Red Notice by Bill Browder

 

This is a really good book. I do not usually start posts that way, but Red Notice is a strong candidate for my "top books of 2021". I actually had this book on my radar (and my bookshelf) for a while, but I was a little worried it would be too political. I try to escape that hoopla when I read. When I saw this on my boss's boss's reading list, I figured I should open it up. I am glad I did.

Red Notice gets off to a fast start and had me hooked from the beginning. Bill Browder's grandfather was a big player in communism in the U.S., even running for President. His family is fully of smart people, particularly in mathematics. Bill struggles to find his way, deciding to pursue capitalism to be different than his family. He has a fascination with Eastern Europe, which in the very early 1990s is undergoing the fall of communism. Investment opportunities are abound, especially in Russia. Bill Browder goes on to become the largest outside investor in Russia up to 2005, until he is chased out of the country. Eventually, one of his lawyers in Russia dies in the police's custody.

The first half of the book is great. I could not put it down. The second half turns more political with Browder getting banned from Russia, the never-ending pursuit and cover-up from the Russian government, and Browder's efforts to get redemption on behalf of his murdered lawyer. It is still interesting and moves at a good pace, but it is different than the first half of the book.

I learned a lot reading this book. The transition out of a communist state is interesting. The investment opportunities. The oligarchs. Russian culture. Inner government workings, in both Russia and the U.S.. Why Americans cannot adopt Russian orphans. All very fascinating.

Lastly, Bill Browder did a great job writing this. It was very easy to read. There was humor. He did a wonderful job describing scenes and conversations. I felt on the edge of my seat wondering what happened next.

My rating for Red Notice: 5 stars out of 5. Get it here!

Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke

 

Annie Duke was a former professional poker player. With this debut book, she offers her insights on decision-making and handling uncertainty. That is her main point - differentiating decisions and outcomes. A good decision can result in a bad outcome (the Seahawks throwing the ball at the goal line near the end of the Super Bowl only to be intercepted), while a bad decision can result in a good outcome (driving home safely after too many drinks). Uncertainty is present in many decisions and sometimes luck is the difference. That is certainly the case in poker.

I figured this book would be right up my alley - business, poker, decision-making, risks, uncertainty, probability. It hits on a lot of my interests. Unfortunately, I found the book full of fluff, repeated examples, and little new research. Her writing style is very wordy...I thought her points could be summarized much quicker, maybe better suited on a blog. Many of the sources she referenced were books I already read (acknowledging I read a lot on this topic). I will say her examples are current, although she repeats them too often in the book. I do not mean to be so negative, as I found the "wanna bet" exercise insightful and the last two chapters of the book were solid.

If you have not read anything on decision-making, how brains think, and/or risk & uncertainty, then this is a good book to get you up to speed. But frankly this book is getting a huge lift because of who the author is.

My rating for Thinking in Bets: 2 stars out of 5. Get it here!

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

 

I often saw Sapiens recommended on various sites over the past few years and thought it sounded interesting, but other books had higher priority on my list. I finally ordered it online, using a Barnes & Noble gift-card (separate story on that at the end of the blog). When it arrived, it was like a textbook - thick and heavy.

Sapiens is a detailed account of humans, from the very beginning. He really covers everything: biology, religion, political structures, capitalism, happiness, and more. The book is in chronological order, taking the reader through what he describes as the Cognitive, Agricultural, and Scientific Revolutions. The book ends with a climactic prediction of where the future is going.

It is a very insightful book from a historical perspective. I certainly learned a lot. I found myself asking my wife "did you know..." quite a bit. The author makes many connections and tries to provide explanations linking one thing to the next. I believe those who write about history intertwine their own view at times, and one could make that argument in Sapiens, but I really appreciated the author admitting this at times and acknowledging the uncertainty.

The downside of this book is it is long and weighs a ton, which probably intimidates most readers. It honestly might be the heaviest book I have ever read. But once you open the book, it is an enjoyable, easy read with intermittent jokes and current day comparisons.

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

Bonus: Online ordering at Barnes & Noble. I have an affinity for Barnes & Noble as I used their cafe for years studying for exams. After finishing exams, I got a membership and prefer to buy books in person. With some of their recent changes, I have found it hard to find books I want in the store, so I thought I would give online ordering a shot since I was looking to add about 5 books to my collection. Their website was a disaster. I struggled to enter my membership number, I struggled to check out, I struggled to use a gift-card. I honestly wasn't sure my order went through. It pains me to say this, but I cannot recommend anyone order books online from Barnes & Noble. Hopefully they get their website figured out.

The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old

 

This book was on my nightstand for most of 2020. I would pick it up, read a few pages, and then put it down. I always forgot where I was. I finally decided I needed to finish this book.

The book is a diary (literally daily journal entries) written by "Hendrik Groen", who is a resident in a retirement home. His musings are about daily life in the retirement home. An odd book, but it works. It is humorous, very real, and at times dark. But Hendrik makes the best of it. It is a uniquely written perspective into life on that side of the fence. 

Worth sharing that this is based in the Netherlands and was translated, so there are elements of vocabulary and things that are not customary in the U.S., but it is still easy to follow.

"Hendrik Groen" is in quotes above because there is no author listed in the book. Is Hendrik a real person? Or is this a work of fiction? After some Google searches, it is a work of fiction written by Peter de Smet, who is a librarian near retirement who has never written a book before. Pretty cool.

My rating for The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old: 3 stars out of 5. Get it here!

P.S. There is a follow up book, On the Bright Side, 85 Years Old.

Papillon by Henri Charriere

 

Papillon is an autobiography of a man sentenced to life in prison who continually tries to escape. He was convicted of life in prison in 1931 for a murder in Paris he claims he did not commit. He is sent to the penal colony of French Guiana. The book details the conditions, escapes, set backs, and eventual freedom.

The writing style is a bit choppy, although there are valid reasons for that - the book is set in the 1930s (written in the 1960s), it was translated from French, and the editors let Papillon's style of talking come through in the writing. It is a very long book, coming in at almost 550 pages. The book was very popular in France and eventually worldwide when it was released. The treacherous conditions are hard to fathom and was certainly eye-opening. Penal colonies are something worth researching if you don't know much about them. The story of escape is what captures the reader as you are constantly wondering how will he permanently escape.

This had potential to become a classic (and some may view it that way), but there are accusations that parts of his story are not his own. He was certainly a prisoner in French Guiana and he eventually escaped. But it seems he retold a few stories of other prisoners, escapes, and encounters as his own. On one hand, that is a disappointment, but on the other, these stories would never be heard without a masterful story line.

My rating for Papillon: 3 stars out of 5. Get it here!