonds In The North American Arctic"

By Kevin Krajick, W. H. Freeman/Owl Book, 2002

[ A superb weaving of geological discoveries with diamond markets ]


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## 2020hindsight (12 April 2007)

Fatal Choice , ("Survival or Sentence"? - actually my version says "Nuclear Weapons and the Illusion of Missile Defense" ??) , by Richard Butler
"Butler first explains the regime of treaties and doctrines (such as mutual assured destruction [ MAD]  ) developed since the inauguration of the nuclear age in 1945".  etcetc 

Interesting  dedication   (and interesting that an Aussie was in control of monitoring Iraq and the nuclear etc threat)
"This book is dedicated to former prime minister of Australia Paul Keating, and his foreign minister Gareth Evans, in recognition of their wisdom and courage in establishing , in 1995, the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. "  


> The man who led the United Nations' failed effort to eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in the late 1990s says the world must make a decision "to survive nuclear weapons or be sentenced by them." Richard Butler describes the current situation in understandably stark terms: "These weapons are the singular human invention capable of destroying the earth and all that lives on it." He believes the planet faces no greater challenge than figuring out how to contain them. Global nonproliferation efforts have succeeded over the last several decades, he writes, but not completely: countries such as India, Pakistan, and possibly Iraq now have access to the bomb. President Bush's plans to build a national missile-defense system are especially misguided, in his view, because they would spur a new arms race. By pushing forward, the United States will ensure "the realization of its own nightmare." Butler proposes a series of arms-control measures--Senate confirmation of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, a bilateral agreement between the United States and Russia to reduce their nuclear stockpiles, the creation of an international Council on Weapons of Mass Destruction--but the main draw of Fatal Choice may be its moral fervor. Policymakers, Butler writes, "have a clear choice: to build a world free from the greatest of all threats to life, or to prepare for the next stage of nuclear bondage and terrorism." --John Miller
> 
> From Publishers Weekly
> Butler, an experienced and well-respected advocate of nuclear disarmament (he headed the U.N. Special Commission for disarming Iraq), offers a brief but comprehensive survey of nuclear weapons in today's world. He aims to make the available policy choices "understood by plain people in plain language." Butler first explains the regime of treaties and doctrines (such as mutual assured destruction) developed since the inauguration of the nuclear age in 1945. Given their horrific power, nuclear weapons have always been the most feared of the world's weapons of mass destruction. In response, as the author explains, nearly all nations have supported eliminating nuclear weapons, or at least preventing further proliferation. These goals have had only partial success, and currently Iran, Iraq and North Korea are seeking to join India, Pakistan and Israel in the nuclear club. As to the future, Butler warns against passive resignation to nuclear weapons as a permanent fixture of international life. He believes the world can rid itself of these weapons and proposes a program to accomplish this. The most striking feature of Butler's plan is forming a Council on Weapons of Mass Destruction, working parallel to the U.N.'s Security Council. Butler's council would have sufficient conventional military forces to take effective action against nations violating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. International action of this kind, not the National Missile Defense advocated by the Bush administration which Butler sees as self-defeating forms the core of this thought-provoking argument against nuclear weapons. (Jan.)Forecast: Readers concerned with world affairs will find this more timely than ever, if they manage to catch word of it from the author's three-city tour and radio satellite tour.



I have yet to read it , can't comment further (maybe Tasmanians know Butler better than I do lol, him being an ex- Governor and all  )


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## CanOz (12 April 2007)

Just finished the first read of Brent Penfold's *Trading the SPI*, now onto *A Complete Guide to Technical Trading Tactics*, by John L. Person...Next its the first read of many for *Trading in the Zone*. So i'm onto my 7th TA book with 2 more to go before i need to order more!

To be honest i read because i have no TV and get tired of the internet. I fugure i might as well make the most of it.

Cheers,


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## nizar (12 April 2007)

Reminiscinces of a stock operator just came in the mail today.
Will start it in the next few days.

Douglas Trading in the Zone is next.


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## CanOz (12 April 2007)

nizar said:


> Reminiscinces of a stock operator just came in the mail today.
> Will start it in the next few days.
> 
> Douglas Trading in the Zone is next.




I get like a 'kid at Christmas' when i get my trading books in the mail here....everythings relative now.

Cheers,


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## drillinto (19 April 2007)

"Diamond. The History of a cold-blooded love affair"

by Matthew Hart, Fourth Estate, 2003

[A thrilling mix of espionage, science and wilderness adventures, Diamond reveals the corruption and greed behind the lustre of the gem trade]


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## drillinto (26 April 2007)

"The Wonga Coup -The British Mercenary Plot To Seize Oil Billions In Africa"

By Adam Roberts, Profile Books Ltd, 2006

[Wonga: early twenty-first century British slang for money, usually a lot of it. Probably from the Romany word 'wanger', meaning coal. Coal served as a slang term for money in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century England.]


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## drillinto (5 May 2007)

"Mr Stuart's Track - The forgotten life of Australia's greatest explorer"

by John Bailey, Pan Macmillan, 2006

[ John Bailey has brilliantly re-created the life and journeys of Australia's greatest, and least understood explorer ]


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## tech/a (5 May 2007)

"The God Delusion"


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## 2020hindsight (15 June 2007)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stolen-Time-Inspiring-Innocent-Condemned/dp/0385611404
Stolen Time
My wife said she was glued to the ABC today during Richard Feidler's "Conversation Hour" while the lady who wrote this was interviewed. 

Unbelievable - one seriously sick .... situation / part of the world
This lady now a fairly senior member of Amnesty International. 


> http://www.booksattransworld.co.uk/...=Search&db=twmain.txt&eqeandata=9780385611404 Stolen Time
> by Sunny Jacobs
> 
> A vivid and honest account...remarkable.  The Times
> ...


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## chops_a_must (15 June 2007)

Currently reading Old Goriot by Balzac.

Recently finished a book that I picked up in Melbourne called Measuring the World, by Daniel Kehlmann. Really easy to read (could have knocked it over in a day) and the most enjoyable book I have read in a long long time. You'd probably only enjoy it if you were as nerdy as me, but still, check it out.


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## Lucky (16 June 2007)

Currently have three books on the go - 2 Non-Fiction, 1 Fiction.

----------

*The Long Emergency - James Howard Kunstler*
http://www.amazon.com/Long-Emergenc...1837426?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181915754&sr=1-1

_The indictment of suburbia and the car culture that the author presented in The Geography of Nowhere turns apocalyptic in this vigorous, if overwrought, jeremiad. Kunstler notes signs that global oil production has peaked and will soon dwindle, and argues in an eye-opening, although not entirely convincing, analysis that alternative energy sources cannot fill the gap, especially in transportation. The result will be a Dark Age in which "the center does not hold" and "all bets are off about civilization's future." Absent cheap oil, auto-dependent suburbs and big cities will collapse, along with industry and mechanized agriculture; serfdom and horse-drawn carts will stage a comeback; hunger will cause massive "die-back"; otherwise "impotent" governments will engineer "designer viruses" to cull the surplus population; and Asian pirates will plunder California. Kunstler takes a grim satisfaction in this prospect, which promises to settle his many grudges against modernity. A "dazed and crippled America," he hopes, will regroup around walkable, human-scale towns; organic local economies of small farmers and tradesmen will replace an alienating corporate globalism; strong bonds of social solidarity will be reforged; and our heedless, childish culture of consumerism will be forced to grow up. Kunstler's critique of contemporary society is caustic and scintillating as usual, but his prognostications strain credibility._

*The Millionaire Next Door - Thomas J. Stanley *
http://www.amazon.com/Millionaire-N...1837426?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181915911&sr=1-2

_In The Millionaire Next Door, read by Cotter Smith, Stanley (Marketing to the Affluent) and Danko (marketing, SUNY at Albany) summarize findings from their research into the key characteristics that explain how the elite club of millionaires have become "wealthy." Focusing on those with a net worth of at least $1 million, their surprising results reveal fundamental qualities of this group that are diametrically opposed to today's earn-and-consume culture, including living below their means, allocating funds efficiently in ways that build wealth, ignoring conspicuous consumption, being proficient in targeting marketing opportunities, and choosing the "right" occupation. It's evident that anyone can accumulate wealth, if they are disciplined enough, determined to persevere, and have the merest of luck. In The Millionaire Mind, an excellent follow-up to the highly successful first analysis of how ordinary folks can accumulate wealth, Stanley interviews many more participants in a much more comprehensive study of the characteristics of those in this economic situation. The author structures these deeper details into categories that include the key success factors that define this group, the relationship of education to their success, their approach to balancing risk, how they located themselves in their work, their choice of spouse, how they live their daily lives, and the significant differences in the truth about this group vs. the misplaced image of high spenders. Narrator Smith's solid, dead-on reading never fails to heighten the importance of these principles that most twentysomethings should be forced to listen to in toto._
----------

*The Road - Cormac McCarthy*
http://www.amazon.com/Road-Cormac-M...1837426?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181915991&sr=1-2

_Cormac McCarthy sets his new novel, The Road, in a post-apocalyptic blight of gray skies that drizzle ash, a world in which all matter of wildlife is extinct, starvation is not only prevalent but nearly all-encompassing, and marauding bands of cannibals roam the environment with pieces of human flesh stuck between their teeth. If this sounds oppressive and dispiriting, it is. McCarthy may have just set to paper the definitive vision of the world after nuclear war, and in this recent age of relentless saber-rattling by the global powers, it's not much of a leap to feel his vision could be not far off the mark nor, sadly, right around the corner. Stealing across this horrific (and that's the only word for it) landscape are an unnamed man and his emaciated son, a boy probably around the age of ten. It is the love the father feels for his son, a love as deep and acute as his grief, that could surprise readers of McCarthy's previous work. McCarthy's Gnostic impressions of mankind have left very little place for love. In fact that greatest love affair in any of his novels, I would argue, occurs between the Billy Parham and the wolf in The Crossing. But here the love of a desperate father for his sickly son transcends all else. McCarthy has always written about the battle between light and darkness; the darkness usually comprises 99.9% of the world, while any illumination is the weak shaft thrown by a penlight running low on batteries. In The Road, those batteries are almost out--the entire world is, quite literally, dying--so the final affirmation of hope in the novel's closing pages is all the more shocking and maybe all the more enduring as the boy takes all of his father's (and McCarthy's) rage at the hopeless folly of man and lays it down, lifting up, in its place, the oddest of all things: faith._
----------

So far all books have been very interesting.  The Road and Long Emergency have a somewhat darker, pessimistic slant to them; though both are enjoyable and engrossing none the less.


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## 2020hindsight (22 June 2007)

Bwacull posted something on "freak accidents" thread - reminded me - if ever you want a good read, try one of Geoffrey Robertson's books.   



BIG BWACULL said:


> Poor FREAKS  At least they were having a good time
> VIDEO HERE
> http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/13538111/detail.html



sounds like a retake of a story about 30 years ago where a couple of expats in the Middle East somewhere were probably making love on the roof under the stars - but then ended up on the ground 6 stories below.   The man was impaled on a metal fence spike. 

Geoffrey Robertson was involved in the defense of someone charged (although I can't find any e - references after quick search of google).  

Here's what Robertson thought of Saddam Hussein's hanging .:- .. 
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2006/s1820487.htm  (i.e. missed opportunity)


and other human rights matters in a recent book (which I must try to read one of these days) 
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AJHR/2003/24.html


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## hypnotic (22 June 2007)

I am just starting to read:

"Why we want you to be rich" by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki.

haven't really gone that far yet, but so far so good.


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## drillinto (25 July 2007)

Prepare to go blind

http://www.bookforum.com/


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## prawn_86 (25 July 2007)

i have to say im not one to read invesstment or stock market books. i tend to use reading as an escape. plus i get so many uni texts to read!

but i just fininshed Orwells 1984 again and also Scar Tissue by Anothony Keidis is a bit of an eye opener.


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## Julia (25 July 2007)

For great entertainment, any of Lee Child's novels, with the protagonist "Reacher".  Tight dialogue, no wasted words and brilliant characterisation.

Two other books which will remain with me for a long time:

"Candy" by Luke Davies, semi autobiographical account of the ravages of heroin addiction.

"A Married Man" by Edmund White, fiction ostensibly but clearly a first hand account of the reality of life as a homosexual, graphic and touching.


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## ghotib (25 July 2007)

Surely I'm not the only person here who's reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. 

For the 2nd time.

What an unrepresentative mob we must be.

Ghoti


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## imajica (9 August 2007)

The Unteleported Man - Phillip K. Dick
conceptually brilliant!!! - as good as

Do Andrioids Dream of Electric Sheep?


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## brettc4 (9 August 2007)

Currently reading 'Temple' by Matthew Reilly, read most if not all of his other stuff.

Link to Amazon.

Also recently finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, not sure what to read next:

Trading for a Living - Alexander Elder
or
The Enemy - Lee Child
or one of the other 54 physical books I have still to be read or the 3,000 electronic books still to be read.


----------



## Julia (9 August 2007)

brettc4 said:


> Currently reading 'Temple' by Matthew Reilly, read most if not all of his other stuff.
> 
> Link to Amazon.
> 
> ...




I'd go for Lee Child any time!


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## brettc4 (14 August 2007)

I have just finished reading "Trading for a Living" by Dr Alexander Elder.

This book is very good and highly recommended for those of you who haven't read it, it explains a number of things from a crows perspective. The book has information about indicators, chart patterns, even a couple of trading systems, but it are the insights into crowd psycology and the information about money management and you own psycology which really stood out and helped me realise just how much further I need to go to be a good trader.

Anyway, here are some of the tidbits I liked the most out of the book.

Brett


Think and plan your trades, do not trade impulsively.

Remove emotion from the trade.
"inability to manage themselves leads to poor money management"

Practice defensive Money Management, watch capital carefully.

3 Pillars of successful trading:
	a. psychology
	b. market analysis and trading systems
	c. money management

Winners receive less than what losers lose because of commissions and slippage.

Slippage is the difference between the actual price and the price that existed as you placed your order.  Technically if placed online this time difference is less so in a liquid market therefore smaller slippage, in an illiquid market, this could be substantial.

"Look for a broker with the cheapest commissions and watch him like a hawk. Design a trading system that gives signals relatively infrequently and allows you to enter markets during quiet times."

"Markets offer unlimited opportunities for self-sabotage, as well as for self-fulfillment."

"A successful trader is a realist. He knows his abilities and limitations"

"Give yourself several years to learn how to trade. Do not start with an account bigger than $20,000 and do not lose more than 2 percent of your equity on any single trade. Learn from cheap mistakes in a small account"

"If you feel that you are trading too much and the results are poor, stop trading for a month."

Take responsibility for your own trades. To assist in this, keep a trading diary (journal) with the reasons for entering and exiting a trade. Look for patterns in your reasoning for both success and failure.
Your Trading Diary should include the following:
	a. Date and Price of every entry and exit
	b. slippage
	c. commission
	d. stop price
	e. all adjustments of stops
	f. reason for entering
	g. reason for where the stop is placed
	h. reasons for exiting
	i. target price
	j. maximum paper profit
	k. maximum paper loss - especially after a stop was hit
	l. anything else relevant

Good Money Management is the Traders Safety Net.

"A trader must take a business risk, but may never take a loss greater than his predetermined risk." If he does he is a gambler and not a successful trader.

Do not accept experts at their word, ask questions, take time to learn for yourself.

Do not get greedy, their will always be buying opportunities in the future.

First Goal - long-term survival
Second Goal - steady growth of capital
Third Goal - making high profits

"Each trading session is a battle between bulls, who make money when prices rise, and bears, who profit when prices fall. The goal of technical analysts is to discover the balance of power between bulls and bears and bet on the winning group. If bulls are much stronger, you should buy and hold. If bears are much stronger , you should sell and sell short. If both camps are about equal in strength, a wise trader stands aside."

"The crowd may be stupid, but it is stronger than you"

"You do not have to run with the crowd - but you should never run against it."

"The weakest part of any trading system is the trader himself. Traders fail when they trade without a plan or deviate from their plans."

"Prices seldom rally very hard after a bad decline."

The Opening Price usually reflects the amateurs opinion of value, the closing price tends to reflect the actions of professional traders.
If prices closed higher than they opened, then market professionals were probably more bullish than amateurs and vice versa on the bearish side.

If prices close near the low of the day, it shows the bears have won the day, the opposite if true for the bulls.

The distance between the high and the low reveals the intensity of conflict between bulls and bears.

"The strength of every support and resistance zone depends on three factors: its length, its height and the volume of trading that has taken place in it."

"When the trend you are riding approaches support or resistance, tighten your protective stop."

"True breakouts are confirmed by heavy volume, while false breakouts tend to have light volume."

Daily trading ranges are relatively narrow in a healthy trend.

"A significant high or low on a daily chart is the highest high or the lowest low for at least a week."

"When you are in doubt about a trend, step back and examine the charts in a timeframe that is greater than the one you are trying to trade."

"The trouble with indicators is that they often contradict one another. Some of them work best in trending markets, others in flat markets. Some are good at catching turning points, while others are better at following trends."

3 Types of indicator:
1. Trend-following - work best when markets are moving but give bad and dangerous signals when markets are flat,
2. Oscillators - catch turning points in flat markets but give premature and dangerous signals when the markets trend.
3. Miscellaneous - provide insight into mass psychology

Markets are always changing and a system that worked in the past is no guarantee to work in the future.

Oscillator indicators give their best trading signals when they diverge from prices.

Price jumps on more than double the average volume is a sign of a potential blow-off move.

"As a rule of thumb, if today's volume is higher than yesterday's volume, then today's trend is likely to continue."

"You need to concentrate on trading right and not on the money"

If you suffer a string on consecutive loses, ie 3 or 4 in a row, do not trade for the rest of the month. Use the period to examine the trades and see if you traded correctly, if you traded correctly, was it a change in the markets which caught you out.


----------



## caleb2003 (14 August 2007)

I can fully recommend The Devils Double by Latif Yahia, great stuff (if you prefer non fiction as I do):

In 1987, Latif Yahia was taken to Saddam’s headquarters to meet Uday, Saddam’s eldest son, and told that a great honour had been bestowed upon him: that because of the great likeness between them, he had been chosen to be Uday’s double. For many Iraqis it would have been the highlight of their lives, but for Latif, a peace-loving man who did not agree with Saddam’s brutal regime, it was not. He refused. Following a week of torture, and realising he would be killed if he continued to refuse, Latif was forced to accept the role. After a gruesome training programme during which he was made to watch over thirty films of torture, hours of tapes of Uday, and undertake a final remodelling of his appearance, Latif was deemed ready. But it was only after the final test, a meeting with Saddam himself, that Latif made his first public appearance. And so began his life as Uday’s double – a life on the perimeter of the inner circle of Saddam’s eldest son, a witness to the horror of his insane life of debauchery, excess and brutality, and an experience for which he almost paid with his life on more than one occasion.


----------



## Nicks (15 August 2007)

Just finished re-reading Animal Farm, George Orwell

Gives you an insight into what realy is going on with human behaviour.


----------



## drillinto (23 August 2007)

"The Sushi Economy - Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy"
Author: Sasha Issenberg
Publisher: Gotham Books (Penguin Group, USA), 2007

The book is a riveting and witty inquiry into the raw fish explosion. A must read.

One chapter is dedicated dedicated to tuna ranching in Australia. The next annual Tunarama Festival*, of Port Lincoln (South Australia), will take place January 26-28, 2008. Among the competitions taking place during the event there is the popular John West Tuna Toss. The charge to competitors is simple: propel a tuna toward gently lapping waves. The winner gets one thousand dollars.


* www.tunarama.net


----------



## moneymajix (28 August 2007)

This one is sounds interesting.

*SUGARBABE *
by Holly Hill 

How far would you go? _Based on a true story. _

Description of book 
"Attractive, professional, well-spoken, well-dressed 35-year-old woman seeks sugar daddy. I live in Darlinghurst on a 17th floor unit with fantastic skyline views to the harbour. The unit also features very discreet and secure undercover guest parking. I am looking for exclusivity so will (theoretically) be available to you 24 x 7. I am single and don't have any children. I am also a fabulous cook and can provide gourmet meals should you require them. I am a qualified psychologist so I make an excellent listener, and I have a great love of conversation. I have also worked for many years in public relations so am a clever, charming companion in just about any situation. I love sex. I will require a generous weekly allowance in return for all of the above".

Holly Hill (pseudonym) gave up her job at the behest of her wealthy boyfriend - and then found herself dumped and penniless. After spending six weeks in bed pining for her lost love, she was encouraged by a friend to be 'open-minded' about her career choices - and ended up placing an online ad for a sugar daddy. She received an almost overwhelming response from all sorts of men, but most of them were married men whose wives had lost interest in sex. 

As Holly interviewed the men and settled on a candidate, she decided to record what happened next. Those almost-daily observations became a journal documenting Holly's extraordinary experiences - not just the men she meets, but the things she finds out about marriages, in particular, and what men need from them. 

SUGARBABE is her real-life account of the emails, meetings, employment of and interactions with the applicants for the role, and the five men she eventually chooses (not all at the same time!). It is by turns funny, enlightening, challenging and thought-provoking.

There has never been a book like SUGARBABE before, because no one like Holly has ever set out to document this kind of fascinating social experiment. SUGARBABE gives all of us who might have wondered what it would be like to involved in a situation like this the opportunity to be the ultimate voyeur. Holly's acute observations give us entr‚e to an almost-secret world of men who love their wives but need more, and the women like Holly who have no intention of destroying marriages but, instead, want to help provide what's lacking in the marriage so they actually don't need to break up. 



Reviews 

*"Chatty and cheeky...Sugarbabe is Pride and Prejudice for the dotcom generation" - The Sun Herald

"Sugarbabe is definitely an entertaining read, with sex scenes that stand out as fine examples of humour and candor." - SX News

".what she discovers about men and love is thought provoking, to say the least." - Famous Magazine

"Enlightening view into the male psyche... what you always wanted to know about what men really think" - Femail.com


http://www.randomhouse.com.au/Books/...=9781741667998


Apparently Holy is now working on a book called Toy Boys.


----------



## nizar (28 August 2007)

Perry Kaufman -- Trading systems & methods.


----------



## SGB (28 August 2007)

“Think and Grow Rich” 1937 by Napoleon Hill never leaves my bedside table.
Conscious awareness in:
Desire
Faith
Organised Planning
Decision
Persistence
The Six Ghosts of FEAR


----------



## 2020hindsight (28 August 2007)

moneymajix said:


> This one is sounds interesting.
> 
> *SUGARBABE *
> by Holly Hill
> ...



what  a classic lol - sounds like a mixture of Enough Rope and Lady Chatterley's Lover lol - good one money majix


----------



## arminius (29 August 2007)

at the moment im trying to read the minds of investors in the US.... no joy.

can v highly recommend 'pillars of the earth' -ken follett. 

'the peloponnesian war'. -thucydides. 

a fortunate life. -a b facey


----------



## moneymajix (1 September 2007)

*Affluenza: How to Be Successful and Stay Sane*
by Oliver James 

400pp, Vermillion

In his 1997 book Britain on the Couch, Oliver James asserted that "advanced capitalism makes money out of misery and dissatisfaction, as if it were encouraging us to fill up the psychic void with material goods". In this book, he explores the idea further, and it's terrific. A lot of readers, wanting to put their finger on why the affluent world they live in makes them so uneasy, will want to cheer. Here he is saying, loud and clear, that capitalism is bad for your mental health. And then he tells us why this is the case, and what we can do about it.

http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/healthmindandbody/0,,1999598,00.html



ABC Interview with the author

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/inconversation/stories/2007/1870422.htm[/B]


----------



## waggamick (1 September 2007)

Two funny books:
Milagro Beanfield War...forget the author but the description of an old mexican man 20 pages in is a classic....forget the Robert Redford movie of the book..he butchered it.
Choir Boys...actually laughed out loud.
The God Delusion was interesting as was The Bible Fraud.
Like Lee Childs...Reacher...the ends justify the means.


----------



## brettc4 (4 September 2007)

I have just finished reading "The 5th Horseman" by James Paterson and Maxine Paetro.

Another good book in the Lindsey Boxer series.

I only have one question, with the number of books James Paterson's name is on with all different authors, exactly how much of it is he writting?? Irrespective, an easy read but it helps to have read the preceeding books in the series.  
Personal preference is that the Alex Cross series is a little better, I guess I just like the characters better.

I have also recently read "Hidden Empire" by Kevin J Anderson, part of the Seven Suns saga. If you like Space Opera this one gets better the further through you are until you reach then end and want to grab the second in the series to dfind our what happens next.

Brett


----------



## drillinto (7 September 2007)

Mario Vargas Llosa on why reading is an essential part of being a citizen

In an interview conducted by Fietta Jarque, the Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, who was awarded an honorary degree on Wednesday, September 5th, by the La Rioja University in Spain, considers that reading is an essential part of learning to be a citizen. "Human freedom is a product of the imagination and inflamed desires engendered by reading. We are much freer when we read. This is why reading is indispensable in forming a democratic society, with active citizens who participate and intervene not only in public debate, but also in the march of civilisation. This is why reading is not a mere pleasure or distraction, but a basic instrument in the training of a free, modern and active citizen." (El Pais(daily) - Spain - 06/09/2007)


----------



## drillinto (13 September 2007)

"Flower Confidential"
By Amy Stewart
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2007

[An around-the-world, behind-the-scenes look at the flower industry and how it has sought--for better and worse--to achieve perfection. One chapter of the book is dedicated to Florigene*, an Australian company that is racing toward the goal of developing a blue rose.]

* www.florigene.com


----------



## nizar (13 September 2007)

Robert Pardo -- Design, testing, and optimisation of trading systems.


----------



## CanOz (13 September 2007)

nizar said:


> Robert Pardo -- Design, testing, and optimisation of trading systems.




Maybe sometime you can post a list of the books you've read so far Nizar, most notably on system development. I would like to add more to my collection.

Cheers,


----------



## chops_a_must (13 September 2007)

CanOz said:


> Maybe sometime you can post a list of the books you've read so far Nizar, most notably on system development. I would like to add more to my collection.
> 
> Cheers,




Thanks for telling me about Trading the SPI by Brett Penfold by the way. Easily one of the best practical trading books I've read. But then again, what do you expect from someone winning at a zero-sum game?

Anyone keenly interested in trading survival or various money management strategies, this should be a bible for you. I have learnt a hell of a lot from it.

Cheers,
Chops.


----------



## Judd (13 September 2007)

Re-reading an omnibus of DH Lawrence novels.  Sons and Lovers.  St Mawr.  The Fox.  The White Peacock.  Love among the Haystacks (always found that when I tried this the darn stuff got into places I would rather not mention.) The Virgin and the Gypsy.  Lady Chatterley's Lover.

Mind you reading some of his stuff destroys the grammar thread..."Dos't think I'm going' to sit wi' my arms dangling, cos tha's got a parson for tea wi' thee?"


----------



## CanOz (13 September 2007)

chops_a_must said:


> Thanks for telling me about Trading the SPI by Brett Penfold by the way. Easily one of the best practical trading books I've read. But then again, what do you expect from someone winning at a zero-sum game?
> 
> Anyone keenly interested in trading survival or various money management strategies, this should be a bible for you. I have learnt a hell of a lot from it.
> 
> ...




No worries Chops. I get the impression your leaning towards a mechanical SPI or index future system?

Cheers,


----------



## chops_a_must (13 September 2007)

CanOz said:


> No worries Chops. I get the impression your leaning towards a mechanical SPI or index future system?
> 
> Cheers,



As well as a discretionary plan also. So... both. There are just too many high probability trades out there that I don't think a mechanical system would be quick enough to trigger on.


----------



## Chorlton (13 September 2007)

nizar said:


> Robert Pardo -- Design, testing, and optimisation of trading systems.




Hi Nizar,

Not sure if you have finished reading it yet, but would you recommend this book?

I've already got Richard Weissman's Mechanical Trading Systems so would welcome your thoughts as to whether this one would make a good addition?

Cheers....


----------



## Wysiwyg (13 September 2007)

Well I buy a book from the show pavilion at the ekka every year (75% discounted some) and this year I bought  "Who`s Rejecting Who" by Xavier Waterkeyn.

After all , rejection is part of daily life in some form or other and it is handy to know the correct way to reject someone and to handle being rejected .

From the down right nasty rejection to the more subtle brush - off.


----------



## Julia (13 September 2007)

Wysiwyg said:


> Well I buy a book from the show pavilion at the ekka every year (75% discounted some) and this year I bought  "Who`s Rejecting Who" by Xavier Waterkeyn.
> 
> After all , rejection is part of daily life in some form or other and it is handy to know the correct way to reject someone and to handle being rejected .
> 
> From the down right nasty rejection to the more subtle brush - off.




Well, for a start - since we are looking to grammar this evening - it should be "Who's Rejecting Whom"   not "Who"!
I'd find it hard to put too much store in a book where they can't even get the title grammatically correct.
And yes, I know, I'm a pedant.


----------



## golfmos123 (13 September 2007)

Totally unrelated to trading but have just finished "Kokoda" by Paul Ham.  A long and at times turgid read but you will change the way you look at Aussie soldiers as a result (and perhaps the Japanese as well).  Absolutely fascinating and it makes you want to go and walk the track tomorrow...thoroughly recommended to all but not for the feint hearted!


----------



## IFocus (15 September 2007)

Finished reading The Psychology of Trading by Brett Steenbarger (recommended) some time ago now reading Enhancing Trader Performance also by Steenbarger. Up to page 13 and already had a few ahas 

Focus


----------



## drillinto (22 September 2007)

"Voices from Chernobyl - The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster"
By Svetlana Alexievich
Picador, New York, 2006

[An haunting and essential work of literature that one can only hope documents a never-to-be-repeated catastrophe]


----------



## brettc4 (23 September 2007)

Hi, Just finished reading Lifegaurd by James Paterson. Another quick and easy read for those who like crime novels.

I also recently finished Predator by Patricia Cornwell. I used to like her writing a lot but currently prefer the pace and style of James Paterson.

My problem is I keep buying books quicker than I read them, so my pile just keeps increasing.

Brett


----------



## It's Snake Pliskin (23 September 2007)

Julia said:


> Well, for a start - since we are looking to grammar this evening - it should be "Who's Rejecting Whom"   not "Who"!
> I'd find it hard to put too much store in a book where they can't even get the title grammatically correct.
> And yes, I know, I'm a pedant.




Julia,

Thanks for being a fellow pedant.


----------



## It's Snake Pliskin (23 September 2007)

brettc4 said:


> My problem is I keep buying books quicker than I read them, so my pile just keeps increasing.
> 
> Brett




I have a pile that hasn't been read too. If I see a book that is cheap or interesting I buy it, and worry about reading it later.


