The Greatest Trade Ever by Gregory Zuckerman

The Greatest Trade Ever focuses on John Paulson as well as a few others who bet against subprime mortgages during the financial crisis in 2007 and 2008. This book is eerily similar to The Big Short by Michael Lewis, with one exception. Michael Lewis left out John Paulson, which is an unforgivable exclusion. Paulson made more money than anyone else who bet against risky mortgages. His hedge firm made $15 billion in 2007 alone. He personally made $4 billion because of how much of his own money was invested in the fund. He made billions more in the next few years. It literally was the greatest trade ever.

If you are interested in specifics of the crisis, I recommend reading my post about The Big Short. I tried to explain the issues as simply as I could. I thought The Greatest Trade Ever and The Big Short did a good job explaining terminologies and concepts. Much of the language is consistent. Many of the characters are the same. The biggest difference is The Greatest Trade Ever spends more time on John Paulson. For me, reading The Greatest Trade Ever was straightforward because I understood many of the things the author discussed from previous readings. For a first time reader on this crisis, the book would be a very slow read.

Something unique to Paulson's story is how well thought out his trades were. Paulson was a merger expert; he knew next to nothing about the mortgage industry (in fact, most who bet against risky mortgages were outsiders to the industry). As he started placing his bets, he began to wonder who was taking the other side. When he figured it out, he shorted all of those companies. Then he saw the government begin to step in and quickly realized gold would soar as the dollar would weaken. It seems obvious now, but he took the risks and was rewarded with unfathomable wealth.

My rating for The Greatest Trade Ever: 5 stars out of 5. Get it here!

B by Sarah Kay

I really, really wanted to post this last week for Mother's Day, but the book didn't arrive from Amazon in time. B is one poem. It's not that long. Literally it takes less than five minutes to read. Plus the poem is online. So why did I buy it? I see it as a way to support the author. Plus, I think it's neat to have the book. I will definitely be passing it along at my year-end Christmas giveaway.

Sarah Kay wrote the poem B. She also performs it. As in spoken work poetry. You may or may not have heard of this, but you should. She started at the age of fourteen in New York City and has blossomed into one of the most well-known performers. She has started a program to encourage spoken word poetry in schools and other venues. Simply reading the book B does not do it justice. You can watch Sarah Kay perform B here. I highly encourage it (and it's only three minutes long).

So what's the poem about? It starts with, "If I should have a daughter," offering advice that a mother would give to her daughter. The life lessons apply to everyone. It's witty, funny, smart, and entertaining. One of my favorite parts is: 

And I'm going to paint the solar systems 

on the backs of her hands,

so she has to learn the entire universe before she can say, 

"Oh, I know that like the back of my hand."

I think that gives a solid idea of what B is about. It's full of similar analogies and metaphors. As I've mentioned in previous posts, I find poetry interesting. I don't know of much poetry out there, but I'm expecting Sarah Kay to keep writing and delivering for many years to come.

My rating for B: 4 stars out of 5. Get it here!

P.S. Today was a double post! Check out the movie review of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo below.

Movie Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Last weekend I finally watched the movie The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I read all of the books a few years ago and really liked them, so I was looking forward to seeing the movie. A brief synopsis in case you haven’t read the first book: Mikael is a somewhat troubled journalist who is hired by a wealthy family to investigate a 40-year old murder. Lisbeth is a tattooed, pierced, dressed-in-all-black girl who is locked into Sweeden’s childcare system even though she has been taking care of herself for a long time. She’s also an incredibly smart computer hacker who helps Mikael in his investigation. That’s the premise for the first book.

I thought Lisbeth’s character was a bit over the top, but Rooney Mara did a great job acting. The rest of the characters were pretty much as I thought, except for her case worker. I didn’t expect him to be so fat. There were certain things I didn’t want to see…I think you know which parts I mean when I say I turned away. I also didn’t think all the sex scenes were needed, but I know the book was fairly descriptive and I understand it does play a part in character development. I found it hard to keep track of all the family members. The book goes into detail about all of them and the murderer was unpredictable. I thought the movie was much more obvious.

My opinion of the movie was solid and it stuck to the book from what I can remember. People who saw the movie but didn’t read the book really liked the movie (from what I’ve been told). I’m somewhat surprised the movie was a flop at the box office, but my guess is it was too dark and sadistic to have the appeal of something like The Hunger Games. I came to the conclusion that the second and third books were way better than The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I wonder if they will make the second movie or not. Hmmm….

[Note: I never wrote a post about the book series because I read them before I started the blog.]

The Soul of a Butterfly by Muhammad Ali

When asked what is my favorite book, I always struggle. It’s hard to have one favorite book. But, if the question was if you were stranded on an island and could only bring three books, one of them would be The Soul of a Butterfly by Muhammad Ali. I have picked this up countless times just to read a few pages. I decided to read it again the week before my actuarial exam as some extra motivation and to help keep things in perspective.

Format wise, this is not your typical book. The text has different fonts, colors, and sizes. The spacing is all over the place. There isn’t any flow, although it is kind of in chronological order with Ali’s life. Somehow it all works. The book is mostly short stories and reflections. There are plenty of life lessons told through ancient tales. Ali shares some of the poetry he wrote during his life, but I’d say this is my least favorite part of the book. The stories are ones that could be reflected upon and shared.

As I read The Soul of a Butterfly again, I noticed all the page corners I folded over. There are a lot of these. If I ever want to hear a good short story, I can pick up the book and turn to one of these pages. I think this is what makes it one of the books I would bring with me if I were stranded on an island. I could read it over and over and still find it thought-provoking.

To show how much I like this book, I don’t think I would ever give it away as part of my Christmas gift giveaway. However, I think I should buy another copy and give it away because it is that good.

My rating for The Soul of a Butterfly: 5 stars out of 5. Get it here!

P.S. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there who read this blog!

A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard

This book is sad. It’s the story of Jaycee Duggard, the girl who was kidnapped at age eleven and kept captive until she was twenty-nine. She was forced to live in her kidnappers' backyard in a shed (also a tent at times) with no running water and no bathroom. She didn’t step outside the shed for two years. At the beginning, she was sexually abused and raped. At the age of fourteen, she had the first of her two kids. She was forced to use a different name and was brainwashed into thinking her life was okay. She was not found until her kidnapper walked all of them into his parole office and Jaycee admitted her real name to authorities.

My guess is most people have probably heard her story. However, there is nothing like reading it from her point of view. The writing is simple yet detailed. The reader really gets into the thoughts of Jaycee and sees what she was struggling with every day. Jaycee shares journal entries and pictures she kept while in captivity. I feel like I have to say it again: the story becomes incredibly real reading it from her perspective.

Throughout the book I constantly felt bad for Jaycee. She attempts to make the best of things and enjoys the company of her kidnappers because she is so lonely. It’s a depressing story. You wonder how no one ever noticed. There were parole officers constantly coming to the house. The neighbors. No one even asked who these young women were staying with a convicted sexual predator. It’s understandable how Jaycee felt helpless. In a strange way, Jaycee makes the reader realize how grateful we should be for the simple liberties we all have.

My rating for A Stolen Life: 5 stars out of 5. Get it here!