My Book Reviews

  ISBN :    978-0753559581 Verdict :    👍👍   This is an overwhelming story of an ex-McKinsey Consultant who executed, what could have been biggest scam ever, selling the concept of getting in early and becoming rich to a product that just didn’t exist - a block chain is miles away from a centralised SQL Database As someone who has a genuine interest in distributed ledger technology, cryptocurrency and the hype around the narrative which promotes a replacement of traditional currency to a single independent global digital currency.   In my opinion it would have been great to move the first paragraph on p148 to earlier in the book i.e.,’’ One -Coin was technically three different scams rolled into one.” A Ponzi Scheme, Pyramid Scheme, and a fake cryptocurrency Page 35 for me highlighted a key aspect in that “ Ruja instead contracted a Bulgarian IT firm, who in turn outsourced some of the work to some Indian developers, who ’forked’ the origina...

ISBN :  978-1-118-95149-1 Verdict :    👍👍   👍   Recently, whilst working on an consultancy assignment, I was asked by the CIO to classify the application estate using a ’Buy ,Sell Hold’  set of tags, so  when I saw this book I thought it would make for a  good read and I was not disappointed. The book provides great value . For me it provided quite a lot to consider especially as I am of the age where I am considering my retirement options. In this book Ken sets the context  in Chapter 1 where he starts with “ You can’t take the risks you did when you were younger. You’re not in the game for growth anymore; you’re in the game to protect your principal ” p3) and continues to follows this through.   The following quotes from the book got my highlighter to pause and think.; When you have a strategy, you can make a plan without being driven by your emotions – p81 As investors, we have to distinguish the battle from the war and make ...

  ISBN :  9976-01-241-548616-5 Verdict :  👍👍   👍   👍   Two of my favourite topics - History and Economics provide the context for this exceptional book and hence my 4 thumbs up 🏆 This is one of those rare books one must read to fully understand the creation  of wealth during British Empire period and what laid the economic  foundation for many organisations that exists today. This book was based on Eric’s doctoral dissertation submitted to the Oxford University in  1938!  Hence well researched and fact based, which due to the nature of the time would have undergone strict scrutiny. This book does not seek to discuss the  slave  (the person)    but  slavery  (the business model) and the underlying economic model which is the premise used to justify some disgusting actions. This book discusses the ‘economic’ model and presents interesting facts, the kind of facts that really should be taught o...

SBN :  978-5098-6808-7 Verdict :  👍👍   The book tells the story of Elizabeth Holmes - Who conducted a 'massive' corporate fraud endangering many lives and someone who managed to get some high profile individuals  to join her board - "She might be young, but she was surrounded by an all-star cast" p4 The vision, a machine that would use a little sample to run multiple blood  tests, unfortunately just couldn't be realised  with their faulty Theranous devices. However, she managed to raise hundreds of millions in funding -This book is definitely worth reading. Here are some snippets from the book, but limit the context unless one reads the book but worthy of mention ;; "I ll drink your wine but I won't ask you for advice the very field that paid for the wine " p57 " They wanted to control the narrative of her departure " p80  " Wallgreens suffered from a severe case of FoMO -The fear of missing out " p89 "Sunny put it more blu...

ISBN : 978-1509550869 Verdict  : 👍👍👍 As with most things, actions, or events there is always an alternate viewpoint, so as a Brit, when I started reading this book, I was expecting some bias,However,  I think Michel  kept his emotions intact when writing this and I didn’t spot the bias I was expecting  despite the odd odd comment which may have been justified.    Irrespective of your political posture, you really have to admire Mr Barnier who is seasoned politician and a great choice by the EU to represent their representative to  negotiate with the UK and someone who ‘ prefers transparency to leaks ’ p55) which with the quote on p69 “ Clearly, in negotiation we will need to pay as much attention to the language of gesture as to that of words ” sets the tone of the diary.   I did highlight great chunks of this book so I can’t replay all the key bits – but below are some small snippets for certain days  from the book that either m...