----------



## brilliantmichael (27 September 2007)

I'm in the middle of reading "Ugly American$ - A true story of high stakes, dirty deals, and one man's $500 million gamble" by Ben Mezrich. It's an incredible story of young in-their-twenties, former college football star, Westerners running billion-dollar anything-goes hedge funds in Japan and Asia during the early 90's. A story of incredible excess and sin. I would say virtually half the book takes place in nightclubs and brothels.


The following are the more conventional stories of rich Jewish businessmen:

Am just about to start "Bloomberg by Bloomberg" by Bloomberg... (yep that's what it's called : ) of the powerful New York mayor who's also the head honcho of Bloomberg financial news and data. He started work as a clerk for Salomon Brothers as it happens - maybe a good book for you clerks out there!

Another good biography in my opinion was "Frank Lowy - pushing the limits" for those of you looking for something a little closer to home. In my opinion Frank lowy's story is a little more interesting than say Kerry Packer's since Frank Lowy himself was self-made and started from scratch doing truck deliveries for a local deli in the 1950's as it happens. He had come from much more harrowing circumstances before that. Incredible story too.


----------



## nizar (30 September 2007)

Chorlton said:


> Hi Nizar,
> 
> Not sure if you have finished reading it yet, but would you recommend this book?
> 
> ...




Chorlton,

Robert Pardo's book is GOLD.
Put it this way, i finished it in a day.
Really good stuff, im looking forward to his next one.

What do you think of Weissman's ?



			
				CanOz said:
			
		

> Maybe sometime you can post a list of the books you've read so far Nizar, most notably on system development. I would like to add more to my collection.




Can,

I havent read many on system development. That said, I dont think there's alot out there.

The ones I have read:

1. Trading Systems and Methods - Perry Kaufman.
2. Design, Testing, and Optimisation of Trading Systems - Robert Pardo
3. Quantitative Trading Systems - Howard Bandy
4. Way of the Turtle - Curtis Faith
5. TradeSim manual - David Samboursky

Next on my list is Leon Wilson's Breakthrough Trading, i just picked it up on friday. It looks the goods. He uses MS/TradeSim so its handy that he's speaking my language!


----------



## Chorlton (30 September 2007)

nizar said:


> Robert Pardo's book is GOLD.
> Put it this way, i finished it in a day.
> Really good stuff, im looking forward to his next one.





Nizar,

Can you elaborate on Pardo's book in terms of its content? What areas did you find the most interesting? Also does Pardo cover any areas of System Development which are not also covered in Howard's book?

Yes, I definately would recommend Weissman's book. However, I feel that Bandy's book may also cover most of the content albeit in a different way. As I haven't finished Bandy's book yet, I can't say this for certain yet.....


----------



## nizar (30 September 2007)

Chorlton said:


> Nizar,
> 
> Can you elaborate on Pardo's book in terms of its content? What areas did you find the most interesting? Also does Pardo cover any areas of System Development which are not also covered in Howard's book?
> 
> Yes, I definately would recommend Weissman's book. However, I feel that Bandy's book may also cover most of the content albeit in a different way. As I haven't finished Bandy's book yet, I can't say this for certain yet.....




The WHOLE BOOK is interesting, written in 1992, it seems ahead of its time if you ask me.

He covers the whole development process, chapter by chapter, testing, optimisation, walk forward, robustness, re-optimisation, trading the system, with examples throughout.

Search him on amazon, heaps of reviews there.

Bandy's book was good BUT i think it was too AmiBroker based. Its probably great if you had amibroker. 

Just my opinion.


----------



## >Apocalypto< (1 October 2007)

Right now I am reading Truth of the stock tape and Wall St stock selector By W.D Gann.

Nearly finished that so next book on the radar is Trading in the Zone

I am also studying Trend analysis ebook by Bill McLaren.


----------



## caleb2003 (1 October 2007)

Just read 'How I make a living Daytrading' by Tony OZ, which was very apt for the recent turbulence and well worth a read for anyone interested with lots of charts and practical examples.

Trying to get through 'Against the Gods, The remarkable story of risk' by Peter L Bernstein, but its a bit much for my shrivelled mind. 

Also enjoying reading the 1st market wizards book which is fantastic although the points I'm seeing in here are saying stocks are too random whereas true trends are to be found in commodities, anyone go along with this?


----------



## tech/a (1 October 2007)

http://www.quantitativetradingsystems.com/book.html

Few have it and can get a hold of it but is an excellent work!
5. TradeSim manual - David Samboursky
You can read book after book but unless you can APPLY it you'll never go further than reading books.

These 2 certainly place you in the position to apply your trading methodologies.


----------



## It's Snake Pliskin (1 October 2007)

tech/a said:


> http://www.quantitativetradingsystems.com/book.html
> 
> Few have it and can get a hold of it but is an excellent work!
> 5. TradeSim manual - David Samboursky
> ...




You can read book after book and then philophosize where the average man doesn't. Then apply it. 

I refrain from holding any one educator or book writer in the highest esteem as they all contribute to the internal trader. the key is not to read the same stuff on the same stuff. Read the best on all topics then philosophize from there using your knowledge.  It goes way beyond printing and binding, and championing

Oh, good books are those with traders interviews such as Nick's book.


----------



## nizar (3 October 2007)

Chorlton said:


> Nizar,
> 
> Can you elaborate on Pardo's book in terms of its content? What areas did you find the most interesting? Also does Pardo cover any areas of System Development which are not also covered in Howard's book?
> 
> Yes, I definately would recommend Weissman's book. However, I feel that Bandy's book may also cover most of the content albeit in a different way. As I haven't finished Bandy's book yet, I can't say this for certain yet.....




Chorlton,

WHere did you get Weissman's book from?


----------



## Rastan (4 October 2007)

(my first post - and its about books - but hello everybody anyways)

I am currently reading Midnights Children by Salman Rushdie  (and the Van Tharp book since im trying to learn about stock investing)

Some of my favourites are:
Time Travellers Wife - Audrey Schnifgruber(something like that)
Kafka On the Shore, Wild Sheep Chase - Haruki Murakami
Special Topics in Calamity Physics (just read it and a great debut novel by a female author)
Mushashi
Jane Eyre (go figure..)

For humor i like Ben Elton and Jasper Fforde and occasionally I will read some sci fi like Peter Hamilton (read all of his space operas) and fantasy such as  David Gemmel.

Rob


----------



## drillinto (6 October 2007)

"A hole in the ground with a liar at the top - Fraud and deceit in the golden age of American mining"
Author: Dan Plazak
Publisher: The University of Utah Press, 2006

[It is an encyclopedic collection of fraud cases. This entertaining and informative volume will be of interest to mining historians, geologists, Aussie Stock Forums' members and anyone who likes a good story]


----------



## drillinto (26 October 2007)

"Zinky Boys: Soviet Voices from the Afghanistan War"
By Svetlana Alexievich
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co, 1992

[A powerful, lyrical and poignant portrait of a brutal chapter in modern history]


----------



## brettc4 (26 October 2007)

"One Shot" by Lee Child.
Book 9 in the Jack Reacher series. Like his other books, hard to put down, you just want to keep on reading.

I also recently finished reading "Utopia" by Lincoln Child about a Theme Park that  is targeted by a small group of well trained ex soliders to steal money and the technology used at the Theme park.  Thiink 24 but in book form, the book takes place over about a 12 hour period.

Cheers


----------



## Julia (26 October 2007)

Yes, I read "One Shot" a few months ago.  Agree completely.  Lee Child never disappoints.

Currently I'm reading "Gogo Mama" by Sally Sara.  Sally was the ABC's Africa correspondent for five years and in this book she introduces readers to some of the courageous people she met during her time there.  Reading her account of the endless years of war and brutality, and the violence endured by so many African people, I feel a great sense of shame that we have so much here in this affluent country but still whine about what we don't like.


----------



## imajica (26 October 2007)

Michael Swanwick - Cigar Box Faust and other Miniatures

a collection of short stories and reflective essays - quirky, brilliant and timeless


----------



## drillinto (28 October 2007)

"Into the fire"
By Linda Davies
Twentieth First Century Publishers, 2007

[This fast-paced financial thriller has an excellent depiction of Peru]


----------



## GreatPig (28 October 2007)

Rastan said:


> I am currently reading Midnights Children by Salman Rushdie



I tried reading that quite a few years ago and couldn't finish it. It was kinda strange really, as it had good writing but I just couldn't keep interested.

If you like good writing, try Kazuo Ishiguro's "The Remains Of The Day", or his more recent one "Never Let Me Go" (Remains is better though I think), and Ian McEwan's "Atonement".

I just finished Robert Heinlein's "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress".

GP


----------



## chops_a_must (29 October 2007)

Currently reading Noam Chomsky's _On Language_, which is two of his works, _Language and Responsibility_ and _Reflection on Language_ in one book. I'm only half way through the first, but it does provide quite a good overview and introduction to his theories and philosophies. And is especially informative for someone like me who only knows his work through second hand sources.


----------



## Rastan (29 October 2007)

> If you like good writing, try Kazuo Ishiguro's "The Remains Of The Day", or his more recent one "Never Let Me Go" (Remains is better though I think), and Ian McEwan's "Atonement".




All of the 'Booker Prize' winners are always about the prose (and usually therefore often a task to read). I read 'God of Small Things' for a similar reason which wasn't too bad, a lot of people rave about it. I really love Haruki Murakami for querky storylines and good prose. I read Atonement earlier this year and just yesterday was at the flicks to see 'Death at a Funeral' (which is pretty damn funny btw) and a preview came on and I picked it as the movie for Atonement (which I didnt know was being made into a movie) in 3 seconds flat. I will be intersted in seeing if they do the ending the same as the book (not that I will probably see it mind you).

I picked up 'Special Topics in Calamity Physics' recently and was happilly suprised, a really good debut novel by a smart (and beautiful - look at the inside cover) woman.


----------



## prawn_86 (8 January 2008)

Adam Smith - "The Wealth of Nations"

Pretty much the first ever economic book written, way back in 1775 and it is amazing how relevant it still is today.

I am reading Books 4 and 5 (combined into one novel) which focus on the mercantile system and the role of the state.

His first 3 books (also in one novel) focused on the division of labour and how that helps economic growth.

A must read IMO


----------



## brettc4 (17 January 2008)

I've read a number of books since my last posting here, but one that may interest others here is 'The Worl of Wall Street' written by Jordon Belfort.
Jordon started his own brokerage firm in New York in the 90's and was making millions of dollars on IPO's.

I found it rather interesting they way he and a number of other brokerage houses were getting around the rules regarding % of ownership.

Also interesting in terms of how someones life can go from riches to jail in about a decade.

I found it enjoyable.
Brett


----------



## nizar (17 January 2008)

I'm just about to start on this one.

I.R.Toshchakov - Beat the odds in forex trading: How to identify and profit from high-percentage market patterns (2006).


----------



## jman2007 (18 January 2008)

Bit of a military history buff myself,

Reading an absolute classic, "A bridge too Far" by Cornelius Ryan.

Basically discusses the normally cautious Field Marshall Montgomery's audacious plan to sieze key bridges in Holland by massed airbourne drops behind German Lines in Sept 1944.  The airbourne troops were to hold the bridges while a simultaneous armoured drive from Belgium passed over the bridges and into the industrial Ruhr region of Germany, causing a massive collapse of resistance and an early end to WWII.

German resistance was expected to be light and completely disorganized, consisting mainly of old men and boys on bicycles. Not only did Allied High Command grossly overestimate their own capabilities, fail to compensate for weather disruptions,  they also magnificently bungled the military intelligence assessment all down the chain of command.  

The result an Arhnem for instance, was that instead of meeting frail old men and young boys, the British 1st airbourne division dropped almost completely on top of 2 crack, battle-hardened Waffen SS panzer divisions with substansial numbers of Tiger and Panther tanks, that weren't even known to be there!  

"A Bridge too Far" is a classic account of a tragic Allied miscalculation, and the valour and bravery of men from both sides.

jman


----------



## It's Snake Pliskin (20 November 2008)

I have a few books I am reading at the moment:

*Ideals of the East*: The spirit of Japanese Art by kazuko Okakura

*What to say when you talk to yourself*: by Shad Helmstetter, Ph.D. This will help with a trader getting through daily thoughts by implementing a program of positive and actionable thoughts. 

Antichrist: Islam's awaited Messiah: This one I'll start today.


----------



## Julia (20 November 2008)

Recently read Tim Winton's latest:  "Breath".   Up to his usual compelling standard.


----------



## It's Snake Pliskin (21 December 2008)

What Nicholas Sparks novels do people recommend reading, the Notebook excluded?


----------



## GumbyLearner (21 December 2008)

ATM

Dak To by Edward F. Murphy & 
Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole


----------



## white_crane (21 December 2008)

Currently reading Perilous Power by Noam Chomsky and Gilbert Achcar.

Will be reading Midnight's Children next.


I have about 6 other books that I've partially read.  No wonder I need so many bookmarks.


----------



## AS414 (22 December 2008)

"The Black Swan" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb - arrogant but probably right...


----------



## wildkactus (22 December 2008)

The 4 Hour Work Week By Tim Ferriss

an interesting read about how to outsource your work and life chores, plus get a steady stream of income and become part of the New Rich.


----------



## drillinto (10 January 2009)

"The elephant and the dragon - The rise of India and China and what it means for all of us"
by Robyn Meredith
Publisher: Norton (2008)

[It is a thought-provoking book]


----------



## It's Snake Pliskin (10 January 2009)

*The Tipping Point* by Malcolm Gladwell.


----------



## Boggo (11 January 2009)

*Gomorrah - Italy's Other Mafia* by Roberto Saviano

An amazing insight to organised crime in Europe.


----------



## GumbyLearner (11 January 2009)

*Thatcher's Gold by Paul Halloran and Mark Hollingsworth*

Notably about Mark Thatcher, son of the former British Prime Minister


----------



## brettc4 (11 January 2009)

*Business Stripped Bare - Richard Branson
*
I have really only just started, but I like the style of writing and there are some interesting tidbits, and some of the stories he tells are pretty funny.


----------



## kincella (11 January 2009)

still reading  Alan Greenspans 'The Age of Turbulence', he covers most of the different financial crisis from the 1960's....and his thoughts and actions towards those crisis....and his reasoning on the how and why .....

a lot of people do not understand the workings of the Fed Reserve and blame Greenspan personally for the decisions that were made....when in fact there was an 8 member board which made the decision...he was the chairman....not the desicion maker.....other boards were also involved,,again with the majority of the board making the decision.....

reading it now provides a concise financial history .....when I was younger, none of these things mattered to me, I took no notice or very little notice of them...........
 bought the book Dec 07 for some light xmas reading....but find I keep reading
and refer to the book on a regular basis....during our current crisis,,,,to try to gain an insight into the thought process of the worlds most powerful men.


----------



## pacestick (21 February 2009)

Faith of Barrack Obama . Its  quite interesting allows  one to see a side not normally seen


----------



## nunthewiser (21 February 2009)

The Stand .......... Stephen King


----------



## CanOz (21 February 2009)

Two now...The Black Swan and KFC in China.

CanOz


----------



## Trembling Hand (21 February 2009)

Outliers, Malcom Gladwell.


----------



## BentRod (25 February 2009)

I just had a copy of Atlas Shrugged delivered.

I made the mistake of getting the paperback version.

This thing is about an inch and half thick and the writing inside is almost microscopic. 

I wanted to read that first but will now use that as a doorstop!

Next on the list is  Traders,Guns and Money

Hopes are not high from the Title but I will give it a chance.


----------



## Wysiwyg (25 February 2009)

BentRod said:


> Next on the list is  Traders,Guns and Money
> 
> Hopes are not high from the Title but I will give it a chance.






> Derivatives are similar to a pair of Manolo Blahnik or Jimmy Choo pair of women`s shoes




Hope you don`t end up like Imelda. :



> The world's best-known shoe collector, former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos, has opened a museum in which most of the exhibits are her own footwear.
> The Marikina City Footwear Museum in Manila contains hundreds of pairs of shoes, many of them found in the presidential palace when Imelda and her husband, President Ferdinand Marcos, fled the Philippines in 1986.


----------



## BentRod (25 February 2009)

> This thing is about an inch and half thick and the writing inside is almost microscopic.




Check this out....:bonk:


----------



## drillinto (14 June 2009)

"The Box. How the shipping container made the world smaller and the world economy bigger"
Author: Marc Levinson
Publisher: Princeton University Press(USA), 2006

[Marc Levinson's story is great fun to read, but it is spectacular economic history as well]


----------



## Stan 101 (27 June 2009)

I was recently given a novel named "Shantaram."
Based on an Australian who's life crumbled to drug addicition after a marriage breakdown, a subsequent prison sentence and then escape and a lucky flee to India.

He finds his way into the slums of Bombay and through no intension becomes their local doctor due to his meagre first aid skills.

The first five chapters give an outstanding insite of Bombay and Colaba in particular. For those fortunate enough to have wander past the Chowpatty beach region it will be a real reminder. This guy knows the place well. He relates the Taj region so well I feel I am walking it as I read. He holds leopold's in close regard. Unfortunately that is now blown up in the recent terroist attack.


An excellent read and has me wanting to pack my bags again for the lost continent..

Can't recommend it enough...

cheers,


----------



## MRC & Co (27 June 2009)

More recent read books:

*Caesars Legion* (great book on the life of Caesars most famous legion, very factual which is a nice contrast from a lot of the other books on his life) by By Stephen Dando-Collins.

*On the Road* (very famous book, but a bit too odd for me, probably should have read it while on drugs) by Jack Kerouac.

*The Alchemy of Finance* (a book that is a MUST for any follower of the global financial environment I believe) by George Soros.

*Ronaldinho: Football's Flamboyant Maestro* (brilliant insight into the man and life in the sport, a must for any football lover) by Jethro Soutar.

*First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers* (fantastic story of the brutality of Pol Pot and one girls struggle throughout the entire time of his rise to his fall) by Ung Loung.  

*White Fang *(absolutely loved this one, guess it has more impact on animal lovers) by Jack London.


----------



## gav (27 June 2009)

Just finished Everyday Traders - Nick Radge


----------



## Garpal Gumnut (27 June 2009)

The Kindly Ones

A harrowing account of genocide during the Second World War.

gg


----------



## trainspotter (27 June 2009)

"Cry, the beloved country" by Alan Paton. Sad but rivetting of how a country and society is allowed to decay for profit with a family moralistic overtone.


----------



## GumbyLearner (27 June 2009)

Capitalism and Freedom
by Milton Friedman


----------



## Julia (27 June 2009)

Tim Winton recently won the Miles Franklin award for "Breath".
Just a wonderful book.


----------



## Robb (27 June 2009)

Nudge - Improving decisions about health, wealth and happiness
Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstien


----------



## GumbyLearner (28 June 2009)

The Shock Doctrine
by Naomi Klein


----------



## white_crane (28 June 2009)

Have recently read:
*The Book Thief* by Markus Zusak - great book
*A Thousand Splendid Suns* by Khaled Hosseini - brilliant book

Currently reading:
*The Complete Robot* by Isaac Asimov


----------



## Iggy_Pop (28 June 2009)

Tried to read the *Wolf of Wall Street*, but could not get into it. Gave it back to the library.


----------



## Julia (28 June 2009)

Iggy_Pop said:


> Tried to read the *Wolf of Wall Street*, but could not get into it. Gave it back to the library.



I'm reassured to read that, Iggy Pop.  I had the same experience.  It was so badly written I couldn't hack it.


----------



## drillinto (28 June 2009)

"ROGUE BULL. The story of Lang Hancock, King of the Pilbara"
By Robert Duffield
Publisher: Fontana/Collins
Publication date: 1979

[ Hancock's campaign to convince the country's power holders that Australia's only secure future lies in her mineral resources ]


----------



## dalek (28 June 2009)

"Fugitive Pieces" by Ann Michaels
An extraordinary demonstration of english language skills by this author who is apparently more well known as a poet.

Also "Longtitude" by Dava Sobel
An well written and absorbing account of the development of an accurate means to measure/find global position in the 1700's
Yes, sounds a bit tedious but it is a great read.


----------



## It's Snake Pliskin (1 July 2009)

Trembling Hand said:


> Outliers, Malcom Gladwell.



Read this one the other day and found the section on pilots quite interesting.


----------



## happytown (17 July 2009)

'how to talk about books you haven't read' - bayard, pierre

cheers


----------



## Ghetto23 (17 July 2009)

I just finished Stephen King's Dark Tower series.

Quite the saga, but well worth it.


----------



## GumbyLearner (17 July 2009)

My Regards to Broadway - A Memoir

James Fairfax


----------



## berbouy (26 July 2009)

hijacked-the true story of flight 705 by d. hirschfeld-gripping book!


----------



## berbouy (26 July 2009)

and fittingly, with le tour ,its not about the bike -lance armstrong.couldnt put it down.


----------



## wonderrman (26 July 2009)

I just finished reading never say die by Prof. Chris Obrien. very good bio about a very good man.

w.


----------



## berbouy (26 July 2009)

just read a good fishing book "a jerk on one end " by robert hughes-think he is the art critic? anyway, some good anecdotes in there, and an enjoyable easy read


----------



## Boyou (26 July 2009)

Have been reading a short story collection by John Varley.

An excerpt from one of them.'The Persistence of Vision" A fictional account of one man's visit to a community of people born deaf and blind who evolved their own excuisite way to overcome it.

"The Strength of the organism was communication.There's no way around it.Without the elaborate and impossible- to- falsify mechanisms for communication built into Keller (the community),it would have eaten itself in pettiness,jealousy, and any dozen other "innate" human defects

The nightly Together was the basis of the organism.Here ,from after dinner ,till it was time to fall asleep,everyone talked in a language that was incapable of falsehood.If there was a problem brewing,it presented itself and was solved ,almost automatically. Jealousy? Resentment? Some little festering wrong that you're nursing?You couldn't conceal it at the Together,and soon everyone was clusterd around you and loving the sickness away.It acted like  white corpuscles,clustering around a sick cell,not to destroy it,but to heal it.There seemed to be no problem that couldn't be solved if it was attacked early enough,and with Touch,your neighbours knew about it ,before you did and were already labouring to correct the wrong, heal the wound,to make you feel better ,so you could laugh about it.There was a lot of laughter at the Togethers."

Cheers Ya'll


----------



## derty (26 July 2009)

Not really enough time to sit at home and read - but do listen to audio books while out bush.

in the last two weeks I have listened to: 
William Gibson - Neuromancer
Aldous Huxley - Brave New World 
Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse Five


----------



## white_crane (27 July 2009)

Just finished _The Poisonwood Bible_ by Barbara Kingsolver.
A fiction novel about the disintegration of a family running a religious mission in the Congo (Zaire) around the time of the country's fight for independence.  I enjoyed it.

Currently reading _Nightmares and Dreamscapes_ by Stephen King.


----------



## Old Mate (27 July 2009)

Currently going through Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I'm sure a few of you are familiar with it.


----------



## Julia (27 July 2009)

white_crane said:


> Just finished _The Poisonwood Bible_ by Barbara Kingsolver.
> A fiction novel about the disintegration of a family running a religious mission in the Congo (Zaire) around the time of the country's fight for independence.  I enjoyed it.
> 
> .



I tried one of Barbara Kingsolver's novels but just couldn't get into it.  Seemed very wordy which sounds like a silly thing to say about a book.  The friend who recommended it is really keen about her writing.


----------



## white_crane (28 July 2009)

Julia said:


> I tried one of Barbara Kingsolver's novels but just couldn't get into it.  Seemed very wordy which sounds like a silly thing to say about a book.  The friend who recommended it is really keen about her writing.




I haven't read any of her books before.  This one maybe drags on a little bit at the end, but I enjoyed the style of writing.  The book reads as if you were reading diary entries from the characters themselves - complete with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.


----------



## It's Snake Pliskin (30 July 2009)

I'm reading *Naked Economics* - _Undressing the dysmal science_ by Charles Wheelan.
It isn't a technical book, it is a book for laymen and gives understanding to how things work.


----------



## It's Snake Pliskin (5 September 2009)

Started reading  The Age of Fallibility by George Soros. He seems a very decent man from his thoughts so far.


----------



## It's Snake Pliskin (24 September 2009)

Has anyone read books by *David Foster Wallace*? Curious as to how people like them.


----------



## GumbyLearner (25 September 2009)

Bought the book over ten years ago

*Reading it again*

Seven days to remember : *the first Labor government in the world* : Queensland, 1-7 December 1899 / Ross Fitzgerald 

http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/162500


----------



## McCoy Pauley (18 November 2009)

I've been re-reading _The Gatekeepers_ recently (almost finished it), regarding the difficult birth of Australia's pay-television industry.  Good read.  Maybe hard to find now as I purchased it in 2000.


----------



## basilio (19 November 2009)

Have been reading "Family Romance a memoir" by John Lanchester.

Fascinating read. It is John's story which pieces together his parents history and some amazing secrets.

Excellent writing, great insight into Ireland of the 20-30's and absolutely riveting on the life of nuns in the 50's. John's mother was a nun who "escaped" .

There is a lot more to the story than this outline. John uncovers many secrets in his family search and the impact of these on him and everyone concerned is an insight into the human condition.

Well worth a  read . (you may even find  the English edition  in remaindered bookshops )


----------



## freddy2 (19 November 2009)

berbouy said:


> and fittingly, with le tour ,its not about the bike -lance armstrong.couldnt put it down.




For a different perspective read "From Lance to Landis: Inside the American Doping Controversy at the Tour de France".

http://www.amazon.com/Lance-Landis-Inside-American-Controversy/dp/034549962X


----------



## weird (19 November 2009)

freddy2 said:


> For a different perspective read "From Lance to Landis: Inside the American Doping Controversy at the Tour de France".
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Lance-Landis-Inside-American-Controversy/dp/034549962X




"Its not about the bike", is a great book. Unfortunately my brother has been diagnosed with cancer recently, and immediately when I found out thought about this book ... not that it is a prescription, just good to know some people survive and still manage to triumph ... actually very sad really when thinking about everyone else, including my brother.

Recently read, Freakonomics , very interesting read.


----------



## derty (19 November 2009)

Listened too recently:
Atlas Shrugged: Ayan Rand (A long but great read - capitalism ftw!)
History of the British Speaking Peoples Vol 1-4: Winston Churchill (fascinating)
Starship Troopers: Robert Heinlein
The Map that Changed the World: Simon Winchester
Catcher in the Rye: JD Salinger 
The Weapon Shops of Isher: A. E. van Vogt
Guns, Germs and Steel: Jared Diamond
The Bro Code: Barney Stinson (Fictional character from How I Met Your Mother - played by Neil Patrick Phillips (Doogie Howser))


----------



## Julia (19 November 2009)

"Heaven and Earth" by Professor Ian Plimer.
Debunks much of the current popular beliefs about anthropogenic climate change.


----------



## noirua (19 November 2009)

Julia said:


> "Heaven and Earth" by Professor Ian Plimer.
> Debunks much of the current popular beliefs about anthropogenic climate change.




Hi Julia, I'm coming to like two books by Sharyn Munro,  The woman on the mountain  at http://www.sharynmunro.com


----------



## DocK (21 December 2009)

Recently finished Breath, by Tim Winton.  I enjoyed it while reading it, and found it hard to put down, which is always a good sign.  The most telling point though is that it has stuck with me, and I find myself reliving it in my mind from time to time.  Would highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it already.

Not sure what to dive into next.  Haven't read the Stieg Larsson trilogy, and have heard good things, so might start with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - any reviews?


----------



## Julia (21 December 2009)

DocK, I had the same reaction to "Breath".  Like all Tim Winton's books, it has many layers.  I have no interest in surfing, yet read all his descriptive passages about this with absorption.  I don't know any other Australian writer who has such a gift for creating a physical picture in the minds of the reader.

And then there's the immensely touching 'coming of age' experiences of the young boy with his increasing sexual awareness, also handled so evocatively.

Another two books which have also stayed with me, though they are quite different, are;

"Butterfly" by Sonya Hartnett
(all of Sonya Hartnett's books are beautiful.)

"Smoke in the Room" by Emily Maguire

Both of these have made several literary 'must read' lists for 2009 and I found they both brought that sense of regret when one comes to the end.


I've just finished "Vital Signs" by Professor Ken Hillman, Professor of Intensive Care at the University of NSW, an internationally recognised specialist in intensive care medicine.
This is an absorbing and thoughtful account of individual stories from intensive care, drawing attention not just to the severe illnesses treated, but to the moral and ethical dilemmas faced by the staff.
I learned a good deal from reading this clearly written book.


----------



## Sean K (22 December 2009)

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga.

'A masterpiece' The Times
'Blazingly Savage and Brilliant' Sunday Telegraph
'One of the most powerful books I have read in decades' USA Today
'Took me less than a week to read, normal time frame runs into months' kennas

Winner Man Booker Prize 2008


----------



## Atlas79 (22 December 2009)

"Strange Places: a memoir of mental illness" by Will Elliott. Jaw droppingly good.

http://shop.abc.net.au/browse/product.asp?productid=166389&SearchID=1&SearchRefineID=4942639


----------



## Woodsy58 (22 December 2009)

A Year ( with swollen appendages) by Brian Eno- a diary that always makes me feel as though I never do enough with my life and always gives me new ideas...


----------



## derty (22 December 2009)

Atlas79 said:


> "Strange Places: a memoir of mental illness" by Will Elliott. Jaw droppingly good.
> 
> http://shop.abc.net.au/browse/product.asp?productid=166389&SearchID=1&SearchRefineID=4942639



Thanks Atlas I have been looking for a little something extra for my wife for Xmas and this will do very nicely - cheers.

I've been doing quite a bit of bush work lately so lots of audiobook listening:
Stephen Hawking - The Universe in a Nutshell. As always leaves you with more questions - it is amazing what they can deduce and know about the small scale and large scale structure of the universe.

The Teaching Company Lecture Series: From Jesus to Constantine A History of Early Christianity.
A series of 24, 1/2 hour lectures on early Christianity. Very insightful - A historians view of the nature the early Christianities and Judaism, the construction and authors of the bible, the impact of the main players in the shaping of Christianity e.t.c. Interesting to see how the prevailing apocalyptic message preached by Jesus and his equivalents evolved into multiple strains focussed on the worship and resurrection of Jesus to the final version we know today and the events which allowed this to happen. 

East of Eden: John Steinbeck.
One of the most enjoyable books I have read. I really became involved with the characters and even shed a tear when Sam Hamilton died. Great book.

iRobot - Isaac Asimov: A Sci-Fi classic.

