What books are you reading?

[mouser]

As someone who started out with zero understanding of finance and investing, I would recommend all of these I think.

Personal Finance For Dummies Paperback – December 29, 2015 by Eric Tyson (Author)


A Beginner's Guide to Investing: How to Grow Your Money the Smart and Easy Way - 2012 by Alex H Frey


The Everything Investing Book: Smart strategies to secure your financial future! Paperback – September 18, 2009 by Michele Cagan


The Ultimate Dividend Playbook: Income, Insight and Independence for Today's Investor Hardcover – January 2, 2008 by Josh Peters


Investing For Dummies Paperback – January 30, 2017 by Eric Tyson


The Tax and Legal Playbook: Game-Changing Solutions to Your Small-Business Questions Paperback – April 28, 2015 by Mark J. Kohler


The Intelligent Investor Paperback – 2013 by Benjamin Graham


The last one is a classic, whose first edition came out in the 40s, and which was updated again in the 70s, and now has commentary added from the 2000s.  It's big and interesting and almost philosophical.

All of the books above are focused on very cautious, defensive, long-term investing, and all emphasize the folly of trying to beat the market.

[Renegade]

I've done fairly well with investing. The easiest one so far is Bitcoin. Buy & HODL. But, hey... what do I know... I've only raked in more in a day than most people make in a year or more (not Bitcoin even).

Investing takes a lot of effort though. Read, read, watch, watch, think, think, buy... hold... SELL! Timing is everything.


What books are you reading?

https://www.amazon.c...ligion/dp/1500336203

Great book.

It's objective and calm. There's no hyperbole or anything. Everything is directly from primary sources and Islamic scholars.

Highly recommended for anyone looking to learn a bit more about Islam.

It doesn't get into political Islam or Sharia much though. That's not the scope of the book. It's simply about the actual scriptures, history, etc.

Fun bits include Islamic prescriptions for drinking camel urine, as well as others.


What books are you reading?

Great book again.

If you're wondering why Donald Trump won, read this. It will help shed light on that.

It also gets into the innards of identity politics. The second half of the book is better on this front.

The first bit of the book is a bit dull if you're not into #GamerGate, but wildly awesome if you are.

If you're a gamer and interested in #GamerGate, this is a must read.

[IainB]

Questioning Islam
Great book.
It's objective and calm. There's no hyperbole or anything. Everything is directly from primary sources and Islamic scholars.
Highly recommended for anyone looking to learn a bit more about Islam.
It doesn't get into political Islam or Sharia much though. That's not the scope of the book. It's simply about the actual scriptures, history, etc.
Fun bits include Islamic prescriptions for drinking camel urine, as well as others.
_____________________________________

-Renegade (February 06, 2017, 09:20 PM)

One of the best ways of learning about Islam would probably be to study the Quran itself - and English or other language translation of it. One of the best English translations of the Quran is arguably the Penguin Classic by N.J.Dawood

Also, don't forget Re: Interfaith Explorer (FREE) - Mini-Review (which you have commented on previously).

Plus there is a bare-bones discussion of the Quran at PJ Media by Robert Spencer in "Blogging the Quran", starting with Sura 1: THE WORLDWIDE MUST-READ: Robert Spencer's Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 1, 'The Opening'

[IainB]

I am currently reading/comparing the two editions of: The River War: An Historical Account of the Reconquest of the Soudan, by Winston Churchill, concerning his experiences as a British Army officer, during the Mahdist War (1881–99) in the Sudan.

There are maps and other illustrations in the book.
The 1st edition was dated 1899 (at which time Churchill would have been 25 years old) and ran to two volumes.
The 2nd edition was dated 1902 and was heavily expurgated and condensed into a single volume.
Various forms of the 2 editions (3 volumes in all) can be downloaded from Gutenberg Press and Wayback Machine. I settled for scanned/OCR'd .PDF files, which makes them easier to search than just plain image .PDF files. Also loaded them into my Kindle.
Interesting glimpses of the man's mind. Even at 25, Churchill seems to have been a good historical researcher and a rather wise and farsighted strategist.

[erikts]

Various forms of the 2 editions (3 volumes in all) can be downloaded from Gutenberg Press and Wayback Machine.

-IainB (February 07, 2017, 08:49 PM)

I have searched https://www.gutenberg.org/ but can't find the book. Do you have link to the book? Thank you very much.

[Deozaan]

Questioning the Quran

-Renegade (February 06, 2017, 09:20 PM)

One of the best ways of learning about Islam would probably be to study the Quran itself - an English or other language translation of it.

