Fourth 10 Books I Read in 2021

 Reading Period: June 23 - August 3

1. Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt, by Michael Lewis

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24724602-flash-boys

    Surprisingly, this was my first Michael Lewis book. I would say that I enjoyed it and learned a lot, but I was a bit disappointed with the execution. The book starts out really strong, with a short detour into the story of a man's ambitious project to lay a straight line of fiber optic cable from Chicago to New Jersey. The financial markets are all about speed, and shaving off a few milliseconds of travel time between two exchanges is worth billions. This fiber optic story is portrayed well in the movie The Hummingbird Project. However, Lewis then moves on to the meat of the book, a story of some RBC trades who learn that the stock market is unfair, due to front-running and other manipulative practices by High Frequency Traders, and set off to create their own stock exchange. 

    I learned a lot, but it seems that Michael's viewpoint through the book is far from unbiased. Even the story of Sergey Aleynikov, the Goldman Sachs programmer jailed for stealing code, is a bit frustrating to read. On one hand, it seems ridiculous that he was given such a lengthy prison sentence. On the other, Michael defends him to no end, and willfully speeds over less flattering aspects of the story. Sergey sent proprietary code by mail while he was in prison? Also, Michael criticizes Goldman from taking code from open source and then not contributing back to it. Isn't this true of every company? Why would you contribute specialized code in such a competitive industry directly to your competitors? Overall, I was expecting a bit more of an unbiased viewpoint. Still, this was a very interesting book to read, and parts of it certainly made my blood boil. Worth the read, I'm adding a few more of Michael's books to my reading list.

2. Liar's Poker, by Michael Lewis

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7865083-liar-s-poker

    I loved this book. Endlessly quotable, memorable characters, and ridiculous sums of money. Probably the perfect guilty pleasure of anyone involved in the world of finance. It struck me that the plans of undergraduates have not changed since 1982: 

"Use your economics degree to get an analyst job on Wall Street; use your analyst job to get into the Harvard or Stanford Business School; and worry about the rest of your life later."

    Other memorable quotes:

"Knowing about markets is knowing about other people's weaknesses"

"Fear and, to a lesser extend, greed are what make money move"

3. The Big Short, by Michael Lewis

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26889576-the-big-short

    This was a perfect follow up to Liar's Poker. The Big Short follows a handful of people that made crazy amounts of money betting against the subprime mortgage market that ultimately collapsed in 2008. Most people have probably seen the movie, but I actually liked the book a bit better. It was less whiny, more detailed, and easier to understand. It is astounding and depressing how unprepared and oblivious financial institutions were to some pretty glaring risks. On the bright side, this book shows that you can lose your company 9 billion dollars and still walk away a millionaire. Welcome to Wall Street. 

    The characters are great, the story is infuriating, and the lessons are obvious. Classic Michael Lewis. Also, right at home is the clear bias of the story. I understand downplaying the role individual home owners played in the financial crisis. However, it seems Michael missed any mention of the government and Fannie/Freddie/Ginnie having even a sliver of blame? Nevertheless, an interesting story and an easy read.

4. Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54493401-project-hail-mary

    10/10. Such a solid, fun read. I crushed this book, reading cover to cover within a day. From the writer of The Martian, comes a story about a man with amnesia who wakes up alone on a spaceship. Yeah some parts are corny, but this will probably be my #1 book recommendation going forward. It's just so fun and accessible. 

5. Zen in the Art of Archery, by Eugen Herrigel

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/103758.Zen_in_the_Art_of_Archery

    I really don't "get" Zen Buddhism.

6. Dark Matter, by Blake Crouch

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27833670-dark-matter

    The first mind-bending book I've read in quite a while. I am confident this is kicking off a trend, and I already have some more slated to read next. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. This book is one part Enemy (one of my favorite movies) and one part Meanwhile (a choose your own adventure comic I had in middle school). The initial half of the book was predictable, but the second half really let loose with the twists and turns. Also, the underlying commentary on the decisions we make and the lives we lead was perfect and really made the narrative seem deeper than it would have otherwise.

"We're all just wandering through the tundra of our existence, assigning value to worthlessness, when all that we love and hate, all we believe in and fight for and kill for and die for is as meaningless as images projected onto Plexiglas."

7. Replay, by Ken Grimwood

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/341735.Replay

    I delivered on my promise, to read more fascinating, mind bending books. This story follows Jeff Winston, who is stuck in a time loop between ages 18 to 43. I loved this book. I don't know what it is about this sort of narrative that speaks to me so much. I think reading about a man who constantly repeats life forces you to confront the horrific fact that you have only one life, you have no idea why you are here, and you can't re-do any of it. This was a beautiful, engrossing novel that I will be thinking about for a long time to come.

