wall street journal book reviews june 2022

307 E Lake St. Petoskey, MI 49770   |   231-347-1180   |   H ours     

The Wall Street Journal's 10 Best Books of the Year, 2021:

All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days: The True Story of the American Woman at the Heart of the German Resistance to Hitler (Hardcover)

The INSTANT  New York Times Bestseller Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography Winner of the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award  Winner of the Chautauqua Prize Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award Finalist for the Plutarch Award A New York Times Notable Book of 2021 A New

Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest (Hardcover)

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • From the world's leading forest ecologist who forever changed how people view trees and their connections to one another and to other living things in the forest—a moving, deeply personal journey of discovery

Harrow: A novel (Hardcover)

In her first novel since the Pulitzer Prize–nominated The Quick and the Dead , the legendary writer takes us into an uncertain landscape after an environmental apocalypse, a world in which only the man-made has value, but some still wish to salvage the authentic.  

An Inventory of Losses (Paperback)

A dazzling book about memory and extinction from the author of Atlas of Remote Islands A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year A Financial Times Best Book of the Year Winner of the Warwick Prize Winner of the Helen & Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize

Look for Me and I'll Be Gone: Stories (Hardcover)

*A Wall Street Journal Top 10 Best Book of the Year* From John Edgar Wideman, a modern “master of language” ( The New York Times Book Review ), comes a stunning story collection that spans a range of topics from Michael Jordan to Emmett Till, from childhood memories to the final day in a prison cell. In Look For Me and I’ll Be Gone ,

The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family (Paperback)

WINNER OF THE 2022 PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION 2021 NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD WINNER A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2021 A WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF 2021 A KIRKUS BEST FICTION BOOK OF 2021

Robert E. Lee: A Life (Hardcover)

A WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • From the award-winning historian and best-selling author of Gettysburg comes the definitive biography of Robert E. Lee. An intimate look at the Confederate general in all his complexity—his hypocrisy and courage, his inner turmoil and outward calm, his disloyalty and his honor.

The Strategy of Denial: American Defense in an Age of Great Power Conflict (Hardcover)

Why and how America’s defense strategy must change in light of China’s power and ambition—A Wall Street Journal best book of 2021   “This is a realist’s book, laser-focused on China’s bid for mastery in Asia as the 21st century’s most important threat.”—Ross Douthat, New York Times  

The Transcendentalists and Their World (Hardcover)

One of The Wall Street Journal 's 10 best books of 2021 One of Air Mail 's 10 best books of 2021 Winner of the Peter J. Gomes Memorial Book Prize

Voyagers: The Settlement of the Pacific (Hardcover)

An award-winning scholar explores the sixty-thousand-year history of the Pacific islands in this dazzling, deeply researched account. One of the Best Books of 2021 —  Wall Street Journal The islands of Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia stretch across a huge expanse of ocean and encompass a multitude of different peoples.

Advertisement

Supported by

Jared Kushner’s ‘Breaking History’ Is a Soulless and Very Selective Memoir

In this lengthy book, Kushner recounts the time he spent in the White House during his father-in-law’s term.

• Share full article

By Dwight Garner

BREAKING HISTORY A White House Memoir By Jared Kushner 492 pages. Broadside Books. $35.

Listen to This Article

The United States Secret Service isn’t known for its sense of humor, but when it gave Jared Kushner the code name “mechanic,” was someone betting that he’d call his memoir “Breaking History”?

It’s a title that, in its thoroughgoing lack of self-awareness, matches this book’s contents. Kushner writes as if he believes foreign dignitaries (and less-than dignitaries) prized him in the White House because he was the fresh ideas guy, the starting point guard, the dimpled go-getter.

He betrays little cognizance that he was in demand because, as a landslide of other reporting has demonstrated, he was in over his head , unable to curb his avarice, a cocky young real estate heir who happened to unwrap a lot of Big Macs beside his father-in-law, the erratic and misinformed and similarly mercenary leader of the free world. Jared was a soft touch.

“Breaking History” is an earnest and soulless — Kushner looks like a mannequin, and he writes like one — and peculiarly selective appraisal of Donald J. Trump’s term in office. Kushner almost entirely ignores the chaos, the alienation of allies, the breaking of laws and norms, the flirtations with dictators, the comprehensive loss of America’s moral leadership, and so on, ad infinitum, to speak about his boyish tinkering (the “mechanic”) with issues he was interested in.