-IainB (February 07, 2017, 08:21 PM)

Why did you change the title of the book when you quoted Renegade?

[IainB]

Why did you change the title of the book when you quoted Renegade?

-Deozaan (February 08, 2017, 02:56 AM)

Oops! Thanks for spotting that. I hadn't realised in my haste that I had cut-and-pasted the wrong title (fortunately the link was still correct though). Corrected now.

However, I should probably point out that Islam and the Quran/Koran are essentially indistinguishable, since Islam literally means "Submit" to the absolute and infallible word of Allah that is embodied in the "Quran" ("The Recital").
By definition therefore, questioning Islam is questioning the Quran and is highly offensive to Islam/Muslims and a punishable blasphemy, so I would not recommend it.

[IainB]

Various forms of the 2 editions (3 volumes in all) can be downloaded from Gutenberg Press and Wayback Machine.

-IainB (February 07, 2017, 08:49 PM)

I have searched https://www.gutenberg.org/ but can't find the book. Do you have link to the book? Thank you very much.
___________________________

-erikts (February 07, 2017, 11:05 PM)

At the webpage link I gave to the Wikipedia page: The River War: An Historical Account of the Reconquest of the Soudan
- they give these links under "External Links":

• Unabridged first edition volume 1 (1899)
• Unabridged first edition volume 2 (1899)

These are the best 1st editions (1899) that I could find (have colour and illustrations), though the OCR is not without errors - probably due to the relatively poor/old quality of the paper and typesetting being scanned, or "noisy" images.
Decent copies of the 1st edition (1899) with searchable text are more difficult to come by, which is apparently why the above unabridged versions were kindly donated.

Below that in the Wikipedia page are links to the Internet Archive/Wayback machine and Project Gutenberg where you will find various formats of file for the abridged 2nd edition (1902).
You will also be able to find there some .mobi and .mbp files, and others - e.g., HTML conversion of 2nd Ed. (1902) version: http://gutenberg.rea...43/4943-h/4943-h.htm

So, to recap, the best .PDF files with relatively clear image, illustrations and full OCR:

• the two unabridged .PDFs (1899) Vols 1+2 of Ed.1 - black cover with gold image of a steamboat on the front.
• the abridged/condensed .PDF (1902) of Ed.2 - red cover with gold image of a steamboat on the front.

Sorry, I didn't keep a link for the red cover document, but it came from the Internet Archive, and was scanned from a University of Pittsburgh library hardcopy.
If you can't find any/all of these I can put my copies up in the Cloud for you to download (they are all in the public domain), so let me know if you need them.

I wasn't too fussed about getting the newer edition, as I gather it had been expurgated and condensed to remove a lot of "politically incorrect" material. The thing is, Churchill didn't mince his words and tended to "tell it like it was" and would be openly critical of the British for any historic campaign failings he described. I recall reading a quote of Churchill's, made in reference to the tyranny of the politically correct, or something.

Hope this helps or is of use.

[mouser]

Investing takes a lot of effort though. Read, read, watch, watch, think, think, buy... hold... SELL! Timing is everything.

I'll just point out that a very common theme of all of the serious investing books I have read, from absolute trusted names, are unanimous that trying to time the market and buy and sell stocks in anticipation of stocks going up and down is folly and almost certain to lead you to failure.  They all emphasize that you are not going to be able to beat the market and the professional day traders, and that the way to win the game of investing is to be cautious and put your money in for the long run in a very diversified set of conservative investments and just let your money grow with the overall trends of the market.

[erikts]

Below that in the Wikipedia page are links to the Internet Archive/Wayback machine and Project Gutenberg where you will find various formats of file for the abridged 2nd edition (1902).
You will also be able to find there some .mobi and .mbp files, and others - e.g., HTML conversion of 2nd Ed. (1902) version: http://gutenberg.rea...43/4943-h/4943-h.htm

-IainB (February 08, 2017, 09:38 AM)

Thank you very much Iain for the information and write up.

After reading your post, I found the book page on Project Gutenberg:

The River War: An Account of the Reconquest of the Sudan by Winston Churchill
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4943

[IainB]

Below that in the Wikipedia page are links to the Internet Archive/Wayback machine and Project Gutenberg where you will find various formats of file for the abridged 2nd edition (1902).
You will also be able to find there some .mobi and .mbp files, and others - e.g., HTML conversion of 2nd Ed. (1902) version: http://gutenberg.rea...43/4943-h/4943-h.htm

-IainB (February 08, 2017, 09:38 AM)

Thank you very much Iain for the information and write up.
After reading your post, I found the book page on Project Gutenberg:
The River War: An Account of the Reconquest of the Sudan by Winston Churchill
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4943

-erikts (February 08, 2017, 08:04 PM)

Glad you found that OK at the link I provided.

