Recent books read:

1. Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio (Amara Lakhous) – this came recommended as a good book for understanding Roman cultures and the ways that things are changing there. It was only OK.
2. Poor Charlie’s Almanack (Charlie Munger) – a joy, and worth reading just for Munger’s analysis of pyschology.
3. Be Like the Fox (Erica Benner) – I read this to get a grasp of what life in Italy was like in Machiavelli’s time, and to learn more about Florence’s evolution. It was far more than that – a carefully constructed biography that made me reevaluate everything I thought about Machiavelli and his work. In an age of increasing skepticism, it is a beacon of light.
4. A Billion Wicked Thoughts (Ogi Ogas) – unfortunately mediocre.
5. Easy Beauty (Chloe Cooper Jones) – absolutely transcendent. It is one of those books that sits with you like a friend and just holds your hand, silently, and which you remember forever at odd moments. I got it because it won a Pulitzer; the fact that she travels from the north of Italy down to Rome was a happy coincidence.
6. Atomic Habits (James Clear) – great to revisit; inspirational.
7. Supercommunicators (Charles Duhigg) – pretty good, but…well, there are a few core insights that were useful, and it was otherwise fluff. Worth reading, though.
8. Midlife: A Philosophical Guide (Kieran Setiya) – I read this in Milan, and will need to read it again. Appropriate for anyone in my age bracket.
9. The Aeneid (Virgil) – I got this as an audiobook, reasoning that an epic, recited poem should be listened to instead of read. It was a companion on a lot of my race training in Italy, and…spending two hours on a Sunday in a basement gym in Rome, running my heart out, listening to Aeneas’ journey, was wonderful.
10. When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead (Jerry Weintraub) – I picked this up on a Kindle Daily Deal; I think it was recommended to me. It was fun, but forgettable.
11. 1% Success Habits: 10 Daily Habits to Crush Your Day (Brandon Nankivell) – meh.
12. Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity (Peter Attia) – I got a few good tips out of this, and made some basic changes to my diet and exercise; worth the time.
13. I Can’t Make This Up (Kevin Hart) – an audiobook that I would not recommend as a training companion, as it made me laugh regularly, causing me to jump off numerous treadmills. Also, some good life advice.
14. Yearbook (Seth Rogan) – on the heels of I Can’t Make This Up, I figured another comedian memoir would be good. It…was, but was less interesting.
15. Zen Jiu Jitsu: The 30 Day Program to improve Your Game 1000% (Oliver Staark) – meh. Could have used a good editor.
16. Happy Go Lucky (David Sedaris) – unfortunately bland.
17. Built to Move (Kelly Starrett) – I liked this. The advice that made the biggest impact in my life: eat more protein, consume 800g of fruits and vegetables a day.
18. The Millionaire Next Door (Thomas J. Stanley) – a great thing to revisit.
19. Liar’s Poker (Michael Lewis) – good. One thing that has stuck with me: the habit of seeing news and trying to reason through the financial implications of new developments. It has made me some money.
20. You Can Be A Stock Market Genius (Joel Greenblatt) – well, based on this advice, I made a series of investments in July/August that are up 40% or more in November. Maybe the title is right?
21. The Interpretation of Financial Statements (Ben Graham) – OK, but dated.
22. When Genius Failed (Roger Lowenstein) – really, really interesting.
23. The Little Book That Still Beats The Market (Joel Greenblatt) – not as good as You Can Be A Stock Market Genius, but still pretty good.
24. The Sun Also Rises (Hemingway) – this marks the twentieth year in a row that I have read this, and it keeps getting better, deeper, more interesting. (Alex, I can see you shaking your head.)
25. Rich Dad, Poor Dad (Robert Kiyosaki) – again, a good thing to revisit.
26. The Money Masters (John Train) – an interesting perspective on people who invest for a living…in the 1950s and 1960s.
27. All Fours (Miranda July) – I was so, so impressed by July – her character development and the believability of the story, as preposterous as it is, was breathtaking. The NYT made it seem as if the focus was on polyamory, but that is only a minor part of on otherwise complex, magnificent book.
28. The Psychology of Money (Morgan Housel) – SO worth reading. I’ll be revisiting this regularly.
29. The French Laundry Cookbook (Thomas Keller, Michael Ruhlman) – excellent, if something that will sit on my shelf forever.
30. The Diary of a CEO (Steven Bartlett) – really good, if you like being reminded every few pages that he is very rich and important.
31. James (Percival Everett) – I think after three paragraphs, I just thought, “of course.” I know it is shortlisted for a Booker this year; I predict it will not win, as it is too good.
32. Life 3.0 (Max Tegmark) – I am trying to learn about AI, and this was just sub-par.
33. The Up Side of Down(Megan McArdle) – terrible. She tries to make Gladwellian points and back them up with stories, but her narrative is only tenuously linked to the points she tries to make, and it all ends up a muddle. I think it could have been good, but in different hands, or with a more forceful editor.
34. Timeboxing (Marc Zao-Sanders) – a one-paragraph idea spread out over far more pages.
35. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald) – again, twenty years of reading this has not diminished its beauty and power. My heart always starts to beat faster, and my breath grows more shallow, when he is pulling “out into the winter night and the real snow, our snow, began to stretch out beside us and twinkle against the windows, and the dim lights of small Wisconsin stations moved by, a sharp wild brace came suddenly into the air. We drew in deep breaths of it as we walked back from dinner through the cold vestibules, unutterably aware of our identity with this country for one strange hour, before we melted indistinguishably into it again.”
36. Self Help Messiah (Steven Watts) – I was hopeful for this, as I was truly interested in Carnegie’s life, but it ended up being a point-by-point summary of much of his work, which got frustrating.
37. Clearly Now, The Rain (Eli Hastings) – so…I am biased here. I was a year behind Eli at Pitzer, and while I remember him, I don’t think I ever really knew him. I did recognize many of the places he goes through, from Pitzer to Chicago and Ohio Amish country, and many of the people he writes about (although it took me far to long to realize who Monty was). Even if I hadn’t, this would have been a worthwhile read – heartbreaking, painful, beautiful, poignant.
38. It Takes What It Takes (Trevor Moawad) – outstanding. One to revisit regularly.