Book Hunting in Saigon

Vesta Lifestyle & Gifts (Thao Dien)

This is a random little store in Thao Dien that we checked out, turns out they had a fair few books around the shop and found a few interesting ones.

• Dog Fight: How Apple and Google Went to War and Started a Revolution (Never heard of it, weird name, but sounds mildly interesting and worth picking up for about $4)
• The Minimalist Entrepreneur by Sahil Lavingia (Read some articles from Sahil over the years, founder of Gumroad, thought it'd be a decent read)

Nhà Sách Xưa (D10)

Been to their Binh Thanh branch, so wanted to try this one. Been twice now. Much better for me, great selection of English non-fiction books.

• Emergency by Neil Strauss (read it years ago, loved it, may re-read just wanted a copy)
• 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss (read multiple times, huge part of why I lived in Thailand before)
• Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits by Philip Fisher (pretty sure this is like the bible of value investing, bought the audiobook and been on my list a while now)
• So You Want To Start a Hedge Fund by Ted Seides (I don't want to start a hedge fund, but still interesting to learn about)
• Alibaba by Duncan Clark (never read about Alibaba before, sounds interesting)
• Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson (listened to the audiobook years ago, would love a physical copy to possibly re-read)
• Benjamin Graham on Value Investing by Janet Lowe (grandaddy of value investing, curious to learn his story)
• How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life by Russ Roberts (I like these topics, looked like a light enjoyable read)
• Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely (fun read, read it years ago, was cheap so picked it up)
• Tap Dancing To Work by Carol J. Loomis (I'll buy anything about Buffett)
• Imagine by Jonah Lehrer (sounded interesting, though apparently this guy doesn't have the best reputation, I saw after)
• The 10 Rules Of Sam Walton by Michael Bergdahl (Made In America was one of my all time favourite biographies)
• The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman (read it years ago, good reference book)
• The Book Of Nothing by John D. Barrow (just sounds interesting, why wouldn't I want to read about nothing)
• My Years With General Motors by Alfred P. Sloan (supposed to have been a great manager, not a clue, Bill Gates recommended it too, worth a shot)

Tran Nhan Ton Street (D5)

This place is pretty far so I've only been twice, but it is by far the best, an entire street full of second hand bookstores. Found so many unlikely finds.

• The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder (huge lovely condition hardcover, never expected to find this, HAD to buy, already read the ebook)
• Madoff: The Man Who Stole $65 Billion by Erin Arvedlund (could be interesting?)
• Molly's Game by Molly Bloom (movie was fun, worth a try)
• The Life and Legend of Jay Gould by Maury Klein (whattt??? Jay Gould book in English in Vietnam?? heard about him on Founders podcast)
• The Last Second by Catherine Coulter (something-something-space, sure worth a shot)
• Crushing It by Gary Vee (was $2, used to enjoy Gary's stuff, why not)
• Twelve and a Half by Gary Vee (was $2, used to enjoy Gary's stuff, why not)
• Eat Mor Chikin by S. Truett Cathy (never even been to a Chick-fil-a, but love biographies)
• China Inc. by Ted C. Fishman (impulse buy waiting for Grab to arrive, sounded familiar & interesting)
• The Importance of Living by Lin Yutang (super old looking book on philosophy, I'm a big philosophy fan)
• Straight Flush by Ben Mezrich (this guy wrote the book that inspired the movie "21" & "The Social Network", sounded fun)
• The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams (I love the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, shame they only had the 1 book)
• Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman (a hugely important book, tried reading it years ago and found it a bit boring, but worth another go)
• My Story by Lim Goh Tong (never heard of him before, but successful business guy, love random finds like this)
• First Break All The Rules by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman (another business book was less than $4 why not)
• A Man Called Intrepid by William Stevenson (looked so familiar, sounded interesting, thought i'd try it, not my usual pick)
• Good To Great by Jim Collins (a classic business book these days, read years ago, wanted a copy to review again)
• Hatching Twitter by Nick Bilton (not sure if this will be too drama-centric but curious on the Twitter story)
• The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert (recommended by a friend)
• The Particle At The End Of The Universe by Sean Carroll (sounds like an interesting story)
• How To Read A Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren (superrr old print, was like 25c why not)
• Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (damaged but super dated copy from before the movie ever came out, just a fun piece of my childhood)
• What You See Is What You Get by Alan Sugar (or should I say Lord Sugar, hah. Don't expect much, but it was there, and I'm mildly curious, for a time many years ago, I thought the apprentice UK was fun to watch)
• The Billion Dollar BET: Robert Johnson And The Story Of Black Entertainment Television by Brett Pulley (never heard of him, nor BET, but I'll always read business biographies, and it mentions John Malone who I'm familiar with from The Outsiders, so lets give it a whirl)