This book is like a tour of a once majestic 18th-century wooden house, now burned to its foundations, that focuses solely on, and rejoices in, what’s left amid the ashes: the two singed bathtubs, the gravel driveway and the mailbox. Kushner’s fealty to Trump remains absolute. Reading this book reminded me of watching a cat lick a dog’s eye goo.

The tone is college admissions essay. Typical sentence: “In an environment of maximum pressure, I learned to ignore the noise and distractions and instead to push for results that would improve lives.”

Every political cliché gets a fresh shampooing. “Even in a starkly divided country, there are always opportunities to build bridges,” Kushner writes. And, quoting the former White House deputy chief of staff Chris Liddell: “Every day here is sand through an hourglass, and we have to make it count.” So true, for these are the days of our lives.

Kushner, poignantly, repeatedly beats his own drum. He recalls every drop of praise he’s ever received; he brings these home and he leaves them on the doorstep. You turn the pages and find, almost at random, colleagues, some of them famous, trying to be kind, uttering things like:

It’s really not fair how the press is beating you up. You made a very positive contribution. I don’t know how you do this every day on so many topics. That was really hard! You deserve an award for all you’ve done. I’ve said before, and I’ll say again. This agreement would not have happened if it wasn’t for Jared. Jared did an amazing job working with Bob Lighthizer on the incredible USMCA trade deal we signed yesterday. Jared’s a genius. People complain about nepotism — I’m the one who got the steal here. I’ve been in Washington a long time, and I must say, Jared is one of the best lobbyists I’ve ever seen.

A therapist might call these cries for help.

“Breaking History” opens with the story of Kushner’s father, the real estate tycoon Charles Kushner, who was imprisoned after hiring a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, having the encounter filmed and sending the tape to his sister. He was a good man who did a bad thing, Jared says, and Chris Christie, while serving as the United States attorney for New Jersey, was cruel to prosecute him so mercilessly.

There is a flashback to Kushner’s grandparents, Holocaust survivors who settled in New Jersey and did well. There’s a page or two about Kushner’s time at Harvard. He omits the fact that he was admitted after his father pledged $2.5 million to the college.

If Kushner can recall a professor or a book that influenced him while in Cambridge, he doesn’t say. Instead, he recalls doing his first real estate deals while there. He moved to New York, and bought and ruined a great newspaper (The New York Observer) by dumbing it down and feting his friends in its pages.

His wooing of Ivanka Trump included a good deal of jet-setting. Kushner briefly broke up with her, he writes, because she wasn’t Jewish. (She would later convert.) Wendi Murdoch, Rupert’s wife, reunited them on Rupert’s yacht. Kushner describes the power scene:

On that Sunday, we were having lunch at Bono’s house in the town of Eze on the French Riviera, when Rupert stepped out to take a call. He came back and whispered in my ear, “They blinked, they agreed to our terms, we have The Wall Street Journal.” After lunch, Billy Joel, who had also been with us on the boat, played the piano while Bono sang with the Irish singer-songwriter Bob Geldof.

With or without you, Bono.

Once in the White House, Kushner became Little Jack Horner, placing a thumb in everyone else’s pie, and he wonders why he was disliked. He read Sun Tzu and imagined he was becoming a warrior. It was because he had Trump’s ear, however, that he won nearly every time he locked antlers with a rival. Corey Lewandowski — out. Steve Bannon — out.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who begged Kushner to stop meddling internationally — out. (Kushner cites Tillerson’s “reclusive approach” to foreign policy.) By the end, Tillerson was like a dead animal someone needed to pull a tarpaulin over.

Kushner was pleased that the other adults in the room, including the White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, the White House counsel Don McGahn and the later chief of staff John Kelly, left or were ejected because they tried, patriotically, to exclude him from meetings he shouldn’t have been in. The fact that he was initially denied security clearance, he writes, was much ado about nothing.

The bulk of “Breaking History” — at nearly 500 pages, it’s a slog — goes deeply into the weeds (Kushner, in his acknowledgments, credits a ghostwriter, the speechwriter Brittany Baldwin) on the issues he cared most about, including prison reform, the Covid response and the Middle East, where he had a win with the Abraham Accords .

This book ends with Kushner suggesting he was unaware of the events of Jan. 6 until late in the day. He mostly sidesteps talking about spurious claims of election fraud. He seems to have no beliefs beyond carefully managed appearances and the art of the deal. He wants to stay on top of things, this manager, but doesn’t want to get to the bottom of anything.