The Great Gatsby: F Scott Fitzgerald. Well written, and enjoyable though was glad it ended.


----------



## ghotib (22 December 2009)

Recently finished "Pasteur's Gambit;  Louis Pasteur, the Australasian Rabbit Plague and a Ten Million Dollar Prize" by Stephen Dando-Collins. 

I enjoyed this very much, not least because I didn't know anything about this little bit of history before I read it. 

The publisher's blurb:


> The incredible, previously untold story of Australia’s role in the creation of the world-famous Pasteur Institute.
> 
> n 1887, the desperate NSW Government of Sir Henry Parkes advertised an international competition for a biological cure for the rabbit plague then ravaging the farms of Australia and New Zealand. The competition, with a prize equivalent to $10 million today, would attract 1500 entries, and would generate a sensational episode in Australasian history that combined science, subterfuge, and scandal.
> 
> ...


----------



## It's Snake Pliskin (10 January 2010)

Reading _Rule By Secrecy_ by Jim Marrs at the moment. It's very interesting for the information.


----------



## drillinto (15 January 2010)

"On Bull****"
Harry G. Frankfurt
Princeton University Press (2005)

The link below has also a video interview with Harry G. Frankfurt 
http://press.princeton.edu/titles/7929.html


----------



## Boognish (21 January 2010)

Atlas79 said:


> "Strange Places: a memoir of mental illness" by Will Elliott. Jaw droppingly good.




I have read this, it is very good.


----------



## Mofra (21 January 2010)

Shock Doctine - Naomi Klein

Very interesting books discussing the effect Milton Friedman's brand of economics had on the political & social welfare of the states who adopted his approaches. Very one-sided view of his work & the subsequent effect of the changes made but extremnely interesting and thought-provoking nonetheless.


----------



## Purple XS2 (21 January 2010)

_The Dead Sea Scrolls_, Translation and introduction by Geza Vermes.

Boy, the Essenes were a weird mob.


_The man who owns the news_ (Rupert Murdoch), Michael Wolfe.

Know your enemy.


----------



## Muschu (21 January 2010)

Mitch Albom [author of "Tuesdays With Morrie"] -- Just read his latest -- "Have a Little Faith".  Exceptionally thought provoking - and a true story.


----------



## So_Cynical (21 January 2010)

I'm reading Branson's autobiography...Losing my Virginity

Its ok, but i do like a more warts and all autobiography, Branson admits to the sex and drugs etc but never really goes into it..its an autobiography that never really get personal.

Still no where near as boring as Mandela's...Long walk to freedom. :sleeping:


----------



## Liar's Poker (31 January 2010)

Reading two at the moment:

The Pinstriped Prison by Lisa Pryor

and 

Cityboy: Beer and Loathing in the Square Mile by Geraint Anderson.

My favourite book is appropriately my user name.


----------



## nulla nulla (31 January 2010)

Reading about "Weary" Dunlop at the moment.


----------



## GumbyLearner (2 February 2010)

The Snowball by Alice Schroeder


----------



## Garpal Gumnut (2 February 2010)

Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy

gg


----------



## overit (18 May 2010)

I recently downloaded a text to audio converter that enabled me to convert my e-books to audio books. (One that actually sounds quite life like). Very useful tool. Some of the books I highly recommend so far.

Fooled By Randomness: The Hidden Role Of Chance In Life And In The Markets 

Why Government Doesnt work by Harry Browne

Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference

The Quants: How A Small Band Of Maths Wizards Took Over Wall Street And Nearly Destroyed It 

Black Swan: The Impact Of The Highly Improbable

Ron Paul Revolution: History in the Making 

Most of the titles are self explanatory. Links also provided. I did find Nassim Talebs books (fooled by randomness and the black swan) a little awkward to read at some stages but his message in both books highly resonated with me so I rated them highly.


----------



## It's Snake Pliskin (18 May 2010)

Just finished *The Sign* by Raymond Khoury. 
I enjoyed the protagonist's adventure.


----------



## gav (4 June 2010)

Has anyone read any of the following:
- The Universal Principals of Succesful Trading by Brent Penfold
- Against The Gods: A Remarkable Story of Risk by Peter L. Bernstein
- The Flaw of Averages: Why We Underestimate Risk in the Face of Uncertainty by Patrick Leach

(I have ordered the first two)


----------



## ghotib (4 June 2010)

I enjoyed Against the Gods both times I read it. Do you know when your new edition was published? Mine is 1998, so I think it's quite likely that there's an updated edition.  

BTW, the subtitle is "*The* Remarkable Story of Risk", rather than "*A* Remarkable Story..."  It's an intellectual history, about the development and application of quantitative methods to risk and uncertainty. If you enjoy that kind of popular mathematical /social history you might also enjoy "The Measure of Reality", by Alfred Crosby - not that you seem to be short of reading matter, but it never hurts to have some in reserve 

Cheers,

Ghoti


----------



## gav (4 June 2010)

Sorry about the typo.  My bad.

My copy of "Against The Gods" hasn't arrived yet.  I checked the website I purchased it from and it says it was published in 1998.  Thanks for the recommendation of "The Measure of Reality", I'll add it to my list  

Cheers.


----------



## It's Snake Pliskin (20 October 2010)

Anyone read David Hewson's books based in Italy?


----------



## Amungee (20 October 2010)

Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor
Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond


----------



## gav (24 November 2010)

*Economyths*

Whilst my fiance was handing in her final assignments at Melbourne University, I decided to check out their book store.  Not surprisingly, their Economics area consisted almost entirely of Keynesian-based books.  The one book defied the norm was titled *Economyths: Ten Ways That Economics Gets it Wrong*.  I normally don't buy books without doing research first, but this day I made an exception.  The book is written by David Orrell, a mathematician.  Orrell claims to trace the history of neoclassical economics, show ways in which it is mistaken, and propose new alternatives.

Orrell points out some of the flaws in mainstream economics such as efficient market hypothesis, markets are nonlinear, flaws in risk models, etc. but there was absolutely nothing ground-breaking or original in this book.  What's worse, his proposed 'new alternatives' are nothing more than fierce government intervention and regulation.  

There are some frightening quotes in this book.  For example, when Orrell explains how humans act irrationally, emotionally, over-eat, over-drink, don't save for retirement, etc. he says _"Government should therefore consider 'nudging' citizens into making healthy financial decisions."_ Orrell attacks mainstream economics, yet seems to support the most mainstream and widely taught form of economics, Keynesianism.  Yet Keynesianism hardly gets a mention in this book.  It makes no sense at all.

When faulting current risk models, Orrell's answer is more regulation, of course.  However he also adds _"Time-tested risk management techniques such as experience-honed intuition, common sense and conservatism."_  Experience-honed intuition?  The same "intuition" that makes us act irrationally and emotionally?  Surely Orrell cannot be serious?

Orrell also claims that the economy is a giant casino ruled by hedge funds, banks targeting ethnic minorities, and even blames the GFC on gender discrimination.  He states _"In other words - and we have to admit this - the credit crunch really was a guy thing."_ 

He fiercely attacks the free market and Milton Friedman with obscure reasoning, and blames the recent financial crisis on the free market.  As part of his argument, Orrell uses the example of the bailout of AIG.  AIG then used the bailout money to give employee bonuses.   Apparently this is the fault of the "free market".  Orrell keeps calling for more government intervention and regulation, yet we only need to look at the AIG situation to see what happens when the government intervenes.   The fact is, AIG failed to manage its risk.  There is nothing "free market" about this scenario at all.  Free markets would have let AIG fail.

Another of Orrell's reasoning's for ridiculous amounts of regulation is that _"all forms of life, from bacteria to an ecosystem, are closely regulated"_.  What Orrell fails to mention is that there is no "government" or "authority" regulating nature.   Nature is SELF REGULATING.   If a plant or animal cannot adapt to environmental changes or competition, it perishes.  It is survival of the fittest.  Nature is the ultimate self-regulating "free market", where plants and animals are responsible for their own survival.  Yet Orrell obscurely tries to use nature as an example of why we need high levels of government intervention and regulation.  Just like the rest of Orrell's arguments, this makes no sense at all.

There are literally dozens of further poor examples throughout this book, where Orrell tries to impose his socialist ideals (although in an interview I read online he claims not to be a socialist).  Do not waste your time reading this book.  If you really want to learn about the economics and how markets work, I strongly suggest More Than You Know: Finding Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Places by Michael J. Mauboussin.


----------



## It's Snake Pliskin (22 December 2010)

Started reading Steppenwolf  by Hermann Hesse, seems a bit dry. Anyone read it, thoughts?


----------



## It's Snake Pliskin (22 December 2010)

*Re: Economyths*

That's a good review there Gav. 

Naked Economics is a good read too.


----------



## GumbyLearner (22 December 2010)

The Forever War - Dexter Filkins


----------



## Vicki (22 December 2010)

The great depression ahead.
Harry S. Dent.


----------



## gav (23 December 2010)

Thanks Snake 

Just finished reading:
- Linchpin by Seth Godin
- The (Mis)Behaviour of Markets by Benoit Mandelbrot


----------



## Calliope (23 December 2010)

My Kindle will be arriving shortly. I would appreciate any sources of free downloads of ebooks.


----------



## tigerboi (24 December 2010)

just started...bart cummings  my life.

so far a great insight into how bart cummings became the industry leader in racehorse training,he was one the first trainers to go to nz in 1958 to buy yearlings to win the melbourne cup.

i always remember a saying of his...the harder you work the luckier you get & in october 2009 when i had my life turned upside down i never forgot what he said,since then i came out the other side in much better shape work wise,money & personal.

even if your not into racing grab his book & read it you might be surprised...
he is the only man to strap(comic court 1950 for his father),bred,own & train a melbourne cup winner(saintly).viewed his last at 40/1 very nice odds...tb


----------



## Dowdy (24 December 2010)

I got my Kindle from my trip in the USA.

So far i've read 

The Big Short
How an Economy grows and why it Crashes

currently I'm reading

Sun Tzu: The Art of War for Managers

it's got some great tips on how to be a better business


I love this Kindle. I never used to read before I got it. Now i can fit so many books in such a small package, and best of all I never have to spend a single cent on a book - I get my books of torrent sites


----------



## joea (24 December 2010)

Beyond the Brink

All about fixing Australia agriculture woes and the correct way to solve climate problems.
Explains why the temperature is rising, and how to reduce CO2 emmissions.
No need of carbon trading.


----------



## gav (24 December 2010)

Currently reading "High Intensity Training" by Mike Mentzer.  

Have implemented some of the methods in my training recently and already seeing results


----------



## It's Snake Pliskin (1 January 2011)

Nearly finished The Little book of Sideways Markets - from Wiley publisher's little book series.
Probably not out in Aus yet.  

Will have a look at Peter Schiff's little book - Bull moves.

Recently read UBIK by P, K Dick. What a mind bend it was. Great stuff for average prose.


----------



## Dowdy (1 January 2011)

It's Snake Pliskin said:


> Will have a look at Peter Schiff's little book - Bull moves.





My brother bought me that book for my birthday. Not a bad book but if you listen to his commentary on youtube, then there's nothing much new in the book. I would recommend "How an Economy Grows and why it Crashes" instead. It's a much more interested and fun book to read.


I just put "The six figure second income" on my kindle so i'll be reading that soon


----------



## tothemax6 (4 January 2011)

Dowdy said:


> My brother bought me that book for my birthday. Not a bad book but if you listen to his commentary on youtube, then there's nothing much new in the book. I would recommend "How an Economy Grows and why it Crashes" instead. It's a much more interested and fun book to read.
> I just put "The six figure second income" on my kindle so i'll be reading that soon



+1. Exactly what I thought about the books.
In 'bull moves' he pretty much says exactly the same things as he says on TV and on his Vlog anyway, so it is a waste of money, no new info, no technical information about anything. Just 'buy gold, US is **** get all of your money into foreign markets'.
"How an economy grows" however was a good book, agreed.

My current books are:
General theory (Keynes). Damn this is painful to get through. Never has there been such a deliberately over-complicated treatise written on anything. Some of his sentences are as long as this post, with dashes, semi-colons and commas galore. I read a sentence to a mate, three times over at his request, and he still couldn't understand what the guy just said.
Bleak house (Dickens). Dickens, nuff said. 
Value-able (Montgomery). Good buy, interesting and valuable addition to ones investing savvy. 
Making sense of Japanese (Rubin). Useful book, worth the buy if you happen to be learning the language.


----------



## white_crane (4 January 2011)

The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien.


----------



## motorway (22 January 2011)

http://www.wellsphere.com/healthy-e...us-art-de-vany-answers-your-questions/1303531


Good book. 

Afterward by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

A good introduction to the concept of paleolithic insights to health and fitness and the concepts link to life reality and naturally trading.




> Each of us has what I call an ensemble of stochastic life paths–the choices we make. You make each choice in life based on your understanding of the possibility that it will take you where you want to be.
> 
> But you don’t determine the outcome, only the probabilities. Each path leads to more choices: a cascade to echo all the other cascades that rule our lives. Choosing the path is the extent of your control–beyond that, it’s out of your hands. You choose, and then life rolls the dice.







"At some point I realized that a human being is just another economic system. Indeed, your body contains an entire economy. There is the allocation of assets according to a hierarchy of needs. There are competing interests that sometimes struggle over resources and other times cooperate for the common good. There are surpluses. There are shortages. Like economies–like the movie industry–your body is a complex, decentralized system poised between chaos and order.

In the movie business, word-of-mouth reviews, more than anything, were what prompted fans to see one film instead of another. It is a powerful feedback loop made up of millions of small parts, each acting independently. This system has grown exponentially since the advent of the Internet. Where once millions of moviegoers chattered, now there are billions, perpetually in contact with one another, weighing in, arguing, linking, connecting and disconnecting, uploading and downloading.
It mimics perfectly what goes on inside our bodies. Billions of cells, all connected but working autonomously, with no central authority to guide them, take in information. react, then talk back and forth at the speed of electrons, each one responding in small ways that collectively add up to a powerful force.

“Information cascade” is an economics term to describe how even a small piece of knowledge can be amplified as it spreads from one decision maker to another. Your body is also controlled by cascades of information–your bloodstream is hit with a dose of carbohydrate, which is the signal for your pancreas to release insulin, which turns off fat burning and silences the signal from leptin, the hormone that would ordinarily tell your body that it has adequate reserves of energy and need not store any more.
Likewise, in the aging cascade, we lose metabolic fitness. And as a result, insulin rises and we grow more acidic, which further decreases metabolic health, and each event amplifies the momentum of what preceded it.

Hollywood wanted to believe that there was some stable, easy-to-predict dynamic that ruled the movie business. If there were, decisions could be made and investments taken with confidence in their outcome. Similarly, health experts use oversimplified analogies to predict how metabolism manages nutrition and weight. All you have to do is burn more fuel than you take in, we were instructed, and you will reliably lose weight. Burn precisely as much as you consume and you will maintain. Burn less and you’ll gain. Simple arithmetic that doesn’t add up.
We tend to simplify what otherwise seems overwhelmingly complicated. But as we now know, our metabolic function is infinitely complex. I found myself using concepts from other scientific disciplines to help me understand and explain the human body’s inner workings.

According to chaos theory, certain systems that seem to be random in fact are not–it’s just difficult for us to perceive, at the outset, all the subtle factors that set the course and determine the outcome. One landmark of chaos theory is the “butterfly effect.” This says that even a very small, unseen occurrence in a far-off place can have a large eventual impact–that if a butterfly flaps its wings in Hong Kong, the resulting breeze can trigger a cascade of atmospheric events and cause a hurricane in Brazil.

This can be used to explain many of our bodies’ inner workings. Here’s a simple one: If you go to the gym several hours after your last meal (so that you’re on a relatively empty stomach), your body will quickly burn through whatever glycogen is in your muscles and then move on to burning fat, which is the desirable state. But if on your way to the gym you have a sports drink, one with lots of carbs, you’ll need to burn off the glucose first. And depending on your workout, you might never get around to burning fat at all. Same exact exercise routine, very different outcomes, all because of your choice of pre-exercise beverage.

Another scientific concept, the power law, also comes up often in my discussions of health and fitness. It is based on the Pareto principle, named for Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. In essence, it describes the relationship between how common a factor is and how much influence it exerts. It says that the most unusual events will have the greatest impact. Pareto’s study determined that 80 percent of privately held land in Italy was owned by 20 percent of the population.

Similar power laws exist all around us. This relationship between low frequency and high impact is found again and again, in various fields of science, business, and elsewhere.

There is a power law of exercise, too: Your least frequent, most extreme exertions will have the greatest influence on your fitness. The peak moments of a workout count far more than the amount of time you spend working out. This is why a series of 40-yard sprints at full speed benefits you more than half an hour of jogging.

 It’s also the reason why lifting a weight heavy enough to make your heart pound and your muscles burn counts more than spending hours at the gym. When a work-out becomes an unvarying, monotonous routine, it loses its effectiveness.

My average output of energy per week may look fairly modest. But the stretches of relaxation are offset by two or three sessions of extremely intense activity, which do most to determine my well-being. Ancient hunter-gatherers spent much of their time doing little or nothing. And then, every so often, they took action that would exhaust any 21st-century gym rat. Overall, they burned twice as much energy as we do.

A few of the personal trainers at my gym laugh at “cardio queens,” people who waste hours on the treadmill and Stair-Master, trudging away but never really pushing themselves to intensity. But many more trainers recommend the unproductive exercise of “doing cardio” because they still subscribe to the energy-in, energy-out model of body weight. By doing the same cardio workout day after day, their bodies adapt to that exact level of energy demand but nothing greater. The internal message these people send is that they don’t need much fast-twitch muscle fiber, and so it atrophies, and as a result, they lose bone mass, too.

I use other terms and concepts that are not normally found in fitness books. Stochasticity, for instance, means “randomness” or “chance.” A living human leaves a “trail” of events and accomplishments that is so complex that it appears to be random. That means there is no model that can compress the information that is required to describe a lifetime. The appearance of randomness is an acknowledgment of the limits of our knowledge. So it is in markets and in life.

My particular form of engagement with the subject of health and fitness has even proven to have a metaphysical side. Each of us has what I call an ensemble of stochastic life paths–the choices we make. You make each choice in life based on your understanding of the possibility that it will take you where you want to be. But you don’t determine the outcome, only the probabilities. Each path leads to more choices: a cascade to echo all the other cascades that rule our lives. Choosing the path is the extent of your control–beyond that, it’s out of your hands. You choose, and then life rolls the dice.

For example, you can determine what you eat and drink and how you will exercise. But then your genes express themselves as they will. They are beyond your control. You can’t even completely determine your genes’ environment, since outside factors (such as air and water quality) and internal ones (like emotional stress) also have a say. I learned about the limits of control when caring for my first wife, Bonnie, through her terminal illness. I learned it again in my studies of the movie industry, and now in the course of my ongoing education in health.

*It has even allowed me to recognize, in this thought, the Zen of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle: There is no failure, only feedback."*

Motorway


----------



## drillinto (22 January 2011)

"Epidemiology - A Very Short Introduction"
by R. Saracci
Oxford University Press(2010)

[This is an excellent discussion on this central science of population health]


----------



## Julia (22 January 2011)

"In My Skin" by Kate Holden.  Essential reading for anyone fiddling about with drugs.
The autobiographical account of a well educated, middle class young woman who quickly found herself out of her depth when socially, recreationally using heroin.

Her degradation into addiction when she was a hooker on the streets of Melbourne, then later an abused employee in various brothels, whilst living in a squalid boarding house sleeping on a filthy mattress on the floor, shows in horrible detail the depths to which a human being can fall.


----------



## Julia (22 January 2011)

'What Makes us Tick" by social researcher Hugh McKay.
Fascinating  summary of what drives Australians.


----------



## gav (26 January 2011)

motorway said:


> http://www.wellsphere.com/healthy-e...us-art-de-vany-answers-your-questions/1303531
> 
> 
> Good book.
> ...




Hi Motorway,

Thanks for bringing this book to my attention.  I found 90% of Nassim's afterward online, and the training principles sound very similar to the ones advocated by the late Mike Mentzer.  I began using these principles a few months ago, great results so far.


----------



## gav (26 January 2011)

Just finished reading "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds & Confusion de Confusiones".  

Great read about herd mentality, it seems not much has changed over the past few hundred years in that regard.  I was also surprised as to the level of sophistication of the markets back in those days.


----------



## grandia3 (26 January 2011)

Rich Dad Poor Dad

at least it's the book that makes me start trading :


----------



## Julia (31 March 2011)

I'm almost finished "Freedom" by Jonathan Franzen, Pulitzer nomination and highly acclaimed by the critics.

Not at all what I expected - it's almost satirical, certainly a very mocking view of the all American dream.  Characterisations are superbly drawn and the writing is just brilliant.
Highly recommend.


----------



## GumbyLearner (31 March 2011)

Julia said:


> I'm almost finished "Freedom" by Jonathan Franzen, Pulitzer nomination and highly acclaimed by the critics.
> 
> Not at all what I expected - it's almost satirical, certainly a very mocking view of the all American dream.  Characterisations are superbly drawn and the writing is just brilliant.
> Highly recommend.




I'm reading what both you Julia, Garpal Gumnut and unlisted IP addresses have been reading..


----------



## GumbyLearner (31 March 2011)

*Our* Corrupt Legal System
by Evan Whitton


----------



## NewOrder (1 April 2011)

When not reading my trading texts I am reading Spiritual Divorce by Debbie Ford


----------



## springhill (7 July 2011)

Has anyone read Lazarus Rising, John Howard's book?
What are your thoughts and is it worth buying?


----------



## pavilion103 (4 August 2011)

Dynamic Trading - Robert C. Miner


----------



## cynic (4 August 2011)

Concrete Mathematics 2nd Edition, by Graham, Knuth & Patashnik

I can thoroughly recommend this to anyone interested in the study of mathematics or computer science.


----------



## wayneL (4 August 2011)

How To Disappear by Nick Ahearn


----------



## trainspotter (4 August 2011)

The Everything Knots Book. Can be very useful at times.


----------



## gav (7 August 2011)

Currently re-reading Atlas Shrugged.


----------



## pavilion103 (7 August 2011)

The UltraMind Solution - Mark Hyman - very highly recommend.


----------



## Julia (7 August 2011)

Could I make the suggestion that when a poster recommends a book, they give a brief description of what it's about and why they are recommending it.
Just seeing a title means nothing unless the author is already well known for writing in a particular sphere.


----------



## LifeChoices (7 August 2011)

Julia said:


> Could I make the suggestion that when a poster recommends a book, they give a brief description of what it's about and why they are recommending it.
> Just seeing a title means nothing unless the author is already well known for writing in a particular sphere.




Colin Thiele, Storm Boy.

It's the first book I've read in my life - it's a beautiful book and film about a boy growing up in the Coorong in South Australia and  a Pelican called Mr. Percival.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment

This is the second book I read - it was far heavier than storm boy, and after reading this book I wasn't really interested in picking up another book again.

It tells the story of the mental anguish and moral dilemmas of Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-student in St. Petersburg who formulates and executes a plan to kill an unscrupulous pawnbroker for her money.  But it's way deeper than that - it's got heaps of hidden meanings and all that sort of stuff.


----------



## Julia (7 August 2011)

Lifechoices, I reckon just getting through any of the great Russian writers is an achievement in itself.

Thanks for reminder about Storm Boy which I've not read yet.

If you enjoy the 'coming of age' teenage male theme, have you read "Breath" by Tim Winton?  Just a marvellous book.


----------



## Muschu (7 August 2011)

"Nobody Nowhere" and "Somebody Somewhere" by Donna Wiilliams -- a brave autistic person ...

Just Google for reviews and further info.


----------



## LifeChoices (7 August 2011)

Julia said:


> Lifechoices, I reckon just getting through any of the great Russian writers is an achievement in itself.
> 
> Thanks for reminder about Storm Boy which I've not read yet.
> 
> If you enjoy the 'coming of age' teenage male theme, have you read "Breath" by Tim Winton?  Just a marvellous book.




Lisa, my wife, says I would love Breath, by Tim Winton. I really have to read it. I love surfing, and although I've never read any of his books. That is one I want to read.

I watched the movie Storm Boy on TV about two months ago - hasn't dated at all - I was crying at the end of it, I have a tear in my eye just thinking back about it. It's such a beautiful film and story.


----------



## NewOrder (7 August 2011)

LifeChoices said:


> Colin Thiele, Storm Boy.
> 
> It's the first book I've read in my life - it's a beautiful book and film about a boy growing up in the Coorong in South Australia and  a Pelican called Mr. Percival.
> 
> ...




This made me laugh, yep Crime and Punishment is a tad heavier than Storm boy, both books that I really enjoyed reading many years ago. I wish I had the time and mental capacity to start reading Dostoyevsky's works again.

At the moment I am reading "Financially Free, Think Rich to be Rich" A woman's guide to creating wealth by Anne Hartley.

It was on my bookshelf and I have no idea where it came from, it jumped into my hand last week and I cannot put it down. 



> Change your attitudes, Change your habits, Expand your horizons and create wealth.
> If you want to be rich don't deprive yourself, do pamper yourself, live prosperously now and plan for an affluent future.
> Anne Hartley has helped thousands of women and couples to become wealthy.
> Her own success story is living proof of the philosophy of Financially Free.


----------



## newbie trader (7 August 2011)

Which translation of 'Crime and Punishment' would you recommend?


----------



## pavilion103 (15 August 2011)

Read "Trading for a Living" by Alexander Elder today from start to finish. Good book.


----------



## ROE (15 August 2011)

Does listen to audio book on the way to work count? 
if it counts

Why Smart People Do Stupid things
http://www.amazon.com/Why-Smart-People-Stupid-Things/dp/0595187986

and  Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior
http://www.amazon.com/Sway-Irresistible-Pull-Irrational-Behavior/dp/0385524382

I like these sort of books it help me buy good stocks in the bear market, when other people bailed out 

when CCV fall like a hammer to 60c and below because of an AFR article, that mentioned in the Sway book well not CCV but the same Irrational Behavior


----------



## prawn_86 (15 August 2011)

Just finished:
Game of Thrones - George RR Martin (great, but complex read. Read the book before you watch the TV series)
Killing Pablo (boring)

Reading:
Sylvia - Bryce Courtney (not his best work)


----------



## drillinto (16 September 2011)

"A Beautiful Mind" by Sylvia Nasar
It is a compelling book about a phenomenal figure, the mathematician John Nash.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""


----------



## drillinto (16 October 2011)

Picture books by Shaun Tan
http://www.shauntan.net/books.html


----------



## LostMyShirt (16 October 2011)

I finished not too long ago, Godel Escher Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

The book was fantastic and rather paradigm changing - certainly an enlightening read for those interested in Philosophy and Mind.


----------



## Julia (21 October 2011)

"What's Your Dog Telling You?"

by Martin McKenna.

I've read a lot of books about dog behaviour and training and have trained a fair few dogs.

The above book is more useful than all the others put together.  Martin McKenna, following an abusive childhood in Ireland, left to live on the streets as a quite young teenager.  Distrustful of people, he adopted as his 'family' a disparate group of stray dogs.   This is where he first learned about the fundamental need of a dog to be part of a pack, and to have a clearly defined leader.  

He explains how dogs only see us through this pack structure and if we do not act like a calm leader always in control of any situation, the dog will feel obliged to try to take this control.  Hence 'testing' dominant behaviours like jumping up on you, leaning against you, putting a paw on your foot , standing in your way etc.  

No need to get angry with a dog or shout at it when you understand Martin's much more logical way to allow your dog to feel comfortable in its place in the pack.


----------



## noirua (13 November 2011)

*Re: Looking for a book*

I'm due to start reading, time permitting, two books written by Sharyn Munro who lives on The Barrington Hills. One is 'The Woman on the Mountain' and the other 'Mountain Tails' from Exisle Publishing Limited of Narone Creek Road, Wollombi, NSW 2325.





Have you voted yet for your favourite forum: http://www.thebull.com.au/the_stockies/forums.html


----------



## kimcasablancas (15 November 2011)

Reading 'A Feast for Crows', the fourth book in the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R R Martin.


----------



## Julia (15 November 2011)

"Arguably" by Christopher Hitchens.  Selected essays.  Archetypal Hitchens.


----------



## Julia (16 December 2011)

"The Fear Index" by Robert Harris.

A scientist designs an algorthmic hedge fund called VIXAL, programmed to run on "The Fear Index".

All goes well and billions are made, but then VIXAL refuses to obey the instructions of its creators.

A great read which includes some of the factual occurrences of 2010.


----------



## prawn_86 (16 December 2011)

kimcasablancas said:


> Reading 'A Feast for Crows', the fourth book in the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R R Martin.




Yeh i am now up to the 5th (or 6th depending how you count them) "A Dance with Dragons". Martin has defintely revolutionsed the fantasy genre. We are seeing the next Lord Of The Rings being created right now, in 50yrs time people will look back and be amazed at this series.

The 6th book is about 1/4 complete and then one more to come after that


----------



## gav (18 December 2011)

I recently finished reading "Fooled By Randomness".  At first I found Nassim's style of writing quite annoying, but this very quickly changed, and I found it hard to put the book down.  This book was a real thought-provoker for me, and has really opened my eyes to the power of randomness/luck.  I have purchased a couple of his other books and am eager to read them.

I am currently reading Trend Commandments by Covel.  It is quite different to Covel's earlier work.  It is more about the principals/philosophy of trend following and life, and is broken down into extremely short chapters (some only a single page long).  This makes it very easy to read.  The book is full of quirky quotes/references, ranging from The Matrix and The Simpsons, to successful trend followers, philosophers, academic journals, and everything in between.  He doesn't hold back in some of his criticism, particularly that of modern financial news and Warren Buffett.  It is quite different to anything I've read before.  Covel certainly has a unique, unconventional style of writing...


----------



## Muschu (19 December 2011)

Nothing Was The Same
By
Kay Redfield Jamison.

Outstanding "explanation" from personal experience of the similarities / differences between grief and clinical depression.

Not an academic read.


----------



## white_crane (6 January 2012)

Been flying through the books lately...

Cry of the Curlew series (Cry of the Curlew, Shadow of the Osprey, Flight of the Eagle) by Peter Watt - excellent

Satan Burger by Carlton Mellick III - one of the bizarro genre.  VERY different 

Currently reading Rose Madder by Stephen King

I also have a bunch of non-fiction books that I constantly have my nose in.


----------



## Garpal Gumnut (6 January 2012)

Julia said:


> "Arguably" by Christopher Hitchens.  Selected essays.  Archetypal Hitchens.




Me too, also Hitch 22 .

