Author: Allen Cheng

Want to get the main points of Liar’s Poker in 20 minutes or less? Read the world’s #1 book summary of Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis here.

Liar’s Poker is a social expose written by Michael Lewis, a former bond salesman for Salomon Brothers. He covers Wall Street investment banking culture, and all the wretched excess and perverse incentives within it. Readers who want to get an inside look at how Wall Street investment banks really operated back in the 80’s will find much to enjoy and ponder. Some will find value in the economic history of the Savings & Loan era. Others might focus on his story about how a firm’s culture can change people, and the choices one is confronted with should they wish to rise up in that world.

Want to get the main points of Merchants of Doubt in 20 minutes or less? Read the world’s #1 book summary of Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway here.

Many have no doubt wondered why the United States or even world governments have been so lumbering to act on policy regarding public health such as for smoking. Others may have been curious about why we have struggled so much to achieve scientific consensus on a variety of controversial areas such as global warming or ozone holes. Interestingly, these problems, and others, are all linked by specific tactics and people that one side uses to obfuscate and drag out the issue.

Want to get the main points of The Talent Code in 20 minutes or less? Read the world’s #1 book summary of The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle here.

Improving is much more about the right approach, environment, and mentality than innate talent. Unfortunately, many people bring the wrong ideas from elsewhere in society into learning a skill, inhibiting their ability to improve. When examining top performers in a variety of disciplines, certain patterns emerge between them. These patterns include how practicing should emphasize mistakes and difficulty, why a long-term outlook is more important than practicing harder, and how coaches and students optimally work together by reading each other’s signals.

Want to get the main points of The Automatic Millionaire in 20 minutes or less? Read the world’s #1 book summary of The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach here.

 The Automatic Millionaire advocates a simple but effective approach for growing one’s wealth: automatically pay yourself first, invest it, and don’t touch it. None of its advice is new per se, but put together it offers a low-friction method of obtaining wealth by taking key psychological principles into account.

Want to get the main points of Too Big to Fail in 20 minutes or less? Read the world’s #1 book summary of Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin here.

 Too Big to Fail is a detailed account of the personalities and decisions that led to the 2008 financial crisis and how the economy was propped up. Andrew Sorkin has compiled a number of insightful primary sources from the major players that allows us to get a glimpse of the backroom warnings, arguments, and deals in that turbulent time. The choices these key players made led to a major impact on outcome of the 2008 crisis.

When you want to make a change, you come up with a strategy. That’s the easy part—next you have to figure out how to _implement_ the strategy. _The 4 Disciplines of Execution_ harnesses and hones four disciplines that, when properly and specifically applied, allow you to carry out your strategy. When you make use of 1) focus, 2) leverage, 3) engagement, and 4) accountability, not only will you execute your strategies, you’ll create permanent behavioral change and increase engagement.

Make your bed to start your day off right. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But the simple act of making your bed has bigger implications for your life than you may think. Former Navy SEAL William H. McRaven teaches you how this menial task leads to big rewards in his book, _Make Your Bed_. Using advice he gave graduating college students during a commencement address, McRaven develops 10 lessons for life learned during his time as a SEAL. Follow these lessons to lead a more meaningful life, and you just might change the world in the process.

The Ebola virus is greatly feared, but not well understood. Ebola virus has appeared only a handful of times and, despite being highly infectious, it has never spread to become a full-blown epidemic. However, **Ebola’s brutal attack on victims’ bodies, astronomical kill rates, and ability to mutate make it a constant potential threat. **

_The Hot Zone_ explores how Ebola and its family of viruses affect humans, the history of known outbreaks, and the possibility of a future epidemic.

In_ Amusing Ourselves to Death_, Neil Postman argued presciently 35 years ago that television was reshaping our culture and trivializing public life—news, politics, religion, education, and business—by turning it into entertainment. He warned that we would become so inundated with irrelevant information that we’d lose sight of what was important—even worse, we wouldn’t care as long as we felt entertained. With the proliferation of digital media today and worries about excessive “screen time,” his analysis still resonates.

_Fun Home_ is a graphic memoir by cartoonist Alison Bechdel. It follows Alison through the early years of her life as she navigates her relationship with her closeted father, discovers her own sexuality, and grapples with her father’s supposed suicide. Told in a non-linear fashion, **the book touches on the themes of gender identity, sexual orientation, dysfunctional households, suicide, and literature as a way of connecting to life.**

A _New York Times_ best-seller, _Fun Home _has been acclaimed for its discussion about the topic of intergenerational homosexuality and its innovative approach to the genres of both comics and memoirs.