Bogleheads

cfs · Joined: 23 Feb 2007 Posts: 561

[This thread had so many responses that it started to cause problems with the formatting on the homepage. So I closed it and started a Part II so the discussion can continue. - admin Alex]

I see a LOT of books quoted on the forum [that is good]. I wonder, what book[s] are YOU currently reading?

I will start.

Currently reading:
a. Larry Swedroe's Only Guide To A Winning Investment Strategy
b. Larry Swedroe's Only Guide To A Winning Bond Strategy

And note that I have read the books, but I continue to read both as a good refresher.

Now it is your turn. Thanks.

cfs
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cfs est nomen ejus

nick22 · Joined: 04 Mar 2007 Posts: 787 Location: Ohio

Because my answer is the same two books. I am now working on a textbook size tome, Behavioral Finance II edited by Thaler. I particulary wanted to go through a basic primer on bonds recently and Swedroe's book was my choice for bonds 101.
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Nick22

Fclevz · Joined: 30 Mar 2007 Posts: 38

I read constantly, but I'm not currently reading any investment books.
After reading about 300 investment titles over the years, I've come to the conclusion that the secret to investing is that their isn't any secret. Just diversify into a few different asset classes via index funds ala Daniel Solin or Taylor's 4-Fund Portfolio and you're probably 90% of the way there. Wink

I still read a few as they come along. I just read the new Bogle book, but mostly just for fun. Few investment books nowadays have anything in them that is actually new or different.

Cheers,
Fred

orthros · Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 1:12 pm Post subject:

I read, on average, about 2 books per week, usually whilst exercising.

Currently I'm reading Nolo Press' "Legal Guide to Starting and Running a Small Business" by Fred Steingold. It's very, very good. I'd definitely recommend reading it, especially if your library has it.

O

Sheltonian · Joined: 20 Mar 2007 Posts: 12 Location: Minnesota

I've nearly finished "The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing" and will start on Richard Ferri's "All About Asset Allocation" soon.
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"If money be not thy servant, it will be thy master." --Sir Francis Bacon

Sam I Am · Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 1:59 pm Post subject: Just started..................

Michael Crichton's Next. I read a couple of books a week, usually mystery/whodunits. After reading, I resell them on Amazon, cutting my spending on books considerably. Sometimes I buy them used also.

The library would be lots cheaper, but UPS delivers six days a week.

I have copies of Larry's bond book and the Bogleheads' book, but haven't read them yet.

Sam I Am
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A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools. Douglas Adams

murfields · Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 139 Location: Surprise, AZ

I am reading "Timing the Market" How to profit in the stock market using Yield Curve, Technical Analysis, and Cultural Indicators by Deborah Weir and my second book is "Ahead of the Curve" A commonsense guide to forecasting business and market cycles by Joseph H Ellis. Both books are on basic the same subject. I became interested in the Yield Curve and if it had any real predictive value after posting the question on this forum. Both are good reads.

Murfield
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"Nobody wants to have in his cash holdings a definite number of pieces of money; he wants to keep a cash holdings of a definite amount of purchasing power"

daryll40 · Joined: 28 Feb 2007 Posts: 1804

THE IMPROVING STATE OF THE WORLD by Indur Goklany. I highly recommend this book. Laughing

While it's really a non-partisan, non-political work, it does help to put the current worries of oil shortages and prognostications of serious climate changes in perspective.

JohnYaker · Joined: 09 Mar 2007 Posts: 110 Location: Dallas, Texas

.
Not reading any financial book for the moment, though waiting for William Bengen's "Preserving Clients Portfolios During Retirement" through inter-library loan. Most recently read financial books were Bogle's new 'Little Book' and 'The Bogleheads' Guide'.

Just finished Path Between the Seas by David McCullough. Soon to start Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe by Laurence Bergreen.

John

anthau · Joined: 21 Feb 2007 Posts: 92 Location: Laramie, WY

The Kings of New York: A Year Among the Geeks, Oddballs, and Genuises Who Make Up America's Top High School Chess Team.