"We're here, and we don't know why. We can philosophize all we want, pursue the key to that secret along a thousand different paths, and we'll never be any closer to unlocking it."

"For all that they had struggled, all they'd once achieved, the end result was null. Even the happiness they had managed to find together had been frustratingly brief; a few years stolen here and there, transient moments of love and contentment like vanishing specks of foam in a sea of lonely, needless separation."

8. Practical Vim, Edit Text at the Speed of Thought, by Drew Neil

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13607232-practical-vim

Yes, I read books about text editors in my free time. I would be embarrassed, but I’m too busy flying through code at the speed of sound to have time to care. Over the course of three weeks, I read this book, set Vim as my default text editor, and set up Vim plugins for all of my IDEs. I would guess this style of editing has increased my speed and productivity by about 15%. However, it has increased my sense of superiority by at least 50%. This was a fun detour, :q!

9. Animal Farm, by George Orwell

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/170448.Animal_Farm

    My first audiobook, ever? I've always looked down my nose at people who claim to have "read" books when they mean "vaguely listened to while distracted and doing something else." Maybe it is the elitist in me, who scoffs at those without the patience to sit in a chair and read hundreds of pages of software engineering books in a week. I was wrong. This was an enjoyable experience that I can see continuing for the rest of my life. In the shower, on my way to work, working out, and more, I can be reading books! It's funny, reading is one of my favorite things to do, and now I can do it 24/7. Animal Farm was a great satire, and something I would not have been interested in reading on paper. I've started a collection on Audible, and I am planning on "reading" many more classics like this in the future.

10. Circe, by Madeline Miller

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/176372.Madeline_Miller

    Beautiful book, really. This book chronicles the story of Circe, a Greek goddess, nymph, and witch. Great story, compelling characters, and just a joy to listen to. This was another audiobook, but I'm sort of wishing I read it in print so that I could keep a list of quotes. Some have stuck with me, such as: "a golden cage is still a cage." This is an empowering, female-driven tale. I can't think of any way the book could have been improved. For the story told, and the perspective given, this was pretty much a  perfect book.

Third 10 Books I Read in 2021

 Reading Period: May 18 - June 23

1. Neuromancer, by William Gibson

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22328.Neuromancer

    The original cyberpunk novel, Neuromancer is a 1984 novel well ahead of it's time. William coins terms like "cyberspace" and "the matrix" in this book, and pits artificial intelligences against humanity. The read was interesting, as it is clearly the initial domino leading to thousands of mimics in literature, television, and video games. Unfortunately, it is too outdated to be worth the read. No fault to William, but as time has passed, the universes we can explore with current science fiction are much more compelling.

2. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, by Stephen King

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10569.On_Writing

    The best writing guide on the market, written by an obviously qualified master of the craft. The book starts out of an autobiography, transitions to writing tips, and finishes with Stephen's commentary on the writing process as a whole. Definitely worth the read, even if you are never planning on writing a novel.

3. Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/256008.Lonesome_Dove

    I read this 900 page monster is less than a week, it was that brilliant. Granted I was on vacation and not doing much else, but still, a wonderful book. The characters are engaging, the storytelling is masterful, and before you know it you've spent your non-reading time daydreaming about driving cattle from Texas to Montana. 

    This epic adventure carries the personalities of a dozen characters, but the two central cowboys are  Capitan Call and Gus McCrae. After beating a man to the brink of death, the Capitan merely states to the crowd of onlookers "I hate a man that talks rude. I won't tolerate it." Gus has too many great quotes to count, but one that stuck with me was "the earth is mostly just a boneyard. But pretty in the sunlight." This is a hilarious, beautiful, heartbreaking book that I would put at the top of my recommendation list.

4. Night, by Elie Wiesel

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1617.Night

    This short book chronicles Elie Wiesel's time spent in the Auschwitz concentration camp. This book is horrifying, a first hand account at the worst humanity has to offer. Babies are burned alive, a son kills his father for a crust of bread, and Elie's entire family is killed. An important read, but also a brutal and worrying one.

5. The Death of Ivan Ilych, by Leo Tolstoy

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18386.The_Death_of_Ivan_Ilych

    I read this novella in order to determine if War and Peace would be worth the effort. Leo is no doubt a brilliant writer, and this was a great story about suffering and death. There are some slivers of optimism that can be taken away from this book, and my dislike of these parts made me realize I am becoming way to cynical and pessimistic. Still, this is an authentic, frightening, and meaningful take on death.

