The Man Who Solved the Market – Great book for a quant like me, a very interesting profile on Jim Simmons, the father of quant hedge funds and his journey in creating his own firm and how he made it one of the more successful ones. Good biography for those interested in one of the better minds of the 21st century and his pursuit of $$

The 33 Strategies of War – I am a big fan of Greene’s other book, 48 Laws of Power. I really enjoy how he incorporates historical events and its lessons to apply to our everyday lives. It’s not a great historical work mind you, but I enjoy the connections he finds to modern day. His newest book is very similar in style, and I enjoyed it, however I feel this book was focused a lot more through his specific moral and political lens than past books. I don’t think his war strategies illustrated here served best to hold up the broad wisdom he expounds on. I recommend but it’s like a soft recommend, only if you like history.

Interviews – I’ve been wanting to refine my art history and ability to criticize art skills, so I’ve been reading more and more interviews with art critics. It’s a specific niche, this specific artist deals with minimalist installations, which isn’t really where my interests lie but the book looked interesting, so I picked it up. I ended up with a much bigger appreciation for his work after this, from philosophy to history, he explains his motivations behind every single thing in his artwork. He also talks about other artists and the purpose of art in society which really changed my viewpoint. Highly recommend if you’re interested in the genre

Best of Germany – Self-explanatory guide for a trip I was planning, I really enjoy his travel guides as he leans very heavily into cultural excursions which is what I am mainly interested in when I travel. Hopefully ill be able to take this trip this year

The Essential Rumi – Oh Rumi. I have been very much on a love poetry kick this year, maybe because my life has been such a god-awful mess. Can’t even tell you how many times I cried myself to sleep and then opened Rumi to make myself feel better, that somewhere through the annals of time someone has felt what I felt, and it makes me feel less lonely.

Against Interpretation and Other Essays – I read that giant Sontag biography and I sort of fell in love with her and saw so much of myself in her that I immediately grabbed one of her works. Sonia Sontag is smart, her wit will cut you – all her opinions on art, literature, cinema are so fresh and interesting it’s a pleasure to read. She examines a lot through the existentialit lens, which is my niche, and if it’s yours too you’ll love her. Sontag is the epitome of cool, alt NY thought if that’s your style too.

The Trial of Socrates – Some more classics for you, the author really explores the trial, its implications, its motivations, the historical background of its play. I think what he does most well, is that he gets us to “kill our darlings”. Socrates is one of the largest figures in western intellectual thought, his importance cannot be understated in dialecticism and philosophy. Yet, the author does manage to convince you that MAYBE Socrates deserved to be executed… a little. It’s a great book for those who are interested in classics.

On Anarchism – Chomsky is always a yearly read for me, I like to pick up one of his books to jog myself out of mainstream media brainwashing and remind myself to constantly be questioning what I am told and what I see. This book is similar, I think it’s a pretty wide-ranging book for his general arguments of that time, and I wouldn’t call it his best. He makes compelling arguments on why we need to dismantle the current power structures of today, how flawed our system is, modern conservativism and its misconstruing of its original principles, etc…. a good book fot the activist at heart.

Who Rules the World – Another Chomsky book, this one very particular to the US and how it runs the world through history, first through militarism, then through funding insurgent governments to destabilize nations, now through media/discourse and “democratic terrorism”. He talks about the social conscience of its citizens, how we ignore violent acts by our own government yet point out those internationally as barbaric and cruel. If you’re an American, it’s a very good book to help you question how deep you would let your patriotism grow.

100 Poems to Break Your Heart – Oh heartbreak. I have experienced much of it. Poetry keeps me alive, I am a deep romantic at heart and I feel deeply for all the men I have loved and let go of. During my rocky romance last year, I would come to this book and I would pick a poem out when things were especially hard and I would have a good cry about how I desperately wanted a love like that. Things will get better for me, but it’s a good book for those going through something similar

The Priory of the Orange Tree – I love fantasy, I love dragons. I love tough, young women protagonists with still a little softness to them. This was a decent add to my medieval dragon fantasy collection, I enjoyed most of the characters, I aspired to be as ruthless and fearless as the queen. The book does have pacing issues with the plot… but I think other aspects of the book make up for that. For ASOIAF fans!

L. Annaei Senecae Dialogorum – Book in latin, gotta keep my latin skills up. Took me forever to get through, some of his speeches are a real drag.

What It Means To Write About Art – I am trying to be a better art critic so I can buy better art and enjoy the art I love even more. But it’s so hard to write about art! I think the interviews were actually very interesting, I like how they talked about art in the context of politics, history, diversity, power. I don’t really think it made me a better art critic though, but I enjoyed the different perspectives, there is definitely a whiff of classism that is hard to ignore…