The 4 Best Books I Read in 2017

Last year, I read 21 books and here are the four best books I read in 2017.

Here are my top four books:

Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark

I read Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark, a Swedish-American cosmologist, after reading a tweet by Elon Musk. Life 3.0 is a book that talks about AI. By reading this book, I learned the pros and the cons of AI, the need to have something like a Geneva Convention for regulating AI, why something like universal income will be mandatory in the future because of the loss of jobs to machines, and the evolution of humans with AI.

The Dhandho Investor by Mohnish Pabrai

The Dhandho Investor by Mohnish Pabrai is the best Investing book I read last year. I read the book last month, and I have been a big fan of Mohnish Pabrai. The Dhandho Investor is very interesting and filled with useful information about how to invest in the stock market or in businesses without losing money and obtaining a high return on your investment. I love the mantra that Mohnish gives in the book “Heads; I win; tails, I don’t lose much!” I will be following this mantra in the future whenever I am investing in a company to reduce my risk of losing money.

The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America’s Banana King by Rich Cohen

I heard about Sam Zemurray when I was reading The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday. The Fish That Ate the Whale tells the story of Sam Zemurray from his arrival in America in 1891 to become one of the richest and most powerful men in the world. By reading this book, I learned a lot about business, history, and the incredible journey of Sam Zemurray for running one of the biggest company and becoming a threat to foreign nations.

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Meditations is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 AD, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy. Marcus Aurelius is named as one of the Good Emperors. Meditations is filled with a lot of wisdom. It will probably not be the last time I will be reading this book. In fact, I intend to read Meditations once every year because I don’t think reading the book once gives justice to the incredible notes of Marcus Aurelius.

Honorable mentions:

1. Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli
2. Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups—Timeless Advice from an Angel Investor Who Turned $100,000 into $100,000,000 by Jason Calacanis
3. The Little Book That Beats the Market by Joel Greenblatt
4. The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande [Book Review]
5. Gratitude by Oliver Sacks
6. The Motley Fool Investment Guide: Third Edition: How the Fools Beat Wall Street’s Wise Men and How You Can Too by Tom Gardner and David Gardner

Here is a list of all the book I read this year:

1. Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups—Timeless Advice from an Angel Investor Who Turned $100,000 into $100,000,000 by Jason Calacanis
2. The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor by Howard Marks
3. Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli
4. The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America’s Banana King by Rich Cohen
5. Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Max Tegmark
6. The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday
7. The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing by Jason Kelly [Book Review]
8. L’Étranger by Albert Camus
9. Learn to Earn: A Beginner’s Guide to the Basics of Investing and Business by Peter Lynch [Book Review]
10. Lion by Saroo Brierley
11. The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande [Book Review]
12. The Little Book That Beats the Market by Joel Greenblatt
13. The Motley Fool Investment Guide: Third Edition: How the Fools Beat Wall Street’s Wise Men and How You Can Too by Tom Gardner and David Gardner
14. Discipline Equals Freedom: Field Manual by Jocko Willink
15. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
16. How to Read a Financial Report: Wringing Vital Signs Out of the Numbers by John A. Tracy
17. Gratitude by Oliver Sacks
18. Crush It!: Why Now Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion by Gary Vaynerchuk
19. The Dhandho Investor: The Low-Risk Value Method to High Returns by Mohnish Pabrai
20. Investing 101: From Stocks and Bonds to ETFs and IPOs, an Essential Primer on Building a Profitable Portfolio by Michele Cagan [Book Review]
21. The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) by Seth Godin

Currently Reading:

1. Millennial Money: How Young Investors Can Build a Fortune by Patrick O’Shaughnessy

2. Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio

3. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

4. Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction by Philip E. Tetlock, Dan Gardner

5. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

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Book Review – The Checklist Manifesto

If someone told you there is a way to improve everything and to reduce the percentage of error to a minimum, would you use it? This thing has been used by pilots for the longest time to reduce the risk of accidents and to save lives. Recently, other professions also started to use it. And this thing is free!!! In fact, you have probably used it a couple of times. Of course, I am talking about checklists.

I found “The Checklist Manifesto” by Atul Gawande at a used book sale for 1$ and it was well worth. The information inside the book is worth a thousand times more.

Atul Gawande is an American surgeon, writer, and public health researcher.