6. Python for Data Analysis, by Wes McKinney

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14744694-python-for-data-analysis

    This is an extensive guide to pandas (a Python package for data analysis) written by the creator Wes McKinney. This book isn't well structured and a bit all over the place, and even after reading the whole thing I don't think I learned anything new. If you are completely new to Python or data analysis, I'd recommend sticking with the online documentation or learning through projects. There was one quick chapter on applications for finance that was worth the read, Wes could have written a useful book about that.

7. Web Scraping with Python, by Ryan Mitchell

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25752783-web-scraping-with-python

    Easily the best Python book I've ever read. Extremely well written, concise, and entertaining. Running the pre-defined scripts feels like magic. Ryan wasn't joking when she said web scraping takes very little effort and looks extremely impressive. I particularly enjoyed the tangential items Ryan includes throughout the guide: image recognition, natural language processing, and the legality/ethics of web scraping. Even if you have no programming experience, I would still highly recommend this book. The abilities of a proficient web scraper are just too cool to pass up.

8. The Course of Love, by Alain de Botton

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27845690-the-course-of-love

    This is a book with a crazy amount of insight, most of it extremely useful and interesting. However, as I moved along the chapters, I started realize that the book is right on the edge of greatness, but it just doesn't cut it. I'm not completely certain why this is the case. Alain does have a tendency to talk a lot but say very little, and criticisms of  pompousness or overgeneralization are probably valid. I think what didn't sit well with me was the  discussion of infidelity and secret keeping. Alain seems to have some very strange beliefs on this topic. Honesty is less important in Alain's world (he should read "Lying"), and unfortunately it creates some sense of justified moral ambiguity for certain plot points. Without spoiling the plot, I will say Alain is stretching to rationalize selfish behavior and most competent readers will find the attempt laughable.

    I've highlighted more of this book than any other book I've read. Paraphrasing, Alain believes love is a skill rather than an enthusiasm. People know far too much about how love starts, and recklessly little about how it might continue. There are no soul mates, no perfect marriages. There can only ever be a "good enough" marriage, and everyone has major flaws. Recognizing that you have major flaws and are very hard to live with is needed for your marriage to work. Having similar tastes to a partner is not important, what is important is finding someone who can negotiate differences in taste with intelligence and good grace. I would be interested in reflecting on these ideas in 30 years, and seeing how much my view on the book as a whole has changed.

9. Be Prepared, a Practical Handbook for New Dads, by Gary Greenberg

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/597544.Be_Prepared

   My reason for reading this book is on part due to a quote from the previous book A Course of Love, where Alain de Botton is describing the ignorance of the main character asking his girlfriend to marry:

 "He has never read any books on the institution; he has in the last decade never spent more than ten minutes with a child; he has never cynically interrogated a married couple let alone spoken in depth with a divorced one and would be at a loss to explain why the majority of marriages fail, save from the general idiocy or lack of imagination of their participants.

    Upon reading this, I thought oh, he's also describing me. I've read a previous book on marriage, but the part about never spending more than ten minutes with a child rings true. How am I convinced that I want to have children if I am entirely clueless about the subject? Reading this book was an attempt to expand my knowledge of the subject, and at least get a feel for what fatherhood is like. Gary explains in great detail the requirements of raising a child through their first year of life. This was a funny, easy to read, and enlightening book. Gary makes the tough, gross, thankless job of early fatherhood into a fun and understandable project. Also, this book is a great gift idea I will be getting my friends once they start having kids.

10. The Pragmatic Programmer, by Andy Hunt

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4099.The_Pragmatic_Programmer

    This was a fairly easy read that I learned a lot from. The approaches taught in this book mirror the approaches I have found extremely valuable on my own. Kaizen is the first important principle of programming: continuous improvement every day. My best projects have been slowly chipped away at over time, and these daily optimizations have created some really cool functionality. The second important principle is orthogonality. This principle focuses on independent functions, DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself), and an overall focus on flexibility. It is interesting that a lot of common knowledge,  such as premature optimization is the root of all evil, are things I had to learn the hard way on my own. Reading a book like this will help you avoid these common traps, and learn how to code the right way the first time. Overall, I would say this was worth the read. It is a bit dated (1999), but I think the concepts still translate well today.