By the way, I am pleased to relate that I have re-found the source of the good/best .PDF of the 2nd Edition (1902) of The River War - the one with the red cover. I retraced my footsteps and this is the Archive.org source:

• Details and view - here.
• Download link for .PDF file - here.

As well as putting the eBooks into the Kindle for PC ($Free) library, I've put all 3 volumes (the .PDF files) into my Zotero database, along with snapshots of the related websites, sources, Wikipedia notes, etc. This is part of my extended trial of Zotero - I quite like how it can automatically gather bibliographic references and other metadata.

[panzer]

Dumped:

[panzer]

[IainB]

Found this superb textbook: (text is in spoiler at the end)
(Image has been sharpened.)

Spoiler

      2017-02-10 1630hrshrs: NZ$7.00 - Purchased  book - Fundamentals of Corporate Finance - 4th Edition, 2003 (Brealey, Myers, Marcus):
      Book is hardback, purchased from a Red Cross charity shop.Condition: Secondhand. It seemed to be as new (unused), and, loose inside the book was a "Student CD-ROM", in a card envelope with its seal intact (unopened/unused).
      Item
      Price (US$)
      Current price for the book: ISBN 0-07-255752-4
              • Amazon (used & new - 25 offers)
              • http://www.isbnsearc....org/isbn/0072557524 (used & new)
      
      $0.56$5 to $10
      Current price for the CD-ROM: ISBN 0-07-255755-9
              • Amazon (used & new - 4 offers)
              • http://www.isbnsearc....org/isbn/0072557559 (used & new)
      
      $565$700 to $1,166
      
      Book is: ISBN 0-07-255752-4
      A beautifully-produced textbook, with a well-designed layout.One of the most helpfully structured student textbooks I have seen in years.
      Type of cover:
      Hardback.
      Paper used:
      Very fine china clay finish.
      Colour print/images/illustrations/charts on all pages.
      Pages:
      736 in total.
      Weight:
      1.8Kg (4lbs British) HEAVY!
      Dimensions:
      (Just the right size.)
      Width:
      22.5cm
      Height:
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      Thickness:
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      Enclosed loose:
       CD-ROM ISBN 0-07-255752-4 (described below)
      
      
      
      
      ISBNsearch.org
      ISBN 0-07-255752-4
      
      Fundamentals of Corporate Finance (Mcgraw-Hill/Irwin Series in Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate)
      ISBN-13: 9780072557527
      ISBN-10: 0072557524
      Authors: Richard A. Brealey; Stewart C. Myers; Alan J. Marcus
      Edition: 4th
      Binding: Hardcover
      Publisher: Mcgraw-Hill (Tx)
      Published: March 2003
      
      From <http://www.isbnsearch.org/isbn/0072557524>
      ISBN 0-07-255755-9
      
      Student CD-ROM to accompany Fundamentals of Corporate Finance
      ISBN-13: 9780072557558
      ISBN-10: 0072557559
      Authors: Richard A Brealey; Stewart C Myers; Alan J. Marcus
      Edition: 4
      Binding: CD-ROM
      Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Irwin
      Published: March 2003
      
      From <http://www.isbnsearch.org/isbn/0072557559>
      
      Abebooks.com
      ISBN 0-07-255752-4
      
      
      Fundamentals of Corporate Finance (Mcgraw-Hill/Irwin Series in Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate)
      Brealey, Richard A.; Myers, Stewart C.; Marcus, Alan J.
      Published by Mcgraw-Hill (Tx)
      ISBN 10: 0072557524 / ISBN 13: 9780072557527
      New / Hardcover / Quantity Available: 1
      From Your Online Bookstore (Houston, TX, U.S.A.)
      Bookseller Rating:
      
      Available From More Booksellers
      5 NewfromUS$ 5.9223 UsedfromUS$ 3.48
      Filter by:Softcover (2)Hardcover (18)
      
      From <https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=19901838992&clickid=yX42sU3pcRVhXXMyK0TvN0rOUkh2CeztbTcM0s0&cm_mmc=aff-_-ir-_-59757-_-77798&ref=imprad59757&afn_sr=impact>
      Description:
      0072557524. Bookseller Inventory # GHT8749ANBR080516H1174A
      About this title:
      Book ratings provided by GoodReads:
       3.72 avg rating •
      135 ratings
      Synopsis: "Fundamentals of Corporate Finance", by Richard A. Brealey, Stewart C. Myers and Alan J. Marcus, has been applauded for its modern approach and interesting examples. Professors praise the authors' well-organized and thoughtful writing style and their clear exposition of what many students consider difficult material. The authors accomplish this without sacrificing an up-to-date, technically correct treatment of core topic areas. Since this author team is known for their outstanding research, teaching efforts, and market-leading finance textbooks, it's no surprise that they have created an innovative and market-driven revision that is more student friendly than ever. Every chapter has been reviewed and revised to reflect the current environment in corporate finance.
      
