Recommended books/readings

[Hideo Mazatsuki]

I hope a post like this has not already been done and I didn't see one right away. I'm curious to see what people recommend for books/reading. Doesn't necessarily have to be philosophical, non fiction, written by ayn rand or directly related to objectivism.

[Jack Haydn]

Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series. It's 7 books full of epic journey... Really can recommend it. It's not horror, like Stephen's other stuff. It's plain, epic fantasy. Currently reading it myself, at book #3 now. Great stuff I can tell you!

(Be warned though: The first book is a bit slow. Basically the whole book is introduction... So, don't get driven away by the first book. Read the second one, too, at least )

[Calthrop]

The Spinward Fringe series by Randolph Lalonde is pretty interesting, and of course all of Terry Goodkind's books are worth a read. Cory Doctorow has some interesting books too.

[redhotrebel]

Any of the "where's Waldo" series...

[Yeshmiel]

Any of the "where's Waldo" series...

Don't read em... He is sooo damned hard to find.

[Raaz Satik]

In no particular order

Freakonomics and SuperFreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt are thought provoking if you haven't read them.

I'm a big Michael Lewis fan ever since his first book Liars Poker about his time working at Solomon Bank in the 80s. He's probably most famous for The Blind Side which was made into a Blockbuster movie. His newest book The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine is an excellent recount of the recent sub-prime financial crisis which will leave you shocked and amazed. (RANT ON: I don't understand how Anderson are given the death sentence for their involvement in the Enron fiasco, but Moody's and S&P escape completely here. People blame the banks but the real problem was the credit agencies who are plain and simple incompetent in this situation. RANT OFF). If your a geek and a sports fan (like me) you'll enjoy Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game which looks at Billy Bean the Oakland A's manager and how through his use of statistics he creates a low payroll top baseball team. Of course stat-o-metrics or whatever they call it is all the rage now, but it wasn't when Bean started.

A read a lot of business/finance/trading/quant finance books, both true stories and reference/text books. Several of the Enron books were okay. The downfall of Long Term Capital Management (LTCM) spawned two excellent books When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long Term Capital Management and Inventing Money: The Story of Long-Term Capital Management and the Legends Behind It. Other ones that jump to mind are Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco and Den of Thieves about Milken, Boesky, and the downfall of Drexel and Junk Bonds in general. I've also read a lot of investing books but without sounding to condescending most were beneath me. [OPINION: Unless you have an edge, just invest in Index Funds]. I think a lot of people would benefit from books like The Millionaire Next Door not to be confused with the not as good as Rich Dad Poor Dad series. Saying that though, a lot of it is common sense, unfortunately most people don't have enough common sense.

I find behavioural finance very interesting, but all the books I've bought have been very unstimulating. I'd be interested in learning more about Game Theory but haven't pursed that yet.

I'm a big cyberpunk fan but can't find much (at least that's any good). Recommendations anybody? Not true cyberpunk but Daemon was a good read with a very heavy dose of AI & VR.

I haven't read any great fiction in a while. I used to read a lot of fantasy but struggle to find things that captivate me like Tolkien did. I've read most of R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt Do'Urden books and like the Dark Elf/Underdark setting. I tried Jim Butchers Dresden series but it wasn't compelling enough. Seems like there are Vampire books everywhere you turn, which would interest me but they're all aimed at teenagers rather than pieces of epic fantasy.

I enjoyed The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography.

The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage is an interesting and alarming true story about a Berkley scientist takes a job in the Berkley IT group rather than get laid off and then cracks an international spy ring. Rambles a bit and would be better if it was a 100 pages shorter but eye opening.

[Petyr Baelich]

And I prefered the Rich Dad/Poor Dad books to the Millionaire next door.

You must be really old, Raaz.

[Raaz Satik]

And I prefered the Rich Dad/Poor Dad books to the Millionaire next door.

I must admit its been several years since I read either.

As I recall, Millionarie next door talks about the behaviour and spending habits of the wealthy, and how this enabled them to become wealthy. I also enjoyed a lot of the statistical information in the book.

I found Rich Dad Poor Dad to be more of a "you can do it" type motivational book with less actual substance. Sure lots of excellent advice but to much like watching a late night real estate infomercial.

You must be really old, Raaz.

I don't know what "really old" is but I'm definitely not young!

[Petyr Baelich]

You're not wrong. Millionaire next door focuses the goal of making 1-5 million very slowly and surely and then sitting on it for eternity, being very frugal and boring.

Rich Dad/Poor Dad is more blatantly "motivational speaker scam" but focuses on changing one's mindset away from focusing on fear of loss to the desire to achieve wealth.

Dale Carnegie's books are excellent as well.

I turned old last year. This year I will be old +1.

[Raaz Satik]

It amazes me how bad most peoples money decisions are. One of the reasons I find behavioural finance/economics so interesting.

[redhotrebel]

Wealth of Nations by: Adam Smith is my favorite- more the history of economics though, but I do have a soft spot for history.

Now back to the Waldo books before my girly brain implodes

[Uhlan]

Since we after all are about serious internet spaceships......

Live Free or Die (Troy Rising, book 1) by John Ringo

A space opera. Easy read. It's out in paperback now. John Ringo is an "OLD" style science fiction writer. He has several significant series. It's easy to spot the "good guys" in his style. (OK, that's not Eve like at all!)

Honestly, this book describes my trading experience in Eve. No, it's not an EVE story line. But........

(You need to take some creative liscense: as an example replace Maple Syrup with Armor Plates. Horvath with PL or Bob(now IT))

I believe the seond book Citadel: Tory Rising II has recently been released but I have not read it yet.

Enjoy

[Hideo Mazatsuki]

Wealth of Nations by: Adam Smith is my favorite- more the history of economics though, but I do have a soft spot for history.

My father is an economist so I definitely know of that one.

[Morgen Geboren]

Nice suggestions, I am jotting some of these down to look into.

Jack, yes the Dark Tower series does start a little slow, but goes to some very very odd places and somehow retains its cohesion.

My recommendations are...

"Old Mans War" by John Scalzi, ended up (so far) a 4 novel series, absolutely fantastic sci-fi with an over-arcing plot that includes things like zenophobia, species survival, territorial disputes, and with some VERY alien aliens. There is a strong thread throughout that delves into the concept of the military upper brass (basically the government in these books), making all the decisions about how to move forward into the universe while keeping all the details hidden from the general public (and essentially keeping the general public hostage). They do this for the "good of the species". Phenomenal ending.

Also, "Survival of the Sickest" by Dr. Sharon Moalem, very nice science peice on why various plagues and diseases may exist today, and how they may have helped us. Nice bit about adaptation that she calls evolution in the final chapter.

Enjoy!

[Jacob Wahlgren]

The sociopath next door
by martha stout ph.d

[Alessandra Necova]

The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich Hayek and Ron Paul's Liberty Defined sit on my coffee table.

[Pixin]

Enders Game by Orson Scott Card is one of my favorite sci-fi books. Its main characters are kids but its excellent... And I have read allot of sci-fi.

[Tark en Chalune]

Anything by L. Neal Smith, or Iain M. Banks. I also rather enjoyed Alan Van Vogt's Null A series.

[Ce'Nerda]

like Scifi, you should check out Peter F. Hamiltion if you Like Isaac Asimov, and well Isaac Asimov has good stuff to if you have not check his works out.