Second 10 Books I Read In 2021

Reading Period: April 15 - May 18

1. The Hard Thing About Hard Things, by Ben Horowitz

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18176747-the-hard-thing-about-hard-things?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=MSa5DccX2M&rank=1

    Unlike a lot of business/management books, Ben really brings hardcore CEO experience to the table. His lessons use a much different format from previous management books, since every page is directly tied to Ben's experience. The only book I've read about leading a company during wartime, and the only business book that made me laugh out loud. Ben tapped Marc Cranney as head of sales for his company, Opsware. The board of directors were not pleased, as Marc was a controversial and disruptive individual to say the least. I love the following quote from the book:

    "Mark Cranney walks up to the podium, looks at the crowd of fresh new recruits, and says, ‘I don’t give a fuck how well trained you are. If you don’t bring me five hundred thousand dollars a quarter, I’m putting a bullet in your head.’ ”

    This was a pretty original and modern business book. I'd recommend it as a bit of fresh air after the rigidity of something like Crossing the Chasm.

2. The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work, by John Gottman

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/849380.The_Seven_Principles_for_Making_Marriage_Work

    The world would be a much, much better place if every single person read this book. John uses a data-driven approach to solving the mysteries of a happy marriage. Through exercises, examples, and data, John shows the reader exactly what they need to do to be successful in marriage. One quote that I could not agree more with is "working briefly on your marriage every day will do more for your health and longevity than working out at a health club." The most important decision most people make is who they marry, and the most important relationship in your life is likely your marriage. Walking into this commitment armed to the teeth with knowledge is the only sensible path forward, and this book is an incredible start.

3. Irrational Exuberance, by Robert Shiller 

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/100132.Irrational_Exuberance

    This book was a bit slow, but as a finance guy I found a lot of the material interesting. Most of the initial material is decided to Robert proving that the stock market is current in a bubble. He was right of course, as the book was published in the year 2000, but with the benefit of hindsight this doesn't make a very captivating read. The last 50 pages however, are worth the wait. Robert gets into the weeds on exactly how governments should deal with speculative bubbles, and he discusses various topics such as retirement and social security. Overall, this book falls pretty low on my list of finance book recommendations.

4. The Mythical Man-Month, by Frederick Brooks

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13629.The_Mythical_Man_Month

    This collection of essays on software engineering was likely a very good read 40-50 years ago. Unfortunately, due to the time jump it reads as extremely outdated. Some of the lessons (eg: Brooks's Law) are interesting, but the sheer change in technology and programming since the initial publication in 1975 makes me not recommend this book.

5. The 4 Hour Workweek, by Tim Ferris

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368593.The_4_Hour_Workweek

    This is such a weird book. Half of the advice is incredibly useful and thought provoking, and half of the advice is corner-cutting, manipulative, unethical garbage. Tim would be the worst kind of person to hang out with, but he may have a point! It is comical how far he takes his own advice (he has his outsourced Indian assistants write apology letters to his girlfriend). And Tim is also a massive douchebag (he says if you have a girlfriend, you should still ask for five girls numbers each week to keep up the practice, just throw the numbers away after). But, Tim has quite a few things right. Working yourself to death in the age of automation is ridiculous. Fire bad customers. Quit your job if you are unhappy. Bend the rules to win. Wait, maybe not that last one!

6. The Conspiracy Against The Human Race, by Thomas Ligotti

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8524528-the-conspiracy-against-the-human-race

    A masterpiece. The most interesting, thought-provoking book I have ever read. It is extremely impressive the amount of negative psychological side effects I have experienced as a result of this book. After finishing, I am wondering if the misery of all life experiences will now pale in comparison to the misery I have experienced pondering this concentrated dose of pessimism. An obvious literary achievement. Likely the greatest book I've ever read, and I will carry this reading experience with me the rest of my life. Every dark, depressing thought I have ever repressed in a neat 240 pages, what's not to love.

    I would compare the experience of reading this book to conscious breathing. Breathing is an automatic, unconscious activity when we don't think about it. However, once you become aware of your breathing, you have to remember to breath, at least until you are distracted enough for it once again to become an unconscious activity. This book will open the floodgates of your mind. You can recognize the ideas and try to live with them (aka remembering to breathe), or you can distract yourself and hope they fade away. Despite it's brilliance, most people should avoid this book at all costs. Even now, I am wondering if I chose the wrong color pill.

