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The Return of the Fifty Book Challenge


Spoonie

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Been a bit distracted with a bunch of stuff so slowed down a great deal recently but wee holiday next week should bring me back. No way i'm doing 50 in a year still.

 

1. Collision Low Crossers - Nicholas Dawidoff (technically started in Dec but it's a fucking beast so i'm counting it)

2. Woody Allen: A life in Films - Richard Schnickel

3. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't - Jim Collins

4. Survivors - Terry Nation

5. Lonely Planet On the Edge (Adventurous Escapades From Around The World) - Cecil Kuhne

6. Transmission - Hari Kunzru

 

There's one more to add to that list but i can't for the life of me remember what it is.

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16 down!

 

1. Lev Grossman - Magician's Land

2. Christina Faust - Fringe: Zodiac Paradox 

3. Benjamin Saez - Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

4. Catherynne Valente - The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her own Making

5. Suki Kim - Without You There is no Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite

6. Roxane Gay - An Untamed State

7. Eric Lichtblau - The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler's Men

8. Megan Abbott - Dare Me

9. Ben Montgomery - Grandma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman who Saved the Appalachian Trail

10. Ben Aaronovitch - Rivers of London

11. Ben Aaronovitch - Moon over Soho

12. Ben Aaronovitch - Whispers Underground

13. Ben Aaronovitch - Broken Homes

14. Ben Aaronovitch - Foxglove Summer

15. Sylvia Plath - The Bell Jar

16. Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird

 

Started with some relatively light fare (not including the Lev Grossman book - highly recommend the series, brilliant stuff), a little non-fiction and then five books about a London constable who becomes a wizard. Third book in the series is a little weak but overall very entertaining and there's a good continuous arc going that's working up to a big endgame. Last two were ones I've been reading to read for AGES but never got round to. Don't know what to read next, but spoiled for choice.

 

You read even when you're not reading to read.

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You're flying!!! How did you enjoy Harper Lee?

 

A great deal. I found myself going back and re-reading passages, particularly conversations between Atticus, Scout and Jem. Genuinely timeless, and it made me really sad to think that a lot of what's written there can still apply to things happening in the world today, i.e Ferguson. 

 

You read even when you're not reading to read.

 

I meant 'meaning to read', but clearly I was just so much about the reading that I reading read. 

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Yeah, I know what you mean about the re reading and the timelessness. The fact it's the father trying to make sense of it for himself plus trying to explain it to his kids that makes it so powerful. Ace book. I've ticked off a couple more that of been chipping away at, yesterday so will update next chance I get.

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  • 2 weeks later...

That's 17 done for the year so far. Some good stuff ticked off the list and a fair bit of variety. Always looking for recommendations!

 

1: Ranulph Feinnes - Captain Scott
2: Keith Richards - Life
3: Harry Leslie Smith - Harry's Last Stand: How the world my generation built is falling down, and what we can do about it
4: Richard Moore - Mastermind: How Dave Brailsford Reinvented the Wheel
5: Eric Lichtblau - The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler's Men 
6: George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty Four
7: Sean Payton - Home Team: Coaching the Saints and New Orleans Back to Life
8: Atul Gawande - The Checklist Manifesto: How To Get Things Right
9: Martin Gilbert - Winston Churchill's War Leadership
10: Matt Gemmell - Raw Materials: Collected Essays
11: Robert H Frank - The Economic Naturalist: Why Economics Explains Almost Everything
12: F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
13: Brett King - Bank 3.0
14: J. D. Salinger - Catcher in the Rye
15: John Buchan - The 39 Steps
16: Howard E. Wasdin - SEAL Team Six: The Incredible Story of an Elite Sniper and the unit that killed Osama
17: John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men
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  • 1 month later...

Fallen off the pace a bit recently (I was on for 102 books in the year at one point) but I've put 24 away so far. Some good stuff in among the list too:

1: Ranulph Feinnes - Captain Scott

2: Keith Richards - Life

3: Harry Leslie Smith - Harry's Last Stand: How the world my generation built is falling down, and what we can do about it

4: Richard Moore - Mastermind: How Dave Brailsford Reinvented the Wheel

5: Eric Lichtblau - The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler's Men

6: George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty Four

7: Sean Payton - Home Team: Coaching the Saints and New Orleans Back to Life

8: Atul Gawande - The Checklist Manifesto: How To Get Things Right

9: Martin Gilbert - Winston Churchill's War Leadership

10: Matt Gemmell - Raw Materials: Collected Essays

11: Robert H Frank - The Economic Naturalist: Why Economics Explains Almost Everything

