2023 in 6 Books
A short recap with some personal insights, thoughts, and reviews.
I begin every new year with the same old goal – read at least 12 books. And almost every year I fail.
As you can see, my failures as a reader are not stopping me from failing as a writer.
This is the first time I’m going to attempt to summarize everything I read last year. The focus will be more on interesting ideas and new perspectives rather than detailed plot descriptions.
In the end, you might want to read the books and see for yourselves – your insights might (and probably will) differ from mine.
I hope you’ll find some inspiration in my 2023 reading list, and feel free to share your favourites and recommendations!
Ben Mezrich – The Antisocial Network
I started the year off strong, with what is surprisingly one of the best books in my 2023 reading list.
‘The Antisocial Network’ is the story of Gamestop – a ‘behind the scenes’ of an attempt at revolutionising Wall Street, the ‘Black Swan’ event of the 21st century.
In 2020, a sizable community of retail investors from Reddit took on one of the biggest market makers – Citadel Securities.
A classic David vs. Goliath story. On one side you have people who are trying to make ends meet and look for financial advice on Reddit. The Apes. The Regards.
Their weapon of choice? GME – Gamestop shares.
And against them stands a billionaire with private jets, unrestricted powers, and his cronies.
Their weapon of choice? Fraud, manipulation, and unfair practices.
In its core it’s a story about freedom and equality, and the power of social networks in the 21st century. It’s a testament to the power of community – how even the ‘little guy’ might alter the course of events.
It’s definitely a great read, although it might require a certain degree of prior knowledge – as to what is PFOF, shortselling, DTCC, Robinhood, and so on.
Mezrich crafted an engaging account of the events while maintaining unbiased voice throughout. The storytelling was simple and easy to follow, and that’s also why it’s one of the best books I read last year.
We might have yet to see how things around Gamestop, Robinhood and Citadel shake out. And who knows, after the Industrial and Scientific Revolutions, we might be a part of the Great Financial Revolution.
This book is a great place to start if you’d like to learn about the Gamestop saga. It’s been also made into a couple of movies and documentaries.
Bob Woodward and Robert Costa – Peril
Moving on from the world of finance and stock markets to another one of my favourite areas – US politics. And especially Donald Trump, coupled with Woodward’s journalistic and engaging writing style, makes for an entertaining winter read.
The joint achievement with Robert Costa – Peril – is not a biography, rather a captivating account of events leading up to Trump’s loss to Biden in the presidential race.
Woodward and Costa take us back to the aftermath of the Capitol riots on 6 January 2020, and quite quickly evaluate Trump’s inability to deal with crises.
Trump’s rival in the election, Biden, is depicted as a mellow fellow who is ‘slow to make decisions’. But he might be just what the country needs after years of erratic decision-making and uncertainty.
The authors touch upon a couple of other prevalent issues in the American society at the time: COVID and the 1.9-trillion stimulus package, withdrawal strategy for Afghanistan, impeachment, problematic situation between China and Taiwan, the beginnings of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and the relationship with Putin.
While the book has not reached the quality of its predecessors, it was an intriguing look at the US and global political landscape.
If you like behind-the-scenes of global and US politics, I definitely recommend reading Bob Woodward’s books ‘Fear’ and ‘Rage’ as well. If his writing style floats your boat – journalistic storytelling which makes you feel like you’re ‘in the room’ – you will also like ‘Peril’.
Gabriel García Marquéz – Cien Años de Soledad
The only non-English book I read last year was this gem of Latin American literature. Marquéz is well-known for his magical realism, and his writing indeed felt like he was the OG Murakami.
Reading this in Spanish was a challenge, but I definitely recommend the original version, even if it takes you more time. I believe the aesthetic experience is well worth it, and you might even pick up a word or two.
The story itself is far too complicated and extensive to be concisely summarised. It spans almost 100 years and, in a way, it’s a chronicle of one family as well as the whole World, Latin America, and humanity.
Among the prominent themes are life and death – shown through many generations of the Buendía family, which is at the heart of Marquéz’s magical narrative.
The story takes place in an imaginary town of Macondo which is also a symbol of Latin American independence, liberty and, to certain extent, separation and solitude.
