Brockman, John (ed) – This Will Make You Smarter

Doubleday, 2012, [Surrounding Knowledge] Grade 4

This book belongs firmly in the surrounding knowledge category, which I suspect to most readers of InvestingByTheBooks is a category we turn to after all of the “real” book titles have been exhausted. Expanding one’s horizons is important I believe. In the words of Charlie... Further reading...  Link to Amazon...

Christensen, Clayton M; Allworth, James & Dillon, Karen – How Will You Measure Your Life?

Harper Business, 2012, [Surrounding Knowledge] Grade 5

Disclaimer: I am a huge fan of Clay Christensen. 
This wonderful book by Harvard Business School Professor of Management Clay Christensen, HBS student James Allworth and Harvard Business Review editor Karen Dillon is not about...  Further reading...  Link to Amazon...

Ariely, Dan – Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

Harper Perennial, 2010, [Surrounding Knowledge] Grade 5

This is an important book. In Predictably Irrational Dan Ariely highlights how our cognitive machinery frequently results in irrational behaviour. The book is an amalgate of experimental psychology and economics, with various practical applications. Ariely is a professor in Behavioural...  Further reading...  Link to Amazon...

Lev, Baruch – Winning Investors Over

Harvard Business Review Press, 2012, [Surrounding Knowledge] Grade 3

This is a solid book. It’s not an investor relations handbook but rather an experienced professor giving advice to CEOs and corporate managers on how to view and handle the stock market. Baruch Lev is a professor in accounting and finance at Stern School of Business. He has also...  Further reading...  Link to Amazon...

Huff, Darrell – How To Lie With Statistics

W.W. Norton & Co, 1st ed 1954, [Surrounding Knowledge] Grade 4

It ain't so much the things we don´t know that gets us into trouble. It´s the things we know that just ain´t so. These words by Artemus Ward have for a long time held a prime place on my desk, its true wisdom reaching far beyond the simple-minded language. How To Lie With Statistics could...  Further reading...  Link to Amazon...

Silver, Nate – The Signal and the Noise

Penguin Hall, 2012, [Surrounding Knowledge] Grade 3

Nate Silver became famous due to his innovative use of statistics in baseball followed, by correctly predicting the results of 49 out of 50 states in the 2008 election (50 out of 50 in 2012). In 2008 Silver launched his website FiveThirtyEight.com. In 2009 he was named one of The... Further reading...  Link to Amazon...

Powell, Colin & Koltz, Tony – It worked for me, In Life and Leadership

HarperCollins, 2012, [Surrounding Knowledge] Grade 3

I have admired Colin Powell since Desert Storm. The former four star General, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary of State is a role model of a natural leader. It’s obvious to all of us. But it was not his power, his decisions or even his communication that...  Further reading...  Link to Amazon...

Page, Scott E. – The Difference

Princeton University Press, 2007, [Surrounding Knowledge] Grade 4

Most equity portfolio managers will at some time come in contact with the question of gender quotas in corporate boards. Those who argue for quotas claim that these would increase the profitability of corporations. Is there any substance to this claim? As convincingly argued by...  Further reading...  Link to Amazon...

Savage, Sam L. - The Flaw of Averages

John Wiley & Sons, 2009, [Surrounding Knowledge] Grade 3

“Consider the state of a drunk, wandering around on a busy highway. His average position is the centerline, so the state of the drunk at his average position is alive, but the average state of the drunk is dead.” Turn on your computer, picture-google “The flaw of averages” and take a look at the brilliant picture that...  Further reading...  Link to Amazon...