Having books across 8 to 20 different topics is good because it's not always possible to predict your day to day goals and energy level two or three months in the future. Having some books on marketing, business, some biographies, some history, some light fluffy fiction, some more intense fiction, some technical books... it means when the inspiration to read about biomechanics and health hits, you've got a book on it, or if you want a light read in the park, you've got a book of good short stories, and so on.

haha...I finally broke down and included my "Man, Economy, and State" by Murray N. Rothbard that I've been intending to read for years in my latest delivery to the goodwill centre (like a 2nd hand shop). I'd love to possess the knowledge contained within without working for it, but honestly, it is hard work reading and really understanding books like this, and it is long.

Plus, as an regular informed investor, I don't think it is too relevant (or actually, useful) anymore in most ways. The gong show in the financial markets in the last 10 years is obviously predictable from the Austrian standpoint, but how one trades it is beyond me (and they don't proclaim to offer this advice, they are only explaining how the world must work over long periods).

There's no way of knowing who to short, for example...a company or now even an entire country can be obviously walking dead, but they can be suddenly bailed out at any time (with money that literally didn't even actually exist the day before), or, rules that have existed for decades can be changed overnight, and can have your ASS handed to you in one hour, for no good economic reason.

I can see how books like this will be read by historians who will shake their heads at how stupid we were, as the perils were already laid out in detail with historic references, but how it can help an individual living through it at the time, is beyond me.