A top-tier HBO series that happens to be 150 years old. Intersecting storylines, characters you'll recognize from your own life, and enough depth to reward a re-read.
Bad marriages are common, and often hidden. Same as ever.
Fortune's Children· Arthur T. Vanderbilt II · discussed here
The Vanderbilts didn't lose billions to a Ponzi scheme or bad investments. They just spent it. $500 million on a summer home. Two-thirds of it was imported marble.
Money and "things" can't create happiness, and often destroy it. Keeping up with the Joneses can be ruinous, even when you are the Joneses.
The Art of Spending Money· Morgan Housel · discussed here
You imagine the bigger house: the giant living room, the curved staircase. You don't imagine the six-figure gutter replacement, or the neighbor suing you over your landscaping (that's the kind of thing rich neighbors do).
Housel's whole appeal is "simple, not easy." Nothing in here is complicated. That's the point.
Stop trying to predict specific events. Focus on what's been true forever and will be true forever: bad things are worse than you can imagine, so save more than you think you need.
A question I keep coming back to: do I like a book because it's right, or because it's well-written? Who has the right answers that I ignore because they're not articulate?
Their test for a great book: you can keep coming back and keep getting more. I've watched The Sopranos as a teenager, a new grad, and a father. It's a different show every time.
My test is simpler: does the book stay with me after I'm done?
This one kicked off my classics project. It also gave me permission to stop understanding every word.
Working Backwards· Colin Bryar & Bill Carr · discussed here
If you want something done, appoint one owner who's 100% responsible for seeing it through, and kill as many interdependencies as you can. This works at home too.
One of the best business books I've read. Written by operators, not journalists.