I have read a handful of books since last posting reviews, so here are a few reviews all at once.
The Upside of Irrationality by Dan Ariely
A similar book to Ariely's first, Predictably Irrational, and also excellent. I really enjoy reading about Ariely's research in behavioral econcomics because sometimes I can guess the result and sometimes I'm completely wrong. He always comes up with a simple, creative experiment to test his ideas. I wish he had condensed the last few chapters a little, but, overall, Ariely is an excellent writer and researcher. Grade A-.
The Big Short by Michael Lewis
This book focuses on 3 or 4 people that predicted the bursting of the housing bubble in 2008 and made a lot of money by shorting housing bonds. What I found most interesting was the reasons that people gave for NOT believing the bubble was going to burst. The logic basically was, "I'm making lots of money and my model tells me I'm going to make more so I'm going to ignore my gut and obvious red flags and continue to hope the bubble doesn't burst." As someone that develops mathematical models, I can understand why people like models, but anytime people are a factor in a mathematical model -- do not trust the model. Mathematical models work well for molecules, not for people. Good book. Grade B.
Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis
His first book written about his time at Salomon Brothers in the mid 1980's. Feels a little dated at this point, but it is an interesting and funny look at what it is like to be a young kid trying to tell other people how to invest their money. The whole financial industry seems a little bizarre to me. Grade B-.
I, Sniper by Stephen Hunter
I don't read much fiction, but I occasionally enjoy a good sniper book by Hunter. This book follows Hunter's standard formula -- Bob Lee Swagger finds himself in the middle of a bunch of bad guys, and he has to use his brain, old muscles, and shooting skills to destroy the bad guys and save the good guys. An old, but good formula. Grade B.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Pretty much everything that could be written about this book has been written. It's very entertaining. I like how the author ties up nearly every possible loose end -- other authors like to leave parts of the plot unresolved, but I am not a fan of that approach. I'm looking forward to the movie -- mostly to see who will play Lisbeth Salander, which has to be one of the most challenging roles ever. Grade B+.