Quotes:

"He who hasn’t experienced a full depression alone and over a long period of time- he is a child"

"The knowledge that life is worthless is the flower of all human wisdom"

7. Quantitative Trading: How to Build Your Own Algorithmic Trading Business, by Ernest Chan

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4977694-quantitative-trading

    A detailed guide for setting up your own quantitative trading business. Ernest, a previous institutional trader, guides the reader through the necessary strategies, equipment, and skills needed for setting up a trading office in the comfort of your own home. The structure was pretty hard to follow, and this book is targeted towards an extremely niche set of people. Probably not worth the read, but the arguments  for retail investing over institutional were at least interesting.

8. Beginning Ethereum and Solidity with React, by Greg Lim

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40407197-beginning-ethereum-and-solidity-with-react

    Free books are never good, and this is no exception. I'd like to learn Solidity, and since book was short and free on Amazon I figured I'd give it a shot. Unless you already know Solidity and JavaScript, this book will not make any sense.

9. So Good They Can't Ignore You, by Cal Newport

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13525945-so-good-they-can-t-ignore-you

    I'm not a huge fan of single idea books. For example, the book Black Swan by Nassim Taleb is a 500 page book about a single idea, and the entire concept could be summarized in 10 pages. This is another one of those books, except it can be summarized in two sentences:

    "Follow your passion is bad advice, as the vast majority of people don't have pre-existing passions waiting to be discovered and matched to a career. The key to a successful and fulfilling career is to acquire rare and valuable skills, called career capital, and leverage this capital to gain freedom and control over your career."

    This advice is certainly true in practice. Acquiring career capital is the only way to guarantee job security, work-life balance, and financial freedom. Even with the repetition and filler apparent in this book, it was worth the read to hammer home the two sentences above.

10. Fool Moon, by Jim Butcher

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/91477.Fool_Moon

    First fiction book of the year, pretty disappointing. I went in with low expectations, since I've read the first two books of The Dresden Files are rubbish, but this was still disappointing. Easy read, I read it in two days, but the writing was corny and it had a boring and predictable plot. I started the third book to see if the series can be redeemed.

First 10 Books I Read in 2021

Reading Period: January 1 - April 15

1. Mastering Mountain Bike Skills, by Brian Lopes

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8524960-mastering-mountain-bike-skills

    Mountain Biking is my favorite sport. I bought my first mountain bike over a year ago: a full suspension beast that I have spent countless hours with since. However, I never learned much about the basics (cornering, hitting drops, avoiding injuries). This book was very informative, and I'm sure I'll make use of all the valuable lessons!

2. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglass Adams

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/386162.The_Hitchhiker_s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy

    Pretty hilarious book, probably one of the most laugh-out-loud books I've read. I had very high expectations going in, however, and that spoiled it a bit for me. Easy read though, and well worth the minimal amount of effort required.

3. A Universe from Nothing: Why There is Something Rather Than Nothing, by Lawrence Krauss

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11337189-a-universe-from-nothing

    Embarrassing attempt at solving the question poised by the title. I kept reading and reading, hoping to come to a point where there was some genius insight, and then the book ended. Richard Dawkins ends the books with probably the most cringeworthy, yet hilarious takeaway in his afterword:

"Even the last remaining trump card of the theologian, 'Why is there something rather than nothing? ' shrivels up before your eyes as you read these pages."

    Did he read the same book? Krauss's arrogance is the only clear theme, and the cosmology is backed by extremely lame attempts at philosophy. Far from a genius put-down, far from even competent arguments. I admit that the overall discussion in the book is interesting, but the takeaway that Krauss has solved this problem is laughable.

4. The ETF Book, by Richard Ferri

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1805995.The_ETF_Book

    Comprehensive guide to all things ETF. This book was published in 2007, and with any rapidly growing field in finance, that means this book is very obviously outdated. However, the introduction to ETF's, open-end mutual funds, and closed-end mutual funds, is extremely interesting. The later chapters are less useful, as many of the lists provided are decades old at this point. Overall, I seem to really enjoy books with the title The ___ Book. This book is the complete overview I desired, but most people would be better off skipping due to the likely irrelevant details.

5.  The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, by Mark Manson

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28257707-the-subtle-art-of-not-giving-a-f-ck

    Probably worth reading, but less interesting and thought provoking than the title suggests. There are some wise, well-known lessons in this book. However, the popularity of this book is very obviously due to marketing, not content. If Mark went a few feet deeper with some of his thoughts, I think this would have been a lot more enjoyable.

