Recent Books -- Bird By Bird, Fourth Wing, Cecil Rhodes, Apple in China, Diary of a Very Bad Year, The Long Game
01 June 2025
- Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott. Brilliant advice from a writer to writers. One of the best books on working I have ever read, this is not just about writing. Progress in anything requires daily attention, willingness to try and fail, constant iteration, and an openness to input and criticism.
- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. You know the sort of book – young person goes to a school for magic, much intrigue follows. More sex than Harry Potter. Nothing particularly new.
- Cecil Rhodes: Flawed Colossus by Brian Roberts. I did not like this biography. It treats Rhodes and his contemporaries as almost cartoon characters, with almost comical or farcical behaviour. I do not believe this is fair or interesting. Human nature and human IQ has not fundamentally changed over the past 150 years.
- Apple in China: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company by Patrick McGee. Excellemt book about Apple’s corporate history. You will be mad at someone after reading this book. It might be China, it might be Apple, it might be the US government. Or maybe all 3!
- Diary of a Very Bad Year by Keith Gessen. A series of interviews with a hedge fund manager during the 2008 financial crisis. A great reminder to self, the financial operators in the market are about 1000x smarter than I am about the market.
- The Long Game by Rush Doshi. I wanted to like this book, but so pedantic and long-winded. I gave up. There is a nice magazine article in here somewhere.