Book Store (Van Hanh Mall)

I realised the book store in Vanh Hanh mall has a discount and clearance section, so I've been there a couple times to check what they've got.

• Loonshots by Safi Bahcall (sounded exactly my type of thing, quite an interesting read actually, not sure I agree on all, but well thought out and great stories)
• Rocket Billionaires by Tim Fernholz (read biographies of Musk and Bezos already, curious to read)
• The Google Guys by Richard L. Brandt (Google? sure why not)
• Fall by Neal Stephenson (loved Snowcrash, so wanted to read this)

Trần Huy Liệu (Phu Nhuan)

A few bookstores here, there's two I quite like, one has an upstairs full of English books (Momo), other is an old couple with a great selection of business books. Been here 3 times now.

• Raising The Bar By Cary Erickson (used to eat Clif bars when I was into running, worth a shot)
• Made In Japan by Akio Morita (I loved Sam Walton's Made in America, why not Made in Japan, plus it's Sony, interesting company)
• One Up On Wall Street by Peter Lynch (will always buy finance books from famous investors if I see them)
• Armada by Ernest Cline (another Ernest Cline book, heck yes)
• Creativity Inc. by Ed Catmull (listened to the audiobook and loved it, wanted a physical copy)
• Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson (one of the first business books I read a decade ago)
• Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka (loveddd the movie, figured the books are usually better)
• The Doom Machine by Mark Teague (love sci-fi, don't know much about it, but worth a try)
• Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne (read many years ago, one for the biz collection)
• Influence by Robert Cialdini (read this years ago, but fancied a re-read, excellent book)
• Justice by Michael J. Sandel (this was about a dollar and sounded mildly interesting)
• Tim Cook by Leander Kahney (people love to put him down, but his accomplishments are clear, curious to read)
• The Liar by Stephen Fry (love Stephen Fry, never heard of this, but again about a dollar so why not)
• Den of Thieves by James B. Stewart (familiar with this story after finishing Barbarians At The Gate, have to read it now)
• Lord Of The Flies by William Golding (classic, never read it before)
• The Entrepreneur by William E. Heinecke (foreign entrepreneur that found huge success in Thailand, never heard of him, but literally a customer of his businesses)
• Coco Chanel: An Intimate Life by Lisa Chaney (heard the story on Founders podcast, sounded interesting)

Bá Tân Bookstore (D3)

This place is lovely with a great selection of English books. I've been twice and bought a fair few.

• My Startup Life by Ben Cashnoca (never heard of him, but sounds like my sort of thing)
• Einstein's Genius Club by Burton Feldman (another random find that sounded like my sort of thing)
• Series of 5 Russian literature books with Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, and Gogol (never read Russian lit, curious to try)
• Artemis by Andy Weir (loved The Martian movie at least, love sci-fi, same guy so sounded worth a try)
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (love this book, bought for the collection)
• Zero To One by Peter Thiel (read this years ago, but fancied a re-read)
• Toyota Kata by Mike Rother (Toyota obviously popularised the just-in-time production method, so curious to read what I can learn from them)
• Narco Nomics by Tom Wainwright (just sounded fun)
• The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson (I don't read much self-help anymore, but this one is so famous I was curious, also read a couple of Mark's blogs in the past)
• The Wealth Of Nations by Adam Smith (classic, always wanted to read)
• Catherine The Great by Robert K. Massie (my fiancee was watching The Great recently, so peaked my curiosity)
• Revenger by Alastair Reynolds (I'm a sucker for sci-fi)
• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (famous russian lit, I'd like to try it)
• The Bourne Ultimatum by Robert Ludlum (bought the first one, may as well get another in the series)
• South by Ernest Shackleton (supposed to be an incredible story)

Nhà Sách Xưa (Binh Thanh)

This place has a tiny selection of English books, but the ones they do have are extremely cheap. Been here 3 times.

