Review: How the Other Half Banks: Exclusion, Exploitation, and the Threat to Democracy

How the Other Half Banks: Exclusion, Exploitation, and the Threat to Democracy by Mehrsa Baradaran
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ironically, I know of the author because of her book reviews here on Goodreads, which I follow and enjoy reading quite a bit, so when I saw her book on sale, I bought it right away. 

This book does a great job showing how Banks are not solely private enterprises, nor are they public, but they are (and need to be) a hybrid. They are codependent with the government, which, unfortunately, tends to give banks the upper hand. If banks risk going out of business, the government will step in, but the concentration is "on making banks profitable again", rather than providing a more public good to those in need. This, of course, creates confusion, which once again gives banks the upper hand. 

I appreciate the history of the banking industry, from the 1600's in Europe to Jefferson vs. Hamilton up to modern times. Also the history of credit unions, savings & loans, etc. 

The argument seemed quite convincing to me (although seasoned economists might poke holes in it I guess). The conclusion is then that Postal banks would be an optimal solution. Having grown up in Switzerland, I am a huge fan of Swisspost, which I think is the best type of Swiss bank account (despite the other types being famous for many reasons). In fact, all Swiss people have at least one postal account. So my initial reaction is to agree. Many of the benefits she lists are evident in Switzerland. However, I still hesitate to think it will work well in the US. Aside from the Politicians likely to call it "socialist", and other banks sure to be against it, I'm not all that sure the USPS is well-equipped enough to handle it. Maybe we could start with the USPS issuing certified e-mail (like Switzerland and Italy and other countries have), and if it can handle that change, then maybe it can pivot into banking services. 

Regardless, this book shows very clearly that the banking system in the US has very serious issues. 

4.5 Stars

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Review: The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han

The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han by Mark Edward Lewis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Not sure how much I liked this the second time around. Plenty of information (probably the most comprehensive out there for this time period in English), but it seems haphazard at best. As another reviewer pointed out, there is next to nothing about the Yellow Turban revolt, but plenty of information regarding somewhat esoteric topics (probably very interesting to the scholar, but not so much to the layperson who is trying to get the general information before getting the details). 

Anyway, I'll leave it at four stars for now. 

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Review: One Million Followers: How I Built a Massive Social Following in 30 Days

One Million Followers: How I Built a Massive Social Following in 30 Days by Brendan Kane
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This should have been a dnf for me, and I'm sort of annoyed at myself for reading the entire book (I was hoping the sections on other types of social media would be redeeming). 

The book should have either been an informative article, or a longer full-length book concentrating on Facebook. The author obviously has a predilection for Facebook, basically discarding Twitter, snapchat and (somewhat) Instagram. He mentions how LinkedIn is better for B2B, but doesn't go into nearly as much depth for that or Google Adwords (both of which have always worked best for me, and this book hasn't really convinced me otherwise). He also pretty much glosses over Youtube, despite mentioning it is the best place to have longer videos. He doesn't even mention Tiktok, Discord, Telegram, etc. 

It seemed odd to me how he mentions that people on LinkedIn are already there for business purposes, but that Facebook is still a better place to market. This strikes me not only as more geared toward B2C, but for a particular form of B2C (showbiz/entertainment for the general public). My takeaway is that it is probably better to find the budget to pay an influencer for a few posts rather than try to become one myself. 

Having said that, there is quite a bit of detail about Facebook (not quite enough, in my opinion, which is why this would have made a good book solely about Facebook marketing), specifically about A/B tests and about targeting emerging markets. 

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Review: The Gun

The Gun by Fuminori Nakamura
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I confess I don't remember much of "The Thief", but I think I enjoyed this book more. I remember The Thief had more of a YA feel, but this felt more "noir" and thrilleresque throughout. It is quite psychological but still eventful. As someone mentioned (I think), I feel like Alfred Hitchcock could have made a movie about this. 

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Review: An Ambush of Widows

An Ambush of Widows by Jeff Abbott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fun, fast-paced, with nice twists and turns (in fact, maybe a tad too many). Only a bit of a stretch. I should read more by this author

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Review: What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars

What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars by Jim Paul
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was actually much better than I thought it would be. To tell the truth, I knew nothing about it except the title. I can't remember why it was even in my wishlist. I thought it would deal with entrepreneurship/business, but it deals with investing. This suits me, since I'm starting to get more into that (recently bought The Intelligent Investor, which I should probably tackle soon).

It was also written in the early 90's, so it is interesting to compare with today (and see how timeless many of these lessons are).

The book starts with a general run-down of the author's life, which is quite interesting, although I was afraid that would be all, but right after that, it lists all the contradictory advice that great investors have given over the years. This section alone is probably worth the price of the book. The only one I remember off the top of my head is how Warren Buffett said Diversification is for idiots, while John Templeton said to always diversify.

The final section deals how, if there is no real way to make money, what all the great investors have in common is they don't lose money, and it discusses the details as to how to go about that.

Some of my notes:
Need to decide: Will I be an investor or speculator?
Will I invest in stocks, bonds, currencies, futures (crypto)? (must be compatible with time horizon)

Pick the loss side first (pick where (price), when (time), or why (new information) you will get out of the position).

Pick stop, entry, then price objective.

Gambling is usually over one event (one race, one fight, one spin at the wheel, etc.). What if they stopped a horse race mid-way and you could decide to bet more, take your money out, etc.? This happens continuously with stocks.

Most investments are trades that didn't work (started as a trade, lost money, suddenly the time horizon stretched out since no one likes to take money out at a loss).



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Review: In Montmartre: Picasso, Matisse and the Birth of Modernist Art

In Montmartre: Picasso, Matisse and the Birth of Modernist Art by Sue Roe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This basically reads like a sequel to the book "The Private Lives of the Impressionists". So much so, in fact, that I'm embarrassed to say I didn't realize it was the same author until after finishing the book. Essentially, Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani, Georges Braque, Henri Rousseau, Gertrude Stein, and even Igor Stravinsky, picked up the baton from the impressionists. Once again, this was a group of very poor artists who were hanging around Montmartre (in many of the same cafes as the impressionists), trying to find their way in art. 

The focus of this book is Picasso and Matisse, and their on-off rivalry, but it ends up encompassing the entire Montmartre scene, basically until the windmills are taken down and the scene moves down to Montparnasse (and I see she has a sequel of sorts here as well: "In Montparnasse: The Emergence of Surrealism in Paris, from Duchamp to Dali"). 

Regardless, once again I found the book excellent, enlightening, and I found myself having to look up many of the paintings mentioned by the author, as well as places I plan on visiting the next time I'm in Paris. 

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Review: Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Café

Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Café by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a continuation of "Before the Coffee Gets Cold", although it also stands on its own. In fact, each of these tales in a story to itself, although they should be read in chronological order. 

It also has sort of a denouement for some of the issues in the first book (Who is the woman in the white dress??) and I think I may have enjoyed this more for that reason. 

It continues on a very original premise and has very cute stories. Since it involves time travel, there are still some issues that sci-fi aficionados may have with it, but that isn't the point of the book. 

4.5 rounded up to 5 stars. 

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