30. The Affluent Society - John Kenneth Galbraith. A dense work. This one needs a ... dictionary on hand... while reading. Ok. On the content, the main gist of the arguments is that we don't need a Rolex as a Casio might quite suffice; but since we want to be affluent, we must produce them Rolexes and then advertise that to be anyone you ought to have one. Then obviously ignore the important things like schools, poverty reduction and militarization. As the affuent society advances, I believe Mr. Galbraith forgot to add, and the gap between the affluent and the abject widens, insecurities (including of tenure) arise, and so does the potential to backtrack on the most fundamental of civil freedoms. This guy disdains the "conventional wisdom" particularly as espoused by Economics.
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy. Generally speaking, Tolstoy here gives particular attention to the consequences of conscious choice. In the case of Anna Karenina, her fictional position then, though in Russian society, would not be much different than that which some women in her position may grapple with today in some of the more "conservative" societies. Towards the end, however, I found this book somewhat tenuous. Being that it was about Anna Karenina, I found the discussion on Levin's spiritual renewal rather distracting, although I take it that the accepted style is to kill one character and send the other to heaven.
32. The Intelligent Investor - Benjamin Graham. I wanted to read this book so that I could understand the concept of "value" investing. Really, I dont think that term is appropriate. Common-sense investing or prudent investing - in fact, investing per se - is the better suited term, after reading this excellent guide. Speculation is similar to gambling; an elaborate, deliberate evaluation of issues available at a discount is investing. Some chapters were slow (comparison of old companies, the one on Warrants) but the rest is informative and relevant for my needs.
33. Aeneid - Virgil (translated by Robert Fitzgerald).
34. Theory of the Leisure Class - Thorstein Veblen.