When I learned the benefits of checklists, I was sold on the idea of using them in the future. Here is why. Since the implementation of checklists in their day-to-day routine, pilots significantly reduced their rate of accidents. Not only checklists prevented disasters from happening, but it also helped pilots to better communicate and work as a team.

By learning about the success pilots got by using checklists, the World Health Organization (WHO) conducted a pilot program in eight cities around the world to improve the rate of surgeries. The WHO made a checklist for surgeons and their staffs to use in their operations.

By reading this book, I found that in order to improve something or to reduce the rate of mistakes, you don’t need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars. Something as simple as a checklist can be as powerful or even better than high-tech machinery, software or technique.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn how to tackle a problem or a project. I learned a lot and it helps me view things differently. This book taught me that solutions do not have to be complex to be effective.

Book reviewed: Learn to Earn by John Rothchild and Peter Lynch

“Learn to Earn” by John Rothchild and Peter Lynch is a book for any investor and anyone interning to learn how a company earns money.

The book accomplishes on what it sets out to accomplish by showcasing that capitalism is the best economic system.

The author, John Rothchild, is most know for his work as the former editor of Washington Monthly as well as a former columnist for Time and Fortune.

The co-author, Peter Lynch, is an investor know the As the manager of the Magellan Fund at Fidelity Investments between the years 1977 and 1990. Peter Lynch averaged a 29.2% annual return with is mindblowing.

I enjoyed reading the book. The book helps me confirm my thought that the best economic system is capitalism for the company, the consumer and the investor.

I enjoyed the first chapter where the author briefs a quick history lesson of capitalism and explain without a capitalist country like the United-stade would it prosper as it did. I also like the appendix two where the author helps ride a company balance sheet.

The only thing the I did like is that the book isn’t updated and the references are old. Unless this I enjoyed reading the book.

I would recommend this book to anyone interning to learn how a company earn money and to learn about the stocks.

 

Book Review: The neatest little guide to stock market investing by Jason Kelly

 

“The neatest little guide to stock market investing” by Jason Kelly is a book for anyone who wants to learn about the stock market.

The book accomplishes on what it sets out to accomplish by giving a good overview of every step related to becoming a business owner in a public company.

The author, Jason Kelly, is most know for his book “The 3% Signal” and his newsletter “The Kelly Letter” about the stock market and investing.

I liked the book. I had some knowledge about the stock market prior, but reading the book helped me think like an investor. I learnt how to evaluate stocks and all the termer related such as P/E, ROE and all the other measurement.

I enjoyed the third chapter where the author writes about Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and other investor masters. He summarizes the investor philosophy which is very helpful. I also liked the way the author related all aspects of investing with one example throughout the book.

There is nothing that I didn’t like about the book. Although the book had a dry and academic tone which is expected for these kinds of books, I loved reading this book.

I would recommend this book to everyone because I truly believe everyone should learn the basics of investing even though the invest in an index fund or mutual funds.

Book Review: Investment 101 by Michele Cagan​

Investing 101 by Michelle Cagan is a book for the newcomer in the vast world of investing.

The book accomplishes on what it sets out to accomplish by giving a good overview of every branch in investment such as stock, bonds, ETFs, Mutual funds, currency commodity trading and real estate.

The author, Michele Cagan, has worked in several fields involving money such as financial planner, accountant, and tax advisor. She also wrote several books on personal finance and business.

I very much liked the book. I had some knowledge about investing prior but reading the book probably gave me a better understanding than the average person. I was still able to learn a lot which is never a bad thing. I have expanded my knowledge about the stock market and learned about new ways to invest especially in the bonds market.

The book has a dry and academic tone but is very easy to understand and not boring at least for me and the author doesn’t implement fancy words. It is written for the new learner with no or very little knowledge about personal finance.

I enjoyed the last two chapter where the author writes about how a person can build a profitable portfolio built according to the person’s needs. I also loved the chapter where the author introduces successful investors and gives their advice to the reader. Finally, I loved the part where the author gives an exercise where you can learn about your risk tolerance which is an important aspect of investing.

I did not enjoy parts where the author talked about mutual funds, currency, and commodity trading because I have no interest in this type of investment.

Event though I did not enjoy some parts of the book, I would change nothing about it. I believe that every part is important because every person has different ways to invest and all of them are important even if all these branches are not meant for everyone.

I would recommend this book to everyone because I truly believe everyone should learn the basics of investing.