Through generations of the Buendía family, Marquéz delves first into concepts such as the human desire to discover and invent. This is particularly manifested in the character of José Arcadio Buendía.
José Arcadio also reflects Marquéz’s idea of getting old – which is inadvertently linked to working and solitude. (Topics also present in Hemingway’s timeless classic ‘The Old Man and the Sea’, much in the same spirit.)
Marquéz manages to incorporate and ponder the idea of sin with almost obscene amount of incest and infidelity within the Buendía family. This leads to recurring motives (inbreeding of generations), and the final feeling that the time in Marquéz’s world revolves in circles – underscored by repetition of names throughout generations (be careful, you might get lost in all the José Arcadios and Aurelianos).
This idea (repetition, being stuck in place) also brings us back to the concept of sin – it is exactly the infidelity and immorality portrayed through the characters that makes any progress impossible. The characters are repeatedly trapped in the shadow of the past generations and their sins.
The decadence culminates in the inevitable disappearance of the whole lineage of Buendías.
In addition to certain parallels with Murakami (the magical realism) and Hemingway (ageing, solitude, and work), Marquéz also seemingly channeled his inner Sartre through the depiction of Aureliano’s ‘waiting for death’, and managed to remind me of James Joyce in some passages that resembled ‘stream of consciousness’.
The strength of Colombian and Latin American culture is manifested in the revolutions, superstition, striving for liberty and independence, the struggle between religion and rationalism, and the political background of many characters.
After finally finishing the book after almost two months, I was mostly disgusted and disappointed with the humanity as portrayed by Marquéz. Although there were some bright spots in the characters which represented progress and the future. A drop in the ocean, but it did give me some hope.
Marquéz’s Cien Años de Soledad is definitely a unique take on human nature, culture, morality, and history. The way the story is shaped is unlike any other, and that’s why I believe this title deserves its spot among the greatest works of literary fiction.
I’ll leave Marquéz at your mercy with an interesting idea I made a note of (I’m not sure whether it’s a quote or just a paraphrased section):
No nos importa la muerte, sino perder la vida. (We don't care about death, but about losing our lives.)
Ray Dalio – Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order
The ultimate textbook of macroeconomics. If you want to learn how the markets, inflation and other macroeconomic indicators work – just read this. Forget about everything you read or heard in school.
Ray Dalio takes you on a journey where he explains the importance of debt and its influence on the economic cycle. As you begin to understand debt, you will better understand the mechanics of the whole economy (something they won't teach you in school).
Cycles are how the world and history essentially work. Countries accumulate large amounts of debt through QE – for example due to need to finance wars. Win or lose, we have a new world order. The winners enjoy times of peace and prosperity, which is again connected to a lot of debt, QE, and eventually financing a bubble.
Large amounts of debt and bubbles lead to large wealth gaps (sometimes hyperinflation). People don’t like too much inequality and tend to resort to violence. This inevitably leads to wars, violence, protests, or revolutions. Wealth is then forcefully redistributed. And we go again.
One of the most interesting parts was the short rundown of the world’s superpowers throughout history. Ray begins with China, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and then the US. All these great empires went or are going through essentially the same cycles which repeat indefinitely.
How do we know which country is the current superpower? Ray Dalio dumbs it down for us – just think about what is the current world reserve currency.
But of course, currency and money is not everything; and as Dalio warns us, money has no intrinsic value. It needs to be used as a means to an end (innovation and productivity), which leads to wealth and that in turn to power.
He shows the history of money through cycles – particularly long-term debt cycles which last about 50-75 years.
So how does a debt cycle according to Ray Dalio look?
We start at the point of hyperinflation when people flock to hard assets like gold. But gold is quite impractical as a means of exchange.
We transition into a system where our newly established and highly practical currency (bank notes or coins) is backed by gold – meaning I can go to the bank and redeem my bank notes for a physical asset.
As the economy accelerates, there is more demand for money than there is gold. Inevitably, the banks need to print more money to satisfy the demand (by buying debt/monetizing debt) – resulting in more money in circulation than can be physically backed by gold (creating a FIAT currency). This causes the value of assets (like stocks) to go up; while the value of your money or your currency decreases (inflation). Your currency at this point is essentially a debt, not an asset.