You finish “Breaking History” wondering: Who is this book for? There’s not enough red meat for the MAGA crowd, and Kushner has never appealed to them anyway. Political wonks will be interested — maybe, to a limited degree — but this material is more thoroughly and reliably covered elsewhere. He’s a pair of dimples without a demographic.

What a queasy-making book to have in your hands. Once someone has happily worked alongside one of the most flagrant and systematic and powerful liars in this country’s history, how can anyone be expected to believe a word they say?

It makes a kind of sense that Kushner is likely to remain exiled in Florida. “The whole peninsula of Florida was weighted down with regret,” as Cynthia Ozick put it in “The Shawl.” “Everyone had left behind a real life.”

Audio produced by Kate Winslett .

Dwight Garner has been a book critic for The Times since 2008. His new book, “The Upstairs Delicatessen: On Eating, Reading, Reading About Eating, and Eating While Reading,” is out this fall. More about Dwight Garner

Explore More in Books

Want to know about the best books to read and the latest news start here..

The complicated, generous life  of Paul Auster, who died on April 30 , yielded a body of work of staggering scope and variety .

“Real Americans,” a new novel by Rachel Khong , follows three generations of Chinese Americans as they all fight for self-determination in their own way .

“The Chocolate War,” published 50 years ago, became one of the most challenged books in the United States. Its author, Robert Cormier, spent years fighting attempts to ban it .

Joan Didion’s distinctive prose and sharp eye were tuned to an outsider’s frequency, telling us about ourselves in essays that are almost reflexively skeptical. Here are her essential works .

Each week, top authors and critics join the Book Review’s podcast to talk about the latest news in the literary world. Listen here .

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

American Ramble review: a riveting tale of the divided United States

Neil King Jr, once of the Wall Street Journal, walked from Washington to New York. His account of the journey is essential

I n spring 2021, Neil King trekked 330 miles from his Washington DC home to New York City. He passed through countryside, highways, towns and churchyards. His 25-day walk was also a journey through time. He looked at the US as it was and is and how it wishes to be seen. His resultant book is a beautifully written travelog, memoir, chronicle and history text. His prose is mellifluous, yet measured.

In his college days, King drove a New York cab. At the Wall Street Journal , his remit included politics, terror and foreign affairs. He did a stint as global economics editor. One might expect him to be jaded. Fortunately, he is not. American Ramble helps make the past come alive.

In Lancaster, Pennsylvania , King stops at the home of James Buchanan, the bachelor president from 1857 to 1861, who sympathized with the south and loathed abolition. Ending slavery could wait. Of the supreme court’s infamous Dred Scott decision, Buchanan highly approved.

Also in Lancaster, King visits a townhouse once owned by Thaddeus Stevens, the 19th-century Republican congressman and radical abolitionist. At the start of the civil war, Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, viewed the conflict as the vehicle for preserving the Union. He opposed slavery but opposed secession more. For Stevens, slavery was an evil that demanded eradication.

Elsewhere in Pennsylvania , King describes how the ancestors of one town greeted Confederate troops as heroes while another just 20 miles away viewed them as a scourge. Forks in the road are everywhere.

King pays homage to the underground railroad, describing how the Mason-Dixon Line, the demarcation between north and south, free state and slave, came into being. Astronomy and borders had a lot to do with it. All of this emerges from the scenery and places King passes on his way.

Imagining George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware, he delivers a lesson on how such rivers came to be named. Names affixed to bodies of water by Indigenous peoples gave way to Dutch pronunciation, then anglicization. The Delaware, however, derived its moniker from Lord De La Warr, a “dubious aristocrat” otherwise known as Thomas West.

Yet joy and wonder suffuse King’s tale. He smiles on the maker’s handiwork, uneven as it is. American Ramble depicts a stirring sunset and nightfall through the roof-window of a Quaker meeting house. Quiet stands at the heart of the experience. The here and now is loud and messy, but King ably conveys the silent majesty of the moment. The Bible recounts the Deity’s meeting with the prophet Elijah. He was not in the wind, a fire or an earthquake. Rather, He resided in a whisper.

King recalls an earlier time in a Buddhist monastery. Warned that surrounding scenery would detract from solitude and commitment, he nevertheless succumbed. King is nothing if not curious.

