The 4 books I read this summer vacation
This year, on our annual holiday, we travelled to Provence, France. I packed 4 physical books with me in one suitcase. We did quite a bit of cycling on electric bicycles in the hilly villages around Ménerbes, the scenery was stunning; with patchy wifi and very little distractions, books became my main refuge, after conversation of course.
As much as I try to read everyday, it is so much easier on holiday when one can devote 1-2 hours a day uninterrupted to a good book. I also planned to go running daily. I hate running so I don’t know why I even planned that.
Here are the four and oh, I only read non-fiction:
This book gave me sleepless nights on holiday, I got really involved with it. I highly, highly recommend reading it - it's well written even if you aren’t all that interested in finance.It is not for the faint hearted, especially the chapter about Sergei Magnitsky, his lawyer being harmed in a Russian prison. What I loved about the author is that he’s moved on from investing in Eastern European & Russian equities (and he was very talented at that) to lobbying for human rights, in a big way. In my excitement, I tweeted about this book and then because Bill Browder liked the actual post, I got a lot more attention on Twitter than I usually get.
A friend shared attending a money constellations workshop and greatly benefiting from it. I have experienced family constellation work before but never delved deeply into it. Hearing about the money impact, I rushed to buy everything I could on the topic. I really enjoyed the book -interesting stories, great insights and leads to the understanding that there is a lot we don’t know that is “hidden” stuff and so useful to uncover.
I tried reading this and just couldn’t get into it. It may be that I have become that jaded investment adviser that has read too many books on this topic. Or that I just needed a break from investment speak on holiday. I will try again especially as I spent £18 on it.
A book about a banana trader. I learnt so much about the yellow fruit and the facts were written in such a fascinating style that I couldn’t get enough of it. An engrossing tale of the life of Sam Zemurray, the ‘banana king’ who found a gap in the market and began selling this fruit to areas of the United States that had never seen them before. A well told story, worth reading.
I am always looking for book suggestions. Feel free to leave me a comment if you have any.