Isn't summer made for reading.

gg


----------



## sptrawler (6 January 2012)

I don't read a lot of books, normaly too busy fixing things.
However I have bought my wife a kindle touch, waiting for it to arrive.
Load up 1,400 books, might shut her up and get her off my back .LOL


----------



## Garpal Gumnut (6 January 2012)

sptrawler said:


> I don't read a lot of books, normaly too busy fixing things.
> However I have bought my wife a kindle touch, waiting for it to arrive.
> Load up 1,400 books, might shut her up and get her off my back .LOL




Mrs G has a Sony and reads murders.

If I ever stop posting remember this.

gg


----------



## Solly (7 January 2012)

Garpal Gumnut said:


> Mrs G has a Sony and reads murders.
> 
> If I ever stop posting remember this.
> 
> gg




GG,

Just keep an eye out if you see this title in the bookcase.
"Be Your Own Undertaker: How To Dispose Of A Dead Body" by A. R. Bowman.

A mate of mine found a copy at his place, luckily his missus left him for a wandering Mediterranean lute busker, before it got too serious. 

BTW I'm currently reading a book by a mate of mine, titled, "Angels of Vengeance" by John Birmingham.  A bit of an intense adventure and read. But it does seem to relax me after a hectic day around the mountain.

S


----------



## joea (8 January 2012)

sptrawler said:


> I don't read a lot of books, normaly too busy fixing things.
> However I have bought my wife a kindle touch, waiting for it to arrive.
> Load up 1,400 books, might shut her up and get her off my back .LOL




sp
If this truly works, then I will try it.
For now I am trying to work out how to "disable" the vacuum cleaner which keeps turning up when I sit in my office to check the market.

Have contemplated building a new office 35 metres from the house surrounded by a "moat" and barbwire!!!
joea


----------



## CanOz (4 July 2012)

I love to read and i am reading Predator Nation by Charles H. Ferguson. It goes into detail on the yet to be prosecuted crimes perpetrated by investment bankers in the US and around the world during the housing boom and sub-prime debacle. 

I've been fascinated with the last crisis for some time and I've also read:


Extreme Money: Masters of the Universe and the Cult of Risk, Das Satyajit
The Greatest Trade Ever: How John Paulson Bet Against the Markets and Made $20 Billion, Zuckerman, Gregory
Bear Trap, The Fall of Bear Stearns and the Panic of 2008, Andrew Spencer, Bill Bamber
Crisis Economics: A Crash Course in the Future of Finance, Roubini, Nouriel


Cheers,


CanOz


----------



## Judd (4 July 2012)

Poor Fella My Country by Xavier Herbet.  Great piece of work.

Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus (although that is now contentious)

Quentin Durward, Sir Walter Scott

and browsing through the poems of John Donne


----------



## gav (21 August 2012)

Recently I've read over the last few months:

*The New Evolution Diet* by Art DeVany:
A great read on why we should eat and exercise more like our palaeolithic ancestors.

*A Brief History of Time* by Stephen Hawking:
Explains a range of subjects from the Big Bang to black holes and light cones. The book is supposedly aimed at the more "general" reader, but I found parts of this book went way over my head.  However, the parts I could understand were quite fascinating.

*Little Book of Trading* by Michael Covel:
A collection of insights from some of the great trend following traders. Similar to The Market Wizards, but not presented in Q&A form. Definitely worth a read.

*You've Got To Fight Back* by Dirk Chase Eldredge:
A must for anyone who has (or is close to someone who has) suffered from a serious illness, injury or disability. I bought this for my Dad, but read it before I gave it to him.  I can admit to shedding a tear on more than one occasion whilst reading this. 

*Outliers *by Malcom Gladwell
This book examines factors that contribute to the success of high achievers (basically, they are a product of their environment, and were "in the right place at the right time").  I found a couple of the areas Gladwell looks at quite fascinating, like math ability of Asian students.  However for other situations, I couldn’t help but feel his explanations were over simplified, examples cherry-picked, and he had fallen for the narrative fallacy.  (perhaps I’ve read too many books on scepticism and behavioural biases)

*Thinking, Fast & Slow* by Daniel Kahnemann
Written by a psychologist who won a Nobel Prize in Economics for his work in behavioural economics.  This fantastic read is based a culmination of Kahnemann’s life work into cognitive biases and decision making in a wide scope of fields like economics, medicine and law. This book is brilliant, the best I've read this year.

*The Psychology of Trading *Brett N. Steenbarger 
A great book which looks at psychological issues in life and in trading. Steenbarger gives countless examples of methods he has used to help clients, and how the reader can apply these methods in their own lives.

*The Millionaire Next Door* by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko
The book explores the habits of affluent Americans, and its findings are based on over 20 years of data studying thousands of households.  The majority are first generation millionaires who made it on their own, and don’t have “very high” incomes.  I love the emphasis it places on frugality. This book does have a few flaws; mainly survivorship bias. It doesn’t pay enough attention to the “unseen”, those who do the right thing but don’t make it. Nevertheless, I found it to be an interesting read; inspiring and even motivating.


----------



## pavilion103 (21 August 2012)

I've been reading Outliers too. 

Also loving Psycho Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz.

Recommend both.


----------



## prawn_86 (21 August 2012)

Just finished reading Octopus by Guy Lawson, who is an Aussie.

Basically about the collapse of a ponzi scheme ran by ex hedge fund trader Sam Israel, who ended up being on America's Most Wanted before he was caught. Simply written, but easy to read. Not as good as Wolf Of Wall St, but in the same ilk


----------



## psj02 (24 August 2012)

Steve Jobs

Started slow but really picked up from his "Second Coming" at Apple. Fascinating look at the man/business.


----------



## Sean K (24 August 2012)

The Girl Who Played With Fire.

Great series.


----------



## drillinto (25 August 2012)

"Culture of complaint: the fraying of America" by Robert Hughes, Australian author
A radical account of the decline of 20th-century American culture


----------



## Miss Hale (25 August 2012)

*The First Feet: The Real Story *by Alan Frost

Alan Frost (emeritus professor of history at La Trobe Universty, Melbourne) draws on hundreds of previously neglected records to debunk the myth that the first fleet was a shambles; undeprepared, poorly equiped, and ill-disciplined. 

I am fascinated with early Australian history and am really enjoying this book. I have long thought that the settlement of Australia was a great feat given the era it occured in and what they had to work with (convicts).  It also points out that Australia was settled not just as a place to dump convicts but for strategic purposes, a point that is not often acknowledged.


----------



## Gringotts Bank (30 August 2012)

The Psychedelic Experience, by Timothy Leary.

Basically about what happens when you take a massive dose of LSD.  Eye opening. 

avail on scribd.


----------



## Julia (30 August 2012)

"Canada" by Pulitzer Prize winning Richard Ford.  Extraordinary sweep of a novel, reminiscent of the style of John Steinbeck.


----------



## Ijustnewit (30 August 2012)

"The Seth Material " Jane Roberts
"Ask and it is Given" Esther & Jerry Hicks


----------



## VSntchr (10 September 2012)

Just finished:
"How to Win Friends and Influence People" By Dale Carnegie

Started:
"The Four Hour Body" by Tim Ferris


----------



## prawn_86 (10 September 2012)

Reading "At the Devils Table" which is about the Cali cartel in Colombia when they were fighting with Escobar and his Medellin cartel.

Also read "7 habits of highly effective people" when i was o/s, a little bit self-helpy, but does have some good messages


----------



## CanOz (10 September 2012)

Just read "Transformational Change" by Randy Dobbs and i am nearly finished "Business Leadership in China" by Frank T Gallo.

CanOz


----------



## McLovin (10 September 2012)

About 1/3 of the way through "Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China" by Ezra Vogel. One of the most interesting people of the 20th century, I think.

I've also been trying to knock through some of the classic American novels, at the moment I'm about half way through "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe.


----------



## CanOz (10 September 2012)

McLovin said:


> About 1/3 of the way through "Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China" by Ezra Vogel. One of the most interesting people of the 20th century, I think.
> .




Thanks mate, that just went on my list...


----------



## tech/a (10 September 2012)

Crisis of Crowding

Can oz youd like this one Im sure.

http://www.educatedinvestor.com.au/...-Thanks_for_Joining4_20_2012&utm_medium=email


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## CanOz (10 September 2012)

tech/a said:


> Crisis of Crowding
> 
> Can oz youd like this one Im sure.
> 
> http://www.educatedinvestor.com.au/...-Thanks_for_Joining4_20_2012&utm_medium=email




Looks interesting...on the list too!


----------



## McLovin (10 September 2012)

CanOz said:


> Thanks mate, that just went on my list...




No worries. It's a cracking read, although in parts it does feel as though it was written by a journalist. China today is Deng's vision is the impression I'm getting.

My knowledge of Deng was limited to when "Deng Xiaoping" used to ring up Andrew Denton on Triple M in the late 90's and always start the conversation with a very loud "Hello Cookie boy".


----------



## gav (19 September 2012)

I just finished reading The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand. I was quite surprised about how little has changed in the media industry (book was set in the 1930's).  Articles about funding shortages at hospitals besides the latest Hollywood divorce, stories about "the poor" being mistreated beside daily horoscopes, etc. Ironically, people today criticize the "evil" Murdoch Newscorp, but still fail to realise that it is just giving the masses what they want.

There were speeches from some of the lefty characters denouncing individual achievement which were frighteningly similar to Obama's "you didn't build that" speech (and also a great response to that argument from Roark towards the end of the book).  There's a part about how people reveal their "true self" by what they spend their money on and free time doing - and it is often different to what they publicly preach (a few acquaintances came to mind when I read this). Plus your usual Ayn Rand stuff tearing into collectivism, religion, distribution, altruism and sacrifice.  

It's certainly no Atlas Shrugged, but I still enjoyed it.


----------



## Julia (19 September 2012)

Good to get a summary of the content of the book.  Most people put up title and author but don't tell us the essence of the book.


----------



## gav (15 October 2012)

I just finished reading Mises’ most famous work, “Human Action”. I have read excerpts in the past, but never got round to reading the whole thing until recently (partly due to its length, almost 900 pages). Mises puts the case forward for laissez-faire capitalism, and discusses in detail the fundamentals of Austrian economics.  He explains the differences between government controlled economies (from interventionism to socialism and communism) and unhampered, free markets. He discusses many issues that are still very relevant today and answers them wonderfully. The only criticism I have is that some sections are quite dry, but you will be rewarded if persevere through these.

Whenever I read, I always take notes and copy sections/quotes which have an impact on me, and collate them when I've finished reading the book (it helps me learn/remember what I've read, and it’s a good resource to look back on without having to read the entire book again).  Collating everything when I finished reading Human Action has been a daunting task.  It has taken several hours, due to all the notes and quotes I took (still not finished).  

I thought I’d include this quote here, because as I believe it explains much of the ‘risk taking’ leading up to the GFC (Nassim Taleb has spoken about this recently, and refers to it as having ‘skin in the game’):


> "For society as a whole the squandering of capital invested in a definite project means only the loss of a small part of its total funds; for the owner it means much more, for the most part the loss of his total fortune. But if a manager is given a completely free hand, things are different. He speculates in risking other people’s money. He sees the prospects of an uncertain enterprise from another angle than that of the man who is answerable for the losses. It is precisely when he is rewarded by a share of the profits that he becomes foolhardy because he does not share in the losses too."




Not bad for a book first published in 1949!


----------



## Julia (17 October 2012)

It has just been announced that Hilary Mantel has again won the Booker Prize, this time for the second book in a trilogy "Bring up the Bodies".  She won a few years ago for "Wolf Hall".
Given the level of competition for this prize, it seems somewhat unfair to me that she should win twice for what will effectively be one book when she completes the trilogy.


----------



## gav (21 October 2012)

I just finished reading “The Alchemist” by Paul Coelho, which my hippy-fiance recommended to me a while ago, but I only just read due to randomly coming across a few quotes from the book that I liked. 

It is about a young Spanish shepherd named Santiago, who has a recurring dream about a treasure, but he wakes up before he learns of its location. A gypsy interprets his dream and tells him that the treasure is real and is located in the pyramids of Egypt.  The book follows Santiago’s journey to find the treasure, and along the way the author adds many spiritual/philosophical lessons about life. 

I’ve often heard clichÃ©’s like “focus on the journey, and the outcome will take care of itself”, but this book put a whole new perspective on this for me. Another key them is whether it is possible to pursue one’s own selfish desires and still live a good life. The answer is not what you’d expect from a spiritual/hippyish book.


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## gav (24 October 2012)

Today I finished reading "Trust Me, I'm Lying" by Ryan Holiday. Holiday is the director of marketing for American Apparel and a "media manipulator".  The book is goes deep down the rabbit hole into the nitty-gritty world of blogs and online media. 

Holiday explains the inner workings of online media, including many of the tricks he (and others) use to promote clients and shame enemies.  He explains how online reporters and bloggers are paid by page view, why it is in their best interest to embellish and distort the truth, and the obscene lack of accountability.  This may not seem all that surprising, but I was pretty gob-smacked by some of the techniques and how far some are willing to go.  For example, in a bid to drive up publicity for a client's movie, Holiday anonymously leaked (lied) to several online publications that his client had been accused of rape. He defaced the movie's billboards, and even got LGBT and feminist groups to protest at the movie's opening night (he then invited to local news crew to cover the protest).

Holiday has obviously benefited greatly from his exploits, and this book almost appears to be a way for him to expose others and clear his conscience.


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## Julia (24 October 2012)

gav, so useful when you provide a synopsis of the book.  So many people put up a title and an author without giving us any idea of the content.


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## CanOz (24 October 2012)

Julia said:


> gav, so useful when you provide a synopsis of the book.  So many people put up a title and an author without giving us any idea of the content.






> Good to get a summary of the content of the book. Most people put up title and author but don't tell us the essence of the book.




I certainly get the point Julia...currently reading a great book and will post a complete book review once i finish.

CanOz


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## gav (25 October 2012)

Julia said:


> gav, so useful when you provide a synopsis of the book.  So many people put up a title and an author without giving us any idea of the content.




Thanks Julia. I find doing this helps the content of the book "sink in" (I also keep heaps of notes which I don't post)


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## FIGJAM (6 November 2012)

Just about finished Warrior Brothers by Keith Fernell. Good read by one of our finest SAS soldiers.

Also picked up the following books to read:

 - How to Make Money in Stocks by William J O'Neil
 - The Snowball Warren Buffet and The Business of Life by Alice Schroeder

Cheers,


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## gav (29 November 2012)

*“The Signal And The Noise” *
by Nate Silver 

Nate Silver is a statistics geek who became famous for creating and selling a system that predicts the performance of baseball players (similar to those used in Moneyball). He then went into political predictions and in 2008 predicted the winner for 49 of the 50 states in the US presidential election. His blog is now “leased” by the New York Times. 

In the lead up to this year’s election he had Obama’s chances at above 60% (when most other polls were 50/50), which he controversially increased to over 90% the week before the election (other polls where showing just over 50%).  This time he predicted all 50 states correctly.

His book is about trying to decipher the difference between the signal and the noise in data using statistical tools and utilising as much data as possible.  Nate rejects “frequentism” and prefers the Bayesian approach.  He discusses various areas in which predictions are made, and how successful these predictions are. The fields include weather forecasting, earthquakes, elections, baseball, economics, poker, financial markets and climate change.  

The chapter on climate change surprised me a bit. Being a science/stats geek and a lefty on the payroll of the New York Times, I didn’t expect Nate to be so open minded. He speaks to authorities with very varying views, illustrates their differences and legitimate concerns (eg. even climate scientists aren’t confident about how accurate their models predict changes in sea levels over long time frames).

The chapter on financial markets was quite bizarre and a big let down in what otherwise is a pretty good book.  He pretty much lumps all technical analysis in the boat of ‘seeing patterns where there are none’. Apparently momentum trading doesn’t work either due to transaction costs, and he illustrates this with a very flawed example. He states that looking a P/E ratios is a great way to detect a bubble.  Unfortunately, holding that view would have meant you would have missed the entire bull market of the 90’s (where P/E ratios were historically high, yet continued going higher for 10 years!). Worst of all, he concludes that unless you have insider information, you should just invest in an index fund.

One thing I like is that he doesn’t dismiss the subjective element to analysis and modelling, and that our own beliefs and biases can play a significant role in the result:



> "The numbers have no way of speaking for themselves. We speak for them. We imbue them with meaning. Like Caesar, we may construe them in self-serving ways that are detached from their objective reality. Data-driven predictions can succeed - and they can fail. It is when we deny our role in the process that the odds of failure rise. Before we demand more of our data, we need to demand more of ourselves."




Despite Nate’s love for dissecting data and predicting, he doesn’t seem to “fall in love” with the numbers, or believe that it is an “exact science” like physics/engineering (as shown in the quote above).  It is clear that he is influenced by the work of Kahnemann and Taleb (references them both); and that is a good thing.


----------



## Miss Hale (30 November 2012)

The Ultimate Biography of the Bee Gees. I am only a short way in but have already come to the conclusion that the whole family is as mad as cut snakes  Good read though


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## sptrawler (30 November 2012)

I'm going to have a go at Lee Childs, 61 hours, on the Indian Pacific next week.


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## Julia (30 November 2012)

sptrawler said:


> I'm going to have a go at Lee Childs, 61 hours, on the Indian Pacific next week.



It's terrific, as are all his books.  That's the second to last one.  The latest, which I've just finished, is "A Wanted Man".  
Taut writing, no unnecessary words.  Edge of the seat stuff all the way.
His protagonist, Jack Reacher, is imo the best drawn character in all of current thriller fiction.

I doubt you'll see much of the passing scenery after you've opened the book.


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## Calliope (15 December 2012)

The apparently senseless killing of 20 small children and six adults at Newton primary school in Connecticut leads to the question of what motivates these psychotic schoolhouse killers.

I recommend that any looking for insight into the development of this type of killer should read "We Need to Talk about Kevin"



> Kevin's mother struggles to love her strange child, despite the increasingly vicious things he says and does as he grows up. But Kevin is just getting started, and his final act will be beyond anything anyone imagined.




Ignore the movie, but read the book. It is fiction, but gives an insight into how these things happen.


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## pavilion103 (15 December 2012)

Blink - Malcolm Gladwell


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## Julia (15 December 2012)

Calliope said:


> The apparently senseless killing of 20 small children and six adults at Newton primary school in Connecticut leads to the question of what motivates these psychotic schoolhouse killers.
> 
> I recommend that any looking for insight into the development of this type of killer should read "We Need to Talk about Kevin"
> 
> ...



I couldn't get right through it.  Lionel Shriver's style seems excessively verbose to me.


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## Miss Hale (15 December 2012)

Calliope said:


> The apparently senseless killing of 20 small children and six adults at Newton primary school in Connecticut leads to the question of what motivates these psychotic schoolhouse killers.
> 
> I recommend that any looking for insight into the development of this type of killer should read "We Need to Talk about Kevin"
> 
> ...




Yes, I highly recommend this book too for the same reason.


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## gav (19 December 2012)

*"Body By Science"* by John Little and Doug McGuff

Body By Science aims to explain the optimal, most scientific way to exercise for health and fitness. Having been a gym junkie for the past 10 years (including entering a few bodybuilding comps) and a keen interest health/fitness/nutrition, I was really looking forward to this book. Many of the claims it makes challenges much the conventional wisdom that has been around for decades.  The main premise of the book is to train very briefly at irregular intervals with high intensity.

I think the book is great for everyday folk who want to improve their overall health and fitness.  I can understand why it is loved by the "paleo" community, as it much of what the book recommends happens to fall within the paleo guidelines. It's backed by science (as suggested by the title) and shows you how to get the most out of your training (especially if you don't have much free time).  I particularly enjoyed the sections on weight training for the elderly (HUGE benefits), and the ability to alter the way our DNA is expressed through environmental factors.

My one small gripe is that it claims that the type of training recommended in the book is also the best for strength athletes and bodybuilders. While I agree that most strength athletes and bodybuilders train too frequently using too much volume and reps, the frequency of training these people require is still more than what is recommended in this book. Despite this, I'd recommend the book to anyone; ranging from people who want to lose weight, train for everyday health/fitness, the elderly, and experienced trainers. 


I also just finished reading "Calculated Risks: How To Know When Numbers Deceive You" by Gerg Gigerenzer. I'll write up a review when I get the chance over the next few days.


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## Julia (19 December 2012)

Once again, gav, I think you're one of the few who actually provide a synopsis and opinion about a book.
So useful.  Pretty pointless, imo, to just quote title and author without giving any review of content.


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## Ves (19 December 2012)

Julia said:


> So useful.  Pretty pointless, imo, to just quote title and author without giving any review of content.



I'll just say I disagree here - some of the best recommendations I have received (by this I mean indirectly through looking into books people say they've read) have been the ones where no description (or a short one) has been offered.  If it sounds remotely interesting I plug it into Amazon and read the synopsis there.


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## Julia (19 December 2012)

How do you know it 'sounds remotely interesting' if you have just a title such as "The Black Book" by John Blogg?
It tells you absolutely nothing.  Could be about anything.  You must have lots of free time if you can check with Amazon et al on every title you ever see recommended.

Essentially, I'm just thanking gav for taking the time to provide an interesting and thoughtful synopsis.


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## Ves (19 December 2012)

Julia said:


> How do you know it 'sounds remotely interesting' if you have just a title such as "The Black Book" by John Blogg?



To me 'The Black Book' generally would refer to the arcane arts, or dark mythology, or satanism etc. so hypothetically I may look into for that reason - if it turns out to be something completely different then I have wasted no more than a few minutes.



> It tells you absolutely nothing.  Could be about anything.  You must have lots of free time if you can check with Amazon et al on *every* title you ever see recommended.



You are putting words in my mouth again.



> Essentially, I'm just thanking gav for taking the time to provide an interesting and thoughtful synopsis.



Indeed - all I am really saying is for some of us there is still a benefit in just listing a title and an author.  I'd rather people take the time to do that than post nothing at all. Once someone has posted one book that I have followed up on, there is good chance that they may be a repeat offender.  

Having trawled through literally thousands of book, movie and music recommendations in my time I have found great pleasure in the search alone.  It's an amazing feeling finding a diamond in the rough where you least expect it - the extra legwork isn't really an issue, in fact doing it yourself is part of the fun.


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## burglar (20 December 2012)

Ves said:


> ... I have found great pleasure in the search alone.  ... doing it yourself is part of the fun.




Just a thought. Do peoples' hobbies resemble their trading?


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## gav (20 December 2012)

Julia said:


> Once again, gav, I think you're one of the few who actually provide a synopsis and opinion about a book.
> So useful.  Pretty pointless, imo, to just quote title and author without giving any review of content.




Thanks Julia. I'm glad you find the posts useful. The reason I write them is because it helps me absorb and remember what I've read, plus hopefully it can help others decide if it's a book for them.  

Ves, one of the ways I decide what book I want to read next is by reading reviews by people I respect, and that have recommended books in the past that I've enjoyed or learnt a lot from.


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## Julia (20 December 2012)

"The Tennis Partner" by Abraham Verghese.  A very affecting true account of a young doctor fighting drug addiction and the role of his tennis partner (and workplace superior) who depicts his confusion between believing and wanting to trust the assertions of rehabilitation by his protegee, and the hideous reality that the addiction will always trump any personal relationship.
Beautifully written account of a wasted life and the emotional debris left behind.


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## Miss Hale (21 December 2012)

Ves said:


> I'll just say I disagree here - some of the best recommendations I have received (by this I mean indirectly through looking into books people say they've read) have been the ones where no description (or a short one) has been offered.  If it sounds remotely interesting I plug it into Amazon and read the synopsis there.




I agree.  I don't particularly like to read reviews but if someone who is on the same wavelength as me recommends a book or I see that several people recommend a book I will usually check it out. 

I wouldn't want to discourage people from posting what they are reading because they feel they need to write a review (of course if you want to write one I don't mean to discourage that either  ).


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## DocK (21 December 2012)

Miss Hale said:


> I agree.  I don't particularly like to read reviews but if someone who is on the same wavelength as me recommends a book or I see that several people recommend a book I will usually check it out.
> 
> I wouldn't want to discourage people from posting what they are reading because they feel they need to write a review (of course if you want to write one I don't mean to discourage that either  ).




+1  

Happy to read a review, but would rather get a recommendation without one, than no recommendation at all.


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## gav (1 January 2013)

*"Calculated Risks: How To Know When Numbers Deceive You"* by Gerd Gigerenzer

In 1903, H.G. Wells stated that the ability to think statistically will be as necessary as knowing how to read and write.  According to Gigerenzer (a psychologist specialising in decision making), we are failing at this, and it has a huge negative impact on our lives.  Unfortunately, experts fail just as much as everybody else.  He uses interesting examples to show this, including two studies that show how terrible doctors are at understanding the  accuracy of common medical screening tests.  Fortunately, when the same data is shown in a different format - natural frequencies instead of probabilities - there is a dramatic improvement. Unfortunately, the vast majority of doctors are not taught how to use natural frequencies. 

Examples are given where numbers are skewed in the court room, such as the OJ Simpson case.  Throughout the book the reader is given simple tools to help us solve these problems, like changing risk representations from conditional probabilities to natural frequencies, different visual representations, repeated play, etc. 

Towards the end he explains some of the reasons for our innumeracy, such as evolutionary ones. I believe these can be overcome using the simple rules laid out in the book. However other reasons, such as incentives (financial, legal, reputation) pose a much greater challenge and are far more difficult to overcome.

If you are interested, check out this article which goes into the topic (and the above book) in more detail:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/chances-are/


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## overit (1 January 2013)

Just finished reading Shadow Warrior by David Everett and what a good read it was. 

_



			David Everett – renegade soldier, outlaw, fugitive and, at one time, Australia’s most wanted man – always liked a bit of action. Here, for the first time, is his remarkable story.

A far-from-strapping lad from Tasmania, Dave proved everybody wrong by passing the gruelling selection course to join the SAS. Unsatisfied by the Regiment, he left to take up the cause of the oppressed Karen people of Burma, becoming a seasoned jungle-fighter in the process.

On his return to Australia, Dave became every government’s nightmare: a highly skilled special-forces soldier on a crime spree. On a mission to raise funds for the Karen, he kidnapped people from their homes, robbed movie theatres and plotted some of the most audacious crimes ever conceived in Australia. At the height of his infamy every police officer in the country was on the lookout for him, while the tabloid press fuelled the public’s fear of a trained killer gone crazy.

Dave was blown-up, shot at, starved, bashed, interrogated, tortured and locked in solitary confinement, but nothing diminished his wild streak. While serving his jail sentence, he had time to reflect. In Shadow Warrior, he tells his story with unflinching honesty and larrikin wit.
		
Click to expand...


_


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## Some Dude (1 January 2013)

gav said:


> Body By Science aims to explain the optimal, most scientific way to exercise for health and fitness. Having been a gym junkie for the past 10 years (including entering a few bodybuilding comps) and a keen interest health/fitness/nutrition, I was really looking forward to this book. Many of the claims it makes challenges much the conventional wisdom that has been around for decades.  The main premise of the book is to train very briefly at irregular intervals with high intensity.




There was an interesting show on SBS recently called The Truth about Exercise which explored brief high intensity exercise tht was really interesting.


----------



## gav (1 January 2013)

Some Dude said:


> There was an interesting show on SBS recently called The Truth about Exercise which explored brief high intensity exercise tht was really interesting.




Thanks, I watched that doco a few months ago. It was quite interesting. There are some differences between it and Body By Science (eg. VO2 max), but also many similarities.


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## AlterEgo (2 January 2013)

gav said:


> *"Calculated Risks: How To Know When Numbers Deceive You"* by Gerd Gigerenzer




Looks interesting. I'll have to check out that book sometime.


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## AlterEgo (2 January 2013)

Some Dude said:


> There was an interesting show on SBS recently called The Truth about Exercise which explored brief high intensity exercise tht was really interesting.




I missed that one. I've found all of Michael Mosley's documentaries to be very interesting. Hopefully they'll re-run it sometime.


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## gav (27 January 2013)

*Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder* by Nassim Taleb

To define "antifragile", you need to think of the opposite of fragile. Fragile is something that needs a constant environment, and is harmed by stressors or randomness (like a coffee cup. Each time it is knocked over, it will become weaker, until it eventually breaks). Most people think the opposite to fragile would be "resilient", "robust", "durable", "resistant", etc. But these terms  only describe something that is _survives _randomness/disorder. The true opposite of fragile is something that actually _gains _from disorder and stressors, and this is what Taleb calls "antifragile". 

This book is the natural conclusion to Taleb's earlier works, "Fooled By Randomness" and "The Black Swan". It takes what is learned in the previous books and shows how we can use antrifragility to gain from randomness and black swans. Taleb shows how it can be applied to all aspects of our lives: as individuals, to business, health, financial systems and nations.

Some of the examples used are why the city-state is better than the nation state, why relying on things like predictions and debt are fragilising, the benefit of heuristics, some interesting perspectives on health, and some serious criticism of medicine and formal education. I found Antifragile to be a much easier (and enjoyful) read than The Black Swan. Although this book could be read without reading Taleb's earlier work, I think you will enjoy Antifragile more if you do. I read 26 books in 2012, and Antifragile was by far the best.


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## So_Cynical (27 January 2013)

gav said:


> *Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder* by Nassim Taleb




I downloaded this last week, looking forward to listening to it.

------------------

At the moment im listening to 

Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger

Im liking it even though the press has condemned it.


----------



## Garpal Gumnut (27 January 2013)

Presently reading The Antidote by Oliver Burkeman.

It refutes all self help books and methodology.

Best read for over a year.

I would highly recommend it.

http://www.oliverburkeman.com/books

gg


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## Gringotts Bank (27 January 2013)

Garpal Gumnut said:


> Presently reading The Antidote by Oliver Burkeman.
> 
> It refutes all self help books and methodology.
> 
> ...




I agree with Burkeman that positive thinking is potentially harmful, but I don't think he's done too much study on Buddhism, Hinduism or Tantra for him to make the claim that religions are all about positive thinking.  That's gross ignorance on his part.  Accepting every part of life (including the negatives) isn't something Burkeman invented - it's the heart of most Eastern religions.  By adhering to the 'good', one can never know the 'bad', so the 'whole' (Truth) remains out of reach.

There's the ancient "left hand path", for example, where "aspirants [are] assigned rituals which to others might seem hedonistic, sinful, disgusting or perverted*. But Aghora is not indulgence, it is the transformation of darkness into light. An Aghori goes so deeply into darkness, into all things undreamable to ordinary mortals, that he comes into the light".

*like sleeping amongst rotting corpses, for example.


