Best Books I Read in 2023

Say Aye if you read less this year than the last.

“Aye!” Less than half the books of last year for me.

The short attention span syndrome hit me hard. It’s evident in the fact that two of the books I recommend here are a collection of bite-sized aphorisms.

We all have our different reasons for why that happened. And I hope we agree that it symbolises a more serious disorder. But that's a discussion for another time.

For now, the best books I read this year:

1. The Prophet (Audiobook) - Khalil Gibran

A collection of timeless wisdom. Simple, yet thought-provoking.

2. Kitchen Confidential - Anthony Bourdain

Every year, I read one such kind of book - streams of consciousness written down on paper without any filter. And I love it. This raw writing style is as much fun writing as it is reading.

3. The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms - Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Another collection of tiny pearls of wisdom. One thing that I still remember from this book - Taleb hates economists.

Notable Mentions:

• Elon Musk - Walter Isaacson

• Can’t Hurt Me - David Goggins

• River of Stories (Graphic Novel) - Orijit Sen

I hope you do get around to reading some of these. I really do. And if you have some recommendations, please do leave a comment. I want to get my attention span and focus back in 2024.

Lists from previous years: Best of 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016

Anatomy Of A Bluff

Boom! Boom! Boom!

I empty the clip. A triple barrel bluff. The villain is tanking. My heart is leaping out of my mouth. It's for a lot of money. A month's salary for me at one point in my pre-poker career.

Would he call? Moments earlier I got sucked out by a five-outer. Maybe he thinks I am tilting. But he's a smart player. And I believe he thinks I'm fairly good too. He knows that I know that I appear to be tilting. So I might be less likely to be trying to pull off a huge bluff. Perhaps that's a good reason to do it right now. Who knows what level he is thinking on?

30 seconds of his time-bank remaining. 30 more seconds of me mentally, and sometimes loudly, shouting 'Fold!'. I am playing five more tables. I have important spots on two. I try to make good decisions on them. But I don't spend much time there owing to them being small pots. All my energy is focused on manifesting a fold.

I like my bluff. The board is good for my range. My hand selection is good. And although I don't block his strongest value, I unblock his call twice, fold river hands. I am also at the bottom of my range. So I have to go for it.

15 more seconds. The tension is too much, I take my eyes off this table. Like the footballers who stand with their back towards the goal as their teammate goes to take a shot in the penalty shoot-out.

I look back.

Five more seconds to go. This is not a good sign. If tanked this long, he's more likely to call than fold. If he's thinking logically, he might find a fold. But I'm afraid of the 'Fuck it. I call.'

Two more seconds. I can almost see a 'Call' and 'You Lost' animation coming in the last second. Add to it the embarrassment of having to show the bluff.

'Fold.' Phew! A big deep breath. I take a sip of water and glance a peek at my day's winnings graph.

On to the next hand.