The quotidian counts too. He pops cold beers, downs pizzas and snarfs chicken parmesan. A wanderer needs sustenance. He is grateful for the day following the night. Predictability is miraculous, at times invaluable.

King is a cancer survivor and a pilgrim. He is a husband and father, son and brother. Life’s fragility and randomness have left their mark. His malady is in remission but he moves like a man unknowing how long good fortune will last. His voice is a croak, a casualty of Lyme disease. He is restless. Life’s clock runs. He writes of how his brother Kevin lost his battle with a brain tumor.

King puts his head and heart on the page. His life story helps drive the narrative, a mixture of the personal, political and pastoral. But it is not only about him. He meets strangers who become friends, of a sort. At times, people treat him as an oddity – or simply an unwanted presence. More frequently, they are open if not welcoming. As his walk continues, word gets out. Minor celebrity results.

The author is awed by generosity, deprivation and the world. He is moved by a homeless woman and her daughter. Traversing the New Jersey Turnpike presents a near-insurmountable challenge. A mother and son offer him a kayak to paddle beneath the traffic. He accepts.

A Colorado native, King is at home in the outdoors. Nature is wondrous and sometimes disturbing. Rough waters complicate his passages. He studies heaps on a landfill. He meets a New Jerseyan with pickup truck adorned by Maga flags. The gentleman bestows beer, snacks and jokes. King divides the universe into “anywheres” and “somewheres”. He puts himself in the first camp and finds placed-ness all around.

American Ramble captures the religious and demographic topography that marks the mid-Atlantic and north-eastern US. Here, dissenters, Anabaptists, German pietists, Presbyterians and Catholics first landed. King pays homage to their pieces of turf. His reductionism is gentle. He appreciates the legacy of what came before him. Landscapes change, human nature less so, even as it remains unpredictable.

“When I crossed the Delaware two days before,” he writes, “I had entered what I later came to call Presbyteriana, a genteel and horsey patch settled by Presbyterians and Quakers.” Princeton University stands at its heart.

E pluribus unum was tough to pull off when the settlers came. It may even be tougher now. King quotes Nick Rizzo, a denizen of Staten Island, New York City’s Trumpy outer borough: “We are losing our ability to forge any unity at all from these United States.”

Rizzo joined King along the way. In the Canterbury Tales, April stands as the height of spring. It was prime time for religious pilgrimages, “what with Chaucer and all, and it being April”, Rizzo explains.

“Strangers rose to the occasion to provide invaluable moments,” King writes. Amen.

American Ramble: A Walk of Memory and Renewal is published in the US by HarperCollins

• Travel writing
• History books
• Politics books
• US politics
• Washington DC
• Pennsylvania

Most viewed

Top reads of 2022

2022: the year in charts, 2022: the year in images, 2022: the year in innovation, top ten lists of most popular insights, overall top 10 for 2022, mckinsey quarterly, mckinsey global institute, sustainability & energy, diversity & inclusion, growth, marketing, & sales, people & organization performance, digital & quantumblack, strategy & corporate finance, consumer & retail, editor’s choice, special features, mckinsey technology trends outlook 2022, what matters most six priorities for ceos in turbulent times, spotting green business opportunities in a surging net-zero world, 2022 summer reading guide, mckinsey for kids: game on why your computer learns faster and games better than you think, my rookie moment, top reports this year.

Adding years to life and life to years

Human capital at work: The value of experience

McKinsey’s Private Markets Annual Review: 2017 to 2022

Redesigning the design department

Creating value, finding focus: Global Insurance Report 2022

Sporting goods 2022: The new normal is here

New series & experiences.

McKinsey Explainers

Data Points

Popular special collections this year.

McKinsey on Finance 20th anniversary

Speeding up in a slowing economy

The McKinsey guide to managing yourself—and others

The Next Normal

Building Great CEOs

Mindset to action: Imperatives for Growth

Popular videos, popular podcasts this year.

In 2022, listeners tuned in for insights on leadership, ESG, and more. Explore some of our most streamed podcasts, and check out The McKinsey Podcast for even more audio.

Leadership lessons from the world’s best CEOs

The role of ESG and purpose

What is the metaverse—and what does it mean for business?

The office of the future: A whole new (floor) plan

The rising risk of a global food crisis

The state of burnout for women in the workplace

Mckinsey on books.

CEO Excellence

Titanium Economy

Deliberate Calm

Author Talks: What separates the best CEOs from the rest?

