Ah, the ever spectacular City Journal hits home again with a short article on the Regents exam in New York. Reading this article got me thinking about some of the issues Marc raises, namely why the Regents exams seem to be so easy. My guess (and in this case I agree with the author!) is that "we" (the public) want to see improvements and success in test scores. If the exam becomes easier over time, and this seems to be the case, then student's scores improve or at the minimum most pass the exam. I know that when I was in school that the exam was easy to everyone I knew that took the Regents exam. In many cases students didn't have to take the exam because they were able to exempt via high test scores, etc.
And in other news, I'm sick. I don't know how it happened, but I woke up this morning feeling pretty awful.
In other other news, you may have heard about a certain book that came out this weekend. Yes, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out and sold (apparently) upwards of 8.3 million copies already. I wasn't one of those people who waited in line at midnight - instead, I woke up at 9am, went to the bookstore, and just got the book. I then proceeded to read all day and by about 9, 9:30pm I finished the book. I won't talk about the plot/contents of the book because I know many people are still reading, but overall it was a pretty good book.
Also, I am finishing Liar's Poker. Not sure if I want to "Book Review" it because, well, I'm not sure how many people would be interested in it! Let me know if you particularly want to hear about the book.
Showing posts with label Liar's Poker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Liar's Poker. Show all posts
Monday, July 23, 2007
Monday, July 9, 2007
Book Review: "Common Sense Investing"; "Into The Wild"; "Barbarians at the Gate"
After dislocating my shoulder early in the weekend, and thus being out of commission for any fun in New York City, I decided I'd be productive and read a lot. Thus began my 3 book (and too much coffee) odyssey.
The first book I started reading was Barbarians at the Gate but oddly enough it ended up being the book I finished last. It really does read like a novel except you feel better reading it when you realize it covers very significant historical business events. You can read about the plot in the link I provide above, just like I'll do for any other book I review, but the important thing is that if you have any interest in business then Barbarians is for you.
The second book I started reading was on Saturday night and it is called The Little Book of Common Sense Investing. I really have been liking Wiley's "Little Book of..." series and this one continues the trend - this applies to anyone who will ever invest and since that includes just about everyone then you should certainly take a look at this book. Believe me, it's a quick read and it makes a lot of sense. If you like this book (and you probably will) then you should also take a look at The Little Book of Value Investing which to me is even better.
The third book I read was when I woke up way too early on Sunday and couldn't get back to sleep. I decided to head over to Barnes & Noble, grab a coffee, and read something from their "Summer Reading" pile. I remember reading an excerpt of Into the Wild in Mr. Corbett's english class back in 8th grade, so I decided to grab the book and read the whole thing. Boy, if you decide to take a look at this book then make sure you're prepared for a sobering story. While it was an interesting story, it was too depressing for my tastes. If you're looking for something uplifting, don't read this book. If you're looking for something that'll make you question how you live your life, I don't even think this book will do that. I got the impression that Chris (whom the story is about) was sort of a nut job so the story wasn't too moving for me.
People often ask how I read 2-3 books a week - well, when you get injured as much as I do you end up having a lot of time on weekends and at nights! So there's my tale of 3 books in one weekend - next up will probably be Liar's Poker (to give me closure on my recent LTCM/Salomon/corruption/I-banking reading binge) or The Black Swan (to read Taleb's follow up to the brilliant Fooled by Randomness).
By the way, to clarify for some of our readers - every post has been by me (Rafael Corrales) but I anticipate Mr. Orion King posting in the future.
All the best,
Rafael Corrales
CK Tutors
http://www.cktutors.com
The first book I started reading was Barbarians at the Gate but oddly enough it ended up being the book I finished last. It really does read like a novel except you feel better reading it when you realize it covers very significant historical business events. You can read about the plot in the link I provide above, just like I'll do for any other book I review, but the important thing is that if you have any interest in business then Barbarians is for you.
The second book I started reading was on Saturday night and it is called The Little Book of Common Sense Investing. I really have been liking Wiley's "Little Book of..." series and this one continues the trend - this applies to anyone who will ever invest and since that includes just about everyone then you should certainly take a look at this book. Believe me, it's a quick read and it makes a lot of sense. If you like this book (and you probably will) then you should also take a look at The Little Book of Value Investing which to me is even better.
The third book I read was when I woke up way too early on Sunday and couldn't get back to sleep. I decided to head over to Barnes & Noble, grab a coffee, and read something from their "Summer Reading" pile. I remember reading an excerpt of Into the Wild in Mr. Corbett's english class back in 8th grade, so I decided to grab the book and read the whole thing. Boy, if you decide to take a look at this book then make sure you're prepared for a sobering story. While it was an interesting story, it was too depressing for my tastes. If you're looking for something uplifting, don't read this book. If you're looking for something that'll make you question how you live your life, I don't even think this book will do that. I got the impression that Chris (whom the story is about) was sort of a nut job so the story wasn't too moving for me.
People often ask how I read 2-3 books a week - well, when you get injured as much as I do you end up having a lot of time on weekends and at nights! So there's my tale of 3 books in one weekend - next up will probably be Liar's Poker (to give me closure on my recent LTCM/Salomon/corruption/I-banking reading binge) or The Black Swan (to read Taleb's follow up to the brilliant Fooled by Randomness).
By the way, to clarify for some of our readers - every post has been by me (Rafael Corrales) but I anticipate Mr. Orion King posting in the future.
All the best,
Rafael Corrales
CK Tutors
http://www.cktutors.com
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