Interesting reads (2014)

I think the two best nonfiction books I read this year would be Jack Bogle's Common Sense on Mutual Funds (2009) and David Pilling's Bending Adversity: Japan and the Art of Survival (2014).

Of Common Sense, it is almost certainly the most thorough investment book I have yet read. Much of it probably went over my head, yet the book itself was full of useful information on the premises of passive investing, drags on investment returns (taxes, expense ratios, etc.), and the many behavioral issues that prevent people from making money in the stock market. 

The book is dense and the style a little dry, but in terms of conveying its arguments and being generally useful I can think of no other book I read this year that exerted as strong an influence as Mr. Bogle's. And through it, I also happened upon Bogleheads forum, which has proven a very interesting and erudite crowd. 

For other reasons, David Pilling's Bending Adversity touched me as few works of nonfiction do.

Among other things, it inspired one of my two failed attempts at writing a novel this year.

Broadly speaking, the book is an examination of contemporary Japanese history through the lens of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, tsunami, and Fukashima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster. It's a work full of fascinating observations and telling imagery, portraying Japan as a country at yet another cross-roads in its history. Hope and resignation are present in almost equal measure throughout, and there is some guarded hope that Japan will emerge in a positive way from its decades-long economic slump, and natural and nuclear disasters. An excellent work all around.

So far as fiction goes, I would say Joann Harris' Gentlemen and Players: A Novel (2006) and Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore (2006) were the most interesting stories I read this year. 

I'd heard of neither author before now, but came away from both books satisfied. Gentlemen and Players had a decent story and some greatly-realized characters, and packed a surprise that I never saw coming. 

As for Kafka, I was introduced to it while overseas, and became engrossed almost from the first page. The translation of Mr. Murakami's work is excellent, and is full of beautiful language, interesting characters, and an emotional poignancy that is both stunning and rich. I've since read some other works by Murakami, and am glad to have been introduced to him. 

Some runners-up for this year include Josh Waitzkin's The Art of Learning (2008), Chris Gullibeau's The $100 Start-up (2012), and Haruki Murakami's After Dark (2008). All were interesting, and left me thoughtful at the end.

I'm looking forward to another year of reading and new discoveries.