Author Talks: How industrial technology is creating a more inclusive economy

Author Talks: How to learn and lead calmly through volatile times

Whether daily, weekly, or monthly, our free newsletter offerings span functional, industry, and news-based topics—have you signed up? Explore some of our most-read newsletters, and subscribe to stay in the loop .

Leading Off

Mind the Gap

Readers & Leaders

Acknowledgments.

McKinsey Global Publishing would like to thank, first and foremost, the many authors of these articles and other insights for their contributions and analysis.

And we want to acknowledge the many direct contributors who offered vital energy and expertise—under extraordinary personal and professional circumstances—to the development, editing, risk review, copyediting, fact checking, data visualization, design, production, and dissemination of all of McKinsey’s content over the past year.

McKinsey Global Publishing

Raju Narisetti

Deputy Publisher & Global Editorial Director

Lucia Rahilly

David Batcheck, Max Berley, Richard Bucci, Hannah Buchdahl, Chuck Burke, Marisa Carder, Christine Chen, Daniel Eisenberg, Roberta Fusaro, Vasudha Gupta, Eileen Hannigan, Heather Hanselman, Bill Javetski, Christopher Kahn, Arshiya Khullar, Katy McLaughlin, Alexandra Mondalek, Cait Murphy, Elizabeth Newman, Benjamin Plotinsky, Rama Ramaswami, Lisa Renaud, Astrid Sandoval, David Schwartz, Daniella Seiler, Andrew Simon, Mark Staples, Seth Stevenson, Stephanie Strom, Rick Tetzeli, Barbara Tierney, Monica Toriello, David Weidner, Patrick White, Gretchen Worth, and Belinda Yu

Audience development & innovation

Nicole Adams, Emily Adeyanju, Michael Allen, Ankush Arora, Matthew Baumer, Mike Borruso, Elana Brown, Andrew Cha, Sean Conrad, Eliza Cooper, Stephanie d’Arc Taylor, Zachary Enco, Torea Frey, Amy Goegan, Matt Jennings, Mehreen Khan, Eleni Kostopoulos, Molly Liebergall, Lucina Martinez, Philip Mathew, Joy Merten, Laurel Moglen, Najah Mushatt, Shahid Naeem, Ron Nurwisah, Kareem Parrot, Mythili Sankara, Brandon Schultz, Shirley Shum, Sarah Skinner, Chandan Srivastava, Andrew Swift, Katherine Tam, Lindsey Taylor, Natalia Tokas, Petra Vincent, Adam Volk, Bifen Xu, Joyce Yoo, and Sam Zachar

Vanessa Burke, Heather Byer, Nancy Cohn, Roger Draper, Drew Holzfeind, Grace Ivey, Julie Macias, LaShon Malone, Pamela Norton, Kanika Punwani, and Sarah Thuerk

Visual storytelling

Vicki Brown, Nayomi Chibana, Victor Cuevas, Richard Johnson, Maya Kaplun, Stephen Landau, Janet Michaud, Matt Perry, Diane Rice, Jonathon Rivait, Amanda Soto, Dan Spector, Amy Swan, Angela Walker, Jessica Wang, and Nathan Wilson

Editorial production & operations

Mark Cajigao, Mary Kate Crowe, Ramya D’Rozario, Christopher Friedmann, Paromita Ghosh, Gwyn Herbein, Milva Mantilla, Katrina Parker, Charmaine Rice, Dana Sand, Katie Shearer, Venetia Simcock, Regina Small, Maegan Smith, Sneha Vats, and Pooja Yadav

Technology & development

Hana Abbas, Yogita Abrol, Farah Abu-Arja, Marianne Blum, Ashlea Blunt, Daniel Bocian, Pablo Corzo, Rafael Daraya, Rohit Garg, Arun Gupta, Anuj Jain, Azam Jameel, Aman Kanoria, Gaurav Kumar, Darshan Mehta, Puneet Mishra, Vilom Oza, Rahul Rawal, Anil Kumar Saini, Jim Santo, and Harsha Suri

19 books to read in 2023 to think like a Wall Street investor

• In 2023 markets may be plagued by ongoing inflation and recessionary fears.
• We asked experts for their essential reads heading into a new year filled with uncertainty.
• Here are the 19 books to read in 2023 to help you make smart investment decisions.

After a year of floundering returns and whiplash from highly volatile markets, it's no surprise that most investors are eager to turn the page into a new year.