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## CanOz (27 January 2013)

So_Cynical said:


> I downloaded this last week, looking forward to listening to it.
> 
> ------------------
> 
> ...




Sc, what site do you use for your audio books?


----------



## tech/a (27 January 2013)

*The Great Crash Ahead

Harry Dent.*

USA based with reference to Australia.
Just started so not a lot to report.
Quick browes and it looks like 2013 - 15
Is where it all is going to happen.
This coincides with the technical gurus
Like Williams and Procter.

Dents stats are compelling.

The gist is a long long term period of deflation
10 yrs + 

Will report back as I read more.


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## Sean K (27 January 2013)

Eureka

by the pirate.

Gee he's a good writer.

Half way through.

Anyone interested in what made Australia, this is a good start. 

Wish I was around in these days, must have been pretty damn exciting!


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## McLovin (27 January 2013)

Dent was right once and has made a career of that single call about the Japanese economy in the 1980's. He is as accurate as every other economist, that is to say he gets it right half the time. The performance of all his funds has been underwhelming to say the least.

At the beginning of the last decade he was calling a Dow 40,000.


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## tech/a (27 January 2013)

McLovin said:


> Dent was right once and has made a career of that single call about the Japanese economy in the 1980's. He is as accurate as every other economist, that is to say he gets it right half the time. The performance of all his funds has been underwhelming to say the least.
> 
> At the beginning of the last decade he was calling a Dow 40,000.




I hear you.

I've just finished 
" The Crisis of Over Crowding "
Nothing to do with population but with the over crowding of derivative markets 
And the collapse of 2008 
The Fed plugged the hole only to make the next hole 
Which they plugged again. The over crowding is still there yet to be unwound.

The weight of evidence to the bearish side is overwhelming.
I think all we will be able to do is watch.

Still I like to see solutions and consequences of " What if's "


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## CanOz (27 January 2013)

tech/a said:


> I hear you.
> 
> I've just finished
> " The Crisis of Over Crowding "




Same as this one? 







> The Crisis of Crowding - Ludwig B. Chincarini




Interesting view of Dent's...diametrically opposed to Jack W. Plunkett's view expressed in "The Next Boom: What you absolutely, positively have to know about the world between now and 2025"

Lots of stats!!...Still reading

CanOz


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## So_Cynical (27 January 2013)

CanOz said:


> Sc, what site do you use for your audio books?




PB  of course.


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## CanOz (27 January 2013)

So_Cynical said:


> PB  of course.




PB???


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## tech/a (27 January 2013)

CanOz said:


> Same as this one?
> 
> Interesting view of Dent's...diametrically opposed to Jack W. Plunkett's view expressed in "The Next Boom: What you absolutely, positively have to know about the world between now and 2025"
> 
> ...





Yeh I didn't pull it out of the library!
I'll get Plunketts

That way I'll have two tools to blame!


----------



## McLovin (27 January 2013)

tech/a said:


> The weight of evidence to the bearish side is overwhelming.
> I think all we will be able to do is watch.




And in 2006 the weight of evidence to the bullish side was overwhelming. There just seems to be a preoccupation with picking the next big crash. Almost every week a new theory on the end of the world is in being bandied about. It's hard to believe that with so much time and effort being devoted to creating doomsday scenarios their is anything left that isn't already known.

I don't know what will happen in the next 1,2,3 years but I can say fairly certainly that in ten years time global GDP will be higher than it is today.



tech/a said:


> Still I like to see solutions and consequences of " What if's "




I think I said on another thread that there are too many variables to invest based on macro conditions. The reason is that running scenarios requires so many assumptions to be made that you end up with an infinite number of outcomes.

This is well off the topic of books though, so I'll stop.


----------



## gav (3 February 2013)

*"Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There is Another Way for Africa"* by Dambisa Moyo

The author, Dambisa Moyo is an economist born in Nambia. Despite $1 trillion in aid over the past 60 years, per capita income is lower now than it was in the 1970’s. Moyo argues that aid is the cause of rampant corruption and bloated bureaucracies, giving plenty of shocking examples, including a study showing as much as 85% of aid flows were used for purposes other than that for which they were initially intended.   

Other arguments include a lack of incentive to save and produce, and it chokes the export sector (one of the key drivers of growth).  Despite the corruption and failures of aid, Moyo believes aid continues to flow because so many people are in the “aid business”. There are over 500,000 people employed world wide in the “aid business”. Their livelihoods depend on aid, just like those who actually receive the aid. 

Apart from aid, there are other ways in which the west harms Africa, such as trade barriers and agricultural subsidies. Western nations spent $300 billion on agricultural subsidies in 2005 alone. The loss to Africa as a whole has been estimated at $500 billion per year. To show how absurd this is, every European Union cow gets $2.50 per day in subsidies, which is more than 1 billion of the poorest people on the planet have to live on (many of which are Africans).

Moyo argues in favour of market-based solutions over aid such as getting rid of trade barriers and subsidies, implementing financial innovations which encourage micro-lending, etc. and cites many examples where these have helped boost economies and lift millions out of poverty (China, India, etc).

It’s a really interesting read, and has inspired me to do some research on organisations like Kiva, which help people make micro-loans to borrowers in poverty-stricken countries.


----------



## tech/a (4 February 2013)

Bit like Cancer Gav

Do they want a cure?
Do they want to kill off the 
Stream of gold?


----------



## tech/a (5 February 2013)

Can

How are you finding that book?
Worth a read?

(Plunkett)


----------



## CanOz (5 February 2013)

tech/a said:


> Can
> 
> How are you finding that book?
> Worth a read?
> ...




Yeah, its jammed packed with stats. I think you'd find it interesting. I'm only about halfway through it though as i've been busy with other things during my normal reading time...

Cheers,


CanOz


----------



## gav (5 February 2013)

tech/a said:


> Bit like Cancer Gav
> 
> Do they want a cure?
> Do they want to kill off the
> Stream of gold?




Very true. The governments don't want to kill off the constant stream, for obvious reasons. Some countries are starting to change though, and it isn't Western Countries that are helping, it's China. They are investing directly in companies and infrastructure. China has a huge interest in their commodities, and so far it seems a win-win for both parties (for now).  This is taken straight from the book:



> “Whether or not Chinese domination is in the interest of the average African today is irrelevant. This is not to underestimate how much Africans care about freedom and rights – they do. But in the immediate term a woman in rural Dongo cares less about the risk to her democratic freedom in forty years’ time than about putting food on her table tonight. China promises food on the table today, education for her children tomorrow and an infrastructure she can rely on to support her business in the foreseeable future.”


----------



## gav (19 February 2013)

*"Adapt" by Tim Harford*

Tim Harford explains how the process of innovation is stifled in our complex, modern world. Good ideas are smothered by bureaucracy and bad practices grow and prosper. Harford argues that we need to go back to basics and examine what has worked in the past, and try to replicate it: evolution. From page 14: 



> Why is trial and error such an effective tool for solving problems? The evolutionary algorithm – of variation and selection, repeated – searches for solutions in a world where the problems keep changing, trying all sorts of variants and doing more of what works.




Harford suggests we implement what he calls the Palchinsky Principles”. (Palchinsky was an outspoken engineer in communist Russia). The principles are: 
1. Try new things, expecting that some will fail.
2. Make failure survivable: create safe spaces for failure or move forward in small steps… significant enough to make a difference, but not such a gamble that you’re ruined if it fails.
3. Seek out feedback and learn from your mistakes as you go along.

Principle 1 refers to the evolutionary concept of ‘variation’; Principle 3 refers to ‘selection’. The examples given in the book make for an interesting read, ranging from leadership and strategy in the Iraq war, medical and technological innovations, and outsourcing problems for prize money.


----------



## Knobby22 (19 February 2013)

Existance by David Brin.

A fantastic science fiction work by the master looking at the future of mankind and why space is so quiet.

If you long for a book that stretches your mind then you can't go past this one. A great story with many ideas.


----------



## chops_a_must (25 February 2013)

Just finished reading Winter Journal by my favourite contemporary author - Paul Auster.

An interesting memoir written in 2nd person. And I've gained an understanding of why I relate to him so well.

Between two books at the moment, until I decide which one i want to read.

But I've started writing a history of my football club, after submitting my thesis.


----------



## Gringotts Bank (25 February 2013)

Moneyball (the book about the movie about the real life story).

Mildly interesting.  Oakland A's hit a huge winning streak after employing a statistician.


----------



## Tink (18 March 2013)

*Colleen McCullough - The Thorn Birds*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thorn_Birds

I mentioned this in the movie thread, but the book is just as good, have read this a few times as well..
Powerful, loved it.


----------



## pavilion103 (21 March 2013)

Mastery 

http://www.amazon.com/Mastery-Robert-Greene/dp/0670024961

What did Charles Darwin, middling schoolboy and underachieving second son, do to become one of the earliest and greatest naturalists the world has known? What were the similar choices made by Mozart and by Caesar Rodriguez, the U.S. Air Force’s last ace fighter pilot? In Mastery, Robert Greene’s fifth book, he mines the biographies of great historical figures for clues about gaining control over our own lives and destinies. Picking up where The 48 Laws of Power left off, Greene culls years of research and original interviews to blend historical anecdote and psychological insight, distilling the universal ingredients of the world’s masters.

Temple Grandin, Martha Graham, Henry Ford, Buckminster Fuller””all have lessons to offer about how the love for doing one thing exceptionally well can lead to mastery. Yet the secret, Greene maintains, is already in our heads. Debunking long-held cultural myths, he demonstrates just how we, as humans, are hardwired for achievement and supremacy. Fans of Greene’s earlier work and Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers will eagerly devour this canny and erudite explanation of just what it takes to be great.


----------



## Julia (23 April 2013)

"The Psychopath Test" by Jon Ronson.
This engrossing book is subtitled "A Journey through the Madness Industry".

Jon Ronson is a British journalist whose interest was piqued when he heard about a man who, when drunk, had assaulted another bloke, and was at risk of being sent to jail.  He had heard that if he was declared insane, he would avoid jail.  So he faked madness and apparently convinced the court.  As a result, however, he was sent to Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital, a very high security UK institution housing murderers and rapists et al.

His ruse achieved, he then set about making clear to his treating doctors that he was, in fact, perfectly sane.
They refused to acknowledge their diagnostic error and labelled him a psychopath, a condition for which there is considered to be no cure, and he was therefore doomed to remain there on the basis of being incurable.

The author goes in search of the diagnostic criteria for psychopathy and meets Bob Hare, a clinical psychologist who has authored a checklist for diagnosis of psychopathy.

What follows is a fascinating account of Ronson's interviewing of various people, including corporate CEO's, whose responses to the checklist seem to clearly mark them as psychopaths.

As the subtitle suggests, it's a questioning of the nebulous and often ill founded bases of diagnoses of psychiatric disorders.
The writing style is intelligent and surprisingly page turning.

One of the most fascinating books I've read in some while.


----------



## CanOz (23 April 2013)

Julia said:


> "The Psychopath Test" by Jon Ronson.
> This engrossing book is subtitled "A Journey through the Madness Industry".
> 
> Jon Ronson is a British journalist whose interest was piqued when he heard about a man who, when drunk, had assaulted another bloke, and was at risk of being sent to jail.  He had heard that if he was declared insane, he would avoid jail.  So he faked madness and apparently convinced the court.  As a result, however, he was sent to Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital, a very high security UK institution housing murderers and rapists et al.
> ...




Thanks for that Juila, might be an interesting aside from the normal stuff i read...did you read it in e-format?

CanOz


----------



## Julia (23 April 2013)

CanOz said:


> Thanks for that Juila, might be an interesting aside from the normal stuff i read...did you read it in e-format?
> 
> CanOz



No, hard copy.  But it's quite well known so probably available in e-format.


----------



## Muschu (23 April 2013)

If you are interested in cultic studies or "high demand" groups then consider checking out "Mushroom Satori" by Joseph Szimhart.  A first novel by a highly experienced person in the field. Just been released electronically (Amazon)with hard copy coming out next month.


----------



## Muschu (23 April 2013)

Julia said:


> "The Psychopath Test" by Jon Ronson.
> This engrossing book is subtitled "A Journey through the Madness Industry".
> 
> Jon Ronson is a British journalist whose interest was piqued when he heard about a man who, when drunk, had assaulted another bloke, and was at risk of being sent to jail.  He had heard that if he was declared insane, he would avoid jail.  So he faked madness and apparently convinced the court.  As a result, however, he was sent to Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital, a very high security UK institution housing murderers and rapists et al.
> ...




Sounds fascinating. Will order.


----------



## Julia (13 May 2013)

"The Centre Cannot Hold:   A Memoir of my Schizophrenia" by Elyn Saks.

Professor Saks is Professor of Law and Psychiatry at the University of Southern California and this is her moving account of her resistance to accepting that she was schizophrenic and required medication to function.  For many years she believed if she just 'tried harder', was 'more courageous' she could beat her psychotic episodes.

That she has achieved what she has, and that she has in the process so furthered the understanding of this devastating illness, is a great tribute to her courage.

For anyone with a friend or family member with this disorder, this book is enlightening and ultimately encouraging.


----------



## Judd (13 May 2013)

Re-reading for the umpteenth time "Pickwick Papers" and other writings by the same author.  It's excellent stuff.


----------



## drillinto (13 May 2013)

"How to Live: Or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer" 
Author: Sarah Bakewell 

Since the publication of Michel de Montaigne’s Essays in 1580, readers from Blaise Pascal to Virginia Woolf have seen the French author as a kindred spirit and friend. He was the inventor of the essay, a word that comes from the French essaie meaning “attempt,” and, in his short, conversational works, with titles such as “How Our Mind Hinders Itself” and “Of the Custom of Wearing Clothes,” captured what Sarah Bakewell calls “the experience of being human.” In How to Live, an affectionate introduction to the author, Bakewell argues that, far from being a dusty old philosopher, Montaigne has never been more relevant””a 16th-century blogger, as she would have it””and so must be read, quite simply, “in order to live.” 
...

(Emily Stokes, book review in The Daily Beast)


----------



## Gringotts Bank (13 May 2013)

You know how sometimes you read a review on Amazon, and you think to yourself "that was really cool, this guy should write a book himself!".  I wish I'd written it myself, it's just so nicely done.  Anyway, here it is, and the book he's referring to is called "As It Is". 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Scott Meredith.

This book is the classic and still best-of-breed presentation of what I call the "Third Option". What is the Third Option? Third of what I see as 3 broad choices for "What the frik is really going ON here??"

Option 1 (Cold World): This is the scientific/materialist worldview in its purest form. That means that there is no meaning, nothing but mindless DNA chemicals endlessly attempting to convert all available matter and energy (such as can be scrounged in the universal near vacuum) into pointless copies of themselves, forever. See Dawkins "The Selfish Gene" for a good explication, but all modern sci/tech is based on this idea.

Option 2 (Hot World): This is the entire grab-bag of BOTH traditional religion AND all "New Age" systems of any kind. It might seem strange to lump traditional religion together with New Age stuff given they are so often at each other's throats, but in fact they share identical premises: that there is or could be a transcendent "meaning" to human or biological existence, further that there are gradations of meaning and purity and power and value and so on ... so that a task of vertical ascent is laid out for us in all cases (pass the collection plate). It is true that the specifics of all these meaning-construction systems contradict one another, they share an over-arching commitment to a transcendent value system and gradations of achievement/progress vs degeneration/perdition as a core logical structure. In short, duality all the way down.

Option 3: (Non World): Pure non-dualism/Advaita. tracing back to ancient Indian scripture, but pioneered in modern times by Ramana Maharishi (died 1953). Now I finally get to this Parsons' book, where I find "As It Is" to be both a pioneering statement of "neo-Advaita" (Advaita stripped lean and mean for Western consumption) and probably still best-of-breed explication of the core idea. The core idea is distinguished most clearly in opposition to Option 2 above. NeoA holds that there is no meaning, there is no personal identity, there is no progress, there is no time, there is no enlightenment and no ignorance. There is nowhere to stand, nothing to do, and nobody to do it anyway even if there were. If that makes sense, ha ha! Anyway the point is that we are situated kind of like the recent cool movie "Open Water" where two divers are left stranded in the middle of the ocean by their support boat, leaving them to just ... float there in the open ocean... nothing to stand on or cling to ... nothing to do... nowhere they can go... no way to call for rescue... and things just ... happen ... (such as being eaten by sharks, hee hee). Anyway that's the feel of the purest NeoA, as best exemplified by Parson's teachings (or, non-teachings). This book is the best, shortest, clearest, least-BS presentation of this view. It should be clear how different this is from Option 2. What about Option 1? Well, it seems strange to say it given the radically distinct cultural origins of these two worldviews, but in a weird way the NeoA cosmology (if such it can be called) is actually very reminiscent of the purely coldest sci/tech world. No "meaning" in either case. No possible "progress" (teleological fantasy in evolution). We are just Dust in the Wind. However, Parsons does allude here and there to a background field of unconditional love into which the false meaning-structures and personality-structures ultimately collapse, so that could be point of difference with respect to Option 1. He doesn't make that big a deal of that aspect however.

There are the very broad, overly broad I guess, pigeon holes into which I find I can cleanly dump pretty much whatever loony new or old explanation of the world that comes down the pike.

So given the above (which you might view as pure bullspit, ask me if I care!) you got to step up to the window and place your bets. It could be "important" (sorry!) how you choose, because if you go with Option 1 or Option 3, there is no morality, and you have zero moral responsibility. Furthermore with those options you don't have to worry about improving yourself, your mind, body, or soul because it just ain't gonna signify. This is in a way, as Parsons points out, quite a relief.

On the other hand. after a lifetime of social mind control that what we do matters and that we matter, or the accepted view most of us have of ourselves that we do actually exist as "individuals" I could see the NeoA thing could be very hard for many people to swallow. Or I guess I should play word games here and say, hard for the small-i egoic mind to swallow, blabitty blah blah blah.

Anyway this book is a must-read if you want to spend the very least time possible time acquiring pretty much a perfect understanding of the terms of the NeoA thing (short of actual "awakening").

Overall it is a uniquely soothing book to read, whether "true" or not. Somehow less grating and less attitude/arrogance than the many many other new Western NeoA books now popping up like mushrooms after an autumn rain.


----------



## Tink (14 May 2013)

Interesting reading GB, thanks for sharing, I will stick with the Hot World : )


----------



## tigerboi (14 May 2013)

catch & kill your own...neddy smith


brian alexander...my hands were tied! classic

[video=youtube_share;eNGhisQsf3Q]http://youtu.be/eNGhisQsf3Q[/video]


----------



## Gringotts Bank (30 June 2013)

My favourite author, Jed McKenna has outdone himself with this stunning book, his latest,  "Theory of Everything".

Rather than me try to explain it, you can read the first few pages and see if anything grabs you.  Prepare to have every religious and scientific belief you hold to be true, smashed to smithereens. SUCH a good writer.

http://www.amazon.com/Jed-McKennas-Theory-Everything-ebook/dp/B00C3B1ZN0#reader_B00C3B1ZN0


----------



## CanOz (30 June 2013)

pavilion103 said:


> Mastery
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Mastery-Robert-Greene/dp/0670024961
> 
> ...




Interesting...i've just started this book - The Element by Ken Robinson



> The Element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion. When people arrive at the Element, they feel most themselves and most inspired and achieve at their highest levels. With a wry sense of humor, Ken Robinson looks at the conditions that enable us to find ourselves in the Element and those that stifle that possibility. Drawing on the stories of a wide range of people, including Paul McCartney, Matt Groening, Richard Branson, Arianna Huffington, and Bart Conner, he shows that age and occupation are no barrier and that this is the essential strategy for transform*ing education, business, and communities in the twenty-first century.
> 
> A breakthrough book about talent, passion, and achievement from one of the world's leading thinkers on creativity and self-fulfillment.




Will let ya'll know that i think of it...

CanOz


----------



## Judd (30 June 2013)

I am Asher Lev by Chaim Potok. A wonderful read.


----------



## pavilion103 (9 July 2013)

The People's Tycoon - Henry Ford and the American Century 
-- Steven Watts

Love this book so far about 60 pages in. Following on from my previous read. 

Titan - a John D Rockerfeller book by Curnow


----------



## CanOz (9 July 2013)

I just finished China Cuckoo...after spending the weekend in the authors little town south west of here...

Here is the review i did for Amazon...



> Mark Kitto's China Cuckoo was my best read this year. Well written and reflecting well of life as a foreigner in China. His unbeaten spirit and sense of humor are well presented in this wonderful book. Even though Mark has some bitterness from events beyond his control he still presents vivid imagery, heartfelt feelings and a genuine love for the people of Moganshan. This book is a must for China Expats who will find themselves nodding their heads in agreement and chucking all the way through this fast, accurate account of life in China. Mark's style is very easy to read and this makes it a perfect book for a weekend away, somewhere in the mountains in Asia. "




CanOz


----------



## So_Cynical (9 July 2013)

I listen to audio books on the train to and from work.


 Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
 The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury, by Robert Kirkman. 
 A Short History of Nearly Everything: by Bill Bryson.
 Automate This: How Algorithms Came to Rule Our World, by Christopher Steiner 

Antifragile: Im about 20% through this and its starting to get boring...this guy can really rattle on, some interesting facts and analysis though, some market and money making content.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifragile:_Things_That_Gain_from_Disorder

------------------

The Road to Woodbury: is a spin off prequel novel based on characters from the excellent TV series The Walking Dead, its an ok listen, some stupid characters doing pretty dumb things but it wasn't boring and is only a short read/listen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Dead:_The_Road_to_Woodbury

------------------

A Short History of Nearly Everything: This was a great listen, a really really good book, very entertaining and very interesting, full of fun and amazing facts...it really is a short history of nearly everything.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Short_History_of_Nearly_Everything

---------------------

Automate This: How Algorithms Came to Rule Our World, this is pretty good to, lots of trading and money making history and eye opening facts, very interesting and a great read with lots of futuristic stuff and history that you didn't know about.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automate_This


----------



## two40 (10 July 2013)

So_Cynical said:


> A Short History of Nearly Everything: This was a great listen, a really really good book, very entertaining and very interesting, full of fun and amazing facts...it really is a short history of nearly everything.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Short_History_of_Nearly_Everything




I've listened to that book 3 times and plan to again. Very informative and entertaining. Bryson has a very accessible style. He has written other books which are interesting as well but I've not yet read them. Should make some time though.

Highly recommend this one.


----------



## pavilion103 (26 July 2013)

Heading to Wirrina this weekend for some R&R and bringing "The New Market Wizards" with me.


----------



## johenmo (26 July 2013)

The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  Interesting novel that portrays the early 60's in the southern states of the USA.  Hard to put down.  Haven't seen the movie - I hear it's good but it can't explore the charaters as well as the book.  written in the first person from the POV of a number of characters.

*Wikipedia* 
The story revolves around three different characters: Aibileen Clark, Minny Jackson and Skeeter Phelan as they document their lives on the different side of the racial barrier. Aibileen and Minny are black maids working for rich white families whilst Skeeter is the daughter of a rich family that employs "the help" which refers to the black maids. Minny is a black maid with a quick tongue and an inability to act like maids were expected to in the novel's depicted setting. This big mouth often gets her into trouble, and usually fired from her job. Racial issues of overcoming long-standing barriers in customs and laws are experienced by all of the characters. The lives and morals of Southern socialites are also explored.


----------



## Gringotts Bank (26 July 2013)

pavilion103 said:


> Heading to Wirrina this weekend for some R&R and bringing "The New Market Wizards" with me.




Maybe skip the chapter on Steve Cohen.  (_alleged _cheat )


----------



## Julia (26 July 2013)

johenmo said:


> The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  Interesting novel that portrays the early 60's in the southern states of the USA.  Hard to put down.  Haven't seen the movie - I hear it's good but it can't explore the charaters as well as the book.  written in the first person from the POV of a number of characters.
> 
> *Wikipedia*
> The story revolves around three different characters: Aibileen Clark, Minny Jackson and Skeeter Phelan as they document their lives on the different side of the racial barrier. Aibileen and Minny are black maids working for rich white families whilst Skeeter is the daughter of a rich family that employs "the help" which refers to the black maids. Minny is a black maid with a quick tongue and an inability to act like maids were expected to in the novel's depicted setting. This big mouth often gets her into trouble, and usually fired from her job. Racial issues of overcoming long-standing barriers in customs and laws are experienced by all of the characters. The lives and morals of Southern socialites are also explored.



Thanks for giving the synopsis, johenmo.  So much more helpful than just a title.


----------



## Miss Hale (29 July 2013)

Inspired by The Ashes (actually, inspired is not quite the right word, more accurately, prompted) I am reading a book I have been meaning to read for ages, *The Vincibles: A Suburban Cricket Season *by Gideon Haigh. 

It's more or less a diary about a season in the life of the Yarras cricket club.  Anyone who is familiar with Gideon Haigh will know he has a great turn of phrase and is very funny.  The book is an easy read and has me chortling out load


----------



## Gringotts Bank (7 August 2013)

I'm trying to find out if I can read a kindle version of a book with a PDF reader.  Anyone know?  Thanks.


----------



## CanOz (7 August 2013)

Gringotts Bank said:


> I'm trying to find out if I can read a kindle version of a book with a PDF reader.  Anyone know?  Thanks.




Not without some kind of new fangled hack, no.


----------



## Gringotts Bank (7 August 2013)

CanOz said:


> Not without some kind of new fangled hack, no.




I just found this after much searching.  You can now, which is great!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000426311


----------



## CanOz (7 August 2013)

Gringotts Bank said:


> I just found this after much searching.  You can now, which is great!
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000426311




Wow, thats cool...but why would i need to use itI'm hopeless at reading on the PC, i just want to lay down to read


----------



## Gringotts Bank (7 August 2013)

CanOz said:


> Wow, thats cool...but why would i need to use itI'm hopeless at reading on the PC, i just want to lay down to read




Same here.  IMO, it's suitable for short books which can be printed out.


----------



## CanOz (7 August 2013)

Gringotts Bank said:


> Same here.  IMO, it's suitable for short books which can be printed out.




Oh ok...cool

PM me if you want trading books....don't buy any without talking to me first


----------



## Muschu (7 August 2013)

:bowser:







Muschu said:


> If you are interested in cultic studies or "high demand" groups then consider checking out "Mushroom Satori" by Joseph Szimhart.  A first novel by a highly experienced person in the field. Just been released electronically (Amazon)with hard copy coming out next month.




The hard copy is now available if anyone is interested. 

Regards

Rick


----------



## Gringotts Bank (12 August 2013)

I'm reading this today, an old Time Magazine article on Carlos Castaneda.  Whether his books were half fiction or not, doesn't concern me.  His style of writing was captivating and intriguing.


*
Carlos Castaneda Time Magazine Interview
Don Juan and the Sorcerer's Apprentice*

THE Mexican border is a great divide. Below it, the accumulated structures of Western "rationality" waver and plunge. The familiar shapes of society - landlord and peasant, priest and politician - are laid over a stranger ground, the occult Mexico, with its brujos and carismaticos, its sorcerers and diviners. Some of their practices go back 2,000 and 3,000 years to the peyote and mushroom and morning glory cults of the ancient Aztecs and Toltecs. Four centuries of Catholic repression in the name of faith and reason have reduced the old ways to a subculture, ridiculed and persecuted. Yet in a country of 53 million, where many village marketplaces have their sellers of curative herbs, peyote buttons or dried hummingbirds, the sorcerer's world is still tenacious. Its cults have long been a matter of interest to anthropologists. But five years ago, it could hardly have been guessed that a master's thesis on this recondite subject, published under the conservative imprint of the University of California Press, would become one of the bestselling books of the early '70s.

OLD YAQUI. The book was The Teachings of Don Juan: a Yaqui Way of Knowledge (1968). With its sequels, A Separate Reality (1971) and the current Journey to Ixtlan (1972), it has made U.S. cult figures of its author and subject an anthropologist named Carlos Castaneda and a mysterious old Yaqui Indian from Sonora called Juan Matus. In essence, Castaneda's books are the story of how a European rationalist was initiated into the practice of Indian sorcery. They cover a span of ten years, during which, under the weird, taxing and sometimes comic tutelage of Don Juan, a young academic labored to penetrate and grasp what he calls the "separate reality" of the sorcerer's world. The learning of enlightenment is a common theme in the favorite reading of young Americans today (example: Herman Hesse's novel Siddhartha). The difference is that Castaneda does not present his Don Juan cycle as fiction but as unembellished documentary fact.

The wily, leather-bodied old brujo and his academic straight man first found an audience in the young of the counterculture, many of whom were intrigued by Castaneda's recorded experiences with hallucinogenic (or psychotropic) plants: Jimson weed, magic mushrooms, peyote. The Teachings has sold more than 300,000 copies in paperback and is currently selling at a rate of 16,000 copies a week. But Castaneda's books are not drug propaganda, and now the middleclass middlebrows have taken him up. Ixtlan is a hardback bestseller, and its paperback sales, according to Castaneda's agent Ned Brown, will make its author a millionaire.

To tens of thousands of readers, young and old, the first meeting of Castaneda with Juan Matus which took place in. 1960 in a dusty Arizona bus depot near the Mexican border is a better known literary event than the encounter of Dante and Beatrice beside the Arno. For Don Juan's teachings have reached print at precisely the moment when more Americans than ever before are disposed to consider "non-rational" approaches to reality. This new openness of mind displays itself on many levels, from ESP experiments funded indirectly by the U.S. Government to the weeping throngs of California 13 year olds getting blissed out by the latest child guru off a chartered jet from Bombay. The acupuncturist now shares the limelight with Marcus Welby, M.D., and his needles are seen to work - nobody knows why. However, with Castaneda's increasing fame have come increasing doubts. Don Juan has no other verifiable witness, and Juan Matus is nearly as common a name among the Yaqui Indians as John Smith farther north. Is Castaneda real? If so, did he invent Don Juan? Is Castaneda just putting on the straight world?

Among these possibilities, one thing is sure. There is no doubt that Castaneda, or a man by that name, exists: he is alive and well in Los Angeles, a loquacious, nut-brown anthropologist, surrounded by such concrete proofs of existence as a Volkswagen minibus, a Master Charge card, an apartment in Westwood and a beach house. His celebrity is concrete too. It now makes it difficult for him to teach and lecture, especially after an incident at the University of California's Irvine campus last year when a professor named John Wallace procured a Xerox copy of the manuscript of Ixtlan, pasted it together with some lecture notes from a seminar on shamanism Castaneda was giving, and peddled the result to Penthouse magazine. This so infuriated Castaneda that he is reluctant to accept any major lecture engagements in the future. At present he lives "as inaccessibly as possible" in Los Angeles, refreshing his batteries from time to time at what he and Don Juan refer to as a "power spot" atop a mountain north of nearby Malibu: a ring of boulders overlooking the Pacific. So far he has fended off the barrage of film offers. "I don't want to see Anthony Quinn as Don Juan," he says with asperity. Anyone who tries to probe into Castaneda's life finds himself in a maze of contradictions. But to Castaneda's admirers, that scarcely matters. "Look at it this way," says one. "Either Carlos is telling the documentary truth about himself and Don Juan, in which case he is a great anthropologist. Or else it is an imaginative truth, and he is a great novelist. Heads or tails, Carlos wins."