12: F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby

13: Brett King - Bank 3.0

14: J. D. Salinger - Catcher in the Rye

15: John Buchan - The 39 Steps

16: Howard E. Wasdin - SEAL Team Six: The Incredible Story of an Elite Sniper and the unit that killed Osama

17: John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men

18: Robert Louis Stevenson - Treasure Island

19: Michael Crichton - Jurassic Park

20: Lewis Grassic Gibbon - Cloud Howe

21: Lee Price - Turning my Back on the Premier League

22: Andy Bounds - Top Dog: Impress and Influence Everyone You Meet

23: William Wyatt - Procrastination: Stop F#cking Procrastinating And Do Some F#cking Work! - The Ultimate Guide to Get Explosive Results, Get Rid of Procrastination And Laziness

24: Lewis Grassic Gibbon - Grey Granite

Edited by Spoonie
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  • 1 month later...

Had some challenges ploughing through Tess of the d'Urbervilles but passed the 30 mark for the year last night:

1: Ranulph Feinnes - Captain Scott

2: Keith Richards - Life

3: Harry Leslie Smith - Harry's Last Stand: How the world my generation built is falling down, and what we can do about it

4: Richard Moore - Mastermind: How Dave Brailsford Reinvented the Wheel

5: Eric Lichtblau - The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler's Men

6: George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty Four

7: Sean Payton - Home Team: Coaching the Saints and New Orleans Back to Life

8: Atul Gawande - The Checklist Manifesto: How To Get Things Right

9: Martin Gilbert - Winston Churchill's War Leadership

10: Matt Gemmell - Raw Materials: Collected Essays

11: Robert H Frank - The Economic Naturalist: Why Economics Explains Almost Everything

12: F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby

13: Brett King - Bank 3.0

14: J. D. Salinger - Catcher in the Rye

15: John Buchan - The 39 Steps

16: Howard E. Wasdin - SEAL Team Six: The Incredible Story of an Elite Sniper and the unit that killed Osama

17: John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men

18: Robert Louis Stevenson - Treasure Island

19: Michael Crichton - Jurassic Park

20: Lewis Grassic Gibbon - Cloud Howe

21: Lee Price - Turning my Back on the Premier League

22: Andy Bounds - Top Dog: Impress and Influence Everyone You Meet

23: William Wyatt - Procrastination: Stop F#cking Procrastinating And Do Some F#cking Work! - The Ultimate Guide to Get Explosive Results, Get Rid of Procrastination And Laziness

24: Lewis Grassic Gibbon - Grey Granite

25: Irvine Welsh - A Decent Ride

26: Irvine Welsh - Sex Lives of Siamese Twins

27: Thomas Hardy - Tess of the d'Urbervilles

28: Michael Lewis - Flash Boys

29: Buzz Bissinger - After Friday Night Lights: When the Games Ended

30: Michael Lewis - The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game

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Finished (and ADORED) To Kill a Mockingbird. Incredible piece of writing. Looking forward to the "sequel"/"prequel" thing that's getting released. I also audio-booked Animal Farm, so that puts me on 3 this year including the first Game Of Thrones book (which, to recap, is the biggest box of shit I've ever read). Also read a bunch of Punisher comics, so if I count those as books I'm WELL on track for 50 books this year.

 

Next up - The Moon King by Neil Williamson. http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Moon-King-Neil-Williamson/dp/1907069623.

 

xx

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  • 5 weeks later...

35 down with basically half of the year left. Some goodies so far but for every one I read, I end up with another 2/3 on my Kindle!

1: Ranulph Feinnes - Captain Scott

2: Keith Richards - Life

3: Harry Leslie Smith - Harry's Last Stand: How the world my generation built is falling down, and what we can do about it

4: Richard Moore - Mastermind: How Dave Brailsford Reinvented the Wheel

5: Eric Lichtblau - The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler's Men

6: George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty Four

7: Sean Payton - Home Team: Coaching the Saints and New Orleans Back to Life

8: Atul Gawande - The Checklist Manifesto: How To Get Things Right

9: Martin Gilbert - Winston Churchill's War Leadership

10: Matt Gemmell - Raw Materials: Collected Essays

11: Robert H Frank - The Economic Naturalist: Why Economics Explains Almost Everything