The Marshall Chess Club was my middle school baby sitter, so the subject is near and dear to me. The book is more about the intersection of adolescence and talent, though, so I think anyone would enjoy it, and the author does a good job of making chess accessible to those who don't know how to play without condescending nor dumbing it down.
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Best,

Anth

George · Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 47

I'm reading Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean, by Charles Freeman, mainly because I enjoyed his later The Closing of the Western Mind.

Both books are a nice addendum to Donald Kagan's four volume set on the Peloponnesian War, which I re-read once a year or so.

DaleMaley · Joined: 01 Mar 2007 Posts: 880 Location: Illinois

Behavorial Finance and Wealth Management by Pompian.

Laughing

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Dale
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Most investors, both institutional and individual, will find that the best way to own common stocks is through an index fund that charges minimal fees. – Warren Buffett

bob90245 · Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Posts: 3616

My local library has a wonderful collection of books-on-tape. I've discovered I really enjoy listening to books on history and biographies. I've been listening to the Will Durant series. Currently on the The Renaissance.

A few months ago, I picked up Walter Updegrave's How to Retire Rich in a Totally Changed World from my local library. I didn't finish it before I had to return it. But I decided that it contained a lot of good information. So I ordered it from Amazon. Am just getting around to reading it again.

Judsen · Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 579 Location: Birmingham, Al.

I just read "The Birth Of Plenty... "by Bill Bernstein and enjoyed it very much.! A great must read book! I am now reading "Straight talk..." by Jack Brennan. I especially enjoyed the books by messers Swedroe, Ferri, and Bogle. Amoung the first investment books I read were "Bullseye Investing" by John Mauldin and one whose title I don't recall at the senior moment by John Neff the former mgr of Windsor fund. Even though I don't recall the title it was a great book too. That said, the "Bogleheads Guide..." is the one I gave to my children! Jud

TnGuy · Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 240 Location: Oak Ridge, TN

Currently on my nightstand is Blessed John the Wonderworker: A Preliminary Account of the Life and Miracles of Archbishop John Maximovitch.

David
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"Money will not make you happy. And happy will not make you money." - Groucho Marx

norm · Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Posts: 453 Location: Long Island, NY

I read about two books a week. I'm waiting for the library to get me a copy of Bogle's new book from another town. I'm reading Always Say Goodbye by Stuart M. Kaminsky, a mystery novel.
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NormC

�Illegitimus Non Carborundum �

“The art is not in making money, but in keeping it”

Colin · Joined: 11 Mar 2007 Posts: 12 Location: Capital of Texas

I'm reading Against the Gods. It is an analysis of the study of risk and the management of risk in all facets of life. The author is Peter L. Bernstein. Its scope ranges from gaming theory in the first few centuries A.D. to investment theory in the present day.
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Colin

mickeyd · Joined: 23 Feb 2007 Posts: 1609 Location: Texas

The Age of Uncertainty by JK Galbraith. Though a 1977 copyright, it is very enlightening.

My favorite quote, so far (refering to money P. 161): "...either it has been abundant and very unreliable, or reliable and very scarce."
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regards,
mickeyd

In Dire Need of: Faster horses, younger women, older whiskey, more money. (Not necessarily in that order)

DRiP Guy · Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 1375

Rereading "For Whom the Bell Tolls." Just put "Four Pillars" back on the shelf.
I typically have one non-fiction and one fiction at a time going, although my pace of finishing them is not quite as fast as when I was younger. I particularly enjoy reading non-fiction associated with accident investigation, human factors, engineering errors, etc.

I tend to not buy a lot of new material, but instead go back and read my old stuff. I guess some of the 'newer' (all relative!) books I have really enjoyed were from William Langewiesche ("Inside the Sky", "The Outlaw Sea", "Cutting for Sign") & Susan Orleans ("Orchid Thief", "The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup"). When I find an author I enjoy, I tend to look for more of their works, even if the genre takes me out of my usual interest areas. Even my fiction sometimes tends to run towards the non-fiction themes, i.e. Crichton's "Airframe"...

asset_chaos · Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 265 Location: Melbourne

Recently finished Bogle's last little book and am currently on The Echo Maker by Richard Powers.
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Regards,

Guy

mickeyd · Joined: 23 Feb 2007 Posts: 1609 Location: Texas

donocash · Joined: 03 Mar 2007 Posts: 275

Just finished "In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India", by Edward Luce.