6. The Infinite Machine, by Camila Russo

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50175330-the-infinite-machine

    Camila documents the origin story of Ethereum, a decentralized, open source blockchain technology. She chronicles the cryptocurrency backdrop that inspired Ethereum, the personalities of the various founders, and the early history of the Ethereum foundation. This is the most interesting and most mind blowing financial technology to emerge since the Internet. As a financial professional, the fact that I had no knowledge of decentralized finance, decentralized exchanges, or smart contracts before 2021 is alarming. After finishing this book, I felt a paralyzing fear. I am an early adopter, a financial professional aware of the potential of this technology. How do I capitalize on this foresight? I've since invested in a market weighted basket of smart contract cryptocurrencies, but I am sure that I need to attach myself to the future of these platforms in a more direct way

7. On Love, by Alain de Botton

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23426.On_Love

    Quite a change of pace from the other books I've read over the past few years. Alain tells a first person love story, with romantic and philosophic lessons woven throughout. Short but interesting read. It is clear Alain is an expert on romanticism and relationships. I've listened to his YouTube lectures, and this book is essentially a short summary of his ideas. Worth the quick read.

8. Waking Up, A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion, by Sam Harris

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18774981-waking-up

    A deep dive into consciousness, meditation, and the brain. The word Spirituality in the title is a misnomer, this book is essentially all about exploring the illusion of consciousness, or at least the illusion that there is a separate "self" behind all of your ideas and actions. I was a bit disappointed by the flow of the book, as there were many detached ideas strung together in a muddled way. However, there is some clear insight, and Sam is extremely direct in how that insight is conveyed. Sam discusses psychedelic drugs, near death experiences, gurus, and the brain through a scientific lens. Since he spent his 20s tripping on LSD and searching for enlightenment in India, he has a lot of very interesting stories to back up his claims.

9. Mastering Ethereum, Building Smart Contracts and Dapps, by Andreas Antonopoulos

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33584554-mastering-ethereum

    After getting a history lesson in The Infinite Machine, I started looking for deep technical guides to Ethereum. This was exactly what I was looking for. A detailed, complex, textbook-style dive into the fundamentals behind the Ethereum Virtual Machine, smart contract programming with Solidity, and defensive programming. I would not recommend this book to anyone lacking a decent grasp of blockchain and cryptocurrency. Andreas skips over any definitions and expects the reader to be well versed in the concepts underlying Ethereum. The more detailed computer science and blockchain parts were incomprehensible to me, but I think I understood around 70% of the book. Andreas's discussion of smart contracts is fascinating, and he walks through many real world examples and asks the reader to try to determine their weak points. Educational read with absolutely no filler content.

10. Effective Python, 59 Specific Ways to Write Better Python, by Brett Slatkin

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23020812-effective-python

    Working through this book opened my eyes to a lot of simple ways to increase efficiency and readability when coding. The first half of the book is easy to understand, easy to implement, and even beginner Python users will find the content useful. After this section, we hit a lot of more technical material, and while I read all of this too, I doubt it will be useful going forward. I'd suggest stopping once the terminology gets over your head, as this book assumes a lot of prior knowledge.

Fourth 10 Books I Read in 2020

Reading Period: July 23 - December 31

1. The Moral Landscape, by Sam Harris

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7785194-the-moral-landscape

    Important conversation for sure, but I am not entirely convinced that science can determine values in the same objective sense Sam speaks of. It is pretty clear that a lot of the fundamental premises are not grounded, but this is a difficult task given that moral philosophy is so speculative in general. A step in the right direction, a important move, but understandably lacking in many senses. Sam says "if the word bad is to mean anything, it is the worst possible misery for everyone." Who says it has to mean anything? Who says consciousness of our sort even matters? Overall, you can play this "why" game of infinite regress with most of Sam's claims. Still, worth the read to see a potential glimpse of hope science may end up presenting between the relativist and the theologian.

2. Crossing the Chasm, by Geoffrey Moore

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61329.Crossing_the_Chasm

    Unfortunately, I am not currently trying to bring cutting edge technology to the mainstream market. If I was, I am sure this book would have been very useful. Probably the most useful takeaway is this: even with an amazing product, you will fail without the right messaging. The best products do not always win out, and getting the right group of genius engineers together in a room is not enough. Without a strong marketing strategy, your product might be picked up by the most innovative and tech-driven individuals, but all that investment will be worthless when it flops with the mainstream market. Important lessons, simply not relevant to me.

3. Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tzu

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/67896.Tao_Te_Ching

    Interesting read, but I didn't particularly enjoy the book. Religious texts like these are simplistic and overhyped most of the time. Most of the teaching can be distilled into two words: be humble. Also, "renouncing learning" and "attaining primitive simplicity" seem like pretty terrible life advice if your goal is to reduce the suffering in the world. I'd point to this teaching of ignorance/simplicity common in Eastern Philosophy as one of the main reasons I avoid books like these.

