Smart Investor – Q1 2023

Addendum – Shiuman’s List of Books read in 2022

 

This is not a list of recommendations, but simply a list of books I read last year. If you are interested in any of them, I would be happy to talk about them. A few of them were gifts, but most on the list were recommended by friends or book reviews. There were also those that were recommended by staff in bookstores such as Hager Books in Vancouver, and in various book stores on my visit to London in 2022.

 

Non-Fiction

1. Ben Coates, “The Rhine: following Europe’s greatest river from Amsterdam to the Alps” (Brought back memories of a cruise on the Rhine. Full of British wit.)

2. Ray Dalio, “Principles for dealing with the changing world order” (Lots of data and history. Not sure how to apply.)

3. Luke Harding, “Shadow State – murder, mayhem, and Russia’s remaking of the west” (Everything we have learnt in the media, but woven together by a journalist who had once lived in Moscow.)

4. Blair Imani, “Read this to get smarter” (Learning to accept human diversity.)

5. Simon Kuper, “Chums – How a tiny caste of Oxford Tories took over the UK” (To understand what led to Brexit you have to read this book, by one of my favourite columnists.)

6. Ben MacIntyre “Agent Sonya” (Story of a most remarkable Soviet spy during WWII spanning from Berlin to Shanghai, Manchuria, Switzerland and Britain.)

7. Michelle Obama, “Becoming” (Biography that is highly personal, including the years in the White House bubble. She steers clear of politics and recounts mostly life as a family.)

8. Steven Pinker, “Enlightenment Now -- The case for reason, science, humanism, and progress” (Indisputable data on the improvement in the human condition. He covers globalization, inequality, popularism, climate change and threat of nuclear annihilation. Very educational and insightful.)

9. Sophy Roberts, “The lost pianos of Siberia” (A writer journeys across Siberia in search of pianos of historical significance including one that had belonged to Catherine the Great. Beautifully written. I also learnt that Siberia covers most of Russia.)

10. Jody Wilson-Raybould, “Indian in the cabinet: speaking truth to power” (Insightful account of her growing up in an indigenous community to become a lawyer, a Member of Parliament and cabinet minister. She wrote candidly about what led her to leave politics.) 

 

Fiction

11. Julian Barnes, “England, England” (Quirky satire of English society.)

12. Hilary Clinton & Louise Penny, “State of Terror” (Former first lady writes a political thriller, perhaps drawing from her years as Secretary of State.)

13. Nikolai Gogol, “Dead Souls” (It is like watching a black and white movie as we see the protagonist travel around in rural Russia in a carriage in the 19^th century.)

14. Robert Harris, “Imperium” (Life and times of Marcus Cicero, Roman senator, orator and lawyer in the voice of Tiro, his private secretary. Historical fiction.)

15. Geoffrey Household, “Rogue Male” (An amateur stalker mistaken to be an assassin uses his cunning to escape and hide from his pursuers. Wonderful. First published in 1939!)

16. Chris Pavone, “The Travellers” (A travel and lifestyle magazine is not what it appears to be. A tale of intrigue that spans three continents.)

17. Chris Pavone, “Two nights in Lisbon” (A man takes a trip to Lisbon accompanied by his wife. They encounter a predicament that is solved by her reaching into her past. A thriller with a few twists and turns.)

18. Matthew Richardson, “The Insider” (A former spy brought out of retirement by a senior British government official to hunt down a mole. A game of deduction.)

19. Gerald Seymour, “The Crocodile Hunter” (A low-key analyst in Britain’s security service uses low-tech method to hunt down a home-grown jihadist. The anti-James Bond.)

20. Daniel Silva, “The Cellist” (Silva never fails to entertain. A Russian oligarch is murdered in London. Gabriel Allon from the Israeli intelligence services is called in to solve the crime and then some.)