What I’m Reading This Month - March

In addition to cycling and coffee, another passion of mine is reading. I’m usually reading multiple books at a time and try to average about five a month. I share my “book of the month” internally as a part of our book program, which lets Affirmers order a new book each quarter, paid for by Affirm.

I kicked off this series last month and continue today with what I read, and enjoyed, in the month of February.

Thinking In Bets by Annie Duke

This book definitely falls in the category I loosely refer to as, “self-help,” which I typically skim more than dive into, but I read this book all the way through because I found the premise so intriguing. The author, Annie Duke, is a well-known poker player and won a World Series of Poker gold bracelet. One of the takeaways I found most relevant to business is that you should not conflate the quality of your judgement with the ultimate outcome of an initiative. For example, you can be dealt with cards that give you a 90% chance of winning the hand but still get beat out in the end. This is a case where you lost not because you exercised poor judgement, but because you were simply unlucky and were beaten out by very low odds. You have to be conscious that judgement and outcome are not always the same thing. It’s a profound concept that has broader practical applicability than meets the eye, and I found Duke’s exposition to be quite enjoyable.

The Middleman by Olen Steinhauer

I’m a huge fan of Olen Steinhauer, a great writer of one of my favorite genres: spy novels. I’m also blown away by his ability to put out a book at least every other year! The authenticity and voice he brings to his writing is particularly interesting when you consider he was able to successfully prompt the CIA (an entity not often known for critiquing novels) to review a series of his novels referred to as, The Tourist trilogy (not very favorably however!). The Middleman explores a scenario involving domestic terrorism in the U.S. and tackles the complex question of how crises like this benefit the parties involved. Steinhauer brings a great writing style that makes you feel as though you’re peeling back the layers of an onion as the story progresses. You’re not really sure what you’re going to find until you get to the core. He does extensive homework to develop his characters and never settles for generic or stereotypical personalities. His writing lets you abandon instincts or assumptions about where you think a character or storyline is headed and instead lets you drift into the story and become absorbed by the narrative.

What recent read made a lasting impression on you?