It turns out I have two favorite books for five different categories...
Big Picture (Life and Death)
Winter Journal
By Paul
Auster
I loved this book! I am
four years older than the author so I understood all his ruminations, regrets
and sorrows as he reviewed his life. I have not led half of an interesting life
as Auster but I identified with so much of his childhood and adolescent
experiences.
Mortality
By
Christopher Hitchens
An author describing the
end of his life usually makes for a very depressing book. However Hitchens
faced his death with courage and perspective. A book that very few, if any
authors, could easily write.
Current Events
End This Depression Now
By Paul
Krugman
Generally I find books
about economics very daunting to read. However you won't need a MBA from
Wharton to understand this book. Krugman explains, in plain language, what
happened during the economic meltdown and his ideas on how to resolve
unemployment and improve the U.S. economy.
Time to Start
Thinking: America in the Age of Descent
By Edward Luce
Sobering
view of the economic, education, government and culture status of the United
States. In many ways, a depressing book as our leaders and ourselves have done
a very poor job in addressing crushing problems now and more coming in the
future.
Economic Meltdown
The Lost Bank: The Story of
Washington Mutual-The Biggest Bank Failure in American History
By
Kirsten Grind
Excellent storytelling and
research around the demise of Washington Mutual. The demise can be laid to the
housing crisis, subprime lending, poor management and inadequate risk
management. Maybe the best business book I read this year.
A Colossal Failure
of Common Sense: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers
By
Lawrence McDonald
Excellent inside story of
the fall of Lehman Brothers. Anyone who is involved in Risk Management should
read this book as a cautionary tale.
History
Inferno The World War:
1939-1945
By Max
Hastings
Best book
about the events, people and horrors of World War II that I have read! Many fascinating
personal stories!
500 Days: Secrets
and Lies in the Terror Wars
By Kurt
Eichenwald
Excellently
researched and written. Gripping personal stories of people involved in
national security events after 9-11. But a very depressing story about the
missteps and failures of the Bush Administration after 9-11, particularly as it
related to Iraq and our handling of potential terrorists.
Sports:
One on One: Behind the Scenes
with the Greats in the Game
By John
Feinstein
Feinstein
is a great storyteller. He describes his experiences and feelings about various
sports luminaries like Bobby Knight, Dean Smith, John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl and
more.
Dream Team: How Michael, Magic,
Larry, Charles, and the Greatest Team of All Time Conquered the World and
Changed the Game of Basketball Forever By Jack McCallum
Inside story about the
selection and play of the 1992 U.S. Olympic Men's Basketball Team that is being
called as the Greatest Basketball Team ever assembled. McCallum covered the
team closely and saw its strengths and warts. He also provides details about
the intrasquad game between the team headed by Michael Jordan vs. team headed
by Magic Johnson
No comments:
Post a Comment