Best Books on Amazon: Top 2 Books from July

Summer Page-Turners: The 2 Best Books to Read in July

The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution and How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius was the books on Amazon that I read during July.

Both of these books were fun reads. The first book, The Man Who Solved the Market, is a book that helped me to deepen my knowledge of the financial markets. The second book, How to Think Like a Roman Emperor, broadened my understanding of stoicism. I’ll give the nod to How to Think Like a Roman Emperor as my favorite of these books on Amazon that I read in July.

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Best Books on Amazon

The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution

“Jim Simons is the greatest money maker in modern financial history. No other investor–Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, Ray Dalio, Steve Cohen, or George Soros–can touch his record. Since 1988, Renaissance’s signature Medallion fund has generated average annual returns of 66 percent. The firm has earned profits of more than $100 billion; Simons is worth twenty-three billion dollars.” This is the intro to the description of The Man Who Solved the Market by Gregory Zuckerman. Jim Simons, Renaissance’s founder, is a mathematician who pioneered the use of algorithms to make trades in the market that resulted in outsized returns. Simons wasn’t in it for his money. He wanted to learn and experiment. That’s the biggest takeaway from reading this book. Simons was able to recruit a team of brilliant people, utilize technology to gain an advantage, and ultimately become of one of the most successful investors of all time.

How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius

Admittedly, I haven’t had much success lately in finding a stoicism book that resonates with me. It recently changed with Donald Robertston’s How to Think Like a Roman Emperor. In this book, Robertson takes us to the time when Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius ruled. Aurelius, the last famous Stoic philosopher, wrote The Meditations, which was his journal. In this journal, we learn how Aurelius went from a young noble at the court of Emperor Hadrian to becoming a Roman emperor. Aurelius’s journal helps us to become more resilient and get through adversity. When reading how Aurelius thought about life, makes you understand that everyone, including a Roman emperor, has struggles. The way to get through these struggles is to embrace the principles of stoicism.

Which books on Amazon did you read last month? What books do you recommend? Please let me know in the comments or by sending me an email on my contact page.

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