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      From <https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=19901838992&clickid=yX42sU3pcRVhXXMyK0TvN0rOUkh2CeztbTcM0s0&cm_mmc=aff-_-ir-_-59757-_-77798&ref=imprad59757&afn_sr=impact>
      
      Label on back of CD-ROM envelope: ISBN 0-07-255755-9

[panzer]

Dumped:

[panzer]

[wjamoe]

The Simpsons and their mathematical secrets is also one of the books I am reading.

[rgdot]

What books are you reading?

[panzer]

Dumped:

[f0dder]

Finally reading The Mythical Man-Month.
What books are you reading?
"Few books on software project management have been as influential and timeless as The Mythical Man-Month. With a blend of software engineering facts and thought-provoking opinions, Fred Brooks offers insight for anyone managing complex projects."

While I'm a developer and not a project manager, I've been told (and sorta agree) that it's one of the "really should read" books in the industry. It's probably a bit over-hyped, but nonetheless it's a good read so far (next chapter is "No Silver Bullet") - and it's amazing how little of it seems dated, even though the first edition is from 1975.

[Ath]

Finished The Phoenix Project just a couple of days ago



Still planning to read The Mythical Man-Month, it's hiding somewhere in the office here, just have to recover it

[panzer]

Dumped:

[rjbull]

Aliette de Bodard's trilogy

-iphigenie (September 10, 2012, 02:16 AM)

Aliette de Bodard is one of the panellists in the 2017-03-13 edition of:

BBC Radio 4 - Beyond Belief, Science Fiction
Science fiction has perhaps been unfairly dismissed by many critics and academics; seen by some as a niche genre, not befitting the elite group of literary works deemed to be 'high art'. While some examples ofscience fiction could be criticised for perpetuating fantasy clichés, others undoubtedly explore the biggest questions of life. Fans argue that the Sci-Fi universe allows the audience to suspend their disbelief about what is conventional, and opens up a space to explore philosophical, ethical and religious ideas in a relatable, absorbing and entertaining way. So how has religion been explored in the most influential works of science fiction? And what does science fiction have to tell us about faith and religion?

Robert Beckford discusses the role of religion in science fiction with Aliette de Bodard, a writer with an interest in the interplay between science fiction and religion; Roz Kaveney, a writer, poet and critic; and Dr Sarah Dillon, author and Cambridge academic who explores science fiction in literature and film.

Podcast available from the web site above.

[MilesAhead]

When I was in high school I got a kick out of reading a satirical scifi novel When They Come From Space by Mark Clifton.  They wanted $10 for it on Amazon but I found it on Kobo DRM-free for $2.99.  I will likely start reading it again later this afternoon.  It was published in 1962 so it will be interesting to see if it feels dated now.  Especially since the Cold War(tm) is over. 

What books are you reading?


Edit:  I finished the book today. It still has its bite.  The main thing dated in the story is the necessity to get a "long distance operator" to make the connection for you for long distance calls. 

[Deozaan]

For about the past two years, I've had a tab constantly open to Packt's Free Learning eBook of the Day so I can claim any book they offer on any topic that seems remotely interesting to me.

So I've got a decently large collection of Packt books by now, and most of them I haven't even cracked the cover on (so to speak) yet. This is largely because many of the books were a "maybe someday I'll wanna know more about this" type of thing. But also because they tend to give away older books which may be somewhat outdated, since technology changes so quickly. And also, of course, the fact that it's free means if I'm on the fence about something, I'll grab it "just in case" rather than exercise greater discernment about whether or not I truly want to read a book about that topic.

But lately I've actually started looking through some of the books and being pleasantly surprised at how much useful information is in them.

These are the latest ones I've started to delve into, because even though I code in C# while using Unity, I never really learned much about C# outside of the context of Unity.

What books are you reading?
Learning C# by Developing Games in Unity 5.x - Second Edition

What books are you reading?
C# 6 and .NET Core 1.0 - Modern Cross-Platform Development