In this, the first monthly “Review” issue of 2025, I’m introducing a new feature – a rating system. It’s something I’ve been cooking up in recent years to explain and justify my judgements on the quality of books and films and other works of art that tell stories. These are obviously abstract notions about subjective experience, but they work for me – and I hope they work for you.

My Rating System for Most Books/Films 

* Horizontality: How much and how well did the book/film provide a sense of a particular place, time, community, and/or culture?

* Verticality: How deeply did the book/film go in mining the depths of the human experience?

* Stickiness: How tightly did the book/film keep me glued to the story?

* Literary/Visual Richness: How well did the written descriptions/cinematography enhance the story?

For some non-fiction works that need a slightly different approach – e.g., Stoic Paradoxes and The Last Lecture (reviewed below) – I’ll be using this…

My Rating System for Some Non-Fiction Works 

* Vertical Knowledge: How much did the work elucidate what is essential to the human experience?

* Horizontal Knowledge: How much did the work teach about the details of the subject matter investigated (history, science, psychology, etc.)?

* Depth of Thinking: Were the insights and revelations deep? Did the work leave me feeling that I’d learned something important?

* Literary Quality: Was the writing itself engaging and entertaining?

One More Thing 

There will be occasions – rare occasions – when I will add a half-point or a point to my rating. When, for example, the book or film changes the way I think or feel about something in some important way (I’m thinking of Schindler’s List or Walter Isaacson’s biography of Elon Musk, which I’m reading now) or when, even though it doesn’t score very well on the analytics, I enjoyed it so much that I still want to recommend it strongly (e.g., my rating today of What We Do in the Shadows).

In this issue, I’ll be applying my new system to three books and four films/TV series that I’ve enjoyed.

The books:

* Stoic Paradoxes by Cicero
* The Blue Hotel by Stephen Crane
* The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

The films/TV series:

* Maria
* Emilia Pérez
* Conclave
* What We Do in the Shadows

Plus… I’ll be sharing my list of 46 more books that I’m thinking of reading in 2025.

* Crazy busy, overtipping & other clippings from my Journal

* News you should have seen but didn’t & five stories I (almost) missed

* The Good, Bad, and Ugly – my January report on the state of the US economy 

* Five edifying and unsettling essays I wanted to share with you

* Interesting, Serious, and Fun – 13 video clips I think you’ll appreciate 

* A quiz on the “weird science” of 2024

And finally… 

* Ten quotes to lift you up and get you going in 2025 

Welcome to the December issue of “Just One Thing,” my monthly attempt to tackle a biggish story or issue in some depth.

I was planning to write about COVID this week, both the disease and the vaccines, and to go through several of the “conspiracy” claims from two years ago that have since been proven true. But I’m going to hold that essay for another time.

Instead, I’m going to give you my take on the November election, addressing the questions and claims that have ranked highest in social media, such as:

* Was it a landslide or was it much closer than the Republicans claim?

* Was I right in predicting in the Aug. 16 issue that the decision would be made by undecided voters? 

* Was I also right when I predicted in that issue that abortion would not be a deciding factor?

* Was it really all about immigration and the economy – or were there “softer” factors that turned out to be more important?

* And what can we expect from Trump – and the media – after he takes office in January?

It’s all about money this week. In this, the “Works in Progress” issue of the month, you’ll find:

* More from The 7 Natural Laws of Wealth Building

* An excerpt from The Art of Collecting Art

* The “Introduction” to Wealth Culture, a new book I’ve just started to work on

Plus…

* a quick video course I put together on Keynesian Economics

Note: These are not final drafts. So if you see anything that I got wrong, or if you want to suggest something I didn’t think of, please leave a message for me here.

Last month, I read four books and watched four films/TV series that I wanted to bring to your attention. I can wholeheartedly recommend all but one of them. The exception is a book from a heralded author, so I thought you might be interested in hearing what I have to say about it.

The books:

*A Ladder to the Sky
* The Message
* Excellent Advice for Living
* Fanny Hill

The films/TV series:

* Documentary Now!
* Hamilton: Building America
* LaRoy, Texas
* Preacher

After reading the November issue – the first monthly issue in the “long format” that I had planned to use going forward – I received this from CF:

Mark – I am impressed and surprised by this monthly edition. My only critique would be that many people like me may not find the time to digest it all in one sitting. So may I humbly propose that you split the difference and make it a bimonthly.

