Capital Compounders by Robin Speziale

This book’s full title is Capital Compounders: How to Beat the Market and Make Money Investing in Growth Stocks. Robin Speziale was ambitious from a very young age and had a hard time waiting until he was 18 to open his first trading account. He has a blog on his web site to which you can subscribe. You can get the book here.

Robin Speziale is on number of social media sites. He has some interesting articles on LinkedIn. His Facebook site is here and you can follow him on Twitter.

His book is worth the purchase price just to just for the list of possible companies you might want to invest in and the list of resources online of where to find information on stocks you are interested in. He believes in GARP which is Growth at Reasonable Price. H would not buy a stock with a 25 P/E Ratio with 10% EPS growth, but would buy a stock at a 30 P/E Ratio if it had a 30% EPS growth.

He also limits the sectors that he invests in (something like 89%+) in 3 industries of consumer franchise, technology, and diversified industries. He likes boring and unglamorous companies that generate high returns on capital on a consistent basis. He gives examples of Savaria which is assisted living and Estee Lauder which owns MAC Cosmetics.

He also very much likes companies in which the management owns part of the business that they manage. He says that he does not trust management that does not invest their own personal money into a company. You can find management insider holdings for the US market at Insider Tracking and for the Canadian market at Canadian Insider.

Robin Speziale ends the book with some of his Do It Yourself (DIY) investor friends including Paul Andreola; Be Smart Rich Blogger, Donville’s Blog; Max; Christopher Gimmer; Philippe Bergeron-Belanger; Mathieu Martin; and Zachary Trease and Bizy Beaver. Plus, he gives a 100 web site resources.

An index of the books I have reviewed are on my website at Books. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk . The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter.

Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker

This book’s full title is Enlightenment Now. The case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress. He starts of well. I fully agree with what Enlightenment era has bought us. However, he veers off in the last part to what I have a hard time agreeing to.

He admires Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, both of which I have no respect for. They believe that if you do not believe as they do then you are either stupid or evil. They seemed to have made atheism into a religion. They sound more like ISIS then the religions people I grew up with. I am sorry but there are far too many people nowadays who think that those who do not believe as they believe are either stupid or evil. I have no respect for anyone that does this.

I should probably talk about my upbringing. The churches that I went to had people who were religious, but were also well education, liberal, moderate, open minded and believed in science. I well remember Sunday school where there were very nice ladies that read to us and gave us colouring books. They were bible stories, but as a kid that was not important. What I remember is enjoying Sunday school.

I have not gone to church since I left home. If pressed about if I believe in God, I would say I do not know. It is not something I think about. There is no point in going from the religion I was bought up in to another religion called atheism. Dawkins and Hitchens are atheist and if you listen to what they say, they sound like they belong to a religious cult.

I also have problem with the global warming people. They have made global warming into a religion. Any one that calls others a “denier” because they do not have the same beliefs sounds religious to me. They have been calling for worldwide global warming disasters for a number of years and it is always some 10 or 20 years in the future. It is now set for around 2030.

The Global Warmers disaster folks have been shouting at the top of their voices about coming disasters for so long that it now seems that fewer and fewer people are paying any attention. There are now even national leaders who say that they do not believe in global warming. It is not only Trump.

I read everything, so I know that there are also people who are worried about the lack of sun activity, the number of volcanos that are going off around the world and that the magnetic north and south poles might be getting ready to switch. They are moving around a lot.

If I were an American, I would have voted for Hillary Clinton despite the problems she has. Even today, I would still do so. However, I am also not a foaming at the mouth Trump hater as I know a lot of people are. What do I say? I am a moderate. My politics are liberal on the centralist side. However, in Canada I have vote for all three major parties of Conservative, Liberal and NDP. Canadian politicians are not that polarized as seems to be the problems is many countries.

Also, I do not believe that scientists are always open minded. Just look at the history of plate tectonics and the asteroid that hit in the Gulf of Mexico. Some of this makes sense because if you were taught certain theories in school and worked most of your life believing these theories, it would be hard to accept some total new and different theories.