12: F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby

13: Brett King - Bank 3.0

14: J. D. Salinger - Catcher in the Rye

15: John Buchan - The 39 Steps

16: Howard E. Wasdin - SEAL Team Six: The Incredible Story of an Elite Sniper and the unit that killed Osama

17: John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men

18: Robert Louis Stevenson - Treasure Island

19: Michael Crichton - Jurassic Park

20: Lewis Grassic Gibbon - Cloud Howe

21: Lee Price - Turning my Back on the Premier League

22: Andy Bounds - Top Dog: Impress and Influence Everyone You Meet

23: William Wyatt - Procrastination: Stop F#cking Procrastinating And Do Some F#cking Work! - The Ultimate Guide to Get Explosive Results, Get Rid of Procrastination And Laziness

24: Lewis Grassic Gibbon - Grey Granite

25: Irvine Welsh - A Decent Ride

26: Irvine Welsh - Sex Lives of Siamese Twins

27: Thomas Hardy - Tess of the d'Urbervilles

28: Michael Lewis - Flash Boys

29: Buzz Bissinger - After Friday Night Lights: When the Games Ended

30: Michael Lewis - The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game

31: Jordan Belfort - The Wolf of Wall Street

32: Iain Martin - Making it Happen: Fred Goodwin, RBS and the men who blew up the British economy

33: Steven R. Covey - Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

34: Viktor Frankl - Man's Search For Meaning

35: Malcolm Gladwell - Outliers

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35 down with basically half of the year left. Some goodies so far but for every one I read, I end up with another 2/3 on my Kindle! 1: Ranulph Feinnes - Captain Scott 2: Keith Richards - Life 3: Harry Leslie Smith - Harry's Last Stand: How the world my generation built is falling down, and what we can do about it 4: Richard Moore - Mastermind: How Dave Brailsford Reinvented the Wheel 5: Eric Lichtblau - The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler's Men 6: George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty Four 7: Sean Payton - Home Team: Coaching the Saints and New Orleans Back to Life 8: Atul Gawande - The Checklist Manifesto: How To Get Things Right 9: Martin Gilbert - Winston Churchill's War Leadership 10: Matt Gemmell - Raw Materials: Collected Essays 11: Robert H Frank - The Economic Naturalist: Why Economics Explains Almost Everything 12: F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby 13: Brett King - Bank 3.0 14: J. D. Salinger - Catcher in the Rye 15: John Buchan - The 39 Steps 16: Howard E. Wasdin - SEAL Team Six: The Incredible Story of an Elite Sniper and the unit that killed Osama 17: John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men 18: Robert Louis Stevenson - Treasure Island 19: Michael Crichton - Jurassic Park 20: Lewis Grassic Gibbon - Cloud Howe 21: Lee Price - Turning my Back on the Premier League 22: Andy Bounds - Top Dog: Impress and Influence Everyone You Meet 23: William Wyatt - Procrastination: Stop F#cking Procrastinating And Do Some F#cking Work! - The Ultimate Guide to Get Explosive Results, Get Rid of Procrastination And Laziness 24: Lewis Grassic Gibbon - Grey Granite 25: Irvine Welsh - A Decent Ride 26: Irvine Welsh - Sex Lives of Siamese Twins 27: Thomas Hardy - Tess of the d'Urbervilles 28: Michael Lewis - Flash Boys 29: Buzz Bissinger - After Friday Night Lights: When the Games Ended 30: Michael Lewis - The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game 31: Jordan Belfort - The Wolf of Wall Street 32: Iain Martin - Making it Happen: Fred Goodwin, RBS and the men who blew up the British economy 33: Steven R. Covey - Seven Habits of Highly Effective People 34: Viktor Frankl - Man's Search For Meaning 35: Malcolm Gladwell - Outliers

 

Wow. Does reading that post count as one for my list?