Just a thought from a fan. (If not, I will find the time to read it as it comes.)

I’d already come to the conclusion that what I was sending out was too much to read in one sitting. So, my current plan is to continue with the monthly, but to send it in four parts. More specifically:

* I’ll be starting the month with most of what you’ve come to expect in a full issue.

Today’s issue is an example of what it’s going to look like. It will include clippings from my Journal (mostly personal accounts and perspectives), News & Views (political, social, and cultural news stories about which I have an opinion that I think stands apart from what the rest of the media – right or left – is saying), a section on The Economy & Investing(self-explanatory), Recommended Reading/Watching (brief introductions to essays, articles, videos, etc. that I think you will find worthwhile), a Quiz (meant to deliver answers to important – and sometimes surprising – topical questions), a Photo of the Month (something I found particularly interesting), and Readers Write (a selection of letters from readers).

* The second weekly issue of the month – the Review issue – will consist of critiques of books, movies, and streaming series that I’ve enjoyed over the previous month.

* Works in Progress – the third weekly issue – will feature two or three chapters of books I’m currently writing and lessons from courses I’m putting together.

* And Just One Thing – the fourth weekly issue – will be a single essay on a topic that I feel the need to write about.

How does that sound?

This month, I’m going to test out this new idea. Read on, and this is some of what you’ll find in this first weekly issue for December:

* Why I fear a global war could be weeks away

* My take on the Jake Paul/Mike Tyson “event”

* The best – and worst – Christmas movies of all time

* A selection of news items you probably didn’t hear about from the corporate and government media

* David Stockman on how the Trump administration can cut $2 trillion from the federal budget

* A warning about overly regulating AI

* Four quick reads that I think will interest you

Lots to share with you in this November issue, including a quiz to take before you vote, a brief history of how I became a conservative, highlights of my adventure in October, investment advice on gold, real estate, and the fine art market, four book reviews, three TV/movie reviews, and something I’m very excited about: a 30-minute video course I put together on the economic genius Milton Friedman.

Plus…

* David Stockman on why Trump and Harris will probably both sink the US economy in the next four years

* Niall Ferguson on Israel

* Millionaires that can’t afford to buy their dream homes

* Freddie DeBoer on why largesse doesn’t help those it pretends to

* The brutal history of tarring and feathering

* Why you were probably taught to read the wrong way

* Another chapter from my forthcoming book The Challenge of Charity

* A chapter on “Inertia” from The 7 Natural Laws of Wealth Acquisition

* A life lesson from Arnold Schwarzenegger

Welcome to Your First Mega-Monthly Issue!

As I said in the Sept. 6 issue, for the foreseeable future, I won’t be publishing twice a week, but just once a month. This will allow me the time I need for the almost-finished and half-finished books I’ve been working on for the last 10 years.

This issue is something of a transition. I’m still working on some changes I want to make. But as you can see if you scroll down, the monthly issues are going to be considerably longer than the weekly issues. Mostly because I’ll be including more than a single book and movie review and because I’ll be including one or two chapters from the books I’m trying to finish.

This month, I’m including the recently revised first chapter of The Challenge of Charity, a book that compares the social impact of the non-profit community center my family and I established on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua to the for-profit residential resort and hotel complex that my partners and I built nearby.

I’m also including a chapter from a book based on a presentation I made to 1,700 Japanese investors in Tokyo recently. Working title: The 7 Natural Laws of Wealth Acquisition. This chapter is about what I think is one of the most important laws that govern not only wealth building but every other aspect of human achievement.

I’ve placed these two chapters towards the end of the issue because they are a bit long and I didn’t want to distract you from the shorter pieces, including:

* A look back at the big debate

* Yet another thing the Japanese do better!

* The wealth of wisdom in The Wealth of Shadows

* Everything you would expect in a movie titled Small Town Crime

* The many pleasures of The Decameron

* Your Monthly Quiz: safe cities and firearm ownership… cholesterol levels and statin drugs… the Capitol riot and Hunter Biden’s plea deal… and more

And finally, in the Readers Write department, I try to answer a question I’ve asked myself more than once over the years: “Why hasn’t the long-predicted financial Armageddon happened yet?”

TOC TEST

Notes from my journal