Continuing the annual tradition, here are my single sentence 'summaries' (more like personal takeaways) for every book I read in 2023. Previous years versions: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018. Rated 5/5: Chip War Rated 4.5/5: Art and Business of Online Writing; Moral Animal; Courage to be Disliked Love or hate them, Amazon's undeniable meteoric rise [...]
This is a curation of charts and visuals that convey the state of global military power. The top 15 spenders: one of the best proxies for military strength and capabilities. And here's the top 40, better conveying the regional spheres of influence. Table of with various indicators of military strength. # Military personnel should account [...]
In keeping with yearly tradition, here are my single sentence 'summaries' for every book I read in 2022. Previous years versions: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018. Rated 5/5: Sovereign Individual Rated 4.5/5: Hundred Year Marathon, Parasitic Mind The world should be paying more attention to China's "New Middle-Income Stratum" as it ponders on its [...]
In keeping with tradition, here are my single sentence 'summaries' for every book I read in 2021. Rated 5/5: Man's Search for Meaning, Great Game, Righteous Mind, Destiny Disrupted. Rated 4.5/5: Misbehaviour of Markets, Thinking in Systems, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, Psychology of Money, Age of Revolution, Science, Strategy, and War, Changing World [...]
Many personal finance books recycle the same content: build frugal habits, buy assets not liabilities, dollar cost average into indexes, understand power of compound interest, reframe your mindset etc. Despite this, it's no surprise they continue to capture people's attention. Wealth, greed, and happiness are timeless themes that remain on the top of many people's [...]
This is actually one of the best books I've ever read. Despite being published in 1946, this timeless classic grows increasingly relevant. In Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl presents a somewhat twisted perspective on suffering. This excerpt sums it up best: "If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be [...]
As we head into mid 2021, commodity prices shows no signs of slowing down. Some say this is a warning sign of oncoming inflation. Intuitively, this could be interpreted as an indicator inflation. But commodity prices and consumer price inflation (CPI) are actually a lot less correlated than what most people may think. The two [...]
Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended on It, Chris Voss, 2016 (Amazon US; Amazon Australia) Snapshot A former FBI hostage negotiator shares his field-tested negotiation tips. Definitely one of my top-10 all-time favourite books. Unlike many other self-help books that drag on and fluff around the key points, this one gets [...]
Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need To Know About Global Politics, Tim Marshall, 2015 (Amazon US;Amazon Australia) Snapshot Explores the geographical dimension in geopolitics, putting key historical events into context. While geopolitics can quickly become complex, there are certainly recurring themes: access to water transport routes, natural resources etc. Familiarity [...]
In keeping with yearly tradition, here are my single sentence 'summaries' for every book I read in 2020. The point of being rich is to be able to do interesting things, rather than own enviable things. Deeply rooted economic ideologies are difficult to dislodge even with compelling data. Human inquiry into the ultimate [...]