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My 30 books read so far:

 

1 Stephen King - "22/11/63" 
2 Richard Bachman (Stephen King) - "Thinner" 
3 Chris Jericho - "The Best in the World: At What I Have No Idea" 
4 Richard Wiseman - "59 Seconds: Think a Little, Change a Lot" 
5 James Crosbie - "Peterhead Porridge: Tales From The Funny Side Of Scotland's Most Notorious Prison" 
6 Chuck Palahniuk - "Pygmy" 
7 J.K Rowling - "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (Harry Potter, #6) 
8 Thom Fell - "Acceptable in the Eighties" 
9 Michael Connelly - "The Black Echo" (Harry Bosch, #1) 
10 R.D Reynolds - "The Death of WCW: 10th Anniversary Edition" 
11 David Wong - "John Dies at the End" 
12 Lee Price - "Turning My Back on the Premier League" 
13 Roddy Doyle - "The Commitments (The Barrytown Trilogy, #1)" 
14 Roddy Doyle - "The Snapper (The Barrytown Trilogy, #2)" 
15 JK Rowling - "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)" 
16 Sarah Silverman - "The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee" 
17 Iain Hyslop - "Is the Baw Burst?: A Long Suffering Supporter's Search for the Soul of Scottish Football" 
18 Holly Goddard Jones - "The Next Time You See Me" 
19 Stephenie Meyer - "Twilight" 
20 James Patterson - "Along Came A Spider"
21 Roddy Doyle - "The Van (The Barrytown Trilogy, #3)" 
22 Nick Hornby - "Juliet, Naked"
23 Irvine Welsh - "Trainspotting"
24 Ron Jeremy - "The Hardest (Working) Man In Showbiz"
25 Neil Strauss / Motley Crue - "The Dirt"
26 Irvine Welsh - "Glue"
27 Terry Pratchett - "The Colour Of Magic"
28 Tera Patrick - "Sinner Takes All: A Memoir Of Love & Porn"
29 Nikki Sixx - "The Heroin Diaries: A Year In The Life Of A Shattered Rock Star"
30 Piper Kerman - "Orange Is The New Black: My Year In A Women's Prison"
Edited by Lemonade Sparkle
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My 30 books read so far:

 

1 Stephen King - "22/11/63" 
2 Richard Bachman (Stephen King) - "Thinner" 
3 Chris Jericho - "The Best in the World: At What I Have No Idea" 
4 Richard Wiseman - "59 Seconds: Think a Little, Change a Lot" 
5 James Crosbie - "Peterhead Porridge: Tales From The Funny Side Of Scotland's Most Notorious Prison" 
6 Chuck Palahniuk - "Pygmy" 
7 J.K Rowling - "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (Harry Potter, #6) 
8 Thom Fell - "Acceptable in the Eighties" 
9 Michael Connelly - "The Black Echo" (Harry Bosch, #1) 
10 R.D Reynolds - "The Death of WCW: 10th Anniversary Edition" 
11 David Wong - "John Dies at the End" 
12 Lee Price - "Turning My Back on the Premier League" 
13 Roddy Doyle - "The Commitments (The Barrytown Trilogy, #1)" 
14 Roddy Doyle - "The Snapper (The Barrytown Trilogy, #2)" 
15 JK Rowling - "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)" 
16 Sarah Silverman - "The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee" 
17 Iain Hyslop - "Is the Baw Burst?: A Long Suffering Supporter's Search for the Soul of Scottish Football" 
18 Holly Goddard Jones - "The Next Time You See Me" 
19 Stephenie Meyer - "Twilight" 
20 James Patterson - "Along Came A Spider"
21 Roddy Doyle - "The Van (The Barrytown Trilogy, #3)" 
22 Nick Hornby - "Juliet, Naked"
23 Irvine Welsh - "Trainspotting"
24 Ron Jeremy - "The Hardest (Working) Man In Showbiz"
25 Neil Strauss / Motley Crue - "The Dirt"
26 Irvine Welsh - "Glue"
27 Terry Pratchett - "The Colour Of Magic"
28 Tera Patrick - "Sinner Takes All: A Memoir Of Love & Porn"
29 Nikki Sixx - "The Heroin Diaries: A Year In The Life Of A Shattered Rock Star"
30 Piper Kerman - "Orange Is The New Black: My Year In A Women's Prison"

 

 

I think I'll refer to these as "The Subtitle Trilogy."

Edited by Lemonade Sparkle
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  • 1 month later...

39 for me, had a bit of a slow month with the arrival of the little one!

 

1: Ranulph Feinnes - Captain Scott
2: Keith Richards - Life
3: Harry Leslie Smith - Harry's Last Stand: How the world my generation built is falling down, and what we can do about it
4: Richard Moore - Mastermind: How Dave Brailsford Reinvented the Wheel
5: Eric Lichtblau - The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler's Men
6: George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty Four
7: Sean Payton - Home Team: Coaching the Saints and New Orleans Back to Life
8: Atul Gawande - The Checklist Manifesto: How To Get Things Right
9: Martin Gilbert - Winston Churchill's War Leadership
10: Matt Gemmell - Raw Materials: Collected Essays
11: Robert H Frank - The Economic Naturalist: Why Economics Explains Almost Everything
12: F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
13: Brett King - Bank 3.0
14: J. D. Salinger - Catcher in the Rye
15: John Buchan - The 39 Steps
16: Howard E. Wasdin - SEAL Team Six: The Incredible Story of an Elite Sniper and the unit that killed Osama
17: John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men
18: Robert Louis Stevenson - Treasure Island
19: Michael Crichton - Jurassic Park
20: Lewis Grassic Gibbon - Cloud Howe
21: Lee Price - Turning my Back on the Premier League
22: Andy Bounds - Top Dog: Impress and Influence Everyone You Meet
23: William Wyatt - Procrastination: Stop F#cking Procrastinating And Do Some F#cking Work! - The Ultimate Guide to Get Explosive Results, Get Rid of Procrastination And Laziness
24: Lewis Grassic Gibbon - Grey Granite
25: Irvine Welsh - A Decent Ride
26: Irvine Welsh - Sex Lives of Siamese Twins
27: Thomas Hardy - Tess of the d'Urbervilles
28: Michael Lewis - Flash Boys
29: Buzz Bissinger - After Friday Night Lights: When the Games Ended
30: Michael Lewis - The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game
31: Jordan Belfort - The Wolf of Wall Street
32: Iain Martin - Making it Happen: Fred Goodwin, RBS and the men who blew up the British economy
33: Steven R. Covey - Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
34: Viktor Frankl - Man's Search For Meaning
35: Malcolm Gladwell - Outliers
36: Ernest Hemingway - The Old Man and the Sea
37: Duff McDonald - The Firm: The Inside Story of McKinsey
38: Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness
39: Peter Elkind & Bethany McLean - The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron

Edited by Spoonie
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Only just crept over the 40 mark after a lot of parenting and a lot less reading. Driving hasn't helped either because it's taken away crucial public transport reading time! Still, 80% of the way there and still a lot of the year left.

 

1: Ranulph Feinnes - Captain Scott
2: Keith Richards - Life
3: Harry Leslie Smith - Harry's Last Stand: How the world my generation built is falling down, and what we can do about it
4: Richard Moore - Mastermind: How Dave Brailsford Reinvented the Wheel
5: Eric Lichtblau - The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler's Men
6: George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty Four
7: Sean Payton - Home Team: Coaching the Saints and New Orleans Back to Life
8: Atul Gawande - The Checklist Manifesto: How To Get Things Right
9: Martin Gilbert - Winston Churchill's War Leadership
10: Matt Gemmell - Raw Materials: Collected Essays
11: Robert H Frank - The Economic Naturalist: Why Economics Explains Almost Everything
12: F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
13: Brett King - Bank 3.0
14: J. D. Salinger - Catcher in the Rye
15: John Buchan - The 39 Steps
16: Howard E. Wasdin - SEAL Team Six: The Incredible Story of an Elite Sniper and the unit that killed Osama
17: John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men
18: Robert Louis Stevenson - Treasure Island
19: Michael Crichton - Jurassic Park
20: Lewis Grassic Gibbon - Cloud Howe
21: Lee Price - Turning my Back on the Premier League
22: Andy Bounds - Top Dog: Impress and Influence Everyone You Meet
23: William Wyatt - Procrastination: Stop F#cking Procrastinating And Do Some F#cking Work! - The Ultimate Guide to Get Explosive Results, Get Rid of Procrastination And Laziness
24: Lewis Grassic Gibbon - Grey Granite
25: Irvine Welsh - A Decent Ride
26: Irvine Welsh - Sex Lives of Siamese Twins
27: Thomas Hardy - Tess of the d'Urbervilles
28: Michael Lewis - Flash Boys
29: Buzz Bissinger - After Friday Night Lights: When the Games Ended
30: Michael Lewis - The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game
31: Jordan Belfort - The Wolf of Wall Street
32: Iain Martin - Making it Happen: Fred Goodwin, RBS and the men who blew up the British economy
33: Steven R. Covey - Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
34: Viktor Frankl - Man's Search For Meaning
35: Malcolm Gladwell - Outliers
36: Ernest Hemingway - The Old Man and the Sea
37: Duff McDonald - The Firm: The Inside Story of McKinsey
38: Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness
39: Peter Elkind & Bethany McLean - The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron
40: James Kerr - Legacy
 

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