But looking ahead, 2023 may be very similar to the current macroeconomic environment characterized by a brewing recession , sticky inflation, and plunging equities.

Still, that doesn't mean all hope is lost. In every economic cycle there's always opportunities to make money — if investors know where to look.

Insider asked a number of veteran Wall Street investors which books they're reading or most looking forward to reading in the new year to shed some light on their investing strategies and how they plan to cope with ongoing economic uncertainty. Here are their responses.

1. "21st Century Monetary Policy: The Federal Reserve from the Great Inflation to COVID-19" by Ben Bernanke

Recommended by: David Souccar, portfolio manager at Vontobel Asset Management

In this book, former Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke walks readers through the history of the US central bank, giving a behind-the-scenes look at key monetary policy decisions — and their resulting repercussions — during his tenure there.

"A helpful book to understand the challenge the Fed is facing in its current battle against inflation," said David Souccar, a portfolio manager at Vontobel Asset Management.

2. "Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology" by Chris Miller

Recommended by: David Souccar

Over the past two years, pandemic-induced bottlenecks have squeezed global supply chains and led to a shortage in the production of semiconductor chips, a critical component for many electronics and appliances. In "Chip War," author Chris Miller details how intense foreign competition from countries like China has placed immense pressure on the US's title as the world's leading manufacturer of semiconductor chips — effectively showcasing the US-China struggle for dominance on a new stage.

3. "The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath: The Past and Future of American Affluence" by Robert J. Samuelson

Recommended by: Jason Pride, chief investment officer of private wealth at Glenmede

Robert J. Samuelson's "The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath" provides a detailed look at the high inflation that characterized the US economy in the 1970s and 1980s, which investors can draw many parallels from today. While the conclusion of this period led to an era of uninterrupted economic growth, Samuelson argues that it also indirectly contributed to the 2008 financial crisis by giving Americans recency bias.

"In order to understand 2022, the rise in inflation, and the potential paths forward, it is important to know — in depth — the pattern of the inflation cycle of that time. That includes the causes; the responses of government, business, and consumers; their mistakes that prolonged the cycle; and their later actions that finally brought it to an end," said Jason Pride, chief investment officer of private wealth at Glenmede.

4. "The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times" by Michelle Obama

Recommended by: Priya Misra, head of global rates strategy at TD Securities

In Michelle Obama's newest book, the lawyer and former first lady shares her insights on how to move forward when unforeseen challenges or obstacles arise.

"It talks about how to stay true to oneself and stay balanced in the face of uncertainty," said TD Securities' head of global rates strategy Priya Misra. "2022 was a reminder of how uncertain life can be."

5. "The Lion Tracker's Guide To Life" by Boyd Varty

Recommended by: Brian Ferguson, portfolio manager at BNY Mellon

While this book may be somewhat off the beaten path, portfolio manager Brian Ferguson told Insider that many of his investment insights nowadays come from non-financial sources. In the book, South African wildlife activist Boyd Varty shares how the ancient skills used to track lions can also be applied to our own lives to find more meaning and to better understand our true selves.

"In the book, there is a great quote: 'I don't know where we are going, but I know exactly how to get there might be the motto of a great tracker,'" said Ferguson. "My take on this as a portfolio manager is — the future is uncertain and never clear until it is in the present — so like a lion tracker we do not know where we are going. However, our people and time-tested process and philosophy is our anchor to the windward and epitomizes our conviction in exactly how to get there — just like a lion tracker."

6. "Millionaire: The Philanderer, Gambler, and Duelist Who Invented Modern Finance" by Janet Gleeson

Recommended by: James Abate, founder and chief investment officer at Centre Asset Management

Janet Gleeson's book "Millionaire" thrusts readers into an enthralling journey to understand John Law, the man behind finance as we know it today. While Law charmed Louis XV and his court with his ideas to issue paper money for credit backed by land values, making him rich beyond his wildest dreams, Law later saw his entire empire come crashing down as unchecked speculation and widespread panic swept European financial markets.

"John Law was the original Sam Bankman-Fried," said portfolio manager James Abate. "This is a must-read for understanding human psychology in any time period and speculating in cryptocurrencies or the dot-com bubble … Also great to understand how pandemics have been around since the start of time and their impact on finance."

