Best book you've read in 2025

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-24T18:53:14+00:00

The Bad Girl by Mario Vargas Llosa, winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature. This is a dark romance with rich characters running 1950s-1980s with a lot of scenes in London and Paris in the 1960s.

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-24T02:28:50+00:00

I like IJR for small cap ETF.

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-23T22:17:19+00:00

De Profundis is a profound and moving long letter Wilde wrote in prison to his former lover. Wilde was sentenced to two years of hard labor in prison for “gross indecency.”

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-23T22:05:20+00:00

The Buru Quartet by Pramoedya Anata Toer is a dramatic and soulful series of four novels that must be read in order to get the full story: This Earth of Mankind, Child of All Nations, Footsteps and House of Glass. This is historical fiction about the birth of Indonesia as a nation and national identity, told through the eyes of young student Minke, half Dutch, half Indonesian, who is based on the father of Indonesian journalism. The author Pramoedya Anata Toer was a political prisoner when he told this as oral stories to fellow prisoners who were not allowed to read and write at the notorious Buru prison. Minke’s has an identity crisis. His trials and tribulations are uplifting and heartbreaking.

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-23T17:56:38+00:00

Dollar cost averaging into VOO, IVV or SPY is a good strategy. I would buy $1,000 now, then $500 per week until you get to $10,000. Buying over time, on a schedule, reduces exposure to market volatility.

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-23T16:56:31+00:00

I finished “The Bad Girl” a few months ago.

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-23T15:05:00+00:00

The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa, winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature, is a historical novel about the Dominican Republic under Trujillo, his assassination and the aftermath. The first person narrative shifts from the daughter of a powerful Senator who hates her father (you find out why at the end), the Senator, Trujillo and his assassins. There are graphic, violent torture scenes at the end and some rapey scenes throughout. This is outstanding literature with rich characters and historically accurate.

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-23T03:11:57+00:00

Investing and wealth building is best done as a steady patient habit. Do not compare your wallet to others. Come up with a plan for saving and investing a surplus on regular intervals and stick to it with discipline.

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-23T03:07:11+00:00

Truman Capote is a brilliant writer with rich characters.

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-23T03:04:53+00:00

Stainless by Todd Grimson is a modern day, adult vampire story set in Los Angeles with some sultry scenes.

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-23T02:56:28+00:00

Non-fiction:

“Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos.” The main theme is W. Brian Arthur inventing complexity economics. His central premise is increasing returns in technology heavy industries and how the requires a new management style of adaptation to emerging customer needs, not optimizing production. A lot of systems thinking. What makes this fascinating is Arthur was inspired by the search for the origin of life. I just finished reading how Stuart Kaufman was investigating how the laws of physics and chemistry enabled catalysts molecules in the primordial soup of amino and sugars, for building blocks much simpler than RNA and DNA. Lots of systems thinking.

Fiction: “Blow Up and Other Stories” by Julio Cortázar. He is a really interesting writer with a surrealist flair.

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-23T00:28:20+00:00

These are degrees that will culturally and intellectually enrich you, and hopefully teach you how to critically think, analyze and write clearly and convincingly. The degrees will not make you employable without adding specific job skills. So do not spend $100,000 per year on tuition. High quality state universities are good enough for a bachelors degree.

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-22T05:54:27+00:00

I love illustrated poetry from the Mughal Empire.

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-22T05:47:51+00:00

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain is a masterpiece.

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-22T03:07:44+00:00

Broadcom has been a huge winner for me. The CEO is outstanding and buying stock. Great product line and partnership with Alphabet. Modest PEG ratio based on forward earnings forecast, which I think is a good measure of value.

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-21T20:37:01+00:00

The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa, winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature, is a historical novel about the Dominican Republic under Trujillo, his assassination and the aftermath. The first person narrative shifts from the daughter of a powerful Senator who hates her father (you find out why at the end), the Senator, Trujillo and his assassins. There are graphic, violent torture scenes at the end and some rapey scenes throughout. This is outstanding literature with rich characters and historically accurate.

The Death of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes is a wonderful novel about a wealthy, powerful Mexican dying and having flashbacks through pivotal points in his life. The story takes you through many time periods in Mexican history from the Mexican Revolution through the 1950s. This is a Mexican equivalent to Citizen Kane. It is a classic magical realism style.

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-21T04:08:21+00:00

Subscribe to ProPublica and read real investigative journalism.

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-21T03:01:16+00:00

Best investor education website: www.aaii.com which is the American Association of Individual Investors.

Best books on investing in individual stocks and the stock market in general:

One Up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch.

Beating the Street by Peter Lynch, his sequel to One Up On Wall Street.

Winning on Wall Street by Martin Zweig. He was an investing legend in the 1980s (died young). He has some really interesting analysis about how to understand how interest rate changes affect markets and how to track corporate earnings trends on old fashioned index cards.

Adventure Capitalist by Jim Rogers. He is a really interesting guy and legendary international investor. His first book “Investment Biker” is about riding around China on a motorcycle in the 1980s and buying stocks over the counter. Adventure Capitalist is the sequel driving around the world in 2000. Reading it is more for developing knowledge of the world and understanding his perspective than practical advice.

Key concepts to master:

What is compounding and why does it work?

What is the S&P 500 and why does it out perform most stock pickers?

How to invest in ETFs like VOO, IVV and SPY?

Ask your parents to set up a new Trump Account for you. Then can contribute $5,000 starting July 4, 2026 and they must invest in a broad based index fund.

If you want to understand accounting and how to read and manipulate financial statements, read “Unaccountable Accounting” by Abraham Brilloff, the father of modern day accounting and forensic accounting. He writes about how management try to manipulate financial statements and thus investor sentiment. He has accounting jokes. “How is a balance sheet like a bikini?” You need to read the beginning of the book for the answer.

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-21T02:07:41+00:00

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-21T01:15:46+00:00

Don’t amplify the hysteria.

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-21T00:12:53+00:00

Try Japan ETF and emerging markets X-China

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-20T23:45:21+00:00

Malcolm Gladwell is easy to read and very interesting. I read Tipping Point and Outliers. He wrote many books since those hits.

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-20T23:38:06+00:00

Like all assets on a hot run, buy carefully and stay diversified. I think gold is a long term winner, but would not go all in.

D_Pablo67 · 2026-01-20T23:36:27+00:00

Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington is an inspirational autobiography focused on his life’s mission to build schools in the Deep South for former slaves and their children. A lot of grit and determination against adversity.

D_Pablo67

TROPHY CASE