I highly, highly recommend it, especially if you have ever wanted to more about India, or ever gave a passing thought to investing in India.

Chas · Joined: 24 Mar 2007 Posts: 833 Location: America

GRT2BOUTDOORS · Joined: 05 Apr 2007 Posts: 558 Location: New York

DripGuy - For Whom the Bell Tolls - that's a great book, a classic!

Chas · Joined: 24 Mar 2007 Posts: 833 Location: America

DRiP Guy · Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 1375

rreck · Joined: 28 Feb 2007 Posts: 3 Location: Missouri

I'm in the middle of James Grant's John Adams: Party of One. Grant has a financial writer's perspective on the days when our as yet un-united states were printing money as fast as they could get ink and paper, and JA was trying to get the Dutch (who thought of our debt as junk bonds, and expected a hefty interest) to finance us. The more I read about Adams, the more I appreciate him. [I'd recommend reading Page Smith's JA biography first, though!] Lou

WiseNLucky · Joined: 13 Mar 2007 Posts: 634 Location: South Florida

zhiwiller · Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 1166 Location: New York

No investment books for me currently - I get all the information I need in the M* forum and here.

What I am currently reading:
-McSweeney's Quarterly Concern Issue #22 (A very eclectic literary quarterly. They tend to do some wacky things with their presentation. One issue came in a cigar box, one came with a comb, this one is magnetic.) I have been a subscriber since the early teens.
-The Great Libertarian Offer by Harry Browne. This book shaped my entire political ideology back in 2000. I lent it to a friend in college and never got it back and recently found it cheap used online, so I ordered it and am going through it again. I don't always completely agree with him, but the fundamentals are presneted in a very compelling fasion.
-Dialogue by Gloria Kempton
-I also subscribe to some magazines - GameDeveloper, Games, Fantasy and Science Fiction, The New Yorker

DRiP Guy · Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 1375

lucky7 · Joined: 13 Mar 2007 Posts: 359

Re-reading Ed Slott's, Retirement Savings Time Bomb, and how to defuse it. Critical read for tax issues with retirement accounts, RMDs and the "stretch" IRAs.

Bob

orthros · Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 8:47 pm Post subject:

gkaplan · Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 9:01 pm Post subject: Books

I'm currently reading Lou Cannon's Ronnie and Jesse.

(Has anyone read George Eliot's Romola?)
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Gordon

shadowrings · Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 9:54 pm Post subject:

Wide range of reading. Normally read 2-3 titles a week but now down to maybe 1 every 2 weeks as time permits... work, pre-move sort and disposal of years of accumulation (as well as associated get ready to put on market tasks), and winding down some estates haven't left me much of my own.

Currently working on Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals"
so far an excellent book but has been sort of sidelined while I skim through Menopause for Dummies.... blah

stay warm out there folks
vickie
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Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.
--- Carl G. Jung

Rick · Joined: 07 Apr 2007 Posts: 322 Location: South West

Just read "The Black Book on Personal Finance", glad I borrowed and didn't pay for it...

Rick

LocalHero · Joined: 02 Mar 2007 Posts: 37 Location: Iowa

Greetings Bogleheads,

Recently finished "A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing," 9th ed., Jack's "The Little Book of Common Sense Investing," Carl Hiaasen's "Skin Tight," and Randy Wayne White's "The Heat Islands."
Am currently reading Hiaasen's "Native Tongue" and Ayaan Hirsi Ali's "Infidel."
Rick Ferri's "All About Index Funds'" 2nd ed. and the "Ubuntu Linux Bible" are in queue along with several other Hiaasen and White books.
Peter L. Bernstein's "Capital Ideas Evolving" and Nassim Nicholas Taleb's "The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable" are on pre-order from Amazon. "Index Funds: The 12-Step Program for Active Investors" is on back order.
Also awaiting the final Harry Potter book.