 ISBN: 978-1-78396-606-6 Verdict:  👍👍 👍 What got my attention when I was scanning this book, before diving into it, was a statement on page 13 ; “ Cash aside, all payments today are therefore digital debt entries recorded in a ledger system that was invented centuries ago; an antique practice made modern by dancing bits and bytes that animate digital ledgers deep within computer systems .”  The statement spoke volumes and set the tone of the book which explores the current and future payment systems and the entry of digital enablers.   While reading this book, my highlighter was not spared especially as it provides several snippets of valuable information all wrapped below the trade-off between  liquidity, risk and the convention which acts as  theme through the book around payment systems.   My favourite section was chapter 14 - How to steal a billion: fraud and theft.   Below are some snippets from the book which I found valuable. “ But ...

ISBN:  978-0-300-12223-7 Verdict :  👍👍 The book, quite rightly so, starts with a nice definition found on page 6 of what is to follow i.e. " A nudge, as we will use the term, is any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people’s behaviour in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives . " It is an enjoyable read and does not disappoint, it takes a basic concept from parts of human behavioural  science  and expands with some good examples of “Choice Architecture” to reinforce the concepts. My one  criticism  is that it is written with an American, as all case studies and examples are US centric and, in some cases, not relevant to a British reader, hence my 2 thumbs - but still a good read.  Here are my favourite snippets from the book;         “If an option is designated as a “default”, it will attract a large market share. Default options thus act as power...

ISBN:  978-0-00-842109-0 Verdict :  👍👍 👍 👍 I really enjoyed this book from Mark Carney, a former G7 central banker, governor of the Bank of Canada and more recently the Bank of England, so he brings a wealth of financial experience and insights into this book. This book address  values and the value  using past economic crisis, cryptocurrencies, covid and the net zero goals / initiatives and brings some advice with a very much financial lens.   The book does make one and reflect on things e.g.  the value of Amazon (the company) in relation to the Amazon Region where Amazon has a $1.5 trillion equity valuation, whilst the Amazon Region does not appear on any ledger yet the costs to both climate and biodiversity of destroying the rainforest has greater value to the planet – Makes you think! This example and others set the tone. Here are some of favourite bits – however unless you read the book the context is lost but worthy of mention. 1.  ...

  ISBN: 978-1-292360836   Disclaimer:   I must  highlight  bias on my part, as the author is someone I know personally, and I am quoted ( p64-65) as an independent voice. Hence I have awarded no thumbs  But would  recommend reading. I consider myself a seasoned freelance consultant, one who has worked independently for near three decades, after reading this book I am pleased to say I derived value and re-evaluated some of our practices regarding selling professional services.   Whilst the book is targeted at those considering freelancing or in the early stages of their journey it is equally of value to those, who like me, have worked independently for several years serving as a prompt to reinforce best practices.   The book is organised, in four parts, providing some great context from the basics, the design , the selling and the developing of your service offering and even goes into the management of payments and along the journey yo...

ISBN:  978-0-241-44529-7 Verdict :  👍👍 I bought this book primarily because the author is a British Asian ( like myself ) and I like to support where I can. The book did not disappoint, it was well written, had several  interesting  facts which I was not aware of resulting in  added value to my knowledge base.  My only criticism is that a few more pages wouldn’t have gone a miss , could have read some more. However, at 216 pages I consider it as good value for the  golden nuggets found within the book.   I would probably disagree with the author on some of his stereotypical points e.g.  “ Sikhs did relatively well out of empire ”  (p18) – not all, Jallianwala Bagh ?  “Private   numberplate  on BMWs   “ (p23), " Front gardens paved over to make space for Audis ” p 23 - hmmm maybe in Wolverhampton !   “ you can’t apply modern ethics to the past ”  (p40) yet we do with Nazi Germany?   “ the kindest thin...