Welcome to another edition of The Librarian in which I cover the books I've read the previous month so you can decide if they're worth further reading.

Books contain hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of labour. In terms of knowledge acquisition, they provide the highest ROI (return on investment), especially older books that have stood the test of time.

But many books contain fluff. That's why I curate books and write book notes - for you. To give you the 80/20 (more like 95/5) and save you time.

May reading

I reduced the scope of what I read to up my odds of making the Empowering MBA's startups a success.

Last month I learnt to focus on biographies, history, "Great Books" and masterpiece fiction. Out of those, biographies and history are most relevant now.

I focused the first half of the month on "brand" and "media"-related books, in line with my first startup, and the second half of the month on "real estate"-related books, in line with my current startup (Growth Agency for Real Estate Agents in the Netherlands).

Introspection has also made me realize that, long-term, I enjoy reading/learning, talking with people and allocating resources (capital, labour, etc) the most. I know now that "creating" (software or otherwise) is neither my skill nor my curiosity. I can do basic web dev and make simple Python programs, which is enough. It's better to lean into my strengths and lifelong curiosities, so I'm moving up the timeline on improving my resource allocation knowledge and skills...and what better way than (re)reading anything on/by Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger - the greatest capital allocators of our generation.

My categories

• Must Read: books I want my children to read. These improve anyone’s life, are timeless and can be re-read.
• Recommended: useful to most people. Provide something practical or a mind-shift. Unlikely to re-read.
• Optional: useful to people interested in the topic, but of little value to others. There are “better” books on the topic.
• Skip This: provide very little to no value and you’re better off reading something else.

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​Must Read

• ​How To Get Rich - Biography - Felix Dennis. Cringe title but an amazing biography. Teaches what the title says and written with lots of personality. Biggest lesson: go to the mountain which produces money with your name on it.
• ​The Inner Game of Tennis - Psychology - Amazing book on performing under pressure, changing habits and beliefs, and learning in a more natural way. Uses tennis examples but applies equally to other endeavours in life.
• ​The Intelligent Investor - Investing - The first read-through is useful. But this book reveals its true depth on rereads. The more experience you have, the more you learn. The first read may not be profound, the 3rd/4th/5th - if a few years apart - almost certainly will. The most valuable chapters are 8 and 20.

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​Recommended

• ​Am I Being Too Subtle? - Biography - An entertaining read: Sam writes with a lot of personality. He's known for real estate but considers himself an "opportunity man." I agree. Lots of no-nonsense takeaways for entrepreneurs, managers and investors.
• ​Bloomberg by Bloomberg - Biography - The first 2/3 is great: it covers his personal journey and how he built Bloomberg. The last 1/3 focuses on his philanthropic efforts and some nods to his experience as a mayor - interesting but lacking depth and feel written with a different intention (candidacy for the presidency?).
• ​Pour Your Heart Into It - Biography - Interesting read on the early years and later transformation of both Starbucks and Howard Schultz. Great pacing and covers every major event up to 1997. Great lessons on what a company stands for (its raison d'être) and how to translate this to products and services that delight your tribe.
• ​Tao of Charlie Munger - Decision-Making - It's an easy, short read and a great "coffee table" or "bedside" book: each page provides a stand-alone maxim with commentary. I prefer Poor Charlie's Almanack and Peter Bevelin's books over Tao of Charlie Munger. Both have more depth and narrative tying everything together, making it easier to internalize his wisdom.
• ​The Boron Letters - Marketing - Legendary copywriter Gary Halbert's personal letters to his son. Contains life, entrepreneurship and copywriting advice.
• ​University of Berkshire Hathaway - Investing - Notes of 30 years of Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meetings by 2 investors. Great summary with added context. Still can't beat watching/listening to the actual meetings though.

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​Optional

• ​Business for Punks - Biography - Create a crusade, not a company. A strong focus on how BrewDog created and lived its crusade. There's little on James Watt. It reads like a 200+ page advertising campaign but has useful lessons for entrepreneurs.
• ​Risk Game - Biography - Billionaire real estate mogul and literary agent Francis Greenburger shares his life and professional lessons. Compared to Sam Zell's biography, it's heavier on his personal life and various relationships. Entertaining, less to learn from.
• ​Shift - Business - Gary Keller - from Keller Williams, a large real estate agency - shares a 12-step plan for real estate agents to deal with a down-market. He focuses on the fundamentals, which resonates with me. Very useful for agents, useful for entrepreneurs and investors, useless for everybody else.

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​Skip this

• ​None

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Manga

• ​Marginal Operation - An operator in a private military security company that uses child soldiers. Based on real-world events. The first 1/3 is mainly character development, the second 1/3 military tactics and conflicts, and the last 1/3 to wrap up the story. 16 volumes total; the quality drops after volume 10~12.
• ​Rikudou - A boxing manga with an interesting premise. The main character develops nicely for the first 2/3 of the series. The last 1/3 feels rushed to conclude the story. The last 2 volumes have scenes that should be impactful but are instead rushed. Started nicely, ended poorly. A real shame. Read Hajime no Ippo instead.
• To improve my focus and input quality, I have put 2/3 of my ongoing manga on hold. Only keeping up with 9 now. I don't miss the others, so probably should have done this earlier.

​New book notes

No new notes added.

Building a startup (Empowering MBA) and reading new books keep me busy. I've got notes for every book mentioned on my computer. Just no time to review and add to my website. Expect this to continue until things settle down.

Currently reading

Ancient - On-hold for now.

Non-fiction - Zeckendorf, Warren Buffett Partnership Letters and Security Analysis.

Fiction - On-hold for now.

I hope The Librarian inspires you to read more. Books are a shortcut to self-improvement: you can learn from the lives, successes and mistakes of others.

As the adage goes: "Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers."

But remember: read what interests and is useful to you.

So...what are you reading now?

Day 47 (almost) finished. 493 to go.

Love,

Jim

P.S. Making great progress with my current startup. Been busy recording masterclass videos for each aspect of our service. Will upload 5 episodes tomorrow & reach out to a few agents who I've audited in these videos tomorrow/Wednesday. Wrap up the remaining videos later this week. Next week more audits & outreach. Partner calls have been productive and fruitful. Things are moving in the right direction.