Best wishes,
JB
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Remember, I'm pulling for you. We're all in this together. -- Red Green

oneleaf · Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Posts: 1479

The Undiscovered Chekhov: Thirty-Eight New Stories by Anton Chekhov. Found this gem at the library recently.

stratton · Joined: 04 Mar 2007 Posts: 6747 Location: Puget Sound

I picked up a used copy of Fabozzi's The Handbook of Fixed Income Securities for almost nothing. I could still take it back, but it seems like it would be the perfect compantion for Larry Swedroes bond book. Smile

Paul

rob · Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Posts: 390 Location: Here

On the immediate list....

Light:Science & Magic [Photography]

The God Delusion [Religion Maybe? Very Happy

]

The World is Flat [Economics]

Mechanics Tale [Formula 1 Racing]

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Rob
Its a dangerous business going out your front door. - J.R.R.Tolkien

DRiP Guy · Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 1375

[quote="rob"]On the immediate list....

Light:Science & Magic [Photography]

If you like that one, you might also like "Perception & Imaging". Easy read, full of graphics and examples tying together human psychology with imaging [including photography] techniques that evoke certain responses.

cfs · Joined: 23 Feb 2007 Posts: 561

Thanks for all the good inputs.

MattBrennan · Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Posts: 94 Location: Northeast

Just finished "The Third Option" by Vince Flynn. Now I'm reading Rick Ferri's "All About Asset Allocation".

Matt

CyberBob · Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2007 3:25 pm Post subject: Nothing Financial

I'm not reading anything financial anymore. After reading about 300 investment-related books over the years, I'm kind of burnt out. That, and the fact that their seems to only rarely be somthing in the finance section that actually contains new information.

I just finished a book by Erik Larson entitled The Devil in the White City. The White City being the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, and the devil being a serial killer that was active around that time. The timeline of the two happens simultaneously and the book melds them together like a suspense novel, even though it's all true. All history should be this interesting.

Since Larson's other book was so entertaining, I'm now finishing one of his others, entitled Thunderstruck, which melds together the two timelines of Marconi inventing the wireless telegraph, and a hen-pecked doctor killing his wife. Again, all true, but it reads like a suspense novel.

Bob

Norbert Schlenker · Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2007 4:55 pm Post subject:

Special Topics in Calamity Physics

Recommended by my daughter and pretty darn good so far.

gazoline · Joined: 16 Mar 2007 Posts: 34

You may have heard of them:
- A Random Walk Down Wall Street
- The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing
- The Successful Investor Today
- All About Asset Allocation

I think I am off financial books for a while. Any book recommendations for suspenseful short stories?

spangineer · Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 42

As for me, I'm reading:

Common Sense on Mutual Funds

Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America

Haven't read much classic fiction lately, so will probably be reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland next.

shadowrings · Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 9:30 am Post subject:

Kim Harrison's "For a Few Demons More" link It's the author's fifth book in an arcane toned spaghetti-western style set in a future Cincinnati suburb called The Hollows. Excellent characters, good tangled plot very reminenscent of the Eastwood spaghetti-western's that she makes puns of for the book titles.

vickie
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Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.
--- Carl G. Jung

Black Knights · Joined: 28 Feb 2007 Posts: 117 Location: Colorado

More Than You Know: Finding Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Places by Michael J. Mauboussin.

Read it as a mental diversifier and thought provoker, not as a prescriptive investing resource. Applies to much more than finance.
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Jed

shadowrings · Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 12:44 pm Post subject:

Neighbor just passed me a copy of Annette Thau's The Bond Book
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Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.
--- Carl G. Jung

Vegomatic · Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 134

The Catcher Was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg
by Nicholas Dawidoff

"The only Major League ballplayer whose baseball card is on display at the headquarters of the CIA, Moe Berg has the singular distinction of having both a 15-year career as a catcher for such teams as the New York Robins and the Chicago White Sox and that of a spy for the OSS during World War II."