The Algebraist

Posted on Dec 15, 2010 in Books I’d like to start this blog post of with stating that The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks is without a doubt the single worst book I’ve read since leaving grade school and escaped having to read pointless fiction mass fed to uninterested minors. So what is this 534 page travesty about? It’s a space opera set in the year 4034 A.D. but that hardly matters since the book doesn’t...
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The Big Short

Posted on Dec 13, 2010 in Books The Big Short is Michael Lewis’ first book directly related to financial markets since his debut book, Liar’s Poker in 1989. I’ve always been a fan of Lewis’ work and enjoy his writing immensely because it completely captures your interest and keeps you glued to the pages from start to finish. If there is anyone who can make complicated financial markets read like a action packed...
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Bailout Nation

Posted on Dec 13, 2010 in Books Barry Ritholtz is without a doubt one of the most popular financial bloggers today. Ritholtz has been voicing his thoughts on his blog titled The Big Picture since 2003. Ritholtz is the CEO and Director of Equity Research at Fusion IQ, an online quantitative research firm, his opinions are widely respected and he often appears on radio and television show to give voice to those opinions. Through...
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The Naming Of The Beasts

Posted on Oct 3, 2009 in Books I picked up Mike Carey’s new book The Naming of The Beasts, the fifth book in the Felix Castor series, on the release day September 10th and was lucky enough to get it signed by Mike Carey himself. As I’ve noted in my posts on the previous books in the series (The Devil You Know, Vicious Circle, Dead Men’s Boots and Thicker Than Water), the books’ premise is one parallel...
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How I caused the Credit Crunch

Posted on Aug 22, 2009 in Books, Finance I recently used my flight to Iceland for a three week visit to read Tetsuya Ishikawa’s book, How I Caused The Credit Crunch. Unlike Michel Lewis’ much acclaimed Liar’s Poker which I also read recently, Ishikawa chooses to portray his story through a fictitious character by the name of Andrew Dover. Dover is based on Ishikawa himself but he creates this fake persona to...
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Skullduggery Pleasant

Posted on Aug 20, 2009 in Books On my recent trip to Spain I read the first book in the Skullduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy. The books main characters are Stephanie, a young ambitious teenage girl and Skullduggery, a wizard who was burned alive centuries ago but lives on with his life force bound to his skeleton. The book starts of after Stephanie’s uncle has recently passed away in unexplained circumstances. Her...
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