Indeed, though the man is an enigma wrapped in mystery wrapped in a tortilla, the work is beautifully lucid. Castaneda's story unfolds with a narrative power unmatched in other anthropological studies. Its terrain studded with organpipe cacti, from the glittering lava massifs of the Mexican desert to the ramshackle interior of Don Juan's shack becomes perfectly real. In detail, it is as thoroughly articulated a world as, say, Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County. In all the books, but especially in Journey to Ixtlan , Castaneda makes the reader experience the pressure or mysterious winds and the shivver of leaves at twilight, the hunter's peculiar alertness to sound and smell, the rock bottom scrubbiness of Indian life, the raw fragrance of tequila and the vile, fibrous taste of peyote, the dust in the car and the loft of a crow's flight. It is a superbly concrete setting, dense with animistic meaning. This is just as well, in view of the utter weirdness of the events that happen in it.

The education of a sorcerer, as Castaneda describes it, is arduous. It entailed the destruction, by Don Juan, of the young anthropologist's interpretation of the world; of what can, and cannot be called "real." The Teachings describes the first steps in this process. They involved natural drugs. One was Lophophora williamsii, the peyote cactus, which, Don Juan promised, revealed an entity named Mescalito, a powerful teacher who "shows you the proper way of life." Another was Jimson weed, which Don Juan spoke of as an implacable female presence. The third was humito, "the little smoke" a preparation of dust from Psilocybe mushrooms that had been dried and aged for a year, and then mixed with five other plants, including sage. This was smoked in a ritual pipe, and used for divination.

Such drugs, Don Juan insisted, gave access to the "powers" or impersonal forces at large in the world that a "man of knowledge" - his term for sorcerer - must learn to use. Prepared and administered by Don Juan, the drugs drew Castaneda into one frightful or ecstatic confrontation after another. After chewing peyote buttons Castaneda met Mescalito successively as a black dog, a column of singing light, and a cricket like being with a green warty head. He heard awesome and uninterpretable rumbles from the dead lava hills. After smoking humito and talking to a bilingual coyote, he saw the "guardian of the other world" rise before him as a hundred-foot high gnat with spiky tufted hair and drooling jaws. After rubbing his body with an unguent made from datura, the terrified anthropologist experienced all the sensations of flying.

Through it all, Castaneda often had little idea of what was happening. He could not be sure what it meant or whether any of it had "really" happened at all. That interpretation had to be supplied by Don Juan.

Why, then, in an age full of descriptions of good and bad trips, should Castaneda's sensations be of any more interest than anyone else's? First, because they were apparently conducted within a system - albeit one he did not understand at the time - imposed with priestly and rigorous discipline by his Indian guide. Secondly, because Castaneda kept voluminous and extraordinarily vivid notes. A sample description of the effects of peyote: "In a matter of instants a tunnel formed around me, very low and narrow, hard and strangely cold. It felt to the touch like a wall of solid tinfoil...l remember having to crawl towards a sort of round point where the tunnel ended; when I finally arrived, if I did, I had forgotten all about the dog, Don Juan, and myself." Perhaps most important, Castaneda remained throughout a rationalist Everyman. His one resource was questions: a persistent, often fumbling effort to keep a Socratic dialogue going with Don Juan:

"'Did I take off like a bird?' "'You always ask me questions I cannot answer...What you want to know makes no sense. Birds fly like birds and a man who has taken the devil's weed flies as such.' "'Then I didn't really fly, Don Juan. I flew in my imagination. Where was my body?' " And so on.

By his account, the first phase of Castaneda's apprenticeship lasted from 1961 to 1965, when, terrified that he was losing his sense of reality - and by now possessing thousands of pages of notes - he broke away from Don Juan. In 1968, when The Teachings appeared, he went down to Mexico again to give the old man a copy. A second cycle of instruction then began. Gradually Castaneda realized that Don Juan's use of psychotropic plants was not an end in itself, and that the sorcerer's way could be traversed without drugs.

But this entailed a perfect honing of the will. A man of knowledge, Don Juan insisted, could only develop by first becoming a "warrior" not literally a professional soldier, but a man wholly at one with his environment, agile, unencumbered by sentiment or "personal history". The warrior knows that each act may be his last. He is alone. Death is the root of his life, and in its constant presence he always performs "impeccably." This existential stoicism is a key idea in the books. The warrior's aim in becoming a "man of knowledge" and thus gaining membership as a sorcerer, is to "see." "Seeing," in Don Juan's system, means experiencing the world directly, grasping its essence, without interpreting it. Castaneda's second book, A Separate Reality, describes Don Juan's efforts to induce him to "see" with the aid of mushroom smoke. Journey to Ixtlan, though many of the desert experiences it recounts predate Castaneda's introduction to peyote, datura and mushrooms, deals with the second stage: "seeing" without drugs.

"The difficulty." says Castaneda, "is to learn to perceive with your whole body, not just with your eyes and reason. The world becomes a stream of tremendously rapid, unique events. So you must trim your body to make it a good receptor; the body is an awareness, and it must be treated impeccably." Easier said than done. Part of the training involved minutely, even piously attuning the senses to the desert, its animals and birds, its sounds and shadows, the shifts in its wind, and the places in which a shaman might confront its spirit entities: spots of power, holes of refuge. When Castaneda describes his education as a hunter and plant gatherer learning about the virtues of herbs, the trapping of rabbits, the narrative is absorbing. Don Juan and the desert enable him, sporadically and without drugs, to "see" or, as the Yaqui puts it "to stop the world." But such a state of interpretation free experience eludes description even for those who believe in Castaneda wholeheartedly.

SAGES. Not everybody can, does or will. But in some quarters Castaneda's works are extravagantly admired as a revival of a mode of cognition that has been largely neglected in the West, buried by materialism and Pascal's despair, since the Renaissance. Says Mike Murphy, a founder of the Esalen Institute: "The essential lessons Don Juan has to teach are the timeless ones that have been taught by the great sages of India and the spiritual masters of modern times." Author Alan Watts argues that Castaneda's books offer an alternative to both the guilt-ridden Judaeo-Christian and the blindly mechanistic views of man: "Don Juan's way regards man as something central and important. By not separating ourselves from nature we return to a position of dignity."

But such endorsements and parallels do not in any way validate the more worldly claim to importance of Castaneda's books: to wit, that they are anthropology, a specific and truthful account of an aspect of Mexican Indian culture as shown by the speech and actions of one person, a shaman named Juan Matus. That proof hinges on the credibility of Don Juan as a being and Carlos Castaneda as a witness. Yet there is no corroboration beyond Castaneda's writings that Don Juan did what he is said to have done, and very little that he exists at all.

Ever since The Teachings appeared, would be disciples and counterculture tourists have been combing Mexico for the old man. One awaits the first Don Juan Prospectors' Convention in the Brujo Bar BQ of the Mescalito Motel. Young Mexicans are excited to the point where the authorities may not even allow Castaneda's books to be released there in Spanish translation. Said one Mexican student who is himself pursuing Don Juan: "If the books do appear, the search for him could easily turn into a gold-rush stampede."

His teacher, Castaneda asserts, was born in 1891, and suffered in the diaspora of the Yaquis all over Mexico from the 1890s until the 1910 revolution. His parents were murdered by soldiers. He became a nomad. This helps explain why the elements of Don Juan's sorcery are a combination of shamanistic beliefs from several cultures. Some of them are not at all "representative" of the Yaquis. Many Indian tribes, such as the Huichols, use peyote ritually, both north and south of the border - some in a syncretic blend of Christianity and shamanism. But the Yaquis are not peyote users.

Don Juan, then, might be hard to find because he wisely shuns his pestering admirers. Or maybe he is a composite Indian, a collage of others. Or he could be a purely fictional shaman concocted by Castaneda.

Opinions differ widely and hotly, even among deep admirers of Castaneda's writing. "Is it possible that these books are nonfiction?" Novelist Joyce Carol Oates asks mildly. "They seem to me remarkable works of art on the Hesse-like theme of a young man's initiation into 'another way' of reality. They are beautifully constructed. The character of Don Juan is unforgettable. There is a novelistic momentum, rising, suspenseful action, a gradual revelation of character."

GULLIVER. True, Castaneda's books do read like a highly orchestrated Bildungsroman. But anthropologists worry less about literary excellence than about the shaman's elusiveness, as well as his apparent disconnection from the Yaquis. "I believe that basically the work has a very high percentage of imagination," says Jesus Ochoa, head of the department of ethnography at Mexico's National Museum of Anthropology. Snaps Dr. Francis Hsu of Northwestern University: "Castaneda is a new fad. I enjoyed the books in the same way that I enjoy Gulliver's Travels." But Castaneda's senior colleagues at U.C.L.A., who gave their former student a Ph.D. for Ixtlan, emphatically disagree: Castaneda, as one professor put it, is "a native genius," for whom the usual red tape and bureaucratic rigmarole were waived; his truth as a witness is not in question.

At the very least, though, it is clear that "Juan Matus" is a pseudonym used to protect his teacher's privacy. The need to be inaccessible and elusive is a central theme in the books. Time and again, Don Juan urges Castaneda to emulate him and free himself not only of daily routines, which dull perception, but of the imprisoning past itself. "Nobody knows my personal history," the old man explains in Ixtlan. "Nobody knows who I am or what I do. Not even I...we either take everything for sure and real, or we don't. If we follow the first path, we get bored to death with ourselves and the world. If we follow the second and erase personal history, we create a fog around us, a very exciting and mysterious state."

Unhappily for anyone hot for certainties about Carlos Castaneda's life, Don Juan's apprentice has taken the lesson very much to heart. After The Teachings became an underground bestseller, it was widely supposed that its author was El Freako the Acid Academic, all buckskin fringe and pinball eye, his brain a charred labyrinth lit by mysterious alkaloids, tripping through the desert with a crow on his hat. But Castaneda means chestnut grove, and the man looks a bit like a chestnut: a stocky, affable Latin American, 5 ft. 5 in., 150 lbs. and apparently bursting with vitamins. The dark curly hair is clipped short, and the eyes glisten with moist alertness. In dress, Castaneda is conservative to the point of anonymity, decking himself either in dark business suits or in Lee Trevino-type sports shirts. His plumage is words, which pour from him in a ceaseless, self-mocking and mesmeric flow. "Oh, I am a bull****ter!" he cackles, spreading his stubby, calloused hands. "Oh, how I love to throw the bull around!"

FOG. Castaneda says he does not smoke or drink hard liquor; he does not use marijuana; even coffee jangles him. He says he does not use peyote any more, and his only drug experiences took place with Don Juan. His own encounters with the acid culture have been unproductive. Invited to a 1964 East Village party that was attended by such luminaries as Timothy Leary, he merely found the talk absurd: "They were children, indulging in incoherent revelations. A sorcerer takes hallucinogens for a different reason than heads do, and after he has gotten where he wants to go, he stops taking them."

Castaneda's presentation of himself as Mr. Straight, it should be noted, could not be better designed to foil those who seek to know his own personal history. What, in fact, is his background? The "historical" Carlos Castaneda, anthropologist and apprentice shaman, begins when he met Don Juan in 1960; the books and his well-documented career at U.C.L.A. account for his life since. Before that, a fog.

In spending many hours with Castaneda over a matter of weeks, TIME Correspondent Sandra Burton found him attractive, helpful and convincing - up to a point - but very firm about warning that in talking about his pre-don Juan life he would change names and places and dates without, however, altering the emotional truth of his life. "I have not lied or contrived," he told her. "To contrive would be to pull back and not say anything or give the assurances that everybody seeks." As the talks continued, Castaneda offered several versions of his life, which kept changing as Burton presented him with the fact that much of his information did not check out, emotionally or otherwise.

By his own account, Castaneda was not his original name. He was born, he said, to a "well-known" but anonymous family in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Christmas Day, 1935. His father, who later became a professor of literature, was then 17, and his mother 15. Because his parents were so immature, little Carlos was packed off to be raised by his maternal grandparents on a chicken farm in the back country of Brazil.

When Carlos was six, his story runs, his parents took their only child back and lavished guilty affection on him. "It was a hellish year," he says flatly, "because I was living with two children." But a year later his mother died. The doctors' diagnosis was pneumonia, but Castaneda's is accidie, a condition of numbed inertia, which he believes is the cultural disease of the West. He offered a touching memory: "She was morose, very beautiful and dissatisfied, an ornament. My despair was that I wanted to make her something else, but how could she listen to me? I was only six."

Now Carlos was left with his father, a shadowy figure whom he mentions in the books with a mixture of fondness and pity shaded with contempt. His father's weakness of will is the obverse to the "impeccability" of his adopted father, Don Juan. Castaneda describes his father's efforts to become a writer as a farce of indecision. But, he adds, "I am my father. Before I met Don Juan I would spend years sharpening my pencils, and then getting a headache every time I sat down to write. Don Juan taught me that's stupid. If you want to do something, do it impeccably, that's all that matters.''

Carlos was put in a "very proper" Buenos Aires boarding school, Nicolas Avellaneda. He says he stayed there till he was 15, acquiring the Spanish (he already spoke Italian and Portuguese) in which he would later interview Don Juan. But he became so unmanageable that an uncle, the family patriarch, had him placed with a foster family in Los Angeles. In 1951 he moved to the U.S. and enrolled at Hollywood High. Graduating about two years later, he tried a course in sculpture at Milan's Academy of Fine Arts, but "I did not have the sensitivity or the openness to be a great artist." Depressed, in crisis, he headed back to Los Angeles and started a course in social psychology at U.C.L.A, shifting later to an anthropology course. Says he: "I really threw my life out the window. I said to myself: If it's going to work, it must be new." In 1959 he formally changed his name to Castaneda.

BIOGRAPHY. Thus Castaneda's own biography. It creates an elegant consistency - the spirited young man moving from his academic background in an exhausted, provincial European culture toward revitalization by the shaman; the gesture of abandoning the past to disentangle himself from crippling memories. Unfortunately, it is largely untrue.

For between 1955 and 1959, Carlos Castaneda was enrolled, under that name, as a pre-psychology major at Los Angeles City College. His liberal arts studies included, in his first two years, two courses in creative writing and one in journalism. Vernon King, his creative writing professor at L.A.C.C., still has a copy of The Teachings inscribed "To a great teacher, Vernon King, from one of his students, Carlos Castaneda. "

Moreover, immigration records show that a Carlos Cesar Arana Castaneda did indeed enter the U.S., at San Francisco, when the author says he did: in 1951. This Castaneda too was 5 ft. 5 in., weighed 140 lbs. and came from Latin America. But he was Peruvian, born on Christmas Day, 1925, in the ancient Inca town of Cajamarca, which makes him 48, not 38, this year. His father was not an academic, but a goldsmith and watchmaker named Cesar Arana Burungaray. His mother, Susana Castaneda Navoa, died not when Carlos was six, but when he was 24. Her son spent three years in the local high school in Cajamarca and then moved with his family to Lima in 1948, where he graduated from the Colegio Nacional de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe and then studied painting and sculpture, not in Milan, but at the National Fine Arts School of Peru. One of his fellow students there Jose Bracamonte, remembers his pal Carlos as a resourceful blade who lived mainly off gambling (cards, horses, dice), and harbored "like an obsession" the wish to move to the U.S. "We all liked Carlos," recalls Bracamonte. "He was witty, imaginative, cheerful - a big liar and a real friend."

SISTER. Castaneda apparently wrote home sporadically, at least until 1969, the year after Don Juan came out. His Cousin Lucy Chavez, who was raised with him "like a sister," still keeps his letters. They indicate that he served in the U.S. Army, and left it after suffering a slight wound or "nervous shock" Lucy is not sure which. (The Defense Department, however, has no record of Carlos Arana Castaneda's service.)

When TIME confronted Castaneda with such details as the time and transposition of his mother's death, Castaneda was opaque. "One's feelings about one's mother," he declared, "are not dependent on biology or on time. Kinship as a system has nothing to do with feelings." Cousin Lucy recalls that when Carlos' mother did die, he was overwhelmed. He refused to attend the funeral, locked himself in his room for three days without eating. And when he came out announced he was leaving home. Yet Carlos' basic explanation of his lying generally is both perfect and totally unresponsive. "To ask me to verify my life by giving you my statistics," he says, "is like using science to validate sorcery. It robs the world of its magic and makes milestones out of us all." In short, Castaneda lays claim to an absolute control over his identity.

Well and good. But where does a writer's license, the "artistic self-representation" Castaneda lays claim to, end? How far does it permeate his story of Don Juan? As the books' sales mount, the resistance multiplies. Three parodies of Castaneda have appeared in New York magazines and papers lately indicating that the critics seem to be preparing to skewer Don Juan as a kind of anthropological Ossian, the legendary third century Gaelic poet whose works James Macpherson foisted upon 18th century British readers.

Castaneda fans should not panic, however. A strong case can be made that the Don Juan books are of a different order of truthfulness from Castaneda's pre-don Juan past. Where, for example, was the motive for an elaborate scholarly put on? The Teachings was submitted to a university press, an unlikely prospect for bestsellerdom. Besides, getting an anthropology degree from U.C.L.A. is not so difficult that a candidate would employ so vast a confabulation just to avoid research. A little fudging, perhaps, but not a whole system in the manner of The Teachings, written by an unknown student with, at the outset, no hope of commercial success.

For that was certainly Castaneda's situation in the summer of 1960: a young Peruvian student with limited ambitions. There is no reason to doubt his account of how the work began. "I wanted to enter graduate school and do a good job of being an academic, and I knew that if I could publish a little paper beforehand, I'd have it made." One of his teachers at U.C.L.A., Professor Clement Meighan, had interested him in shamanism. Castaneda decided the easiest field would be ethnobotany, the classification of psychotropic plants used by sorcerers. Then came Don Juan.

The visits to the Southwest and the Mexican desert gradually became the spine of Castaneda's life. Impressed by his work, the U.C.L.A. staff offered him encouragement. Recalls Professor Meighan: "Carlos was the type of student a teacher waits for." Sociology professor Harold Garfinkel, one of the fathers of ethnomethodology, gave Castaneda constant stimulus and harsh criticism. After his first peyote experience (August 1961), Castaneda presented Garfinkel with a long "analysis" of his visions. "Garfinkel said, "Don't explain to me. You are a nobody. Just give it to me straight and in detail, the way it happened. The richness of detail is the whole story of membership." The abashed student spent several years revising his thesis, living off odd jobs as taxi driver and delivery boy, and sent it in again. Garfinkel was still unimpressed. "He didn't like my efforts to explain Don Juan's behavior psychologically. 'Do you want to be the darling of Esalen?' he asked." Castaneda rewrote the thesis a third time.

Like the various versions of Castaneda's life, the books are an invitation to consider contradictory kinds of truth. At the core of his books and Don Juan's method is, of course, the assumption that reality is not an absolute. It comes to each of us culturally determined, packaged in advance. "The world has been rendered coherent by our description of it," Castaneda argues, echoing Don Juan. "From the moment of birth, this world has been described for us. What we see is just a description. '

MULTIVERSE. In short, what men take as reality, as well as their notions of the world's rational possibilities, is determined by consensus, in effect by a social contract that varies from culture to culture. Through history, the road has been hard for any person who questions its fine print - especially if, like Castaneda, he tries to persuade others to accept his vision.

Anthropology by its nature deals with different descriptions, and hence literally with separate realities, within different cultures. As Castaneda's colleague Edmund Carpenter of Adelphi College notes, "Native people have many separate realities. They believe in a multiverse, or a biverse, but not a universe as we do." Yet even this much scholarly relativism is indigestible for many people who like to reassure themselves that there is only one world and that the "validity" of a culture's interpretations can and should be measured only against this norm. Any myth, they would say, can conveniently be seen as an embryonic form of what the West accepts as linear history; a Hopi rain dance is merely an "inefficient" way of doing what cloud-seeding does well.

Castaneda's books insist otherwise. He is eloquent and convincing on how useless it is to explain or judge another culture entirely in terms of one's own particular categories. "Suppose there was a Navajo anthropologist," he says. "It would be very interesting to ask him to study us. He would ask extraordinary questions, like 'How many in your kinship group have been bewitched?' That's a terribly important question in Navajo terms. And of course, you'd say 'I don't know,' and think 'What an idiotic question.' Meanwhile the Navajo is thinking, 'My God, what a creep! What a primitive creep!' "

Turn the situation around, Castaneda argues, and there is your typical Western anthropologist in the field. Yet a "very simple" alternative exists: the crux of anthropology is acquisition of real membership. "It's a hell of a lot of work," he says, explaining the years he spent with Don Juan. "What Don Juan did with me was simply this: he was making his sorcery membership available, handing down the necessary steps." Professor Michael Harner of The New School for Social Research, a friend of Castaneda's and an authority on shamanism, explains: "Most anthropologists only give the result. Instead of synthesizing the interviews, Castaneda takes us through the process."

It is not those years of study but the nature of the revelation he offers that has run Castaneda afoul of rationalists. To join another man's consensus of reality, one's own must go, and since nobody can easily abandon his own accustomed description it must be forcibly broken up. The historical precedents, even in the West, are abundant. Ever since the ecstatic mystery religions of Greece, our culture has been continually challenged by the wish to escape its own dominant properties: the linear, the categorical, the fixed.

Whether Carlos Castaneda is, as some leading scholars think, a major figure in an evolution of anthropology or only a brilliant novelist with unique knowledge of the desert and Indian lore, his work is to be reckoned with. And it goes on. At present, he is finishing the fourth and last volume of the Don Juan series, Tales of Power, scheduled for publication next year.

"POWER SPOT." It may confront, more clearly than the first three books, the final purpose of Don Juan's painful teachings: a special case of the ancient desire to know, propitiate and, if possible, use the mysterious forces of the universe. In that pursuit, the splitting of the atom, the sin of Prometheus and Castaneda's search for a "power spot" near Los Angeles can all be remotely linked. A good deal of the magic Don Juan works on Castaneda in the books (making Carlos believe his car has disappeared, for instance) sounds like the kind of fakir rope trickery that gurus think frivolous. Yet all in all, the books communicate a primal sense of power running through the world, arranging our perceptions of reality like so many iron filings in a huge magnetic field.

A sorcerer's power, Castaneda insists, is "unimaginable," but the extent to which a sorcerer's apprentice can hope to use it is determined by, among other things, the degree of his commitment. The full use of power can only be acquired with the help of an "ally", a spirit entity which attaches itself to the student as a guide - of a dangerous sort. The ally challenges the apprentice when he learns to "see," as Castaneda did in the earlier books. The apprentice may duck this battle. For if he wrestles with the ally - like Jacob with the Angel - and loses, he will, in Don Juan's slightly enigmatic terms, "be snuffed out." But if he wins, his reward is "true power the final acquisition of sorcery membership, when all interpretation ceases."

Up to now, Castaneda claims, he has chosen to duck the final battle with an ally. He admits to an inner struggle on the matter. Sometimes, he says, he feels strongly tugged away from the commitment to sorcery and back into the mundane world. He has a very real urge to be a respected writer and anthropologist, and to use his new-found power of fame in tandem with the printed word to go on communicating glimpses of other realities to hungry readers.

APEX. Moreover, like most men who have explored mystical separate realities and returned, he seems to have reentry problems. According to the books, Don Juan taught him to abandon regular hours - for work or play - and even in his apartment in Los Angeles he apparently eats and sleeps as whim occurs, or slips off to the desert. But he often works at his writing as many as 18 hours a day. He has great skill at avoiding the public. No one can be sure where he will be at any given time of day, or year. "Carlos will call you from a phone booth," says Michael Korda, his editor at Simon & Schuster, "and say he is in Los Angeles. Then the operator will cut in for more change, and it turns out to be Yuma." His few good friends do not give his whereabouts away to would-be acolytes, in part because his own experience is mysterious and he can't explain it. He has a girl friend but not even his friends know her last name. He avoids photographers like omens of disaster. "I live in this inflow of very strange people that are waiting for a word from me. They expect something that I can't give at all. I had a class in Irvine that was very large, and it looked like they were just waiting for me to crack up."

At other moments he seems decided to be a true sorcerer or bust. "Power takes care of you," he says, "and you don't know how. Now I'm at the edge, and I have to change my whole format. Writing to get my Ph.D. was my accomplishment, my sorcery, and now I am at the apex of a cycle that includes the notoriety. But this is the last thing I will ever write about Don Juan. Now I am going to be a sorcerer for sure. Only my death could stop that." It is a romantic role, this anthropological gesture across a pit of entities which, in a different age, would have been called demons. Will Castaneda become the Dr. Faustus of Malibu Beach, attended by Mephistopheles in a sombrero? Stay tuned in for the next episode. In the meantime, his books have made it hard for readers ever to use the word primitive patronizingly again.

 © Copyright Time Magazine


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## gav (17 August 2013)

Julia said:


> "The Psychopath Test" by Jon Ronson.
> This engrossing book is subtitled "A Journey through the Madness Industry".
> 
> Jon Ronson is a British journalist whose interest was piqued when he heard about a man who, when drunk, had assaulted another bloke, and was at risk of being sent to jail.  He had heard that if he was declared insane, he would avoid jail.  So he faked madness and apparently convinced the court.  As a result, however, he was sent to Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital, a very high security UK institution housing murderers and rapists et al.
> ...




Sounds very interesting Julia. On my bookshelf is "Insanity: The Idea and Its Consequences" by Thomas Szasz. Some info about the author and his views:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Szasz

I haven't read it yet, but will do so soon


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## Julia (17 August 2013)

gav said:


> Sounds very interesting Julia. On my bookshelf is "Insanity: The Idea and Its Consequences" by Thomas Szasz. Some info about the author and his views:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Szasz
> 
> I haven't read it yet, but will do so soon



I'll look forward to your reaction - hope you read it soon.
Thanks for the wiki reference.  Really interesting.

It seems to me that today's psychiatrists are overly enthusiastic about medicalising ordinary behaviour, ie sadness is quickly labelled 'depression' and medication recommended.  Recently even grief following the death of someone close has been categorised as pathological if it extends beyond a quite short period.

I'd have thought there's a wide range of behaviours by human beings, some a bit weird perhaps, but not necessarily requiring medical classification and the further enrichment of the pharmaceutical industry by the use of drugs which in many cases (schizophrenia particularly) cause dreadful side effects.
(At the same time, I'm very aware of genuine need for control of schizophrenic symptoms in some sufferers.)


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## sydboy007 (17 August 2013)

Anyone into Military Sci-Fi combined with alternative histroy should give the Destroyermen series by Taylor Anderson a go.

Very entertaining and he captures the crew of a WWII DD stacker destoyer rather well.  The latest book was only released a month or two ago.  He's a master of plot twists with something totaly unexpected thrown in each book.

These days I tend to read for pleasure.  A few good books are cheaper than a holiday and last me about that long.


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## gav (17 August 2013)

Julia said:


> I'll look forward to your reaction - hope you read it soon.
> Thanks for the wiki reference.  Really interesting.
> 
> It seems to me that today's psychiatrists are overly enthusiastic about medicalising ordinary behaviour, ie sadness is quickly labelled 'depression' and medication recommended.  Recently even grief following the death of someone close has been categorised as pathological if it extends beyond a quite short period.
> ...




I agree entirely, which is why I'm so interested in reading "Insanity" by Szasz. 

I've been a bit slack on the forum lately, I've read 11 books since Feb and I haven't posted anything here. I'll post something up over the next few days regarding what I've read.


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## gav (18 August 2013)

*“Letters from a Stoic”* by Seneca. 
A fantastic collection of letters written on the philosophy of stoicism written nearly 2000 years ago. It’s quite interesting to see that Seneca lived out his views in his own death.

*“Mobs Messiahs & Markets”* by Will Bonner and Lila Rajiva
The title is pretty self-explanatory as to what the book is about. While this does have some great sections, like explaining many the problems which eventually turned into the GFC (it was published pre-GFC), and many of the views and explanations cater toward my libertarian views, I found it to be far too long.  A few years ago I read “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds” which does a much better job of covering the topic than this book. 

*“Super Brain: Unleashing the Explosive Power of Your Mind to Maximize Health, Happiness, and Spiritual Well-Being”* by Deepak Chopra and Rudolph E. Tanzi
I received this book as a gift. I’d never head of it before, and cringed internally when I read the title. I tried to read this with an open mind, but it ended up being a book that you can “judge by its cover” (or title, for that matter). I was shocked to learn that both authors of this book have PHD’s and have taught at Harvard, which was quite surprising given the “mystic” crap in this book. 

*“Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training” *by Mark Rippetoe
This would be the best, and most practical introduction to weight training I’ve ever come across. I wish I read this 10 years ago when I started training.

*“Nutritional and Physical Degeneration”* by Weston A Price
This book was published in 1939 and details the global travels of the author as he studies the diets and nutrition of various cultures. Price is very thorough in his data collection and observations. He concludes that aspects of a modern Western diet (particularly flour, sugar and processed vegetable fats) cause nutritional deficiencies that are a cause of many dental issues and health problems. Price’s views are quite similar to the “paleo diet”, which has gained a massive following during the past 5-10 years. For more info, see the foundation set up in his name: westonaprice.org

*“Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters” *by Matt Ridley
I have no prior knowledge on the subject and ’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but Ridley was able to describe this topic in a very simple, reader-friendly way. An example:
"Imagine that the genome is a book.
There are twenty-three chapters, called Chromosomes.
Each chapter contains several thousand stories, called Genes.
Each story is made up of paragraphs, called Exons, which are interrupted by advertisements called Introns.
Each paragraph is made up of words, called Codons.
Each word is written in letters called Bases."

*Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconsciousness *by Gerd Gigerenzer
Gigerenzer argues that rules of thumb serve us just as well as complex analytic processes, and sometimes even better. He discusses how we have evolved to make decisions based on incomplete information. An interesting read, and I’ve been told is very similar to Malcom Gladwell’s “Blink” (which I haven’t read). Gigerenzer is a great writer, his book “Calculated Risk: How To Know When Numbers Deceive You” was one of my favourite reads last year.

