Fast reader (slow writer) book reviews of October — Book 8–12

The last 3 months have been extremely busy ‘life wise’. I kept reading but I haven’t been able to review as many books as I would have liked. I am using this holidays to catch up. Below what I read in October.

Talking to Strangers — Malcolm Gladwell. I read this long after it was published, and much later than I usually read Gladwell’s books. I wanted to listen to his Masterclass in non fiction writing first, and test if I would be enjoying the book more or less, knowing the architecture behind it (spoiler: more). The book doesn’t disappoint. Our inability to assess and judge people is a popular topic, so the key message isn’t surprising (or maybe it isn’t if you read the book so long after everyone else). The ripple effects this has and how pop culture compounds the problem were the true gems for me. I followed very closely some of the cases that are referenced (both and Amanda Knox and the Brock Turner trials when they happened), so I could reflect and check my own bias and the reason behind why we so easily misjudge people ( unfortunately I had some of the same ‘this isn’t normal, she must be guilty’ thoughts originally). I am still struggling with the chapter referencing Turner and the effects of alcohol. I can see the point made (judging is hard, alcohol makes everything worse), and I also find it triggering and too easy to use as an excuse for abusers. A solution proposed seems to be in relying in AI and data more and more, which after reading Invisible Women … generates a whole different debate. I did make some useful notes that hopefully will reduce my own judging bias.

Hello World — Hanna Fry. After learning how we are unable to properly judge, in Talking to strangers, I picked up Hello World, which goes deeper in the work that AI algorithm are doing in various aspect of everyday life (including criminal justice). It was good to see several similar studies referenced in all 3 books (including Invisible Women), and the mechanics of the algorithm is truly fascinating. What the book does best thou, is to raise fundamental questions about human bias, and how technology can amplify to to unexpected and unwanted consequences (if the data is biased, how can the outcome not be?). If I were to pick an order of reading, I would start with Talking to Stranger, move on to Hello World, and close with Invisible Women.

The Laundromat — Jake Bernstein. I couldn’t put it down. Luckily I started reading it on a ‘plan-less’ Saturday, and I could happily finish it by 3am and sleep in without guilt. The Panama papers were all over the news last year, and I expected a behind the scene story, like a longer version of a ‘Dirty Money’ episode (on Netflix). The historical and geopolitcal perspective was unexpected and also shocking, as I realized and how close to home (south of Italy) it all was. For me, journalists like Jake Bernstein (and many many others) that risk their lives for these investigations, and after all, they write about it as art, deserve to be read and celebrated as much if not more than fiction writers. If I have inspired you enough to actually pick up a copy, the only watch out I would add is that the book is heavy on financial terms, so the e-book version might be easier for accessing notes or look up financial terms.

Invested — Danielle Town. This book was part of my ‘learning about investing and personal finance’ goal for 2019–2020, the premise was intriguing. Follow Danielle journey over a year and learn how to go from zero to achieve financial freedom. I am glad I read it, and I am also glad it wasn’t the first book on my learning path. Value investing is a very intriguing concept, and if that’s what interest you, or where you want to start, this book is perfect. Despite her family connections, Danielle in truly starting from scratch, so it is easy to follow along the knowledge part and related to her feelings and fears about investing. It also doesn’t hurt that the advises she gets are from top names in the investment world. Personally, at this point in my journey value investing is still very time consuming and more intimidating than other options, and if this had been my first book in personal finance, I would have found it too daunting to start. I have thou included value investing as part of my strategy (around year 3) and plan to re-read the book once I am closer to that point.

Dare to lead — Brene Brown. I am putting myself out here: I don’t like all of Brene Brown’s book. This is scary for me to write, especially because the ones that I like, I absolutely love and the ones that I don’t like, I still stand by the message (is the writing that occasionally is too touchy feely for my inner engineer). When I picked up Dare to lead I was worried. Vulnerability sounded the perfect topic for one of the ’I couldn’t finish them’ books. I finished it, and it was so engaging, practical and convincing that I have started to open up more deliberately about my anxiety and struggles. The whole book is a gem, but here are my favorite takeaways.

• Vulnerability isn’t correlated with weakness, it actually is a requirement for courage. Nothing brave was ever done without feeling vulnerable (even according to military special forces)
• To be courageous and stand for your values, you need to know what they are. The clearer the values the easier to stand up for them
• TRUST is key. This concept isn’t knew, the acronym BRAVING thou made it easy to remember and actionable for me (note: this also works with kids when explaining them how / why you can or cannot trust them). Boundaries (respect them), Reliability, Accountability, Vault (be a Vault and don’t leak information that isn’t yours to pass), Integrity (stand up for those values even when is inconvenient), Non-Judgement, Generosity (in what we give and in how we interpret others)
• Learn to fail and recognize that perfectionism is just a defense.

This last one was the hardest and most personal one for me, and it makes everything else click, so I will keep trying.