Review: Mob Boss: The Life of Little Al D’Arco, the Man Who Brought Down the Mafia

Mob Boss: The Life of Little Al D’Arco, the Man Who Brought Down the Mafia by Jerry Capeci
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I found this excellent. Part guilty pleasure reading of the mob, part goodfellas, part informative as to how various aspects of organized crime work. 

I should specify that I've read a number of books about the mafia, both American and Italian (hence the guilty pleasure), but much of this was new (or at least I didn't remember it). This is basically an inside look into the Lucchese family throughout the 80s and 90s, as well as a biography of a second generation Italian immigrant turned Acting boss of that family. And obviously it helps that it was written by Jerry Capeci, whose Gangland News I used to read pretty regularly (what ever happened to it?). 

View all my reviews

Review: The Chancellor: The Remarkable Odyssey of Angela Merkel

The Chancellor: The Remarkable Odyssey of Angela Merkel by Kati Marton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm extremely glad this book was written. 

First of all, I should mention that the author seems to be quite pro-Merkel, and every now and then she slips into 1st person asides (usally in the footnotes, but not always, although I pretty much always found them informative). 

However, there is no denying she is an extraordinary person and that, without her, not only Germany, but all of Europe (and perhaps the world) would be in a very different state. She has been the voice of moderation, while demagoguery has been popping up left and right (literally, as in with Russia, China, and the US). 

This book takes us from her East German upbringing and formation as a scientist, through her political career, and the author obviously has had plenty of access to Merkel and her inner circle (at least, as much as can be said for someone as private as Merkel is). 

Now I just need someone to write a similar book about Tsai Ying-Wen...

View all my reviews

Review: Herodotus: The Father of History

Herodotus: The Father of History by Elizabeth Vandiver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I found this excellent. The first few lectures give some background, and then it delves into the Histories themselves. A more thorough way of reading this might have been to read The Histories at the same time. 

Regardless, some fascinating insight into the different cultures, the similarities of various myths, and plenty of other tidbits. 

View all my reviews

Review: Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models

Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models by Gabriel Weinberg
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

May 7, 2022 – 

 20.0% "I mean, this started out so promising. Based on Charlie Munger's "Mental Models", I was ready to gain tons of knowledge. But so far, it seems to be regurgitating a bunch of Behavioral economics, game theory, etc., which you can find in plenty of other books. Covered so far: Being antifragile, Confirmation bias, recency bias, freeriders, framing effect, etc. I'm waiting for the obligatory Ultimatum game and I'm done."

May 8, 2022 – 

 50.0% "aaand the Pareto principle. Ultimatum game must be coming!

Ok, I'm thinking Behavioral econ is very important for business. So how about all entrepreneurs/biz owners be given a crash course in behavioral econ?
Or maybe hire a bunch of behavioral economists to run a business.

Actually, pit those 2 groups against each other, and see which comes out on top. The conclusions to that would probably warrant another book."Aaaand, we got to the Ultimatum game. This is a DNF for me. I might get back to it later. 

Ok, to be fair they actually covered some scientific points (critical mass, homeostasis, inertia). Maybe the moral is that people should study different disciplines and apply them to various industries/specializations in order to bring fresh points of view (and fresh mental models)

Still, as with many of these, this book was a compendium of other books. Books mentioned so far (that I remember):

Thinking fast and slow

Antifragile

Freakonomics

The wisdom of crowds

Superforecasters

Influence (by Cialdini)

Predictably irrational (Dan Ariely)

View all my reviews

Review: The Taipei Chinese PEN—A Quarterly Journal of Contemporary Chinese Literature from Taiwan《中華民國筆會英文季刊─台灣文譯》 2021 - No. 198

The Taipei Chinese PEN—A Quarterly Journal of Contemporary Chinese Literature from Taiwan《中華民國筆會英文季刊─台灣文譯》 2021 - No. 198 by Taipei Chinese PEN
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another great edition. I especially enjoyed Diana and Persia by Lee Wei-jing （李維菁）, and found the paintings by Tsai Yuo （蔡友）to be excellent. 

View all my reviews

Review: The Second Sleep

The Second Sleep by Robert Harris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After reading the Cicero trilogy and Pompeii, this struck me as a change of pace for a Robert Harris novel. I guess I wasn't prepared for just how different it was. In fact, knowing nothing about it ahead of time (I hate reading too many reviews since people always seem to let spoilers slip in), I was very surprised. 

I confess I enjoyed it a lot, and it never stopped surprising me, right until the end. 

Having said that, I did find the main character a tad unbelievable, in that he made choices and did things that seemed quite out of character, or just forced, so as to move the story along. 

Regardless, I can't say much more without giving away spoilers. My advice is not to read any reviews but just read it. It will be different.

View all my reviews

Review: The First Wife: A Tale of Polygamy

The First Wife: A Tale of Polygamy by Paulina Chiziane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I saw this book described as a telenovela, and that is quite true. Many things are happening throughout the book, rather than just one big adventure/issue/relationship/etc. However, there is also the overall arc of the narrator and her husband, which fits quite nicely, and we keep coming back to throughout everything else.

Regardless, this was a great read, as well as very enlightening. Not only about polygamy (explored from all angles and in so many different ways), but also about women in Mozambique in general, and just Mozambique in general (who knew the North-South cultural divide was so big?).

The fact that Paulina Chiziane is the first female author published in Mozambique made this all the more important. If you can get your hands on this book, definitely check it out. 

View all my reviews