Usually, I don’t mind waiting a few months or years to get my hands on a library copy of a book. Not right now though. Here are four books that either just came out or will be coming out before the end of 2010 that I can’t wait to read.
The Age of Deleveraging: Investment Strategies for a Decade of Slow Growth and Deflation by A. Gary Shilling came out last week. Shilling is one of my top 5 financial mentors, the others being Michael Shedlock, Karl Denninger, John Mauldin, and Ed Easterling. I could rattle off his resume, but trust me when I say he knows his stuff. He is also an excellent writer and unlike many of the guests on CNBC, he is polite and civil.
The New Evolution Diet: What Our Paleolithic Ancestors Can Teach Us about Weight Loss, Fitness, and Aging is by Arthur De Vany. Art De Vany is my #1 mentor when it comes to nutrition. His interview with T-Nation that I read in late 2007 changed my life. I’m leaner, more healthy, and more confident in myself thanks in large part to Arthur De Vany. There are many smart people in the evolutionary fitness field. Nobody is as wise.
The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms is by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. I got to read some of this book prior to release. Lots of excellent snippets of wisdom from one of my favorite thinkers.
The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman is by Timothy Ferriss. I expect much of the information in this book won’t be new for me. However, I do expect to learn a trick or two to improve my fitness level. If I get just one great idea then this book will have been worth it.
Mike
Nov 18, 2010 — 10:03 pm
Why “rolling eyes” at hormone manipulation?
How else are you going to keep your prostate from eventually getting BPH?
MAS
Nov 18, 2010 — 10:32 pm
@Mike – I just took that line out of my post. It was poorly written. Let me restate. I am skeptical of his claims to triple testosterone without steroids and being “fully rested” on just 2 hours of sleep per day.
Greg Linster
Nov 19, 2010 — 11:14 am
This is an excellent list; however, I’m a bit skeptical of the new Ferriss book. He’s gotten far too popular and seems to be catering to a different audience these days.
Coincidentally, I just pre-ordered The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms
Which one are you most looking forward to?
MAS
Nov 19, 2010 — 12:39 pm
@Greg – I too am skeptical about the Ferriss book. Art De Vany’s book would be my 1st pick.
ThePaleoGarden
Nov 19, 2010 — 1:18 pm
Michael,
Great list. De Vany’s book would be the top of my list, too. No disrespect to Ferriss, but I would check out his book only for the understanding of how one would create a brand/marketing campaign. The fact that there is also probably some good info in there (even if it’s an amalgamation of stuff I’ve probably already seen elsewhere) would simply be a bonus.
Best Regards,
Zach
Mike
Nov 19, 2010 — 6:42 pm
MAS: I agree, young people such as yourself and Ferriss shoudn’t be messing with hormones. However, us old farts need to figure out a way to keep the hormones in balance as we age. You don’t need to worry about BPH for a while but it would be a good idea to start thinking about slowing down the growth of the prostate before it’s too late. The prospect of multiple bathroom trips and becoming a slave to drugs should make one plan ahead. The urology profession seems to have resigned themselves to the fact that this is a fact of life. No Intelligent Design at play here.
MAS
Nov 19, 2010 — 7:20 pm
@Mike – I am all in favor in tweaking my hormone levels via diet, exercise and sleep. Most people get it wrong (too many carbs, too little sleep, exercise too much or not at all). I know Ferriss is on board with the low-carb paleo diet (like me). This alone will affect your hormones (lower insulin, increase GH).
I just did some reading on BPH.
Estradiol causes the rapid accumulation of cAMP in human prostate.
This made me think of Ori’s book the Anti-Estrogenic Diet that I read last year.
From that book: Studies investigating the metabolic effects of soy isoflavones indicate that they’re readily absorbed and exert estrogenic activity similar to the human hormone estradiol.
Soy is EVERYWHERE. Its proliferation could be a reason for BPH.
Ken Shankhill
Nov 20, 2010 — 9:45 am
..there’s a distinct reason as to why Mr Ferriss is so popular in America
Mike
Nov 21, 2010 — 5:27 pm
MAS, thanks for the tip on the estradiol book. I will look it up….interesting about soy for the following reason which may appeal to you as a person interested in both math and finance:
You may remember Michael Milliken the Junk Bond King who used his mathematical abilities to see that junk bonds were not as risky as many people thought and made a bundle on that theory. Well, later after getting kicked outof the finance business he got protsate cancer and applied his analytic prowess to that subject and spent a lot of money funding research. It seems to me one of his conclusions was to eat more soy of the tofu type! If anybody has any details on his studies please correct me if I’m wrong.
MAS
Nov 21, 2010 — 9:21 pm
@Mike – Milken does promote soy and a low-fat diet to battle his cancer. I can’t speak directly to his protocol, but Good Calories, Bad Calories details how insulin plays a role in many cancers. Milken is avoiding red meat and following a low-fat diet. That means more carbs, more insulin, more IGF which feeds cancer. (p 217)
thomas
Nov 23, 2010 — 8:21 pm
In response to Mike/Mas above: an interesting article supporting a diet low in carbs, fats, salt, etc. Opposite feeds likelihood of a heart attack.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/22/AR2010112204836.html?g=0
Been on the primal diet for two weeks myself after having a bad physical. Was a vegetarian for over 10 months but that obviously was not working for me. Have lost about 5 lbs. so far. and that was immediately without changing my exercise routine much.
Best, T
MAS
Nov 24, 2010 — 10:38 am
@thomas – Welcome to Paleo. Be grateful you only spent 10 months as a vegetarian. It took me a lot longer to figure out it was not healthy.