Amber

Amber rated a book 2 of 5 stars

The Success Equation
by Michael J. Mauboussin

read in April, 2013

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As someone interested in each of sports, business, and investing, I had high hopes for this book but ultimately found it lacking. The connections between the three are often tenuous, the chapters frequently repetitive (this book would have been bette...more

Amber rated a book 5 of 5 stars

Trading Bases: A Story About Wall Street, Gambling, and Baseball (Not Necessarily in That Order)
by Joe Peta (Goodreads Author)

read in April, 2013

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One of my favorite books of late, and probably ever. The author, a trader by profession, spends a year betting on baseball (of which he is a lifelong fan) after losing his job post-financial-crisis. This memoir is a combination of his baseball bettin...more One of my favorite books of late, and probably ever. The author, a trader by profession, spends a year betting on baseball (of which he is a lifelong fan) after losing his job post-financial-crisis. This memoir is a combination of his baseball betting strategy, his observations on Wall Street, and his ruminations on being a baseball fan (and how that was passed down from his father, and to his daughter)--I enjoyed all three.

Peta has a self-deprecating sense of humor, and surprisingly little ego--especially considering he worked in finance for so long; his footnotes are often quite funny. It's clear that he's quite sharp--he tells the story of, when he worked for Schwab, having the idea to compare the retail customer trades with those of institutional investors, and using this as the basis for a research note.

But the meat of this book is very compelling; he had several interesting observations:
--that baseball offers a better proposition for the better, since it uses different payouts rather than point spreads. With point spreads, as in football and basketball, late-game strategies often run counter to the team's interest (e.g. playing substitutes with a large lead) and can distort betting markets.
--that there is a different skill set in picking specific stocks (e.g. short AAPL and long MSFT) versus determining the broader market's direction, but that currently, a fund manager is responsible for both, despite these two components' requiring vastly different skill sets.
--that, despite trading being an analytical profession, there are surprisingly few analytics devoted to evaluating traders (I am an analyst, married to a trader, and would agree with this completely)
--that sports betting markets are surprisingly rudimentary, with limited volume. Some betting markets (on NFL teams' wins throughout the season, with evolving two-ways each week) sprung up on Wall Street, given the absence of these markets in Vegas or elsewhere.

As well, I have a soft spot for anyone who talks about baseball fan-dom being passed along from parent to child rather than father to son. Plus I will always have a special place in my heart for this book since I finished it as I started going into labor with my daughter!(less)

Amber rated a book 3 of 5 stars

Netherland
by Joseph O'Neill

read in January, 2013

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This is an enjoyable, well-written story of a man's mid-life re-examination (not quite crisis-level) in post-9/11 New York City. He explores his feelings on his own marriage, family, and life more generally via his friendship with a quirky immigrant....more

Amber rated a book 3 of 5 stars

Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China
by Leslie T. Chang

read in October, 2012

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This book explores two related topics: the conditions and situation of female migrant workers in China, and the author's family history in China (she is American but her family immigrated in the mid-20th century). The former is much, much more compel...more This book explores two related topics: the conditions and situation of female migrant workers in China, and the author's family history in China (she is American but her family immigrated in the mid-20th century). The former is much, much more compelling than the latter, which to me seemed meaningful for the author but ultimately not compelling enough, or connected enough to the broader story, to warrant being included in the book. Some of the interesting things I learned from this book:
--employers withhold the first two months of a worker's pay, and one who leaves without approval (which is difficult to obtain) means forfeiting this money. Nonetheless this often happens, if better positions are available, as climbing the ladder from floor worker to supervisor or especially positions like secretary is well worth it.
--China has 130 million migrant workers, three times as many as immigrated from Europe to America over the course of a century
--money sent home is the largest source of wealth accumulation for rural families. In contrast with prior generations of migrant workers, women (or, really, girls, as they are quite young) who leave home now rarely return to farming permanently, as they never knew this life previously. Older generations care for younger children and harvest the fields. However, the rural lifestyle does provide a safety net for workers, and the author postulates that China does not feature the shanty towns prevalent in other developing (or for that matter developed) countries because of this safety net.
--Also in contrast with previous generations of migrant workers, today's do not face the same sort of intimidation from police, or discrimination, because in many towns they are now the overwhelming majority of factory workers.
--Based on working conditions, European- or American-owned factories are most preferred, followed by Japanese, Korean, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and finally domestic companies.
--Power supply shortages are prominent and often limit working hours
--70,000 people work at the Yue Yuen shoe factory, which makes athletic shoes for several major manufacturers. When Nike and Adidas came under pressure to improve working conditions, they went to an 11-hour workday at the factory, and gave workers Sundays off--but this prompted many workers to quit because they could no longer get enough overtime. I thought this was an interesting microcosm of the problem of imposing developed-world values onto the developing world.