As the printing continues and people spend more and more, we inevitably reach hyperinflation and the return to hard assets. This is also where Ray Dalio makes an important distinction between financial wealth (money or currency) and real wealth (gold).
The second part of the book deals with the world superpowers and their history from cultural and economic points of view, and completes the mosaic of macroeconomics and history.
As we approach an interesting juncture in the macroeconomic cycles and international relations, this is a great read to gain valuable perspective on how to position oneself in the markets for the coming years.
J.R.R. Tolkien – The Hobbit
Tolkien’s Hobbit marks the point where I decided to read everything that Tolkien has ever written. His prose is unparalleled and he has become my favourite writer sharing the no. 1 spot with Ernest Hemingway.
Interestingly enough, his style is completely different from Hemingway’s – Tolkien uses complicated sentence structures and completely different devices. At times, his writing is poetic and the detailed; long descriptions reflect his grandiose and masterful use of the English language.
While the plot of The Hobbit is quite simple (and I believe everyone is more or less familiar with it), the story holds its undeniable importance in the realm of fantasy literature.
Tolkien’s idea of a quest and Bilbo meeting many characters along the way has become the blueprint for many other fantasy writers (for example for Sapkowski’s Witcher).
I found that Bilbo is a likeable character (a lot more interesting than Frodo in the LOTR, and a lot more courageous); he is also a far better character as portrayed in the books than in the movies.
With a surprising amount of courage, spontaneity, and ability to improvise – I found in Bilbo a lot of admirable traits.
The Hobbit proves that you don’t need an elaborate story and thousands of characters and pages to make a great fantasy novel. A simple plot, with an exceptional use of language will make for a timeless experience. (George R.R. Martin might learn a thing or two).
After all, it was first devised as a bedtime story for children. With dragons, trolls, dwarves, elves, wizards, and treasure hunt – The Hobbit has everything a great fantasy story should.
It’s definitely a must-read for everyone, regardless of whether you like fantasy or not. If you don’t, pay more attention to the use of language. And if you do, well, I think you will enjoy it as much as I did.
I will leave this masterpiece with my favourite line which I believe speaks to what a unique wordsmith Tolkien was.
“Farewell, King under the Mountain! This is a bitter adventure, if it must end so; and not a mountain of gold can amend it. Yet I am glad that I have shared in your perils – that has been more than any Baggins deserves.”
(J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit)
Tim Marshall - Prisoners of Geography
Prisoners of Geography was a book that I’d heard a tonne about before reading it – and as it usually happens, I’d had overly high expectations.
I wrote a couple of short summaries for this book:
Who has the best position on the global chess board?
A fast-paced, journalistic journey around the World.
International relations in a tiny nutshell.
Tim Marshall does indeed take us on a well-structured journey around the World in about 10 chapters – each dedicated to a different region. His insights are valuable and will give you a better idea of how geography influenced the position of countries today, but the result is a sort of shallow mix which often produces more questions than answers.
In this way, it’s more of an introduction to further studies of international relations, and maybe a good way to find out where your interests lie. When it comes to depth and detail, it was quite a letdown.
If you’d like to know more about what to expect, here’s a quick and short rundown:
Russia is vast
China is isolated with octopus-like ambitions
USA is powerful
Europe is weak and in decline, full of internal disorder
Korea and Japan lack natural resources
Africa is disconnected
Middle East is conflicted and fragmented
India and Pakistan are culturally diverse
Latin America has limiting infrastructure
This is, of course, a rather quick overview and there is more valuable information you can find. But don’t expect any in-depth analyses or insights, rather a high-altitude fly-by.
Maybe you’ll find a region you like, and delve deeper into its historical and geographical context in 2024.
To finish the year, I started reading ‘The Lord of the Rings’ – as it happens, all 3 books in one go (because that’s how Tolkien himself intended it). I’ve decided to dedicate an individual article to Tolkien, his use of language, and his trilogy which I expect to finish in Q1 of 2024.
Have you read any of the books on my 2023 reading list? Which ones seem like you might go for?
Do you have any valuable insights or tips you would like to share?
What books are you planning to read in 2024?
I’ll be looking forward to your thoughts and ideas, and I wish you many great reads!