It’s a short list this quarter. Here’s what I’ve been reading the past three months:
- An Economist on Wall Street — The book is a collection of “bulletins” that Peter Bernstein wrote for Bernstein-Macaulay (a few speeches and other writings are included) from 1955 to 1970. The writing is very specific to the time period, more so than I expected. Inflation and gold are the two biggest topics in the book. From that perspective, it does offer some historical context on markets over that decade and a half.
- Classics: An Investor’s Anthology — Charley Ellis put together this compilation of writing after asking for suggestions on the most influential writing on investing. It’s a great collection of articles, annual letters, chapters from books, etc. from some of the best in the industry. The book is broken down by when the pieces were written, starting with the pre-1950s, then by the decade after that. Though, some of the pieces were cut down to the most important parts. I was familiar with several pieces, but with about 80 in total, there’s enough to make it worth buying. It’s the perfect book to read bit by bit, picking whatever interests you.
- Classics II: Another Investor’s Anthology — This is the follow-up to Classics. It’s the same concept. Again, some of the pieces are cut down to the important parts. Overall another great collection, mostly stuff I hadn’t come across before, and perfect for reading in whatever order you want.
- The Big Ones: How Natural Disasters Have Shaped Us — I struggled to find something interesting to read before finding this one. The author looks at some of the worst natural disasters in history. She lays out the history of the area at the time of the event, the how and why each disaster happened, and then explains the human side of disasters. How people behave, how they perceive the risk of different disasters, and how they plan (or fail to in many cases) for the next one, sounded familiar. I was looking for something unrelated to finance and found something quite similar.
- Estate Planning — Another textbook for another CFP course on an overlooked part of personal finance — estate planning.
Here are a few book lists for other reading ideas:
- Five Books: Best Books of 2020 – It’s a huge list of books broken down by genre based on recommendations offered in the many interviews done throughout 2020.
- 15 Sci-Fi Books that Forever Shaped the Genre
Last Call
- Math-Challenged – The Better Letter
- Bull Market Bull – B. Ritholtz
- Does Inflation Actually Benefit Value Stocks? – Applied Finance
- “Asset Price Inflation” is Not a Thing – Slow Boring
- Retail Traders Are Not the Smart Money – Klement on Investing
- It’s Hard To Kill The Stock Market – A Teachable Moment
- The Dumbest Financial Story of 2021 – Slate
- Adam Robinson: A Unique Mind (podcast) – Business Brew
- The Autograph Fiend – History Today