As noted, though, I thought the author's discussion of her family history really dragged, and that ultimately the book would have been better without it. In addition, these parts are more prone to unnecessarily over-the-top language and lame similes like:
"An incident from half a century ago would be recalled differently, with each person's version fixed and distinct--pieces of China they carried with them that had hardened over time, like precious pebbles worn smooth."
"Zhao sat perfectly straight on the couch--as stiff-backed as a young cadet, and arrogant in this knowledge. Silently he pointed to himself, his thumb aiming at his chest like a dagger that has found its target."
"The Cultural Revolution took everything the Chinese people had long held sacred and smashed it to pieces, like an antique vase hurled against the wall."

Nonetheless, the discussion of this class of Chinese women, and the Chinese migrant-worker economy, is interesting and makes this book worth reading.(less)

Amber rated a book 3 of 5 stars

Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's Longest Game
by Dan Barry

read in December, 2012

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This book recounts the longest professional baseball game in history, a 33-inning contest between the Pawtucket Red Sox and Rochester Red Wings in the early 1980s. For a baseball fan, this is an enjoyable read, recounting an interesting and (at least...more

Amber rated a book 3 of 5 stars

The Marriage Plot
by Jeffrey Eugenides

read in January, 2013

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This is a beautifully written coming-of-age novel set at Brown (and later in world travels) in the early 1980s. The book features just three main characters, but each with tons of depth, and offers a fresh take on the typical love triangle. As well,...more

Amber rated a book 2 of 5 stars

The Pittsburgh Cocaine Seven by Aaron Skirboll

The Pittsburgh Cocaine Seven: How a Ragtag Group of Fans Took the Fall for Major League Baseball
by Aaron Skirboll

read in December, 2012

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I learned a lot from this book--about the history of drug use in Major League Baseball, about the cocaine epidemic more generally, and about this particular episode in Pirates history--but ultimately it was unsatisfying because of several flaws:
1. Th...more I learned a lot from this book--about the history of drug use in Major League Baseball, about the cocaine epidemic more generally, and about this particular episode in Pirates history--but ultimately it was unsatisfying because of several flaws:
1. The premise of the subtitle ("How a ragtag group of fans took the fall for Major League Baseball") is far too strong relative to the evidence in the book. The U.S. Attorney's approach to prosecuting this case was absolutely in line with how drug cases were prosecuted then and now--giving users immunity in order to send dealers to jail. I did not think the author made a compelling case that the players who used cocaine were treated any diferently than "normal" users.
2. The extent to which the author takes the conventional wisdom around so-called "performance-enhancing" drugs (which is to say, steroids), despite the fact that his book itself documents the decades worth of history of players using amphetamines, which arguably improved performance more than steroids did. His big, sweeping conclusion is that if MLB had taken cocaine use seriously, then the steroid era could have been avoided--but I found that lacking both in the cause (why should cocaine use have been the catalyst rather than amphetamines?) and the conclusion (that testing for cocaine then would have meant baseball getting out in front of testing for steroids later).
3. The extent to which the author accepts the conventional wisdom that the steroid era irreparably damaged MLB, and that steroid use is capital-B Bad, because steroids are Performance Enhancing and Dangerous (faux capitalization intended). Plenty of things that big-time athletes do to themselves aren't safe--subjecting themselves to head injuries, running thousands of miles at the expense of their knees--and I've always found the line between this sort of behavior, and steroids, to be unsatisfying. And I think writing a book without at least acknolwedging this issue makes the story lacking.
4. While there's nothing wrong with the writing per se, compared to other books (and magazines) I read, this one is not very well written.

