Review: University of Berkshire Hathaway: 30 Years of Lessons Learned from Warren Buffett & Charlie Munger at the Annual Shareholders Meeting

University of Berkshire Hathaway: 30 Years of Lessons Learned from Warren Buffett & Charlie Munger at the Annual Shareholders Meeting by Daniel Pecaut
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. The authors do a great job of summarizing what Buffett and Munger say, not skipping the pithy and entertaining asides and remarks. 

Just a few of my notes:

A good investment is a company with a product that costs 10 cents, sells for a dollar, and is habit forming. 

People get into much more trouble with a sound premise than an unsound premise.

example:  If I offered you Alaska beachfront property, you could dismiss this out of hand as nonsense. If I recommended Florida beachfront property, you might have an interest since the premise is sound. Yet many people have lost their shirts buying Florida land. 

"If investors only had to study the past, the richest people would be librarians"

Just investing in whatever BH invests in wouldn't work. One example: BH bought General RE in a stock sale, meaning it lowered its stake in Coca-cola (and other companies) by 18%, with no leveraging and no capital gains tax. 

On the other hand, another year BH bought a lot of Coca-Cola stock, and 80% of Coke's sales were in currencies other than the dollar, so this allowed BH to basically short the dollar. 

"When asked how he would teach business students, Buffett said, “For the final exam, I would take an Internet company and say ‘How much is this worth?’ And anybody that gave me an answer, I would flunk.”"

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Review: My Ántonia

My Ántonia by Willa Cather
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What an excellent book. After the disappointment of 'As I Lay Dying', by Faulkner, I wasn't really sure about reading another piece of late 19th century/ early 20th century Americana. 

But I'm glad I did read it. This was enjoyable throughout. From the talk of life in Nebraska for early pioneers, to the immigrant families of Swedes, Danes, Bohemians, etc., to the change from rural Nebraska to East Coast city life. And the story itself, and Antonia.

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Review: Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World

Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World by Fareed Zakaria
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Quite frankly I don't think there was anything earth-shattering here, but it is probably the best compendium of the state of the world up to this point, so should probably be required reading nonetheless. I haven't read a book by Zakaria since The Future of Freedom, and I remember that as being more of a 'quake book' than this. 

Regardless, be sure to read this if you are interested in the state of the world post-2020 (this was written in late 2020, so toward the end of the Trump presidency). 

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Review: The Great Passage

The Great Passage by Shion Miura
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a delightful book. I admit, I had this on my wishlist, but couldn't remember why, and, had I looked into the subject matter I may have skipped this. The idea of an entire novel centered around creating a dictionary seems a tad boring, quite frankly. 

But it turns out this was really nice. Each chapter is from the point of view of someone different, and every person seems to be a bit quirky in their own way, and it all fits in together nicely at the end. 

In terms of the translation, obviously a choice had to be made. Many references are made to Japanese terms, the definitions and the etymology, as well as expressions that, for one reason or another, are odd and need explaining. The translator could have decided to find equivalents in English (or as close to an equivalent as possible), or to stick with the Japanese terms and add explanations for the reader. I think the choice to stick with the original Japanese worked quite well. My Japanese isn't good enough to know any of the words, but I enjoyed the explanations and nuances. 

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Review: Endless Blue Sky

Endless Blue Sky by Lee Hyoseok
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a pleasurable read. Written in the early 1940s, a Korean novel taking place almost entirely in Manchuria (Harbin), which had been colonized by the Japanese (as Korea had been at the time). The story itself has more to do with relationships and love and life in general, with an ending that was beautiful in its own way (although very abrupt). 

Also, kudos to the translator and editor for including notes at the end of each chapter, which really helped. 

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Review: The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed

The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by Sara Gay Forden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was excellent. I never really kept up with news about Gucci (although I obviously saw some of the main headlines as they occurred), but this was really fascinating. Frankly it reads like an opera, and I actually appreciated the details about the business (unlike some other reviewers) since their business was a roller coaster in all directions. 

Regardless, there's a bit of everything for everyone, and it is updated for 2021 (originally written in 2010). Apparently they are making a movie of this later this year, which will be interesting. 

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Review: Origine del tricolore. Da Bologna a Torino capitale d'Italia

Origine del tricolore. Da Bologna a Torino capitale d'Italia by Ito De Rolandis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Actually quite a fascinating look at the origin of the Italian flag and its colors. 

This was a "revolution" planned by Luigi Zamboni and Giovanni De Rolandis. They talked about how everyone was sick of the dictatorial church government (in Bologna) and how everyone would follow them and help them take down the government. They then went to spread the word, and 6 people ended up showing up (two of whom were convicts, obviously hoping that with a change in government they'd be free). 

In other words, it was a completely forgettable attempt at freedom in a random city of Italy. And yet, once they were captured they were tortured, put through a fake trial, and all their families' belongings were confiscated by the church and they were put to death (actually one of them died in prison, which they tried to make look like a suicide). It was these events, and the people's outrage at them, coupled with the subsequent arrival of Napoleonic troops kicking out the ecclesiastical government, that made the efforts stick. 

Their emblem was the "tricolore", which then became the flag of the Repubblica Cispadana, and then Italy. 

I confess, seeing the last name of the author made me a bit suspicious, and I am assuming he is somewhat biased, but regardless, this was very interesting stuff. If it is true, Italian students should be studying it in school. 

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