The Warrior Ethos
The Warrior Ethos - Stephen Pressfield
Life Value: 4/5
Entertainment Value: 5/5
The Warrior Ethos is a brief and entertaining read about the code that populations like the Spartans lived by. If you loved the movie 300 and want to hear more about the real lives of the Spartans, this is a great read.
The Warrior Ethos is a strict moral code of the rules that dictate the lives of warrior tribes. In writing this, Pressfield draws the parallel to all humans and the values that can be extracted from warriors to live a better life. This includes taking the values that the warriors applied to fighting war and turning the fight inward to direct it to become mentally stronger and more balanced.
Who's this book for:
- Anyone who loved the movie 300
- Mind flayers looking to forge an unbeatable mind
- People interested in the history of warrior tribes
Who's this book not for:
- If you're looking for a long and intricate book this one won't satisfy that urge as it's short and to the point.
Poor Charlie's Almanack
Poor Charlie's Almanack - Charles Munger, Peter Kaufman
I've been on the search for Poor Charlie's Almanack for years and finally was able to get my hands on a copy of this one of a kind book. Charlie Munger is Warren Buffet's business partner at Berkshire Hathaway.
While you're hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't know the name Warren Buffet, Charlie has preferred to live in relative obscurity despite being whole-heartedly considered equal to Warren.
This book is aptly named as a nod to Charlie's idol Ben Franklin and is a must-read for anyone interested in personal finance and investing. This almanac includes a biography of Charlie Munger, sections on his principles on life and investing, and an impressive collection of his most popular public speeches. Charlie has amassed an incredible amount of wisdom over his lifetime - much attributed to his lifelong pursuit of reading and learning.
“The acquisition of wisdom is a moral duty”
You'd be a fool not consider what Charlie has to say, even if you just take the time to listen to one of his commencement speeches, like this one for USC:
12 Rules For Life
12 Rules For Life: An Antidote To Chaos - Jordan B. Peterson
In the past few years, Dr. Peterson has dramatically come under the interrogation light of the media. I don't invest much time into most sensationalized twaddle, but this story has caught my attention as Dr. Peterson is a professor in the psychology department of my alma mater and a number of my close friends were in his classes and absolutely loved him as a professor.
12 Rules For Life is Peterson's attempt at publishing a book for the general public. I call it an attempt because if you've ever listened to any of the podcasts, lectures, or new stories that Jordan has been a part of, you'll know that he processes each point he makes with a fine-tooth comb and you're extremely unlikely to catch him off-guard or contradicting himself. This book does justice to his logic and it is challenging at times to follow his arguments and how they connect together. For this reason, I was hesitant to consider it a book that deserves a 5/5 from me.
Reviewing the books and the notes you have taken on a book are an essential step in the process and only after this step has been completed can a book be properly judged in a reader's eyes. Upon review, I have determined that this book is worth its weight in gold for the right person, at the right time. The complexity and weaving of narrative into the arguments for each of the 12 rules adds to and does not subtract from, the value of the book. I see it this way now, as this book has offered up an opportunity for virtually every open-minded person to gain something useful from most, if not all, of the 12 rules as they are outlined. The book also takes you on a journey into the deepest Hells of human nature, which is something that very few people offering up guidance on "self-help" are willing to do.
Because of the complexity of the book and the arguments, this is the type of book that grows in value as you read it multiple times, argue with it and create a dialogue, and review it for greater understanding. It is for this challenge inherent in the journey that the book takes you on, just like in life, that it is a book I would recommend everyone to read.
Principles
Principles - Ray Dalio
“Problems are like coal thrown into a locomotive engine because burning them up - inventing and implementing solutions for them - propels us forward. Every problem you find is an opportunity to improve your machine."
Principles is one of the best practical guides on life and management that I've read and one of my favourites in recent memory because of the extreme effort that went into making it as readable as possible.
This feels very much like a modern-day take of Stoic philosophy. Ray's own approach to business and life clearly has been influenced heavily by the Stoics.
The best part of the book is how each principle is clearly displayed as a chapter heading followed by each sub-principle or example subdivided even further to make it simple to pick out whatever information you need to apply in a given moment. This comes into play even more importantly in the second half of the book that's designed to be used as a business and management reference guide for how to handle different situations that are another "one of those."