That said, it is a relatively quick read, and a moderately interesting, if flawed, way to learn about an era that has really faded from memory. (Which reminds me of another point--if people who are huge baseball fans just 30 years later know basically nothing about the cocaine era, how damaging was it, really? And will the same be true of the steroid era?)(less)

Amber rated a book 4 of 5 stars

The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail - But Some Don't
by Nate Silver

read in November, 2012

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I've read Nate Silver's blog for years, but even with that background, this book did not disappoint. At a very high level, my job is somewhat similar to his, and he has a similar philosophy around forecasting: preferring fundamental to technical anal...more

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Amber rated a book 2 of 5 stars The Success Equation by Michael J. Mauboussin read in April, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
As someone interested in each of sports, business, and investing, I had high hopes for this book but ultimately found it lacking. The connections between the three are often tenuous, the chapters frequently repetitive (this book would have been bette...more
May 01, 2013 01:52pm · see review
Amber rated a book 5 of 5 stars Trading Bases: A Story About Wall Street, Gambling, and Baseball (Not Necessarily in That Order) by Joe Peta (Goodreads Author) read in April, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
One of my favorite books of late, and probably ever. The author, a trader by profession, spends a year betting on baseball (of which he is a lifelong fan) after losing his job post-financial-crisis. This memoir is a combination of his baseball bettin...more
Apr 30, 2013 01:54pm · see review
Amber rated a book 3 of 5 stars Netherland by Joseph O'Neill read in January, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This is an enjoyable, well-written story of a man's mid-life re-examination (not quite crisis-level) in post-9/11 New York City. He explores his feelings on his own marriage, family, and life more generally via his friendship with a quirky immigrant....more
Apr 30, 2013 01:33pm · see review
Amber rated a book 3 of 5 stars Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China by Leslie T. Chang read in October, 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This book explores two related topics: the conditions and situation of female migrant workers in China, and the author's family history in China (she is American but her family immigrated in the mid-20th century). The former is much, much more compel...more
Jan 01, 2013 10:25am · see review
Amber rated a book 3 of 5 stars Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's Longest Game by Dan Barry read in December, 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This book recounts the longest professional baseball game in history, a 33-inning contest between the Pawtucket Red Sox and Rochester Red Wings in the early 1980s. For a baseball fan, this is an enjoyable read, recounting an interesting and (at least...more
Jan 01, 2013 09:23am · see review
Amber rated a book 3 of 5 stars The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides read in January, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This is a beautifully written coming-of-age novel set at Brown (and later in world travels) in the early 1980s. The book features just three main characters, but each with tons of depth, and offers a fresh take on the typical love triangle. As well,...more
Jan 01, 2013 09:00am · see review
Amber rated a book 2 of 5 stars The Pittsburgh Cocaine Seven: How a Ragtag Group of Fans Took the Fall for Major League Baseball by Aaron Skirboll read in December, 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I learned a lot from this book--about the history of drug use in Major League Baseball, about the cocaine epidemic more generally, and about this particular episode in Pirates history--but ultimately it was unsatisfying because of several flaws: 1. Th...more
Dec 01, 2012 06:56pm · see review
Amber rated a book 4 of 5 stars The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail - But Some Don't by Nate Silver read in November, 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I've read Nate Silver's blog for years, but even with that background, this book did not disappoint. At a very high level, my job is somewhat similar to his, and he has a similar philosophy around forecasting: preferring fundamental to technical anal...more
Nov 25, 2012 07:32am · see review

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