7. "More Than You Know: Finding Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Places" by Michael J. Mauboussin

Recommended by: Joshua Wein, portfolio manager at Hennessy Funds

Michael J. Mauboussin's widely-acclaimed "More Than You Know" chronicles traditional investing wisdom for professionals through a wide array of unorthodox sources, like analyzing poker-playing strategies or comparing fish mating patterns to bull markets. "It spoke to how difficult it is to beat the market," portfolio manager Joshua Wein told Insider.

8. "The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations" by Daniel Yergin

Recommended by: Dan McGoey, portfolio manager at Lazard Asset Management

In "The New Map," global energy expert Daniel Yergin lifts the veil from one of the most topically turbulent conflicts today: the clash of powers and politics leading up to the ongoing worldwide energy shortage. Yergin also explores how access to energy amid extreme scarcity can shape the new world order — as well as how the transition to clean energy might dictate a new ranking going forward, with resulting economic and political implications.

9. "On Grand Strategy" by John Lewis Gaddis

John Lewis Gaddis' "On Grand Strategy" is hailed as a master class in leadership and strategic thinking, drawing from a plethora of historic examples like Sun Tzu, Augustus, Elizabeth I, and the Founding Fathers of America, just to name a few — and diving into the pivotal decisions these political leaders had to make under great uncertainty.

"It is a great non-investment book for investors," Souccar said. "The book argues that effective leaders combine a strategic understanding of the situation with a flexible mindset to adapt to new information."

10. "The Platform Delusion: Who Wins and Who Loses in the Age of Tech Titans" by Jonathan Knee

Technological firms may have taken financial markets by storm in the last two decades, but Jonathan Knee's "The Platform Delusion" argues that not all tech companies are created equal.

In the book, Knee successfully demystifies the success of tech titans, separating those that have real competitive advantages, such as Google, from those who don't, such as Netflix, Souccar explained to Insider. It's a great read for any investors or entrepreneurs looking for a long-term roadmap for success and profitability in the tech industry.

11. "Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World" by Tim Marshall

Recommended by: Dan McGoey

In "Prisoners of Geography," journalist Tim Marshall takes a look at the most crucial element that predetermines a nation's strengths and vulnerabilities, and its accompanying political decisions and conflicts — its geography. Marshall's book encompasses a global view, taking readers through conflicts in the Americas, Europe, the South China Sea, and more.

"My aim was to read a book that foresaw the conflict in the Ukraine correctly to better understand what it might teach us about potential outcomes," McGoey told Insider. "Among many key points, the book makes it very clear that maritime access and naval power is as important today to both national security and commerce as it was centuries ago. Readers will leave with a much deeper understanding of how geography often determines politics. And while politics may change, geography does not."

12. "Quit: The Power of Knowing when to Walk Away" by Annie Duke

Recommended by: John Bailer, portfolio manager at BNY Mellon

In "Quit," former professional poker player Annie Duke explores how the inherent human fault of not being able to walk away holds us back from better opportunities. By using anecdotes drawn from famous figures, Duke dispels common paradoxes and proves why quitting is integral to finding success, especially for investors.

"It is so important for an investor to think in probabilities and understand that making mistakes, emotion and losing are all part of investing. The good investors can learn from their mistakes and try to understand luck versus skill. It is the quality of the decision that matters; don't just focus on the outcome," said portfolio manager John Bailer.

13. "The Struggle for Mastery in Europe: 1848-1918" by A. J. P. Taylor

Recommended by: James Abate

A. J. P. Taylor's "The Struggle for Mastery in Europe" chronicles the political and diplomatic developments that shaped European history from 1848 to 1918. "A lot of details that sometimes confuse but great understanding of alliance diplomacy that led to WWI and insight to Putin as he's a man who acts like it's the 19th century and he's Metternich or Bismarck," Abate said. "Another lesson is the trip-wire effects of alliances sometimes."

14. "Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts" by Annie Duke

Recommended by: John Bailer

Another title from former pro poker player Annie Duke, "Thinking in Bets" teaches readers how they can still optimize their decision making skills even when faced with great uncertainty during times of high stakes and stress. Duke successfully shows why employing a degree of confidence is key to avoiding making knee-jerk and emotionally-charged decisions, which can ultimately be destructive over the long term.