• Super Thinking by Gabriel Weinberg & Lauren McCann (learned about mental models from studying Charlie Munger later fs.blog, seemed interesting)
• Killing Floor by Lee Childs (read this years ago, but bought for my fiancée to try as a fan of the show, plus the very first Reacher, totally want in my collection)
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey (classic self-help, read years ago, for the collection)
• How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie (classic self-help, read years ago, for the collection)
• Brain Surfing: The Top Marketing Strategy Minds in the World by Heather LeFevre (not so familiar with the "minds", but I work in marketing so might as well)
• Napoléon by Collection Génies et Réalités (this is a French book, that I can't actually read. But hear me out... it's a beautiful hardcover full of pictures, great condition from 1967, about Napoleon which is interesting in and of itself, and only $3)
• Tools of Titans by Timothy Ferriss (big fan of Tim, this was a decent price and interesting as a coffee table book)
• Life on Earth by David Attenborough (who doesn't love David Attenborough?)
• The Sky Does Not Have To Be Blue by Lý Quí Trung (on my quest to eventually learn Vietnamese, thought some local business books could be motivational, this guy built a huge restaurant chain)
• The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum (couple dollars, worth a shot the movies are legendary)
• No Middle Name by Lee Childs (a cheap Jack Reacher novel, couldn't help myself)
• The Silent War by Richard Deacon (sounds quite interesting, another cheap one)
• Eureka! The Book Of Inventing by Bob Symes (quite interested in innovation as a whole, another cheap one, figured I'd try give it a shot)
• Engineers: From The Great Pyramids to Spacecrafts by DK History Changers (absolutely lovely book, ended up casually reading it for 30+ minutes while my fiancée continued hunting)

The Hidden Spine (D3)

This one was a bit small with not a lot for me, and fairly high prices, but I ended up finding a whole load of Jack Reacher books I'd never read.

• Personal by Lee Childs
• Past Tense by Lee Childs
• Night School by Lee Childs
• Without Fail by Lee Childs
• Make Me by Lee Childs
• The Midnight Line by Lee Childs

Pages of Passion (D1)

Lovely bookstore in an old building with English books exclusively. Little bit pricier than places I found later, but best selection for me by far. Been just twice and bought 10 books.

• Shoe Dog by Phil Knight (read this years ago, so poetic, one of my favourites, fancied a re-read)
• No Rules Rules by Reed Hastings (recommended by my brother)
• In Too Deep by Lee Childs (huge Jack Reacher fan, never seen the books here before)
• The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest, and Death's End (Box Set) by Liu Cixin (huge sci-fi fan, heard this was a good one, already seen the Netflix show)
• Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond (saw this recommended in Poor Charlie's Almanack)
• Personal History by Katharine Graham (Warren Buffett raves about how effective of a leader she was, thought it could be interesting)
• Source Code: My Beginnings by Bill Gates (founder of Microsoft, guy who slept under his desk and ripped the radio out of car, sounds worth a read)
• The Innovators by Walter Isaacson (basically the history of computers, I know bits and pieces of this but would love to connect it)
• Barbarians At The Gate by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar (been looking for this book for ages, love reading finance stories)
• Beyond Good And Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche (listened to How To Take Over The World pod on Nietzsche, fancied a read of his most famous book)
• Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow (loved Chernow's book Titan, could be interesting)
• Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson (great audiobook, wanted a physical copy)
• Seveneves by Neal Stephenson (love Stephenson, heard this was a good one)
• The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie by Andrew Carnegie (the man who apparently did not request the writing of Think And Grow Rich, love these old industrial age stories)
• Kochland by Christopher Leonard (Read Charles Koch's Good Profit before which was fantastic, curious to know more about them)
• Pour Your Heard Into It by Howard Schultz (read this years ago and loved it, definite re-read potential)
• Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams (part 5, still missing 3, 4, 6, and 7. Still hunting)
• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (finally, been looking for this for ages, love his books)
• Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson (I read the Ashlee Vance biography years ago, heard this was much better)
• Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson (saw a YouTube video on this, thought it was fascinating, so I'll have to read it now)