*“Practical Programming For Strength Training”* by Mark Rippetoe
This book is aimed more toward intermediate and advanced athletes and coaches. It contains so much more than just training programs; it’s a continuation of the author’s weight lifting philosophy from “Starting Strength” and has a fantastic piece on adaptation.

*“The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability”* by Lierre Keith
Keith was a vegan for over 20 years, and debunks each of the main arguments used by vegans and vegetarians why “their” way is better:
1.	Animal cruelty
2.	Sustainability
3.	Health 
Apart from the occasional annoying feminist rant (which seems to have nothing to do with the subject of this book), this was a pretty good read. It’s interesting to see the thought process behind someone who lived such a massive part of their life (over 20yrs) with a particular lifestyle, to then not only discover their way of life is wrong, but to actually do something about it. Most people will just look the other way when something challenges their deep-held beliefs.


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## Julia (18 August 2013)

Gav, congratulations on your eclectic choices .
Also, really appreciate your effort in providing a synopsis and your own view of each book.


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## Tink (19 August 2013)

+2
Agree with your post, Julia, that it seems today's psychiatrists are overly enthusiastic about medicalising ordinary behaviour etc.


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## gav (21 August 2013)

A few more I've read lately:

*“Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human”* by Richard Wrangham
As the title suggests, the main premise of this book is that cooking food was an essential element in the evolution of homo sapiens. The main argument is that cooking allowed us to develop a smaller digestive system which freed up energy and nutrients for a larger brain. I’m a bit sceptical of his smaller claims and theories, but the evidence and arguments for the book’s main hypothesis are quite strong.  

*“Brave New World” and “Brave New World Revisited”* by Aldous Huxley
The small comic shown here is what first sparked my interest in this book:
http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/06/amusing-ourselves-to-death/
Brave New World was written in 1931 and is basically a dystopian world based on the direction the author believed the world was heading. I actually found the introduction essay “Amuzing Ourselves to Death” by Neil Postman and “Brave New World Revisited” to be better than the actual book itself.

*“Principles”* by Ray Dalio
Technically this isn’t a book. It is a 100+ page manifesto by Ray Dalio. Dalio is the founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund with $120B in assets (yes, that’s billion with a B!). Dalio wrote “Principles” to share his life and business management principles with his employees, and now shares the document online. I was surprised at how humbling and personal  Dalio’s writing is. You can read “Principles” here:
http://www.bwater.com/Uploads/FileManager/Principles/Bridgewater-Associates-Ray-Dalio-Principles.pdf


At the moment I’m reading: "What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars" by Jim Paul and Brendan Moynihan


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## gav (25 August 2013)

*What I Learned Losing A Million Dollars* by Jim Paul and Brendan Moynihan

This book is a refreshing change to the “How to get rich” or “How I made a million dollars” type books. It tells the story of a successful trader who lost it all, who later realised that almost all the success he’d had in life (not just trading) was due to sheer luck. He then set out to research what successful traders and investors do, and found that they all contradicted each other. But what many did have in common was the way they managed risk and losses. He boils the losing money to two traits:
	- errors in analysis
	- psychological factors which prevent you from applying the analysis
He claims that all analytical methods have some validity and make allowances for times when they don’t work, but the real problem is the psychological factors that keep you from executing your analysis (holding a loser, jumping from one method to another when the first has a brief drawdown, etc).


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## Julia (10 October 2013)

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/jennifer-byrne-presents/#episode/AC1238H010S00

Jennifer Byrne has a conversation with one of Australia's most loved and awarded writers, Tim Winton.
Byrne shows empathy and sensitivity in this terrific half hour.
Tim Winton's intelligence and extraordinary perception of the lives of ordinary people is well brought out by Jennifer Byrne.
It's hard to imagine anyone with a greater genuine charisma than Tim Winton.


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## gav (28 October 2013)

*Insanity: The Idea and Its Consequences* by Thomas Szasz

Thomas Szasz was a psychiatrist with very controversial views about mental illness and they way psychiatry is conducted. He was also a libertarian, and many of his criticisms of psychiatry are based on libertarian principles. Szasz succinctly attacks conventional psychiatry on four grounds: morally, medically, linguistically and legally. The book is also used to defend against criticisms of his previous works.
*
This book isn’t huge (400ish pages), but it took me longer to read than any book I’ve read over the past 12 months (and I’ve read books twice as long). The main reason for this is that it isn’t very readable. It actually reads like a text book, which makes it difficult to read any more than a small section at a time. The font is quite small and the paragraphs are often huge, which doesn’t help. And Szasz often jumps from one topic to the next, then in a later chapter will add further comments to an earlier topic. 
*
That said, the actual content is very detailed and quite amazing. Whether you agree with some, all, or even none of his views, Szasz will have you thinking about psychiatry and mental illness in ways in which you previously hadn’t. Some of the interesting topics include: literal and metaphorical diseases, coercive powers of psychiatrists, the history of psychiatry, pharmaceuticals (“the Therapeutic State”), social deviance, religion and belief systems, and diminished responsibility. He also talks about "mental illnesses" of the past, such as drapetomania (black slave running away), homosexuality and masturbation; and what they have in common with today's diagnoses.
*
Despite being one of the more difficult books I’ve read this year, it was thoroughly rewarding. For those interested in a very brief overview of Szasz’ work, I came across this blog post titled “Szasz in One Lesson”:
http://sheldonfreeassociation.blogspot.com.au/2011/01/szasz-in-one-lesson.html


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## gav (31 October 2013)

*Man's Search For Meaning* by Victor Frankl

Victor Frankl was a neurologist and psychiatrist. This book discusses the 3 years he spent in concentration camps during World War 2. Part One details Frankl’s experiences within the concentration camps. It deals with what life was like in the mind of an ordinary prisoner, and how different prisoners react to their environment. He discusses how there were both decent and cruel Nazi guards, and decent and cruel prisoners (such as the Kapo).

Part Two is an introduction to logotherapy, a school of psychiatric thought developed by Frankl which deals with the meaning of life. What I liked about this was the limited intervention by the therapist and a strong emphasis on personal responsibility for the patient (pretty much the opposite of mainstream psychiatry today). Logotherapy is also quite stoic. 

The book can be summed up well with two quotes. The first by Frankl himself, and the second where Frankl quotes Nietzsche.



> "…forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation. You cannot control what happens to you in life, but you can always control what you will feel and do about what happens to you.”






> “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how”


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## Judd (31 October 2013)

Uncle Tom's Cabin;
The Riddle of the Sands;
Confessions of a Beachcomber; and
Heart of Darkness.


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## johenmo (31 October 2013)

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

Set primarily in Afghanistan across decades, it's about family separation.  "The book's foundation is built on the relationship between ten-year-old Abdullah and his three-year-old sister Pari and their father's decision to sell her to a childless couple in Kabul, an event that ties the various narratives together."

He writes well.  his books "The Kite Runner "and "A Thousand Splendid Suns" sold well and were well received.

Now making my way through an Agatha Christie Omnibus.


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## gav (21 December 2013)

*To Sell is Human* by Daniel Pink

To Sell Is Human describes how almost everyone today is involved in selling – and even for the few that aren’t during their day job, they certainly are in their personal life. The basic premise is that sales is no longer what it used to be (eg. used car or door-to-door salesman). Today almost everyone works in sales because of our modern, inter-connected society. Even if you have no direct link to a customer - you might have to persuade your boss, negotiate an outcome, or pitch an idea in a meeting.

I bought this book mainly due to my interest in decision making (heuristics, behavioural psychology, etc), as well as a general interest in sales and marketing. I’d read great things about the author, and a few good reviews for this book. In fact, after seeing all the hype, I probably looked forward to reading this book more than any other book I’ve read this year.

Unfortunately, I found it quite thin on anything that you would expect from a book of its title: insights into persuasion and psychology were shallow, and it contains nothing regarding the history (or evolutionary benefits) of persuasion. If selling is such an ingrained part of being “human”, then why only write about the past 50 years? I understand that often these types of books are written in a “pop-science” kind of way to appeal to the lay reader, but this book had no depth whatsoever. Many of the “insights” were blatantly obvious eg. studies show that thinking from the other persons point of view can help with negotiations (gee, you think?). Even though it’s quite a short book (270 pages), it was also extremely repetitive.

Since reading this book, I’ve been told that Daniel Pink’s other books are excellent, and much better than this one. I’ve had a look at some of his others – but after this one, I just cannot bring myself to read any of his other work. If you are interested in reading about persuasion or marketing/sales, I have read a couple of the “classics” which I can recommend:
“How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie and “Spin Selling” by Neil Rackham

- - - Updated - - -

*Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers* by Robert Sapolsky
Sapolsky is a neuroendocrinologist and a professor of biology. He has also spent many years studying primates in Africa. “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers” is about stress, and stress related diseases. It covers how stress works in the environment we evolved for, and this differs to the chronic stressors we now face in a modern society. Many of the areas which stress affects are explored, including cardiovascular disease, sex and reproduction, the immune system, pain, memory, sleep, aging and death, and depression. Sapolsky also covers common personality types prone to stress and flawed coping mechanisms. Finally, he offers a brief section on how to manage stress.

There are a few areas that annoyed me about this book. Sapolsky is very anti-capitalist and anti-individualist, and often directly (or indirectly) points the blame of much of our stress to the capitalist system. However his examples which endorse this view reek of confirmation bias (and you could often use the same examples to argue a different view). He also spends most of the chapter on depression trying to convince the reader that depression is a real disease – to the point where it almost sounds like he is trying to convince himself! The arguments and data used will probably be enough to convince most readers, but have actually been defeated in the past by people like Thomas Szasz (see my earlier review of his book, “Insanity”). 

My last gripe concerns the way he recommends exercise to help manage stress. Most exercise that is not taken to extreme will help, and is healthy. But he claims “The studies are quite clear that aerobic exercise is better than anaerobic exercise for health.” This is completely false. I could write pages on why this is false and provide plenty of evidence to the contrary. 

Despite these few grievances, the majority of the book is well written and provides a fascinating insight into the chronic stressors of modern day life and the effects they have on our health. I’ll conclude by quoting the last paragraph of the book, which sums it up better than any words I could use:



> “We return to the catalogue at the beginning of the first chapter, the things we all find stressful – traffic jams, money worries, overwork, the anxieties of relationships. Few of them are “real” in the sense that the zebra or lion would understand. In our privileged lives, we are uniquely smart enough to have invented these stressors and uniquely foolish enough to have let them, too often, dominate our lives. Surely we have the potential to be uniquely wise enough to banish their stressful old.”


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## Baldric (23 December 2013)

The Great Escaper by Simon Pearson.

The life of Roger Bushell.
For more info.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Bushell


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## Judd (23 December 2013)

Reading, again, The Iliad and the Odyssey.  Recently finished The Divine Comedy.


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## gav (23 December 2013)

*Economics In One Lesson* by Henry Hazlitt

Economics In One Lesson is a fantastic introductory level look into economics and the price system. It has been praised by the likes of Milton Friedman, Mises, Ayn Rand and Ron Paul. The basic premise of the book (the “One Lesson”) can be summed up in just one sentence:


> "The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups."




This sounds pretty simple and straight forward, but Hazlitt argues that many ‘modern’ economists and governments have forgotten this lesson. He begins with the Broken Window Fallacy (originally presented by Frederic Bastiat), and continues to slay many conventional arguments relating to large government projects, tariffs, price fixing, minimum wages and unemployment, technology arbitraging away jobs, unions, bailing out favoured industries, the function of profits, inflation and the assault on savings.

Even though this book was written in 1946, it reads like an updated version of much of Frederic Bastiat’s work. It is quite short (only 200 pages) and is a very easy read. Whether you’re keen on learning all there is to know about economics, or just have a general interest in the topic, I cannot think of a better introductory book than Economics In One Lesson. A free copy can be viewed online at http://mises.org/books/economics_in_one_lesson_hazlitt.pdf


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## gav (31 December 2013)

*Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (by Charles Mackay) and Confusion de Confusiones (by Joseph De La Vega)*

I read this book a few years ago. I think I enjoyed it more the second time round. This is actually two books in one. The first explores South Sea bubble, the Mississipi scheme and the Dutch tulip mania. The second looks at the Dutch East India Company and examines how a stock exchange worked in the 1600’s.

It has some fantastic insights into bubbles, herd behaviour, and some of the conniving schemes people come up with to make money. The main take away from this book is that when it comes to financial markets, human behaviour has changed very, very little over the past 400 years. A few of the commonalities include:
- bans on short selling during a crisis
- everyone is happy while they’re making money, but they claim to be “innocent victims” when the bubble bursts, and demand a scapegoat
- conmen, scams, and the bribing/lobbying of government officials
- trading principals and strategies

Some of the stories are extremely entertaining. Eg. A sailor unknowingly eating a tulip bulb worth the equivalent of $50k (thinking it was an onion), the selling of fake shares before a company became publicly listed, then using the profits from the fake shares to bribe government officials to pass an act that will allow the company to be publicly listed.

One of the most surprising things I learned (I cannot remember noticing it the first time I read the book) is the complexity of some of the trading instruments that were used. In the late 1600’s (less than 100 years after public stock exchanges emerged), people were shorting, using futures and options, and over-the-counter derivatives.

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds and Confusion de Confusiones is a timeless classic. If you’re a trader or investor, it is a must have.


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## drillinto (16 March 2014)

"The money miners - The great Australian mining boom"

Publisher: Allen & Unwin, 1995

Author: Trevor Sykes

This a story of those who were more interested in mining money rather than minerals.


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## Julia (2 April 2014)

"American Rust" by Philipp Meyer.  If one combined the talent, writing styles and settings of Steinbeck, Kerouac, Cormac McCarthy, this might be the result.

Starkly dramatic but about such ordinary people in an American small town.  Vivid characterisations of the flawed people allow the story to unfold in a compelling way to an ultimately redemptive ending.

For me, this is up there with "The Narrow Road to the Deep North" by Richard Flanagan, "Eyrie" by Tim Winton, and "Barracuda" by Christos ("The Slap") Tsiolkas - all just profoundly absorbing and affecting novels.


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## DocK (2 April 2014)

Julia said:


> "American Rust" by Philipp Meyer.  If one combined the talent, writing styles and settings of Steinbeck, Kerouac, Cormac McCarthy, this might be the result.
> 
> Starkly dramatic but about such ordinary people in an American small town.  Vivid characterisations of the flawed people allow the story to unfold in a compelling way to an ultimately redemptive ending.
> 
> For me, this is up there with "The Narrow Road to the Deep North" by Richard Flanagan, "Eyrie" by Tim Winton, and "Barracuda" by Christos ("The Slap") Tsiolkas - all just profoundly absorbing and affecting novels.




I'll add that one to my list.  I've just finished "The Narrow Road to the Deep North" and found it to be very moving and thought-provoking.  Not a "fun" read, but one that has made me reconsider some long-held beliefs about the subject.  I also loved Eyrie (and everything of Winton's that I've read).  "Barracuda" is on the ereader, but I keep starting something else first - it's quite sizable from memory.  If you've found it to be up there with Eyrie and Narrow Road I might have to move it up the list, but I'm looking forward to reading a crime thriller by Mark Billingham first "The Dying Hours" - I enjoy his novels immensely.


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## Julia (2 April 2014)

Thanks for mentioning "The Dying Hours", DocK.  I'm not familiar with Mark Billingham's work so will look this one out.

Don't be put off by the apparent size of "Barracuda".  By the time I was halfway through I was wishing it was longer:  that conundrum of feeling compelled to keep reading versus a reluctance to get to the end.
That's very much how "American Rust" affected me.

On "The Narrow Road to the Deep North", when I knew it was about the Thai Burma railroad I wasn't attracted to it at all, but all the critical acclaim prompted me to read it.  It is so much more than an account of part of the second war, part love story, but ultimately a depiction of the stoicism of the human spirit.

Another novel that's quite different that you might also enjoy is "Bitter Wash Road" by Garry Disher, a quite literary writer of, broadly, crime fiction.  There are some novels that deserve to be categorised somewhat outside the ubiquitous genre of "crime fiction" and this is one, with its perceptive study of flawed characters in a small outback South Australian town.  A little similar is Stephen Orr's "One Boy Lost".
(There is an interview with Stephen Orr on today's "Books and Arts Daily" on Radio National).


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## Judd (4 April 2014)

Reverted to my childhood last night.  The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.  Gorgeous fun.


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## CanOz (4 April 2014)

I've succumbed to the hype and just downloaded Flash Boys


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## DocK (4 April 2014)

Julia said:


> Another novel that's quite different that you might also enjoy is "Bitter Wash Road" by Garry Disher, a quite literary writer of, broadly, crime fiction.  There are some novels that deserve to be categorised somewhat outside the ubiquitous genre of "crime fiction" and this is one, with its perceptive study of flawed characters in a small outback South Australian town.  A little similar is Stephen Orr's "One Boy Lost".
> (There is an interview with Stephen Orr on today's "Books and Arts Daily" on Radio National).




Reviews look good, it sounds like a ripper - another for the "will get to one day" list!  If only there were more hours in a day......


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## CanOz (7 April 2014)

CanOz said:


> I've succumbed to the hype and just downloaded Flash Boys




Well i finished this book on Saturday and honestly i couldn't put it down. Any investor or trader out there, you must read this, its a great read. Lewis explains the Wall Street world of HFT in way that its relatively easy to understand. You'll catch yourself shaking your head in disbelief at the stuff the Wall Street guys have been getting up to since the GFC...They just never run out of ideas...

9/10 for me...if i narrated the book anymore i'd give away half of the interesting parts....


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## pavilion103 (16 April 2014)

No doubt many will be familiar with Malcolm Gladwell's books. 

I've read "Outliers". 

Almost finished "Blink"
Absolutely brilliant. Cannot recommend highly enough. 
Applicable to trading also in terms of understanding how experienced traders can "thin-slice" information. 

http://www.amazon.com/Blink-The-Power-Thinking-Without/dp/0316010669


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## Ves (20 April 2014)

*Thucydides - The History of the Peloponnesian War*

I remember trying to read this when I was 18 or 19 after first reading Herodotus'  _The Histories_,  and falling completely on my face,  struggling to make any head way.

It's not an easy read,  and sometimes it is not enjoyable slugging through all of the ancient place names in Greece,  Persia,  Sicily etc and trying to figure out not only where they are,  but why they are important,  where they fit into the puzzle...   perhaps I thought I was too smart (ah, youth) to have to sit next to this book with a pen and paper,  and access to an encyclopedia,   but probably more so it was that I was doing it wrong.   

I first approached THotPW (and indeed, any other history) like you would at school.  You convince yourself that for some reason you need to remember all of the minor details because someone will test your knowledge on it at some point.  And let's face it that is how we are taught to read anything.   Remembering exact details as if our memories are computers. I thought that I would need to remember all of the names of the people and the places in this massive tome on a 27 year war that occurred around 2500 years ago.   But what is really important here?

The lessons in history books like this are not the specific dates,  places and people.... but what occurred,  why it occured,  how it played out and how it is still relevant to our lives 2500 years later.  There are overarching themes such as might vs right,   the cyclical nature of history and how the major political themes repeat themselves over and over in humanity  (despite our memories often forgetting them), Justice vs what is best for the state,  Will to Power and the need for us to be in control,   and the constant motion and need to expand (Athens) vs the conservative / passive attitude (Lacedaemon).   There are plenty of contrasts between how people act in times of peace vs how they act in times of war,  or with their backs against the wall,    psychological lessons and moral lessons.   

The scope of this book is massive,   and to be truthful you could never cover everything in it without spending a very long time studying it.   

Not only did Thucydides become the first man to use the "historical method",   but he also wrote a book on a war,  that serves as a guide post along the journey of humanity,  and still highly relevant 2500 years later. 

Over the next few weeks I look forward to transferring my notes into my electronic database and sorting them into useful categories that I can reflect on and make use of in the future.


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## ghotib (21 April 2014)

Ves said:


> *Thucydides - The History of the Peloponnesian War* ...




Thucydides is in the air. The first email I read this morning contained a link to this article, http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.co...hope/?_php=true&_type=blogs&rref=opinion&_r=0, which you might enjoy. 

I'm about to give Cicero a second chance. In my school days I thought he was a pompous prat and the best thing about him was his respect for the Greeks (I also thought that Virgil didn't deserve the Latin language  ), but he mellowed and maybe I have too. I've pulled down "On The Good Life", which is a Penguin Classics edition, translator Michael Grant, containing all or part of 5 works. Time will tell.


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## Ves (21 April 2014)

ghotib said:


> Thucydides is in the air. The first email I read this morning contained a link to this article, http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.co...hope/?_php=true&_type=blogs&rref=opinion&_r=0, which you might enjoy.
> 
> I'm about to give Cicero a second chance. In my school days I thought he was a pompous prat and the best thing about him was his respect for the Greeks (I also thought that Virgil didn't deserve the Latin language  ), but he mellowed and maybe I have too. I've pulled down "On The Good Life", which is a Penguin Classics edition, translator Michael Grant, containing all or part of 5 works. Time will tell.



Hi ghotib

The themes in the Melian Dialogue,  as included in the article that you linked are a very important part of the book.   The concept of mere hope and the effect that it has on the actions of those who find themselves relying on it.   

Thanks for the link,   and happy reading of Cicero,  I have not had much exposure to him.


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## Ves (29 April 2014)

*Viktor Frankl -  Man's Search for Meaning*

Absolutely amazing book.  Written by a psychiatrist who spent a few years in the Nazi concentration camps during World War II,   far from being just an autobiography,  it is chock full of worldly wisdom,  and a blue print to live your life by.

Frankl's main message was the reversal of the the question "What is the meaning to Life?"   It is common for people to share their beliefs that they get to ask this question,   but my interpretation of Frankl was that you don't get to ask the question,   life does,  in a mostly deterministic fashion.... however,   rather than become a victim of circumstances,   you get to choose the answers with your actions in any single given moment,  and this is where the deep meaning at the bottom of life is discovered.

His theories on how he survived the concentration camps when all he had was himself  (emaciated and withered away and barely functional, without any worldly possessions) by locating the deep source of his life's meaning to help find meaning in the suffering he was facing is fascinating,   and with a little effort,   we could apply this to anything,  whether it be your trading or anything else in your life.  

Frankl often quotes Nietzsche's famous line "Where There Is A Why, There Is A How"   (sometimes it is very easy in our busy lives to get the two mixed up and lead ourselves astray)


----------



## pavilion103 (12 May 2014)

Keen to read that.
Bob Proctor bangs on about it a bit.


----------



## CanOz (12 May 2014)

Ves said:


> *Viktor Frankl -  Man's Search for Meaning*
> 
> Absolutely amazing book.  Written by a psychiatrist who spent a few years in the Nazi concentration camps during World War II,   far from being just an autobiography,  it is chock full of worldly wisdom,  and a blue print to live your life by.
> 
> ...




Ves, was this an easy read? To me that would be the kicker for me, if its a fluid read then i'll read it. But if its a tough slog then I'll wait until i finish my other tough slogs...

Thanks in advance.


----------



## Ves (12 May 2014)

CanOz said:


> Ves, was this an easy read? To me that would be the kicker for me, if its a fluid read then i'll read it. But if its a tough slog then I'll wait until i finish my other tough slogs...
> 
> Thanks in advance.



Yep,  I found it pretty easy. I'd be really surprised if you found it to be a tough slog. It's certainly not dry, he has the knack of being able to relate his own experiences into terms that the common person can identify with and put them into a context which enables learning / understanding. The first part which acts as his diary / retelling of his time in the concentration camps especially so.  In fact,  as horrible as some of his experiences were,  he almost recites some of these with a sense of humour  (which he felt was very important, mind you).


He doesn't get bogged down in psychological details until Parts 2 & 3 and even then it's not overly heavy (Part 3, I believe was added into the book in much later versions than the original). 

It wouldn't take long to read,  I'd say if you spent an hour a day you'd probably knock it over in under a fortnight.


----------



## CanOz (12 May 2014)

Ves said:


> Yep,  I found it pretty easy. I'd be really surprised if you found it to be a tough slog. It's certainly not dry, he has the knack of being able to relate his own experiences into terms that the common person can identify with and put them into a context which enables learning / understanding. The first part which acts as his diary / retelling of his time in the concentration camps especially so.  In fact,  as horrible as some of his experiences were,  he almost recites some of these with a sense of humour  (which he felt was very important, mind you).
> 
> 
> He doesn't get bogged down in psychological details until Parts 2 & 3 and even then it's not overly heavy (Part 3, I believe was added into the book in much later versions than the original).
> ...




Thanks mate, I'm always interested in this stuff....!


----------



## sydboy007 (16 July 2014)

The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap - by Matt Taibbi (long time Rolling Stone writer and editor)

Very scary reading.  I hope Australia is not set to follow the USA down this path, but we already see it with white collar crime getting extremely lenient sentencing compared to other crimes.  Just have to look at the CBA scandal and not one criminal charge laid so far.

One crazy example is in New York they decriminalised personal quantities of marijuana in the 1970s, as long as you do not show it in public ie a joint in your pocket is legal, a joint in your hand in public is illegal.  Police stop and frisk powers allow them to do this to ANYONE without cause.  So if you are legally carrying a joint in your pocket, follow a legal request to empty your pockets, you are deemed to have broken the law once you bring that joint out into public view.  Wont happen you say?  50,000 court summons occurred last year for this very offence.

_NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A scathing portrait of an urgent new American crisis

Over the last two decades, America has been falling deeper and deeper into a statistical mystery:

Poverty goes up. Crime goes down. The prison population doubles.
Fraud by the rich wipes out 40 percent of the world’s wealth. The rich get massively richer. No one goes to jail.

In search of a solution, journalist Matt Taibbi discovered the Divide, the seam in American life where our two most troubling trends””growing wealth inequality and mass incarceration””come together, driven by a dramatic shift in American citizenship: Our basic rights are now determined by our wealth or poverty. The Divide is what allows massively destructive fraud by the hyperwealthy to go unpunished, while turning poverty itself into a crime””but it’s impossible to see until you look at these two alarming trends side by side.

In The Divide, Matt Taibbi takes readers on a galvanizing journey through both sides of our new system of justice””the fun-house-mirror worlds of the untouchably wealthy and the criminalized poor. He uncovers the startling looting that preceded the financial collapse; a wild conspiracy of billionaire hedge fund managers to destroy a company through dirty tricks; and the story of a whistleblower who gets in the way of the largest banks in America, only to find herself in the crosshairs. On the other side of the Divide, Taibbi takes us to the front lines of the immigrant dragnet; into the newly punitive welfare system which treats its beneficiaries as thieves; and deep inside the stop-and-frisk world, where standing in front of your own home has become an arrestable offense. As he narrates these incredible stories, he draws out and analyzes their common source: a perverse new standard of justice, based on a radical, disturbing new vision of civil rights.

Through astonishing””and enraging””accounts of the high-stakes capers of the wealthy and nightmare stories of regular people caught in the Divide’s punishing logic, Taibbi lays bare one of the greatest challenges we face in contemporary American life: surviving a system that devours the lives of the poor, turns a blind eye to the destructive crimes of the wealthy, and implicates us all._


----------



## Julia (15 October 2014)

Great news for Richard Flanagan today with his "The Narrow Road to the Deep North" winning the Booker Prize.

For anyone who hasn't read this, it's just a wonderful and very moving account of Australians captured by the Japanese and forced to work on the Burma/Thai rail road.  Richard's father was one of these.

The back story is the protagonist's relationship back in Australia, before and after the war, with his father's young wife, and a depiction of class structure at that time.  He also - unusually - after the war seeks out some of the Japanese jailers and comes to understand  what was to them a sense of honour.

It's a deeply thoughtful book, not at all just another story about the war.


----------



## pavilion103 (2 November 2014)

Michael Jordan The Life.

I don't have a link right now because I'm on my mobile.


----------



## Julia (22 December 2014)

I'm not sure how many members are interested in books other than those related to financial stuff, but it has been a wonderful year for readers.  My most enjoyed have been:

"This House of Grief" by Helen Garner.
Garner attended both trials of Robert Farquarson, the father who drowned his three sons in a dam in Victoria.
Her writing is, as always, finely tuned as she draws the reader in to her own responses, doubts and concerns, as the two trials proceed.
One of Australia's finest writers has again brought us an intensely thoughtful study of our justice system.

"Barracuda" by Christos Tsiolkas (author of "The Slap")
A biting, no holds barred reflection of class divide in Australia through the prism of a teenage swimmer from Melbourne's lower socioeconomic strata who wins a sporting scholarship to a top private school.

Even better than "The Slap".

By the same author:  "Merciless Gods", a collection of short stories.
I'm not usually a reader of short stories but the reviews persuaded me to this and I was well rewarded.

It is not, however, for the faint hearted.  Tsiolkas is a homosexual and there are graphic descriptions in many of the stories, none of it, however, gratuitous.

"Eyrie" by Tim Winton
The first of Winton's books for a long time which takes place in an urban setting of Freemantle, WA one hot summer.   The drawing of his characters is Winton's great strength, along with his ability to have the reader feel the heat of the sun, the cries of the birds and the emotions of his protagonist.
I so enjoyed this, at once similar to but very different from his "Breath" which was stunning.

"The Narrow Road to the Deep North" by Richard Flanagan
Winner of the Booker prize.  I'm sure everyone is familiar with this immensely affecting theme of Australian soldiers forced to labour on the Thai-Burma railway.

All of Flanagan's novels are very different from one another and this one has won such an esteemed prize for very good reasons.

"The Golden Age"  by Joan London
Beautifully written account of young polio patients in a hospital, their parents' shame and reluctance to visit, incorporates the theme of migrant family from Europe and a sexual coming of age theme between two of the young patients.  

"Bitter Wash Road" by Garry Disher
Ostensibly in the crime genre but not really.  The book deals with small town South Australia, the corruption and criminality, masked by social acceptance, of some elements of the police, local politics, and willingness of these forces to deal out their own form of justice, outside of the law. Intense characterisation from Garry Disher.


----------



## McLovin (13 January 2015)

Julia said:


> Great news for Richard Flanagan today with his "The Narrow Road to the Deep North" winning the Booker Prize.
> 
> For anyone who hasn't read this, it's just a wonderful and very moving account of Australians captured by the Japanese and forced to work on the Burma/Thai rail road.  Richard's father was one of these.
> 
> ...




Since the age I could read my mother has always given me books for Christmas, and this year Narrow Road was one of them. I only started reading it a couple of days ago so only about 100 pages in, but it's such a pleasure to read someone who has such a wonderful gift for storytelling. It's not often you find yourself pausing to reflect on a single sentence to fully allow the cadence and rhythm of the words to sink in, so beautiful is the prose, but I've found myself doing it over and over again.



