Reading Recap: July 2025
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
This book offers many new insights into how we think about money, even for the experienced finance reader. It reminds me of Freakonomics crossed with personal finance. When and where you are born can play a dramatic role in your opportunities for success and how you view the world of finance.
The Unsettling of America by Wendell Berry
Berry’s critic of society’s deference to technology over humanity is more relevant than ever today. This particular book focuses on the farming industry itself and the policies that have driven the industry away from human size family farms into massive agrobusiness. The concept of bigger is better is often judged by the efficiency of output. Berry points out that large scale farm production is only more efficient when you externalize factors like pollution, chemical fertilizers, sustainability, etc. He views the small farmer not as someone who needs to be save from drudgery, but as someone who lives a very full life closely connected to the lifecycle of the planet.
Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed
The human experience. Some aspects of it are common to all of us. The experience of outliers is something we can easily miss. Dear Sugar helps fill in those gaps. How do you give advice to someone facing a terrible hardship that you haven’t? Strayed answers with amazing writing and insights drawn directly and indirectly from her personal experience. I loved reading this as a manager. In my role, I have learned that life happens much more frequently than I had expected it would. The perspectives and approach employed by Sugar are an asset to anyone who hopes provide support and guidance.
Draft No. 4 by John McPhee
Writing about writing 😊. Non-fiction isn’t just laying out the facts. Different structures, what to exclude, what to include, what language to use; these choices all change the story that the reader receives. Directly applicable to how we present data and tell stories in the business world.