What I am being critical about is the last part of the book. The first part was wonderful in explaining all the advancements that we humans have made. We have made phenomenal progress especially in the Western World. Pinker covered this progress also in his other books.

There is a wonderful review of this book by Alison Gopnik in The Atlantic. As usual, there are some wonderful reviews at my favourite site of Good Reads. There is another interesting review by Jennifer Szalai at New York Times.

Here Bill Gates does a short interview with Steven Pinker. Adrian Mckinty on YouTube talks about this book pointing out all the good stuff going on in the world which is in the first part of the book. Steven Pinker is interviewed on Reason.com. Steven Pinker speaks at University of Cambridge. He some on after a 3 minute introduction.

An index of the books I have reviewed are on my website at Books. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk . The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter.

Age-Proof by Chatzky and Roizen

This book's full title is "Age-Proof: Living Longer without Running out of Money or Breaking a Hip by Jean Chatzky and Michael F. Roizen, MD with Ted Spiker". I thought that the best advice for me was in health where I should be stretching after sitting for long periods. I thought that the jumping was also a good idea. Other places I have read talk about jumping in order to keep hips in good shape also.

We have to pay attention to both health and wealth as we are living longer. I like the idea of living to a ripe old age if I am health. I do not have any problems with money at least not presently. One never knows what the future holds.

There are some good reviews on Good Reads. Many thought that the book was too basic or just a rehash of what the authors have said before. Maurice on Books gives a review of this book. I especially liked the review by Janet Alvarez on Wisebread.

Interview of Chatzky and Roizen on The Morning Break of linking wealth and health. Interview of Chatzky Roizen on Today on Training your brain. Interview of Michael Roizen on the 700 Club on CBN.

An index of the books I have reviewed are on my website at Books. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk . The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter.

The Intimate Bond by Brian Fagan

This book's full title is "The Intimate Bond: How Animals Shaped Human History". This is an interesting book about our relationship with animals and it is a good overview of our history and relationships with domesticated animals. The author, Brian Fagan has his own Website.

I had not realized how important the donkey was to early history or how much the camel changed once it too was domesticated. The camel was apparently the eighth animal to be domesticated after the wolf (dog), goats, sheep, pigs, cattle, donkey and horse. Our relationship to our domesticated animals has changed much over time.

The Good Reads site again provides various reviews at various levels. There is a short review at Kirkus Reviews. There really is not much in the way of reviews on this book.

There is an interview with Brian Fagan on another book of his at South Dakota Humanities Council called The Attacking Ocean. In another video Brian Fagan talks about the last great warming.

An index of the books I have reviewed are on my website at Books. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk . The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter.

SPQR by Mary Beard

This book's full title is SPQR, a History of Ancient Rome. SPQR is short for the Latin phrase "Senatus Populusque Romanus" or the Senate and People of Rome. What is interesting about Rome is that it gave Roman Citizenship to outsiders. They also had a permanent criminal court where even foreigners could seek redress. This is a very readable book and it is the way history should be written.

Dwight Garner writes a review for the New York Times. As always there are some good reviews at Good Reads. Natalie Haynes gives a review of this book on The Guardian. Emily Wilson also has a great review on The Atlantic.

Mary Beard talks about her book via 92nd Street Y. Mary Beard talks at the 2016 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Mary Beard talks about misogyny in the ancient world on Women in the World. In this video Mary Beard answers the questions via BBC Newsnight of "What can ancient Rome teach us about the migrant crisis?"

An index of the books I have reviewed are on my website at Books. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk . The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter.

The Ends of the World by Peter Brannen

This book's full title is The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and our Quest to Understand Earth's Past Mass Extinctions. I have always been fascinated by the destruction of live in the past.

I do not think that most people know how unforgiving nature can be. There are tales each year of people getting lost in Algonquin Park. They go out for a walk but do not know how to walk in a straight line in the wilderness. People can get lost in a large area of woods quite easily. When I was a kid on my Grandparent's farm, which was mostly woodland, I meet people out for a walk but got lost and did not know how to get back to their car.