4. The Emperor's Soul, by Brandon Sanderson

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13578175-the-emperor-s-soul

    I've heard a lot about Brandon's books online, and decided to dip my toes in by reading this novella. Wow, this guy can write a hell of a story. Right after finishing, I bought four of his other books and watched his ten hour lecture series on YouTube about writing fantasy. This book has an intriguing story, compelling characters, and an immensely satisfying ending. All in around 100 pages!

5. Zero to One, by Peter Thiel

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18050143-zero-to-one

    Really compelling business book. Probably one of the best pound-for-pound business books I have read, clocking in at under 200 pages but full of insight. I see a striking similarity between Thiel's thoughts and my own, and a lot of overlap between his writing and my experience. Probably a 9/10 book in general, I would recommend to anyone in the business field.

6. The Bond Book, by Annette Thau

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/851083.The_Bond_Book

    The full title of this book is "The Bond Book: Everything Investors Need to Know about Treasuries, Municipals, GNMAs, Corporates, Zeros, Bond Funds, Money Market Funds, and More." There really couldn't be a more exhaustive title, and this couldn't have been a more exhausting, I mean exhaustive book. If you are not very motivated to learn a lot of detailed information about every nook and cranny of the bond market, this is not the book for you. Very textbook-y, and very long. However, as an introductory book into the world of bonds, this book more than serves its purpose. I felt ignorant before, now I know way too much. Not a bad trade-off! Probably much more relevant for financial professionals than retail investors, despite Annette's wishes.

7. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stephenson

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51496.The_Strange_Case_of_Dr_Jekyll_and_Mr_Hyde

    Good mystery novella, short and captivating. The influence of this book is readily apparent, although I won't go into any detail to avoid spoilers. Impressive that this was written in 1886; I'm adding more of Stephenson's work to my reading list.

8. The Art of War, by Sun Tzu

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10534.The_Art_of_War

    I read half of this book a few years ago. Given the short page count and since I only have two weeks to hit my reading goal (40 books in 2020), I decided to give it another shot. This is a surprisingly insightful book. Some of the lessons are still relevant today. However, if you take these insights as as gospel for how you should act in the business world, you should probably spend more time with your family.

9. The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40611510-the-last-lecture

    Randy delivers insight into how we can all achieve our childhood dreams, and dies shortly after. Depressing, bittersweet, and useful. However, I would actually recommend watching his actual last lecture on YouTube instead of reading this book. Randy is a better lecturer than a writer, and the content in this book is much better packaged for a video format. Overall, compelling story that changed my perspective on life.

10. Mistborn: The Final Empire, by Brandon Sanderson

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68428.The_Final_Empire

    My reading goal of 40 books in 2020 is now complete! Brandon is a master at worldbuilding, interesting magic systems and satisfying endings. A  fun fantasy novel, with twists, turns, and happy endings all around. A bit more young-adult than I was expecting, and probably not his best writing. Still, I’m excited to start 2021 with three new Sanderson books on my bookshelf.

Favorite Songs of 15 Genres

I currently have 43 Spotify playlists that I created, all separated by loose-fitting genres. Every year, I listen to about 600-800 hours of music. Below are my favorite songs by genre:

Acoustic: Ocean by John Butler

Alternative: Sweet Disaster by DREAMERS

Classical: Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major by Johann Sebastian Bach

Country: When the Stars Come Out by Chris Stapleton

Electronic: The Drift by Blackmill

Jazz: The Girl From Ipanema by Stan Getz

Metal: The Diary of Jane by Breaking Benjamin

Pop: Mine by Taylor Swift

Punk Rock: Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance

R&B: Thinkin Bout You by Frank Ocean

Rap: Hiiipower by Kendrick Lamar

Reggae: Jamming by Bob Marley

Rock: Come Sail Away by Styx

Showtunes: Satisfied by Renee Elise Goldsberry

Soul: Lean on Me by Bill Withers

Third 10 books I read in 2020

Reading Period: June 15th - July 23

1. Art and Fear, by David Bayles

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/187633.Art_and_Fear

    This book is extremely well written, insightful, and motivating. This book is about making art, but at the same time it is not about art at all. It is about the struggle to produce, the anxiety of competition, and the destructive ways of thinking that tear us down. It is a book about life, and a book about getting shit done. The sheer amount of good advice David manages to pack in 120 pages is almost frighting. I would say that this is the most motivating book I have ever read, and one of the best.