			
				Julia said:
			
		

> "Eyrie" by Tim Winton
> The first of Winton's books for a long time which takes place in an urban setting of Freemantle, WA one hot summer. The drawing of his characters is Winton's great strength, along with his ability to have the reader feel the heat of the sun, the cries of the birds and the emotions of his protagonist.
> I so enjoyed this, at once similar to but very different from his "Breath" which was stunning.




I read this a few months ago, Julia, and was a bit disappointed. Some of the writing felt a little overdone, as though Winton had just bought a Thesaurus and was getting his money's worth. The characters are written well, but I just found it a bit bogged down in parts. I've actually had the same issue with a lot of his books.


----------



## Julia (13 January 2015)

McLovin said:


> Since the age I could read my mother has always given me books for Christmas, and this year Narrow Road was one of them. I only started reading it a couple of days ago so only about 100 pages in, but it's such a pleasure to read someone who has such a wonderful gift for storytelling. It's not often you find yourself pausing to reflect on a single sentence to fully allow the cadence and rhythm of the words to sink in, so beautiful is the prose, but I've found myself doing it over and over again.



Describes it well, McLovin.  All the accolades agree.  The only dissenting voice was a petulant criticism from Les Murray who described it as "pretentious and stupid".



> I read this a few months ago, Julia, and was a bit disappointed. Some of the writing felt a little overdone, as though Winton had just bought a Thesaurus and was getting his money's worth. The characters are written well, but I just found it a bit bogged down in parts. I've actually had the same issue with a lot of his books.



Well, there you go.  I admit to feeling a bit let down by the ending, but still really enjoyed it.

If you haven't read "This House of Grief" from Helen Garner, I can't recommend it highly enough.  It's her account of the two trials of the Victorian father, estranged from his family, who drove his car into a dam, leaving his three young sons locked in there to die.

As with all Garner's writing, it's very personal and she records her own confusion of feeling as the evidence unfolds.

For me this has been the stand out book not just for 2014 but for the last five or so years, closely followed
after "The Narrow Road....." by  "The Children Act" by Ian McEwan, the moral dilemma of a judge deciding a medical treatment issue.


----------



## Boggo (13 January 2015)

Currently reading "Narrative of an expedition into Central Australia" by Charles Sturt.

I have always loved reading about the outback explorers and I spent a couple of weeks in Oct and Nov last travelling through some of the areas that Sturt explored, hard yakka even in a comfy 4wd with most of the associated luxuries.

Just spending time in areas around Pooles Grave and Depot Glen where they were holed up for months was sort of eerie but spectacular, a different world in those locations where you can just stand in one spot for ages just taking it all in.

Reading his stories again now seem so much more real when you know what he is talking about from the flies to the terrain etc.


----------



## tech/a (12 May 2015)

Very interesting.
If I can find my lost mobile and track all my trucks and utes.
The CIA knows where this plane is.(Based in Alice Springs by the way---the CIA tracking station).


----------



## basilio (21 March 2016)

Havn't quite got there but I think the story of this woman's life would be well worth reading. Just came across the short story in an article in the Guardian.


> What’s is her next film script about?
> 
> “It’s a true story about *a woman called Julie D’Aubigny*, a cross-dressing, bisexual opera star who was also the best swordswoman in France. By day she was BeyoncÃ©, but by night she was like a feminist avenger. This is like 1690. If any of the girls in the cast were slighted by a man, she would dress up like boy and challenge him to a duel. She was a mad drinker, gambler, shagger …”




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_d'Aubigny

http://kellygardiner.com/fiction/books/goddess/the-real-life-of-julie-daubigny/


----------



## Tisme (8 August 2016)

Re calibrating my Australianess to make sure it's the rest of you who have lost your way and larrikin streak:

You guess the book:



> Then Juli-et wakes up an' sees 'im there,
> Turns on the water-works an' tears 'er 'air,
> "Dear love," she sez, "I cannot live alone!"
> An' wif a moan,
> ...


----------



## luutzu (8 August 2016)

Tisme said:


> Re calibrating my Australianess to make sure it's the rest of you who have lost your way and larrikin streak:
> 
> You guess the book:




Roald Dahl's Book of funny verses?


----------



## So_Cynical (9 August 2016)

The Girl on the Train

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22557272-the-girl-on-the-train

Enjoyable, a slow reveal mystery thriller with a few little twists and then a beauty at the end.


----------



## Tisme (9 August 2016)

luutzu said:


> Roald Dahl's Book of funny verses?






No think of 1. Lawson. 2. Patterson .3? and no not Tim Winton. Think Sentimental...

I'm guessing the three above no longer figure in the education of young australians in the ways of old australia...... too offensive to sensitive multicultural ears.


----------



## luutzu (9 August 2016)

Tisme said:


> No think of 1. Lawson. 2. Patterson .3? and no not Tim Winton. Think Sentimental...
> 
> I'm guessing the three above no longer figure in the education of young australians in the ways of old australia...... too offensive to sensitive multicultural ears.




They probably still teach those oldies in advanced English classes.

I was in General English so yah   Just the dumped down Romeo & Juliet, My Place, and other less colonial good old days stuff. 


Am reading about another Aussie empire builder: Murdoch's adventure in China - how he lost billions and won a wife.

Quite corrupt that Murdoch. I think one major reason he divorced his previous wife and take on the Chinese one was to show the comrades how much he like China.


----------



## Junior (9 August 2016)

About to get stuck into this one, from one of the best stand-up comics.  I expect it will be pretty dark stuff.


----------



## sr20de (16 August 2016)

beyond a pile of text books,

Tragedy & Hope 
A History Of The World In Our Time

by

Carroll Quigley


----------



## basilio (19 June 2017)

Found a copy of Germaine Greer "Daddy I hardly knew you"

Just fascinating. Germaine investigates the life of her father and family back in the 1900's and through WW2 and post war.  We may try to idealise the past but  this book pulls no punches on the tough, difficult times people faced and the reality that many, many people suffered  dreadfully as a result. 

Germaine is an excellent writer. Well worth finding in an op shop.


----------



## So_Cynical (19 June 2017)

Old Man's War, one of the top rated Syfy books of all time.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51964.Old_Man_s_War


----------



## tinhat (20 June 2017)

I'm reading "The Biggest Estate on Earth, How Aborigines Made Australia", Gammage and just received delivery of "The Better Angels of Our Nature : A History of Violence and Humanity", Pinker. Someone gave me "Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad", Craig, which I started and then put down and I'm not sure where-abouts I put it but I would like to finish reading it.


----------



## smallwolf (21 June 2017)

Latest is "Falling Leaves" by Adeline Yen Mah 
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54529.Falling_Leaves

and before that Wild Swans by Jung Chang 
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1848.Wild_Swans?from_search=true

in different ways both are depressing books, but ones that you cannot put down. And the events in each book happened in the 20th Century.


----------



## drillinto (23 June 2017)

Bruce Moore, editor
THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL DICTIONARY
Australian words and their origins
Two volumes, 1,600pp.

http://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/australian-slang-humphries/


----------



## basilio (15 August 2017)

Not quite a book but I came across a 94 year old writer with a great range of comments on his experiences in England from the mid 30's. He also has a couple of books to his name.


Harry Leslie Smith is a survivor of the Great Depression, a second world war RAF veteran and an activist for the poor and for the preservation of social democracy. He has written several books about Britain during the depression, the war, and postwar austerity. Join him on Twitter @Harryslaststand. He is the author of Love Among the Ruins

August 2017




* In 1939, I didn’t hear war coming. Now its thundering approach can’t be ignored *
Author Harry Leslie Smith remembers the prelude to the second world war – and there are worrying echoes now
Published: 14 Aug 2017    2,714

https://www.theguardian.com/profile/harry-leslie-smith


----------



## Cam019 (17 December 2017)

Currently one third of the way through 'The Big Short' by Michael Lewis. Great read thus far. Highly recommended.

The following four books are en route to my apartment; 'Reminiscences of a Stock Operator' by Edwin Lefèvre, 'The Art of Learning' by John Waitzkin, 'Market Wizards' by Jack Schwager and 'How to Make Money in Stocks' by William O'Neil.


----------



## basilio (17 December 2017)

The Big Short was turned into a movie/doco that was also outstanding. Compelling explanation of the concepts.


----------



## bellenuit (17 December 2017)

basilio said:


> The Big Short was turned into a movie/doco that was also outstanding. Compelling explanation of the concepts.




If you like those sort of movies, _Rogue Trader - The Story of Nick Leeson_ is on YouTube at no charge:



Not a great movie, but explains what happened fairly well.


----------



## Cam019 (17 December 2017)

basilio said:


> The Big Short was turned into a movie/doco that was also outstanding. Compelling explanation of the concepts.



I enjoyed the movie. I am enjoying the book even more though. Over halfway through now and it is only getting better as I get further into it.


----------



## So_Cynical (18 December 2017)

basilio said:


> The Big Short was turned into a movie/doco that was also outstanding. Compelling explanation of the concepts.




The Movie was shite compared to the book, movie was very dumbed down to make palatable to a mass audience...the other Michael Lewis books around the finance world are also very good.


----------



## basilio (18 December 2017)

So_Cynical said:


> The Movie was shite compared to the book, movie was very dumbed down to make palatable to a mass audience...the other Michael Lewis books around the finance world are also very good.




Maybe the movie wasn't as detailed as the book.  But getting across the main points of how the flaws in the housing boom were recognised and taken advantage of was , in my mind, done exceptionally well. 
Generally a simple (but accurate) , clear exposition is better value than attempting to go into depths that will lose and confuse most of the audience.

*The Big Short Somehow Makes Subprime Mortgages Entertaining*




Christian Bale plays Michael Burry, one of the economics whizzes who bet against the US housing market in _The Big Short_. Jaap Buitendijk/Paramount Pictures
Nothing about _The Big Short _ should add up. It’s a movie about the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008, by the guy who made _Anchorman_. Yet, it works—and even more weirdly, you walk out understanding the fineries of the situation that kicked off the great recession.

That’s because director Adam McKay, who adapted his movie from Michael Lewis’s book of same name, realized that the economic meltdown happened because people thought they couldn’t understand something they easily could have grokked. “Economics is actually fascinating, it’s the language of power—but somehow we’ve been conditioned to treat it like it’s boring,” McKay says. “I figure if I’m getting into it, and I’m the guy who did _Step Brothers_, what’s going on here?”

Of course, to understand how a bunch of Wall Street whizzes—Michael Burry (Christian Bale), Mark Baum (Steve Carell), Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling), and their cohorts—found a way to bet against the American economy, you still have to understand how that economy functions (or doesn’t). To do that, McKay broke a lot of rules, like letting actors address the camera directly—and trusting people to understand things that are explained to them, the way adults are supposed to be able to. “He treats his audience as intelligent,” says Lewis. “Nobody ever goes out and treats their audience as idiots, but when they do it they do it implicitly by refusing to grapple with complicated truths.”

McKay also wrapped those truths in easy-to-swallow packages through interludes presented by folks like Selena Gomez and Anthony Bourdain. The point is to take the things that were distracting us while the financial world was collapsing and use them to tell us what was actually going on. “The premise was that we were going to take this 24-hour pop-culture machine that tells us what Kim Kardashian is up to, and then say, ‘What if that machine told us real information?'” McKay says.

With the movie hitting theaters this Friday, here’s a peek into _The Big Short’_s best educational moments.
https://www.wired.com/2015/12/big-short-understanding-economics/


----------



## brty (18 December 2017)

One of the most important aspects of "The Big Short" is often overlooked. All the main characters had correctly predicted what was going to happen, but started to lose money (and the confidence of their investors).

They became frustrated at how the market for bonds just could not keep going up, yet it did. The biggest lesson is that just because you can predict a market is irrational, does not mean that market will reverse that irrationality immediately.

It is like cryptocurrencies/bitcoin at present. It is going to end badly, but shorting it now could be an expensive exercise.


----------



## Cam019 (18 December 2017)

brty said:


> One of the most important aspects of "The Big Short" is often overlooked. All the main characters had correctly predicted what was going to happen, but started to lose money (and the confidence of their investors).
> 
> They became frustrated at how the market for bonds just could not keep going up, yet it did. The biggest lesson is that just because you can predict a market is irrational, does not mean that market will reverse that irrationality immediately.
> 
> It is like cryptocurrencies/bitcoin at present. It is going to end badly, but shorting it now could be an expensive exercise.



Too right @brty, although, I do think the CDS trade against sub-prime mortgage bonds is quite a different beast to say... shorting bitcoin. Obviously, no one can predict the exact point in time when market disaster will strike but regarding the CDS trade, Dr Mike Burry was able to analyse the underlying pools of mortgages in each bond and was able to deduce that the fixed teaser rates would expire, and default rates would skyrocket, in mid-to-late 2007. The CDS trade also allowed for asymmetrical risk and return.

Now of course, gurus of technical analysis and VSA might be able to watch the price action and volume of bitcoin and time their entry into shorting bitcoin or bitcoin futures, but it still does not offer the same asymmetrical risk and reward that the CDS trade offered, as an upward price spike could instantly trigger stop losses and close out a traders position quickly. The only way I think that it could be accomplished with bitcoin would be to buy long term put options. Options would allow for price fluctuations without being stopped out prematurely. Interesting to think about.


----------



## Zero Sum Game (15 January 2018)

Conn Igulden's Conqueror series.
5 books, historical fiction following the life of Genghis Khan.
Halfway through the third book...
A must read!


----------



## Cam019 (7 May 2018)

Downloaded 'Why Stocks Go Up and Down' by William Pike and Patrick Gregory. Found it on a Dr. Mike Burry recommended reading list. Not only did this book have great reviews but the front cover caught my eye... 'The book you need to understand other investent books', perfect! So if you were like me and dropped your accounting major at uni because the way they taught it was the most boring thing alive, or you just want a better understanding of fundamental analysis, this could be for you.


----------



## basilio (14 May 2018)

Not a book but an interview with Ronan Farrow. His background is eye opening. The fact that at 11 he was starting his first double degree at university and at 16 he was enrolled at Yale law school shows a very bright guy. His investigative journalism opened up the Harvey Weinsten abuses.

_Ronan Farrow, the son of Mia and Woody Allen, is the Pulitzer-prize winning journalist whose exposé triggered #MeToo. Now, he has written an acclaimed book on waning US diplomatic influence – and he’s still only 30
_
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2...interview-woody-allen-harvey-weinstein-me-too


----------



## basilio (30 July 2018)

A horrific story .  But perhaps worth putting in your knowledge bank.

*He Killed 140 Men in the Electric Chair. Then He Took His Own Life.*

The man who operated New York State’s “Old Sparky” was calm, collected and always professional. No one knew that every flick of the switch was tearing him apart.

It’s eleven p.m. on Thursday, September 17, 1925 – “Black Thursday” to the residents of Sing Sing prison in New York’s Hudson Valley. The inmates are locked down for the night, unable to leave their cells. All except one.

Prisoner Julius Miller, with four guards as well as the chaplain in tow, just walked twenty paces from the pre-execution waiting cells, called the “Dance Hall,” to the legendary “Death House.” He’s standing next to the electric chair inmates long ago nicknamed “Old Sparky.”

The warden asks him for any last words. He has none.

The guards quickly seat him, buckling black leather straps round his limbs and torso.

The “State Electrician,” John Hurlburt, a grim-faced man in his late fifties, of average height and wearing a dark suit and spotless black shoes, steps forward. His job has all but destroyed him. But Hurlburt’s disposition betrays nothing as he carefully checks the electrode strapped to Miller’s right leg. The electrode is in working order, and the sponge it contains is soaked in brine, just as it should be.

Hurlburt is calm, impassive, and entirely professional. But he’s gritting his teeth and a thin sheen of sweat adorns his stern face. He doesn’t want to do this, to keep on doing it. But he has no alternative. He also doesn’t know that this, his 140th execution, will be his last.
http://narrative.ly/he-killed-140-men-in-the-electric-chair-then-he-took-his-own-life/


----------



## So_Cynical (31 July 2018)

Listening to Ender's Game, pretty good.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ender's_Game


----------



## basilio (4 September 2018)

This story which examines the recent discovery of the Cascadia subduction zone (?) and it's role in creating cataclysmic earthquakes in the North West region of the US is fascinating.  Well worth a read.

*The Really Big One*
*An earthquake will destroy a sizable portion of the coastal Northwest. The question is when.*





By Kathryn Schulz

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one


----------



## luutzu (4 September 2018)

*Quants: The maths geniuses who brought down Wall St.*

Great read outlining the bio and history of the maths and computer geniuses, armed with Ugene Fama's the market is always efficient theory, lots of data, then hundreds of billions of other people's money... how the nerds took over Wall St, turn gambling into a fine, highly computerised/algorithmic art that for the first decade or so raked in loads of cash... then almost send the global financial markets down the tube in 2007-2008.

Almost because Goldman Sachs first inject a few billions as a circuit breaker; then almost again a couple months later when the US Fed bail them out.


----------



## basilio (28 November 2018)

*The Confidence Game   Why we fall for it every time*
Came across this book recently.  Quite intriguing.
You can read an extract online to get a feeling for it. 

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/...idence-game-by-maria-konnikova/9780143109877/


----------



## basilio (28 November 2018)

*The Confidence Game.  Why we fall for it ... every time
*
Came across this book.  Very intriging. well worth a read.
You can read an excerpt online.
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/...idence-game-by-maria-konnikova/9780143109877/


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## basilio (28 December 2018)

Just finished reading *Childhoods end* by Arthur C Clarke. Always "knew" he was a great writer but hadn't got round to actually reading his stuff.
This was excellent.  Very well written and provided interesting philosophy on the idea of a super race from the stars that comes to Earth and effectively establishes a universal world order based on peace, non violence, equity and prosperity. 
But Why ? And is this a"Good thing ?"


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## russs (31 December 2018)

The dark tower: song of susannah by stephen king, too damn awesome!


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## basilio (24 January 2019)

A long read from The Atlantic on *The case for reparations . *Examines the history of backs in the US.
Lot of systemic theft from Negroes that most people would be unaware of.

*The Case for Reparations*
Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/


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## basilio (27 January 2019)

Hadn't heard about this  story until this morning.  Apparently it went totally viral.
Basically a short story about a girl and guy.  The second article is about the author.

I can see why it resonated with so many people.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/11/cat-person
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2...or-kristen-roupenian-dating-ego-power-control


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## basilio (27 January 2019)

Money is not everything of course ... but after the Cat Person short story went viral the author was offered a $1m dollar deal for rights to publish her first book of short stories.
 
* Cat Person author's debut book sparks flurry of international publishing deals *

Following her viral short story hit, Kristen Roupenian’s You Know You Want This has been sold to Cape in the UK, with the US auction said to be topping $1m
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2...arks-flurry-of-international-publishing-deals

https://www.thecut.com/2019/01/review-you-know-you-want-this-by-kristen-roupenian.html


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## basilio (10 March 2019)

Ever wondered what the Colosseum looked like after it was sacked ? Interesting story of the ongoing history of this Roman relic.
*Rome’s Colosseum Was Once a Wild, Tangled Garden*
Rare plants and Romantic poetry tell a forgotten history of the ancient ruin.

Paul Cooper  Dec 5, 2017




"Interior View of the Colosseum in Rome," 1804François-Marius Granet

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When the botanist Richard Deakin examined Rome’s Colosseum in the 1850s, he found 420 species of plant growing among the ruins. There were plants common in Italy: cypresses and hollies, capers, knapweed and thistle, plants “of the leguminous pea tribe,” and 56 varieties of grass. But some of the rarer flowers growing there were a botanical mystery. They were found nowhere else in Europe.

To explain this, botanists came up with a seemingly unlikely explanation: These rare flowers had been brought as seeds on the fur and in the stomachs of animals like lions and giraffes. Romans shipped these creatures from Africa to perform and fight in the arena. Deakin takes care to mention in _Flora of the Colosseum of Rome_ that the “noble and graceful animals from the wilds of Africa ... let loose in their wild and famished fury, to tear each other to pieces”—along with “numberless human beings.” As the animals fought and died in the arena, they left their botanical passengers behind to flourish and one day overtake the building itself.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/12/romes-colosseum-garden/547535/


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## Cam019 (8 December 2019)

The Intelligent Investor (Revised Edition) - Benjamin Graham


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## Cam019 (6 April 2020)

Cam019 said:


> The Intelligent Investor (Revised Edition) - Benjamin Graham



I put this book down for a different book earlier this year. I'm giving it another go now and am about to begin Chapter 4. So far, this book is fantastic!


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## Dona Ferentes (6 April 2020)

_Blue Highways; Journey into America._
by William Least Heat Moon. 1982.

- nice wander around the back roads of the USA


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## basilio (16 June 2020)

Just finished reading* Cancer Ward* by Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
Just a brilliant story.
Solzhenitsyn had been sent to the Gulags in 1945 (like millions of others ). He was released on  Stalins death and sent into exile. He then fell ill with cancer and was treated in provincial hospital  and made quite a remarkable remission.

Cancer Ward  looks at the lives of the patients, doctors and nurses in the Cancer Ward in 1955. Throughout the novel we understand the way Soviet Russia was working both at the time and during the Stain purges.  Compelling  writing and a powerful reflection of  the Soviet system.

It was banned in the USSR and published in the West in 1968

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer_Ward
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Solzhenitsyns first book *"A day in the life of  Ivan Denisovich" *recounted his time in the Labour camps. It public depiction of life in the camps brought to the world the reality of the many millions of people imprisoned  and killed in the Stalin era (and beyond) .

Khrushchev allowed it to be published  in 1962 as part of his  political thaw. When he was deposed in 1964 the USSR went back into freeze mode.

http://www.kkoworld.com/kitablar/aleksandr_soljenitsin_ivan_denisovichin_bir_gunu-eng.pdf


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## basilio (8 December 2020)

Came across this piece of scientific and social history recently.

*How Kepler Invented Science Fiction and Defended His Mother in a Witchcraft Trial While Revolutionizing Our Understanding of the Universe*

*How many revolutions does the cog of culture make before a new truth about reality catches into gear? *









						How Kepler Invented Science Fiction and Defended His Mother in a Witchcraft Trial While Revolutionizing Our Understanding of the Universe
					

How many revolutions does the cog of culture make before a new truth about reality catches into gear?




					www.brainpickings.org


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## basilio (8 December 2020)

This story might be useful if you are building your own business or just wanting to make the most of your work space.

*How Maria Popova Builds Discipline, Routine & Discovery into her Work*

This conversation is brought to you by Workflow, an interview series about people's working styles and workspaces.









						How Maria Popova Builds Discipline, Routine & Discovery into her Work - Balance The Grind
					

After studying Maria Popova and learning how she's grown Brain Pickings from a tiny newsletter to a media empire, these are the valuable lessons I've learnt.




					www.balancethegrind.com.au


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## Purple XS2 (8 December 2020)

An oldie but a goodie: The Histories, by Herodotus. Dates from the 5th Century BC.
Running a Marathon? The tale of the first run from Marathon to Athens comes from Herodotus.
300 Spartans? ditto.

And bucketloads of stuff about the Eastern Mediterranean world, its history, its legends, its stories, its people.
Oh, and the war between Hellas and Persia. In fact, 2 wars.

The Histories is pretty much the oldest known lengthy prose work: certainly the oldest known by a single author.
A surprisingly readable tome. Many translations over the years: mine is by Aubrey de Selincourt, 1954 (published by Folio Society)


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## basilio (14 December 2020)

Title tells it all. Quite interesting read to see how law changes through precedent. Also an insight into the attacks made on people who begin these precedents.









						The Woman Who Found a Snail in Her Soda and Launched a Million Lawsuits
					

Sixty-six years before the infamous spilled McDonald’s coffee, May Donoghue drank a ginger beer with a dead mollusk in it and changed personal-injury law forever.




					getpocket.com


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## basilio (6 January 2021)

This is an out of left field story. Thought it was amazing and interesting enough to share.









						A Journey Inside the World's Most Mysterious Cave
					

For nearly half a century, legends of a giant cave in the Andes—holding artifacts that could rewrite human history—have beckoned adventurers and tantalized fans of the occult. Now the daughter of a legendary explorer is on a new kind of quest: to tell the truth about the cave in order to save it.




					www.outsideonline.com


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## basilio (21 March 2021)

The Philosopher and the Prodigy: How Voltaire Fell in Love with a Remarkable Woman Mathematician​               “That lady whom I look upon as a great man… She understands Newton, she despises superstition and in short she makes me happy.”









						The Philosopher and the Prodigy: How Voltaire Fell in Love with a Remarkable Woman Mathematician
					

“That lady whom I look upon as a great man… She understands Newton, she despises superstition and in short she makes me happy.”




					www.brainpickings.org


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## basilio (7 April 2021)

Anyone seen Back Roads ? It is the ABC series which swans around the countryside looking at little towns.  A big feature of the program is focusing on some amazing/inspiring human interest stories of people in the towns.

I'm reading the ABC  book, Back Roads,  which picks up some of the best stories on the series.  Quite uplifting and inspirational. Well worth a read or a gift.









						Back Roads
					

From the ABC Back Roads team, Australia's inspiring rural communities in splendid, vivid colourDuring the five years it has been appearing on our screens, AB...




					www.harpercollins.com.au


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## basilio (8 April 2021)

More background on Back Roads.  The idea was the vision of Heather Ewart who wanted to highlight the richness of country life. She had been born and raised in the country. This story reflects on her 40 years career as a journalist.  It concludes with her final gig on Back Roads before retiring.

Great insight into journalism and politics over 40 years.









						'Journalism is no job for a woman': How Back Roads' Heather Ewart proved the blokes wrong
					

Heather Ewart looks back over a career spanning more than 40 years, the sexism she faced in the beginning, the stories that have stayed with her and why she's a champion of the bush.




					www.abc.net.au


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## noirua (7 June 2021)

What are some 'unknown' historical events worth knowing? - World History
		

#








						Occupation of Japan - Wikipedia
					






					en.wikipedia.org


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## noirua (29 July 2021)

Living alone on a remote mountain in the harsh Australian bush would not be every woman’s choice. In fact, Sharyn Munro has so often been asked, ‘Why do you live there?’ that she decided to write a book as her answer. THE WOMAN ON THE MOUNTAIN is the resulting lyrically written account of her journey towards a sustainable and truly rewarding lifestyle in her beloved mountain forests, where she has ‘only’ the abundant wildlife for company. That decades-long journey was no smooth, planned passage, but a stumble over setbacks, propelled by almost accidental decisions. After the ups and downs of relationships, single parenting, and an unlikely variety of jobs, at 55 she found herself alone — in the bush. Unsure whether she could manage the hard work and mechanical demands of a self-sufficient lifestyle, she nevertheless gave it a go — and mostly succeeded.
She has also learned to live in tune with nature on her wildlife refuge, despite the occasional discordant note, helping to repair past damage and trying to do no more. ‘Civilised conservation’ she calls it, ‘having your cake and eating it too — before the wallabies do.’ With increasing numbers of people longing for a simpler life, THE WOMAN ON THE MOUNTAIN reveals what can be achieved when vision and passion are combined with a little hard work, a lot of adaptabilities — and a dash of humour.
Often humorous, always candid, sometimes heart-wrenching, THE WOMAN ON THE MOUNTAIN will charm and inform, and inspire all those who have unfulfilled dreams. Sharyn's is also a passionate cry to us to tread more lightly on our planet so that we can leave a better world for future generations. Visit Sharyn's website www.sharynmunro.com
Sharyn Munro is a freelance writer as well as an award-winning short-story writer and regularly contributes non-fiction pieces to ABC Radio National's 'Bush Telegraph' program. She lives in a solar-powered mudbrick cabin on her mountain wildlife refuge in the New South Wales Hunter Valley. Here she is regenerating her property's vegetation, at a pace dictated by aging knees. Mother of two, grandmother of two, she is also a late-blooming environmental activist, at a pace dictated by concern for their futures. This is her first book.








						The Woman on the Mountain
					

Living alone on a remote mountain in the harsh Australian bush would not be every woman’s choice. In fact, Sharyn Munro has so often been...



					www.goodreads.com
				




The above was written quite a while ago as Sharyn Munro left the mountain after being persuaded to do so by her children. She wrote two books following this one. I lost contact with her several years ago.


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## noirua (4 December 2021)




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## Value Collector (7 December 2021)

I recently read “Die with Zero”, by Bill Perkins.

It has changed my perspective on money, and how I will be managing it, I highly recommend.


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## Dona Ferentes (29 March 2022)

_Mud and Stars: Travels in Russia with Pushkin and other geniuses of the Golden Age._
by Elizabeth Wheeler. 2019

A generalist, but she digs deep and is familiar with the place. They  ( Pushkin, Turgenev, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, etc) were all monomaniacs , _slavophiles _yet craving the approbation of the West. A neurosis that affects the current climate.


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## Knobby22 (30 March 2022)

I am reading Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the author of The Martian.
Excellent hard SF.


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## Dona Ferentes (30 May 2022)

Just finished _The Anarchy, _by William Dalrymple.

About the rise of the East India Company, probably the first global corporation. Opportunism, violence, greed, and an unerring ability to leverage itself against the disparate Indian states of the time (Mughals, Marathas, Rajputs, Avadhs, Bengal, Nizam, Tipu). And the relationship between commercial and imperial power. And the advantage of having an army to assert your 'rights'.

A few things I never really grasped before; 

The amassed riches of the 'native' rulers were enormous. A glittering prize, and in centralised treasuries.
Technology. The states had huge armies, the British used Prussian military techniques and modern armaments to overwhelm them.
A land of shifting alliances. And invasions. The Mughal elites were often Persian. Afghan warlord Durrani swept through Delhi some twenty times in as many years.  
when the EIC attained sufficient strength, and after a scandal or three, Cornwallis, he who surrendered to the American forces, was sent as Governor of Bengal. He stopped immigration from England other than functionaries. No evolving aspirations of independence this time! 
And the French, there big-time, as traders and as mercenaries, attached to various Indian states. By early 1800's, Napoleon sent his fleet to seize Suez and push toward India. Fail.


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## macca (18 October 2022)

I am currently reading "the Real Anthony Fauci" I borrowed it from the local library.

I would strongly urge everyone to check their local library and have a read, the skulduggery is truly amazing  

The book is about the misinformation released by Fauci, Gates and the MSM regarding the trials and testing of the novel "vaccines"

As the book was published in the USA using official data and there has been ample time for lawyers to have moved in if necessary, I have to assume it is all true.

As they say, lies, damn lies and statistics abound, the manipulation of the results is very clever but also very frightening when we look at the true results.

Scary stuff


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