People that live in cities have no appreciation of the power of nature. I sure most people do not recognize how lucky we are that we currently live in a rather stable climatic time. It is hard to say if and when this might change.

There are some good reviews of this book on Amazon. There are some decent reviews on Good Reads, but most people knew nothing about the subject before reading this book and it shows. This site on One Wrold Publications is interesting as it pulls reviews from other sources.

Elizabeth A. Bell on Science Mag writes a review on this book. This review on the Economist looks at this book and Inheritors of the Earth: How Nature Is Thriving in an Age of Extinction by Chris Thomas.

Peter Brannen wrote an article in the The Atlantic about why we are not in a time of another mass extinction. Peter Brannen talks at Google. Peter Brannen does a talk by on C-Span . Lauren Sallan talks on TED Talks talks about mass extinctions.

An index of the books I have reviewed are on my website at Books. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk . The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter.

Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers by Robert Sapolsky

This book's full title is Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: The Acclaimed Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping by Robert M. Sapolsky. This book is basically about how harmful stress is and what you can do about it. It talks about how the Fight or Flight response is bad for modern humans.

The full book appears to be here if you want to read it in a PDF format.

There is as always some very good reviews on Good Reads. Mark McLaughlin at Web Psychology writes and short and to the point review.

Dr. Robert Sapolsky gives lecture at Beckman Institute. Robert Sapolsky speaks on Ted Talks. The biology of our best and worst selves is the name of this talk. Stephen Daniele does a book review on You Tube.

An index of the books I have reviewed are on my website at Books. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk . The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter.

The Evangelicals by Frances Fitzgerald

This book's full title is The Evangelicals, The Struggle to Shape America. I had not realized that church attendance rose after WWII into the 1950's and 1960's. I went to church with my parents, but I did not know there was a movement towards more church attendance. This rising in attendance was among Protestants, Catholics and Jews.

It is interesting to read reviews by Evangelicals and non-Evangelicals. There is quite a difference in attitude. I find the reviews generally interesting, but they are not especially good. Some people are too set in their views.

Alan Wolfe on New York Times does an interesting review of this book. There are also interesting reviews on Good Reads. Barry Hankins on The Gospel Coalition also has an interesting review.

Discussion by Frances FitzGerald and David Gushee on C-Span. Frances FitzGerald is interviewed by Charlie Rose.

An index of the books I have reviewed are on my website at Books. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk . The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter.

A World in Disarray by Richard Haass

This book's full title is A World in Disarray, American Foreign Policy and the Crisis of the Old Order. It seems like a pretty bleak view of the world, but it says some interesting things.

For example, he talks about the Ukraine giving up nuclear weapons at independence in the 1990's. Two decades later it was attached by Russia who took the Crimea and the Eastern part of the country. Iraq was forced to give up its nuclear weapons program was invaded by the US a decade later. Libya gave up nuclear program in 2003 and less than a decade later the government was removed by the US and European countries. He says that Iran and North Korean have learned a lesson.

There is a good review by Michiko Kakutani at New York Times. There are good reviews again on Good Reads.

Michael Burleigh, a British historian reviews this book and 3 others on Project Syndicate. The title of the article was The World that Made Tramp. He also reviewed The Fate Of The West The Decline and Revival of the World's Most Valuable Political Idea (Economist Books) by Bill Emmott; The End of Europe: Dictators, Demagogues, and the Coming Dark Age (Yale University Press) by James Kirchick; and Mission Failure: America and the World in the Post-Cold War Era (Oxford University Press) by Michael Mandelbaum. He says that these books reflected a morbid state of introspection in the West, sustained by the mounting political and economic challenges of their time.

Richard Haass talks on CBS This Morning. There is an excerpt and a discussion with Richard Haass on the Council on Foreign Relations site. There is a discussion with Peggy Noonan on 92nd Street Y on YouTube.

An index of the books I have reviewed are on my website at Books. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk . The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter.