Books I have read

Jim Rohn, may he rest in peace, one of the greatest mentors in the world, who was a mentor to Tony Robbins and other stars in the field, once said: After you leave, your bookshelf will tell your story. That is your legacy. Well, Rohn didn't live in Israel. There's no chance I'll have a home large enough to keep the bookshelf I'm accumulating. Therefore, outside our home, there is a small cabinet from which I send books to the public.
This list is my library of books I've read. Of course, many very significant books I've read in the past won't be included here. You have to start somewhere, and they were left out. Maybe I'll get back to them someday. I can't think of any omissions. Catch-22 Which I read before the army and a few more times thereafter, and has influenced my life more than any other book (perhaps excluding "Culture Jam," which I will probably return to as well).

Please write me in the comments what books you recommend I read

Table of contents

Personal and financial development books

Non-fiction books

Fiction books

Economic and personal development

5/12/2025

Kidnapped / Eli Sharabi

The book deals with the experiences of abduction and detention for almost two years along with three other young people from different backgrounds and value systems, while on the other side of the corridor are the terrorists. The book is highly, highly recommended. In my opinion, it's almost a must-read. I spoke about some insights following it here.

1/10/2025

Failing All the Way Up / Eran Ephrat

The story of a young man from the South who arrived at a multinational business empire.

8/12/2023

There's someone to learn from / Eyal Doron

The book is divided into eight lessons on various topics, with each lesson telling the story of a famous figure whose behavior, according to the author's interpretation, can teach us an important life lesson. It is recommended reading if you have been reading self-help books for years and are looking for more and more to learn.

1/11/2023

The Goal / Eliyahu M. Goldratt

This is the second time I'm reading this book. In my opinion, it's one of the most important management books. It's no coincidence that this book by an Israeli author became a global bestseller. It's also extremely important for anyone who just manages themselves.

30-9-2023

Crocodiles, Gambles, and Birthdays / Chaim Shapira

A book demonstrating how many things we hear in the media with various statistical descriptions are actually a form of intellectual theft and intentional deception, or a result of ignorance. For example, why the media statement that there are more poor people in Israel than in Mexico is misleading and actually meaningless. Shapira mentions the book "Factfulness" more than once, which is also on this list.

A very important book to read.

12/1/2023

What Works / Prof. Talma Liebel

The book reviews various studies in the field of workplace behavior and offers insights for improving quality of life and productivity at work. Types of music to play or not play in the office. Plants, dress code, interpersonal conduct, and more that will contribute to your work life being more fruitful and enjoyable.

29/11/2022

Facts / Hans Rosling

The book describes the travels of Swedish doctor Hans Rosling, from the academies of the first world on one hand to the most remote places in the third world where he worked as a doctor, researcher, and instructor of medical students on the other. The book describes our failures in judging the world. I try not to exaggerate with compliments, but if you don't want to read any non-fiction book for the rest of your life, you should definitely read this one anyway. If it were up to me, this book would be required reading in high school and again in college. One of the interesting things is that all sorts of things that are sometimes prefaced with "We Israelis...", it turns out they are also true for Sweden and pretty much everywhere in the Western world.

18/10/2022

The Pursuit of Cosmic Justice / Thomas Sowell

An excellent book demonstrating how people's attitudes, and especially politicians" (who are of course driven by people), towards a kind of "social justice" or in its language, cosmic justice, often cause damage precisely to those they tried to advance. In my opinion, a very important book, even though it is not always easy to read.

11/7/2022

The Richest Man in Babylon / George S. Clason

A classic book. Although it is ancient, its messages have not faded to this day. It's not an easy book to read, but many consider this book one of the most significant in their development. I'm not yet sure if I'm among those for whom this is "their" book, but it is certainly significant and highly recommended for reading, even if you don't succeed on the first try.

20/5/2022

The Complete Running Book / Daniel Keren

Daniel Oren is a guy who does things like competing in a 250 km race in the Sahara or 180 km in Antarctica. I can barely run a short distance in Petah Tikva. Like anything I want to improve, I start by reading a book. This book is definitely worthwhile. Among other things, I learned to smile while running (still can't enjoy it), to run slower to go further. The part that I obviously appreciated the most is the opening where it explains that training too intensely will not lead to quick progress but to injury. In any case, a recommended book.

22/1/2022

Shard from the money tray / Menachem Ansbacker

I debated whether to place this book in the 'development,' 'story,' or 'reflection' category. Ultimately, I think it's a book that can definitely help its readers grow.

Friday, October 6, 1973. Menachem, a young paratrooper officer, was sent to Tel Saki with five soldiers to report what he saw. He reported that hundreds of Syrian tanks and thousands of soldiers were preparing for battle in front of him. The feedback he received on his report was, "Don't be hysterical." Twenty-four hours later, the entire formidable force that Menachem had reported on began advancing towards him, and the Yom Kippur War began. The post on the hill took in a few more tank crews and others whose vehicles were hit or who had run out of ammunition. A total of 20 soldiers against a force that outnumbered them by an impossible ratio. Ammunition ran out, most were wounded or killed, and Menachem and the remnants of his force went into a bunker as the Syrians overran the post. For reasons known only to them, the Syrians did not enter the bunker themselves. For twenty-four hours, Menachem and his soldiers endured, without water or food, sealed in silence as they heard the Syrians around them. Menachem managed to survive despite three wounds. He married his girlfriend, had children, and acquired property.

40 years later, Menachem's wife tells him it's time. He needs to take care of his wounded soul as well, and he agrees to go to therapy. The book is actually a first-person account of Menachem with the Ministry of Defense psychologist. The book is not a combat book but a book about emotional healing. It is excellently written, and I highly recommend reading it.

If you feel that due to some military experience, your quality of life is not optimal. You don't sleep well, you are impatient, you have fears, and so on. The Combat Operations Unit of the Ministry of Defense Allows for treatments to be received Free Without committees, without questions, and regardless of how much time has passed since service. Click here for details – https://shikum.mod.gov.il/InformationService/Pages/CombatResponseUnit.aspx

11/11/2020

The Black Swan / Nassim Nicholas Taleb

The black swan is the unknown. It is the global pandemic that no brother thought of in 2019, it is the Twin Towers attack that no one thought of in August 2001, and it is every unexpected thing. In this book and the two books that follow it, all three of which I highly recommend reading, Taleb analyzes the randomness of the world and the fact that forecasters are so often wrong. Inspired by this book, I wrote the article about Projections during COVID-19.

1/10/2020

The Little Book That Beats the Market / Joel Greenblatt

One of the best investment books I've ever read. I don't think I've ever read or heard a better explanation of what the capital market and the stock exchange are and how they operate, even throughout my economics studies. You can either accept or reject the investment method proposed in the book, but the general explanation is, in my opinion, simply excellent. A must-read for adults and teenagers alike, as it is definitely suitable for them as well.

7/5/2020

The Science of Getting Rich / Wallace D. Wattles

This short book is the foundation for the movie "The Secret." This book is actually the basis for the mindset that produces success in life and financially. One of the wonders of this book is that although the principles within it were familiar to me after many years of personal development, it was published in... 1910! In my opinion, it is still a must-read, though a word of warning: do not take this book as your first self-help book. It is not easy to read.

20/4/2020

To Light the Fire / Patrick Lanctioni

The book deals with how to manage a team to achieve good results. I really like non-fiction books that are not written as non-fiction. For example, for those familiar with Goldratt's Critical Chain series. Meaning, instead of writing "do this" or "do that," there's a story with a plot from which one can understand the principles by which it's worth operating. In my opinion, the book is important for relationships in general and not necessarily for managers and subordinates. Highly recommended.

31/3/2020

The Big Short / Michael Lewis

The book describes the American capital market before the 2008 crash. It's written humorously, and even if the events of that year don't interest you, I highly recommend reading it. The insights you can gain from this book are also relevant today, especially if you have, for example, a "managed" investment portfolio or if you use the investment advisors at banks.

15/2/2020

Risk Exposure / Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Taleb, the author of the book The Black Swan, is an American professor who grew up in Lebanon in the eighties as a Greek Orthodox Christian. As such, he has an exceptionally broad perspective. The book is full of quotes from the Sages of Israel, the New Testament, Greek sages, and more. Taleb has an unconventional view of reality. I highly recommend reading this book. You will probably agree or disagree with him, but you will surely find it interesting.

21/12/2019

The E-Myth Revisited / Michael E. Gerber

In my opinion, this is a must-read book for anyone who intends to start or run any type of business. The author analyzes why most small businesses fail and explains the exact steps everyone should take. The book was written before the invention of Facebook (or the internet), so you won't find simplistic advice like "post twice a month." It goes much deeper than that, and I will undoubtedly read it a second time. The book is on Amazon. https://amzn.to/34KcelG

1/11/2019

Adaptation / Tim Harford

who also wrote the excellent book "The Hidden Economist". In this book, Harford describes various types of mistakes and how the very freedom people were given to test those mistakes is what caused them to succeed where no one thought they would. The Spitfire fighter plane, for example, which has many merits in the victory over Nazi Germany, is actually a design flaw.

In the second part of the book, Hereford describes how you can make controlled and inexpensive mistakes in order to successfully develop your business in unexpected and successful directions, or at least with a low cost of failure.

Micro Decisions / Caroline L. Arnold

17/8/2019

The book is about the big changes we can make in our lives through small decisions. Meaning, contrary to intuition (mine), instead of setting, say, a weight loss goal for next year or a 10k running goal, set small decisions, for example, not eating after 8 PM or going for a short run every day at 6 AM (or waking up every day at 6 AM). The small decisions are easy to implement, easy to see victories from, and from them, the big goal will arrive on its own. I found some excellent ideas in this book. The fact that I read it concurrently with "The 5 AM Club," which I'll write about later, was an excellent complement.

Breaking Boundaries / Alon Ullman

22/6/2019

In recent years, Alon Ullman has become a mega-mentor in the field of personal and business development. In this book, Ullman combines his own amazing personal story with insights that can improve the lives of every reader. I highly recommend reading this book for anyone who wants to improve something in their life.

History of Speed / Amit Neufeld

26 – 27/4/2019

It's not necessarily easy to read a book that shatters so many common worldviews. But if you finish reading this book, you will undoubtedly start looking at the world differently. The book describes in flowing language and sharp humor the reason why we think (mistakenly) that time is money and that we actually work for a living. Despite years of dealing with economic improvement and achieving financial stability, I found many new things to think about in this book, alongside an interesting historical overview. For example, what is the connection between our desire to work overtime or receive a higher salary and the establishment of the Protestant Christian movement? What is the false consciousness we receive already in school when they tell us that "enough" is actually a bad grade? And many other things that make it definitely worth reading the book or at least visiting the website. www.slow.org.il and slow down.

Non-fiction books

15/4/2022

When War Came Suddenly / Aviram Barkai

Barakay stars on this list for the third time, and this is the fourth. In this book, Barakay analyzes how it happened that despite so much evidence that the Yom Kippur War was going to start, the IDF's Intelligence Directorate stated less than 24 hours before its outbreak that it was unlikely to occur. A must-read for anyone who relies on expert predictions about the future.

27/6/2021

Success / Amiram Azov

In the 60 hours of the Yom Kippur War leading up to the Suez Canal crossing, the IDF lost more soldiers and equipment than in any other battle. These hours led to an unprecedented achievement and actually decided the war. The book truly succeeds in conveying the feeling of the desert and you can almost smell the scent of battles. On one hand, the military maneuvers are described, and on the other hand, the politics behind some of the maneuvers and the interesting situation where a former corps commander (Ariel Sharon) returns to reserve duty months after leaving the army to serve under a new corps commander who was previously under him. At the same time, the commander of the front, Haim Bar-Lev, is the Minister of Industry in the government, and Sharon is the founder of a new party (Likud) that is about to compete for leadership of the country in the near future. In short – complex. A very interesting book.

11/6/2021

Mobile and Stationary / Dr. Gadi Taub

One of the most important books for understanding the world around us. An interesting and not overly long book that describes the changes happening in the Western world from a unique perspective. So who are the mobile? Who are the stationary? Progressives? Socialists? Conservatives? All together in one book. Highly recommended.

10/4/2021

Lies Everyone Tells / Tuvia Tenenbom

From my perspective, every book by Tuvia Tenenbaum is a celebration. In each book, Tuvia travels to a different country, wanders around, and with great personal charm and knowledge of several languages (German, Hebrew, Arabic, and English), he pretends to be someone else each time, asking different people different questions about Israel, Jews, and life in general. The books are all written with sharp humor. In this book, Tuvia travels across the USA, interviewing various Americans. A delight mixed with a bitter taste of humanity and people.

7/3/2021

The Workshop for Mind Engineering / Hanan Amiur

Right/left, climate/no climate. It's all nonsense. Everyone should read this book to see how something that seems like a report to us is often actually an opinion. When we understand the techniques by which things work, then no matter what our opinion is on different issues, we will no longer consume communication in the same way.

27/2/2021

Humanity — A History of Hope / Rutger Bregman

On the history of the human species from a special perspective that aims to show that, contrary to what one might learn in the media or at school – humans are generally good. The book is well-written and if you want to be more optimistic, I highly recommend it.

7/1/2021

The Trees and the Chips / Arie Eldad

Professor, Chief Medical Officer (Res.) and Knesset Member Aryeh Eldad talks about the final weeks of the Lehi underground. The British are already packing up and leaving the country, and the members of the underground, whose lives were filled with fighting the British, are grappling with what to do. Although Eldad is the son of one of the underground's commanders, he speaks critically about the good and bad things of those days. I learned a lot from this book, especially something I truly didn't know – the fact that a significant portion of the underground's members were communists, and towards its end, the underground even murdered people on orders received from Moscow, including a friend of Israel who, unfortunately, was also Polish and wrote against the Russian takeover of Poland at the end of World War II.

4/4/2020

The Man in the Tank / Itzik Ronen

Tanker I couldn't see a book about tank crews in the store without buying it. I thought it would be a history book, but it turned out the author enlisted the same year (1989) as me. So maybe I am history too. In addition to the military path, I also found insights into parenting, management, and so on in the book. The author bravely describes experiences of panic attacks while being a company commander and battalion commander. For fans of the genre.

History, documentaries, biographies, and other fun things

27/3/2020

The Battle Over Gas / Dr. Yuval Steinitz

One of the most interesting economic and political topics in recent years is the issue of Israel's natural resources in general, and gas in particular. Who do they belong to? At what price should they be sold, and to whom? Yuval Steinitz, who was the Minister of Finance and Minister of Energy during the state's struggles against the energy and mining tycoons (in the Dead Sea), reveals a most interesting picture of the prevailing attitudes in the system and the relationships between capital, business, influence, and politics. Steinitz, of course, has a vested interest, and the book is written from his personal perspective. However, having had the chance to be in the Knesset's economics and finance committees once or twice and seeing, albeit a tiny but still surprising, picture of how things operate, the book greatly interested me. I think every citizen should read it, if only to understand how easy it is to manipulate citizens and politicians, and how little fact and how much emotion is needed for that. Required reading in my opinion.

22/2/2020

To Love a Jew / Tuvia Tenenbaum

Tuvia Tenenbaum is a natural phenomenon. He was born and raised in Bnei Brak, where he acquired Yiddish/German. He was a tank driver. He studied Arabic and lived in the US with an Austrian wife. He holds degrees in mathematics, computer science, and theater. His multilingualism (German, English, Arabic, and Hebrew) allows him to embody and shed different personas. His various books are essentially wanderings in a specific place, interviews with many ordinary people alongside politicians, and a portrayal of the world view of the inhabitants of that place. I have read his books on Germany, the US, Israel, and now Britain. The humor is excellent, alongside a complete lack of political correctness. In my opinion, a good book to understand topics like antisemitism, liberalism, and Brexit. When reading about another country, one naturally learns about ourselves too.

13/10/2019

Who Are You Calling a Fascist? / Jonah Goldberg

It seems that the word "fascist" has a mesmerizing power. It was once a political movement in Italy. Today, it appears that the word "fascist" is almost synonymous with the phrase "I disagree with your opinion" in political discourse. But what exactly is the fascist movement? What are its origins? Who were its supporters (spoiler: liberals and left-wing organizations in the US on one hand, and Soviet communists on the other), and many other questions are unknown to many of those who use this word so readily. This book, a New York Times bestseller, attempts to clarify precisely these points. It is an interesting and eye-opening book, but not very easy to read. In my opinion, reading it is important. 

10/10/2019

How to Find a Black Cat in a Dark Room / Yaakovourke

The book is structured as a collection of anecdotes from various studies. Each chapter begins with "Research has shown that...". The studies themselves are from the fields of behavioral economics, psychology, and so on – humans. It's nice to read. At first, I marked many things that I might incorporate into my future book. In the end, I got a bit tired of the fact that there was no connection between the chapters and the book felt like browsing the internet. I quit halfway through. 

The Best Stories in History / Yuval Malchi

20/4/2019

Disclosure – I love Yuval Melchi. He is my client and once interviewed me for his podcast. The book "The Best Stories in History" is a collection of stories that, if you were to read some of them from a thriller author, you would say they had lost their minds. There's a limit to how implausible a plot can become. The thing is, they actually happened. So yes, people have fallen from planes at an altitude of 7 kilometers and survived. A military unit really kept a bear that between one beer and the next joined them on all their journeys in World War II. Russian squadrons became the terror of the German army precisely because they received rickety wooden planes but learned an unexpected trick that requires great courage/madness (to turn off engines during a bombing dive to arrive silently). And more. The book is pleasant to read even for teenagers.

15/4/2019

The Strange Death of Europe / Douglas Murray

The story of Muslim migration to Europe is an amazing story. Not only are the dimensions of the phenomenon astounding, but so is the change that European society has been undergoing since the beginning of migration there in the 1960s and at an accelerating pace in recent years. In fact, the phrase "Muslim migration" in a negative context could, in Sweden for example, result in a heavy fine because the law prohibits condemning the phenomenon of migration. Thus, a democratic country has decided for itself that there are opinions that are forbidden to express. The book provides many examples of the changes occurring in Europe and is very interesting to read.

14/3/2019

12 Rules for Life / Jordan Peterson

Peterson, a Canadian psychology professor, wrote this book after concluding that our society is increasingly going awry. One of the rules, for example, is: 'Don't let your child do anything that makes you dislike them." Yes, delicate phrasing isn't really his forte. In general, he rails against the tendency of some parents to allow their child to "express creativity," for instance, by throwing food on the floor in a restaurant. In Peterson's opinion, this is cruelty towards the child, who will grow up to be, to put it mildly, an unlikable adult. The rest of the rules discuss work life and other aspects of our lives. The book is not an easy read and suffers from a malady common to many self-help books – it has about twice the number of pages I think would have been sufficient to develop his ideas. Still, I believe it's an important book to read. I have an article based on his eighth principle: Do not lie.

1/1/2019

The Four Agreements / Don Miguel Ruiz

One of the most important books I've ever read. First of all, it's the book with the best ratio of insights to page count I've ever seen. The book is more or less a not-thick booklet, but each chapter (hint: four chapters) is a world full of life-changing content. I highly recommend reading "The Four Agreements" and agreeing to change.

1/10/2018

A Cloud of Possibilities / Michael Lewis

If you are involved in or interested in decision-making, meaning if you have a pulse, you must be familiar with the work of Kahneman and Tversky, may they rest in peace. Kahneman won the Nobel Prize for their joint work. In this book, Louis not only tells about the conclusions of their work but also tells about their shared lives. Although this is a book about science (psychology, yes?), it is a very readable and enjoyable book. It is also a very important book. Highly recommended.

12/9/2018

The Revolt Against Globalization / Nadav Eyal

The basic liberal Western perception is that globalization improves the situation of all people. It turns out that not everyone wants to accept the proposed improvement. It doesn't matter if they are U.S. citizens who lost their jobs which moved to China, or religious extremists for whom the very idea of "progress" is unacceptable. In this book, Il tries to analyze over hundreds of pages why many people do not want all the "good" that globalization has to offer. I admit – I did not finish the book. I did not feel it was worth the time.

8/9/2018

Is Israel a nuclear power? / Meir Cohen

The book describes Israel's interesting path to nuclear power and details its components. Other parts of the book discuss current and future military technologies. For fans of the genre. I found it very interesting, despite the sorrow at the fact that so many resources of knowledge, money, and time are directed towards better ways to kill or prevent someone else from killing.

20/7/2018

Israel: A Success Story / Adam Reiter, Noga Keenan

We are accustomed to reading in the press how difficult and bad everything is here. If you want the opposite, this book is for you. Backed by a sea of statistics, this book shows that Israel is absolutely an excellent place to live, even in comparison to most countries in the world.

1/5/2018

Gut Feeling / Dr. Julia Anders

What is the largest organ in our body? If you can call it an organ, the bacteria in our intestines weigh about three kilograms and are the "organ" with the largest mass in our body. The number of bacteria in the intestines is greater than the number of human cells in the body, and their influence on our behavior is extremely significant, but research is still in its infancy.

These are just some of the amazing things I learned from this book, which presents our bodies in a different way. Very than what we're used to thinking about. Among other things, you can learn why the way we go to the toilet (or sit) is wrong and benefit from a small change. Highly recommended. 

2/3/2018

The Power of Habit / Charles Duhigg

An excellent book for anyone who has a habit they want to change (starting the morning with Facebook?) or a habit they want to create (starting the morning with exercise). Explanations of the physiological and cognitive mechanisms that operate us out of habit. An amazing review of a person who, due to brain damage, lost almost all cognitive ability (after being an electronics engineer before that), but the mechanisms of habit and habit acquisition continued to function normally for him. The second part of the book discusses the creation or maintenance of organizational habits.

Highly recommended.

2/2/2018

What does it matter / Tali Sharot

Another book that describes how we make decisions and how we can change these mechanisms to make decisions that are not necessarily optimal for us. Did you like Dan Ariely? You'll probably love this book too. Highly recommended for anyone in consulting and for those who want to better understand the offers they receive (which should be everyone).

1/1/20

The Hidden Economy / Tom Harford

An original and interesting explanation of a variety of seemingly strange economic behaviors and their reasons. If you want an explanation of why "Mechir L'Mishtaken" (Apartment for a Resident) is a known-to-fail program (central planning embedded with social lies), this book is for you.

30/8/2017

Fascinating Footnotes from History / Giles Milton

A collection of stories, some completely bizarre, from world history. For fans of the genre only.

10/8/2017

Historical moments and hysterical moments / Prof. Michael Hargesheimer and Ehud Fuchs

Different points in history where leaders had to make a decision and an analysis of the decision they ultimately made. For example, when Hitler officially abrogated the Treaty of Versailles, the French, possessing the world's largest land army, could have easily entered Germany and enforced the treaty. Later, when Hitler invaded Poland, and the French (along with the British) declared war on Germany, there was a six-month period when the entire German army was virtually in Poland, and France could have invaded Germany and ended the war. They did not do so, and eventually, France held out for less time than the Warsaw Ghetto after the uprising.

1.7.2017

The Marshmallow Test / Walter Mischel

It's all about self-control. Perhaps a bit too long, but it teaches a lot about the power of self-control and the fact that a person can be in complete control in one area while exhibiting completely different behavior in other areas of his life.

The famous marshmallow test, conducted on preschoolers, is just the beginning of the book.

30/6/2017

The New Science of Fraud / George A. Akerlof, Robert J. Shiller

A book that describes how our cognitive biases make it easy for various entities to sell us bad financial deals. In other words, if Kahneman describes how our brain works, the authors of this book describe how commercial entities like banks and insurance companies exploit various biases to sell us bad deals, or in blunter terms, to defraud us.

31/5/2017 –

Thinking, Fast and Slow Daniel Kahneman

A masterpiece by Nobel laureate Kahneman. After reading this book, you will never ask me for advice along the lines of "But rationally, what should be done?" And why would you consider "rational" to be preferable to "emotional" if emotion is what will crush you or uplift you for the rest of your life? My advice has also been forever influenced by the certainty that the way you frame a question can change the answer you receive and the manipulations that can be produced using this information. Thus, I have concluded that many prevailing public opinions on economic issues stem from the way the question is presented by interested parties.

Despite the book being challenging to read, don't miss it by any means.

Fiction books

17/12/2022

Damaged Intentions / Mike Omer

Another thriller, the sixth by Israeli author Michael Omer that I've read. Great fun.

1/10/2022

A Burning Obsession / Mike Omer

Michael Omar, known as Mike Omar, is a young Israeli author who publishes bestselling thrillers in English. The books are set in the US. A large portion of the books deal with dangerous cults. I like that beyond simple enjoyment, you can also learn different things from the books.

29/8/2022

The Broker / John Grisham

Mediocre plot. Mediocre book. But... the book unfolds at a leisurely pace (despite seemingly being a thriller) against the backdrop of the local scenery of Bologna, Italy. It almost feels like you're the tourist who arrived in Bologna for a long, peaceful Airbnb vacation. All in all, it was fun.

25/7/2021

The Guilty / David Baldacci

Oh dear, I see that the reviews for this book are similar to those for the previous one. 98% The book is excellent. I found one aspect particularly enjoyable: in addition to the plot, it’s fascinating to see how millions of people in America live in places like remote towns in Mississippi—places you don’t see on TV shows and rarely see in movies. Fascinating.

11/6/2021

The President Is Above the Law / David Baldacci

An excellent thriller—up to 98% from the book :-).

2/3/2021

The Reacher Files (Die Trying) / Lee Child

One of the best in the series. Reacher sees Asher trying to leave a dry cleaner with a hanger full of clothes. He helps her with her things just as they are about to grab her. From there it progresses.

15/8/2020

The Sentinel / Lee Child

The strongest and smartest detective returns again to solve a mystery. Less successful than the rest of the series.

26/7/2020

The Second Woman / Yair Lapid

If you like Harlan Coben, then I assume you'll like this too. Same writing style, but set in Tel Aviv. It took me almost two days to read. Fun.

1/7/72020

Hellbent / Greg Hurwitz

I'm still undecided. Maybe it's better to read it in Hebrew.

1/6/2020

The Nowhere Man / Greg Hurwitz

Action book. Maybe because the English level was a bit high for me, but I was definitely on the verge of giving up halfway through the book. On the other hand, I also bought the next book in the series. Apparently, I'm not very decisive about Horowitz and the Orphan X series.

10/4/2020

The Hard Way / Lee Child

Absurd plot. High action. Jack Reacher. Enjoyable.

1/3/2020

The Reckoning / John Grisham

Although, as with all of Grisham's books, there is a legal element here, the book goes beyond Grisham's usual style. A large part of it is a history book reviewing the struggles of US soldiers captured by the Japanese in World War II. One of those soldiers returns home after the war, laden with medals. A year later, on a clear day, he murders the pastor in the church he was a regular visitor at. This is the first time the mystery is not *who* committed the murder (he admits to it) but *why*. Even after being sentenced to death and offered clemency if he reveals his motive, he refuses. It's a nice combination of war history with a description of life in the American South in the 1940s. Officially, slavery no longer exists, but racial segregation is still an integral part of the law in the South.

Blue Moon / Lee Child

22/11/2019

Another book in the Jack Reacher series. A far-fetched plot. Lots of action, a beautiful woman. Fun.

Tripwire / Lee Child

10/9/2019

I've decided that thrillers and light fiction in general will become a bit less "light" because I'll be reading them in English. An advantage of this decision is the possibility of reading the adventures of the wanderer who experiences everything and manages to get out of every trouble, and the ability to read new books in the series even before they are translated. Switching to reading on Kindle has made it possible for me Enjoy Reading in English is not possible. More on this another time.

Past Tense / Lee Child

1.7.2019

If you're going to read action literature, at least practice your English. Rickard the tough guy arrives in the city where he might have grown up, but his own and gets into a jam as usual. On the surface, it seems Child is rusting a bit. This book and the one before it are, in my opinion, not as good as the previous ones in the series.

23/3/2019

Midnight Line / Lee Child

First of all, a big thank you to the bookseller at the Steimatzky branch in the Jerusalem Central Bus Station who told me that the book was weaker than the other books in the series. He was right. The strong point of the book is the descriptions of the urban and rural landscapes of the USA in general and Wyoming in particular. The descriptions of the prairies, forests, mountains, and landscapes reminded me of a trip I took there once. It was fun to travel and read about the places.

8/2/2019

You're Next / Gregg Horwitz

I usually love Gregg Hurwitz's thrillers – action-packed. This book is unfortunately weak. It starts slow on one hand, and on the other, it's quite clear early on who the bad guy is, who the good guy is, and how it will end. What's left is just a lot of action. Maybe it's better to just wait for the movie.

8/10/2018

The Reacher (Jack Reacher) / Lee Child

Reitzer is the great (tall), strong, and most intelligent man. Fate has made him a former military police officer and a present-day wanderer. He manages to get into a lot of trouble and always comes out of it after a great victory. Two great advantages for all the books in the series:

It's a lot of fun to read them.

B. One second after reading, you won't remember anything, so you can read any book multiple times.

Beyond that, Sebald (who is British, by the way) describes a different place in the US each time with such detail that it really makes you want to go there on a trip or at least open Google Street View.

1/5/2017

Pumpkin, One Position in Lebanon / Matty Friedman

I approached this book with apprehension. I'm very accustomed to and love reading history books. But what about a history book that I was a part of? The IDF was entrenched in southern Lebanon for about twenty years. During these years, thousands of young men, myself among them, went through the mental and physical meat grinder of Lebanon. Despite this, there were no books or testimonies about what went on there.

Matty Friedman arrived, who is actually Canadian, volunteered for the IDF, and told what was "inside." I recommend everyone read it, especially those who still hear the comms network coming back to life in their heads at 3:30 AM while rockets start flying towards the Artichoke Ambush. I saw that even Google doesn't recognize the letter combination "zugita" (at 70:00). So I felt the need to write here our callsign back then in Lebanon.

The Stasi Children / David Young

A story about a murder investigation in 1970s East Germany. A thought-provoking portrayal of life in a totalitarian society where approximately 20% of the population acts as informants for the secret police alongside their regular jobs. Children inform on their parents, police investigators fear they too will be investigated, and amidst all this turmoil, a murder investigation unfolds. The beginning is a bit slow, but it’s worth sticking with.

In the same genre – The School of Personal Magic / Nelson DeMille, Child 44 / Tom Rob Smith

Both are highly recommended.

6.8.2017

The Escape / David Baldacci

Action thriller book.

Thrillers are usually a type of competition between the reader and the protagonist. There is a mystery of one kind or another, the protagonist and the reader are exposed to facts, and now we'll see who gets to the solution first. This book is unique in that there is more than one mystery. Sometimes the dialogues are too long, but overall it's a good book for fans of the genre.

30/6/2017 –

Last Chance / Harlan Coben

Reading a thriller is always a kind of competition. Will I solve the mystery before the protagonist, or not? With Coben, I haven't won yet. This book, like his other books that I've read, is one that doesn't leave deep impressions days after reading, but is very enjoyable to read during the hours spent with it. The formula is always similar – a somewhat far-fetched plot, violence that's a bit beyond what's pleasant to read. This book is among Coben's better ones, and at the end, there's also a small, uncharacteristic emotional outburst. Recommended for fans of the genre.

18/6/2017

From the Bible with Love / Ram Oren

On various occasions, I've tried to read this or that book by Ram Oren to pass the time. It didn't work. On the other hand, I really liked his historical books: "Goal Tel Aviv" and "Latrun." "From the Bible with Love" tries to combine the romantic novel genre with a bit of suspense along with history. It's nice but not enough for me. Just because the characters are named Rebecca, Jacob, and Eliezer (Jacob's servant) doesn't necessarily make the story interesting. As a secular person, there's some nostalgia for school with the stories, but no more than that.

Catch-22 / Joseph Heller

As a matter of course, I didn't start reading when I began documenting the books I read. I've read hundreds of books that are not on this list. But I decided to add Catch-22 even though chronologically I read it for the first time about thirty years before the list was created, before my enlistment in the IDF in 1989. There is no book more fitting as preparation for the IDF. Since then I've read it a few more times and I always enjoy the surprise expressed by various interviewers when I mention it in different interviews as one of the most significant books in my life. Beyond that, Just go read it And your worldview will be divided into before and after the reading.