2. Forex Trading, by Jim Brown
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27263125-forex-trading

    I'm not going to waste much time writing about this book, it was pretty bad. Very short introduction to forex but poorly written, not helpful, and overall a waste of time.

3. Black Edge, by Sheelah Kolhatkar
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32284263-black-edge

    God damn is this book amazing. 10/10. One of the few books I've stayed up until 3:00 AM to finish. This book chronicles the rise of Steven A. Cohen, and the famous insider trading investigations surrounding his firm, SAC Capital. It is Cohen vs the FBI, SEC, and the Department of Justice. Extremely well researched, hilarious, and frustrating. I would say that the word that describes this book the best is "pleasure." It was a pleasure to read, and I am going to recommend this book to every person I know.

4. The Art of Currency Trading, by Brent Donnelly
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46218999-the-art-of-currency-trading

    This books is absolutely phenomenal. As far as technical guides go, this is probably the most comprehensive, down to earth, and useful book about trading. This book is not simply about FX, it is really a life lesson about decision making and risk management. Brent is an expert who gives advice that seems specific, but is actually extremely applicable in every area of finance. Probably the best "hard finance" book I've ever read.

5. The Complete Whiskey Course, by Robin Robinson
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44443016-the-complete-whiskey-course

    Extremely informative, probably the most "complete course" you could ask for. Robin breaks down how whiskey is made, how to taste whiskey, and the different types of whiskey. He splits whiskey into different geographies (American, Canadian, Irish, Scottish, Japanese, and World) and even gives suggested tastings! I kept a bottle of Jim Beam beside me during the reading, which definitely increased the enjoyment. If you are looking for a comprehensive guide to all things whiskey, this is your stop.

6. Wine Folly: Magnum Edition: The Master Guide, by Madeline Puckette
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39402952-wine-folly

    I would say this book is probably best in hardcover format, something to read on and off when bored or pouring a glass of wine. The first 80 pages were a easy introduction to wine, but the learning really stops there. The majority of the book is essentially an atlas that lists type of wine, basic characteristics, and taste profile. I was hoping for something much more similar to The Complete Whiskey Course (which was super in-depth and informative) but I ended up with a book you'd put on your coffee table and never read.

7. Lying, by Sam Harris
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18869177-lying

    Labeled as a book but essentially an essay. Sam expands on the idea that in 99.99% of situations, we should not lie. Pretty much in every regard, this point is thought through and defended. The more time you spend living life, the harder it is to disagree with this central theme. Your life will be easier, happier, and deeper if you simply decide to not lie under almost any circumstance.

8. Letter to a Christian Nation, by Sam Harris

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51299.Letter_to_a_Christian_Nation

    Another long form essay, this one a sort of sequel to The End of Faith, but probably written in the course of a weekend. Sam seems to simplify or dumb-down many of his attacks in the book, with the intended audience being a bible belt Christian who likely lacks a college education. This letter would likely be insightful to them, but as a standalone work read by an agnostic there is really nothing novel (though some quips are pretty funny).

9. Free Will, by Sam Harris
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13259270-free-will

    Yet another "book" by Sam Harris, this one focusing on the idea of determinism and the illusion of free will. Of the essays I've read by Sam I think this is probably the least fleshed out, with much to be wished for. For example, I could have used another 10 pages describing compatibilism. It seemed as if the reader was expected to have prior knowledge of Sam's disagreement with Dennett. To be honest, Sam's lectures on free will on Youtube seem to be better structured and more understandable. However, this is still an interesting discussion topic and a good "pop philosophy" introduction.

10. Godel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid, by Douglas Hofstadter
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24113.G_del_Escher_Bach

    Simply marvelous. The most intellectually challenging/stimulating book I have ever read. Douglas weaves Godel's incompleteness theorem, Escher's mind-bending artwork, and Bach's musical brilliance in a thread through computer science, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and a host of other subjects. Chapters switch between in-depth discussion of a particular topic (number theory) and fun fictional interactions between a cast of characters (Achilles, Tortoise, Crab) that provide a ground to the scientific figure. Looking across my life so far, with this being the 185th book I have ever read, I can say with certainty that is was the theoretical best. The amount of effort, cleverness, and insight provided by the 777 pages is truly remarkable. Even without agreeing with Hofstadter's underlying assumption of strange loops/tangled hierarchies and their role, even conceding that a book about machine intelligence written in 1979 is bound to be outdated by modern technology, I can firmly say that I have never been more impressed by a book.