15. "Three Days at Camp David: How a Secret Meeting in 1971 Transformed the Global Economy" by Jeffrey E. Garten

Recommended by: Brian Levitt, global market strategist at Invesco

Famed economist Jeffrey E. Garten's "Three Days at Camp David" provides a gripping behind-the-scenes look at one of the most pivotal and dramatic turning points in global macroeconomics: the depegging of the US dollar to gold. Garten argues that this action permanently introduced instability and speculation into financial systems, but simultaneously turbocharged the cross-border trade and capital flow that is responsible for our world today. The book also brings to light the arguments made that ending the gold standard could dramatically increase future inflation — an extremely topical point today — and explains to readers the thinking of Fed chairs of the past, which may shed some light on how the central bank will handle its current inflationary challenges.

16. "Trillion Dollar Triage: How Jay Powell and the Fed Battled a President and a Pandemic — and Prevented Economic Disaster" by Nick Timiraos

Recommended by: Ganesh Rao, head of financial technology & services at Thomas H. Lee Partners

In "Trillion Dollar Triage," The Wall Street Journal's chief economics correspondent Nick Timiraos gives readers an inside look at the Federal Reserve's unprecedented response to the COVID-19 pandemic — and the repercussions of the drastic measures Chair Jerome Powell took to keep the economy afloat during this time.

"Given how important the Fed is today in the economy and markets, I found this a really informative read of the history of the Fed, its inner workings, and how they are now responding to inflation, one of the greatest economic challenges of 2022," said Ganesh Rao, head of financial technology & services at Thomas H. Lee Partners.

17. "The Unlucky Investor's Guide to Options Trading" by Julia Spina

Recommended by: JJ Kinahan, CEO of IG North America

In "The Unlucky Investor's Guide to Options Trading," Julia Spina removes the blindfold and demystifies one of the most arcane areas of modern finance. One of the book's highlights is its ability to take an often overcomplicated topic — the math behind options — and break it down into a digestible format for readers, said JJ Kinahan, the CEO of IG North America.

"It gives a very understandable and actionable view of options, relying on statistics and historical data to tell the story," Kinahan shared with Insider. "Most importantly, it starts from a position of risk and how to understand and manage it."

18. "What Works on Wall Street: A Guide to the Best-Performing Investment Strategies of All Time" by James O'Shaughnessy

Recommended by: Ryan Kelley, portfolio manager at Hennessy Funds

Legendary investor James O'Shaughnessy's "What Works on Wall Street" is one of the most quintessential reads for any investors seeking long-term success.

"He takes you through reasons why you want to invest for the long-term and why you want to stick to this idea of quantitative fundamentals — how if you look over a long period and focus on just a few fundamentals and valuations of companies, you can see what has worked over time. You can also then tweak those models and change them — it's all about backtesting," said portfolio manager Ryan Kelley.

Kelley added that all "Cornerstone" Hennessy Funds — including the Hennessy Cornerstone Value Fund ( HFCVX ), which beat 97% of its peers in 2022 —  are based on methodologies drawn from this book.

19. "When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management" by Roger Lowenstein

Recommended by: Joshua Wein

Esteemed journalist Roger Lowenstein's "When Genius Failed" is an engrossing story behind the rise and catastrophic fall of Long-Term Capital Management, a highly-leveraged hedge fund and the darling of Wall Street at its peak.

"It's an older book about long-term capital, but I think it speaks volumes about this idea that there are these really, really smart people that have the secret," Wein explained. "I think it's kind of this fallacy that we all love to believe is possibly true — that if you gather enough PhD's in a room, then you're all set."

• Main content

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

WALL STREET JOURNAL MAGAZINE - FALL 2022 - KYLIAN MBAPPÉ Single Issue Magazine

• Print length 5 pages
• Language English
• Publisher WSJ Magazine
• See all details

Product details

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BG3G9GWT
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Single Issue Magazine ‏ : ‎ 5 pages
• Best Sellers Rank: #4,794,854 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books )

Customer reviews

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

No customer reviews

• Amazon Newsletter
• About Amazon
• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• Press Center
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect & Build Your Brand
• Become an Affiliate
• Become a Delivery Driver
• Start a Package Delivery Business
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Become an Amazon Hub Partner
• › See More Ways to Make Money
• Amazon Visa
• Amazon Store Card
• Amazon Secured Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Credit Card Marketplace
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices

Today's Paper

• 中文 (Chinese)
• 日本語 (Japanese)
• Buy Side from WSJ
• Buy Side Exclusives

WHAT'S NEWS

Business & finance, view digital replica, buy print issues, download ipad app, sign up for the in today's paper newsletter..