A book I’ve heard mentioned several times by people I respect is The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith. It was written in 1776, so almost 250 years ago. I struggle to understand the language in old books. It takes me a lot longer to read them, and I don’t always grasp the main points. So I shy away from really old books. But I’m curious about The Wealth of Nations, especially after learning that Warren Buffett recommended it highly.

I came across a work-around: a book called Warren Buffett’s 3 Favorite Books. It was highly rated and claimed to summarize the main points of Buffett’s three most recommended books, including The Wealth of Nations, The Intelligent Investor, and Security Analysis (the last two both by Benjamin Graham).

The book does more than that. It distills the core ideas from the three books and explains them using simple examples. It then explains how and why those core ideas became the principles that drive Buffett’s value-investing strategy. And all in a way that anyone can easily understand.

One thing I especially enjoyed was how he explained the importance of taking initiative and teaching yourself. I really like his explanation of Thayer’s method of learning, a self-teaching approach he learned while attending the U.S. Military Academy. The gist is that if you embrace this method, you can teach yourself almost anything in life, which makes the method an invaluable asset. I totally agree with this method but didn’t know there was a name for the method.

The other concepts I enjoyed were in the chapters on bond valuation and stock valuation. He demonstrated how and why the two are connected and why comparing their yields (mainly, for bonds, the risk-free treasury yield) is a key concept that underpins much of the investing world.

Overall, this is a good book that’s a quick read. Anyone looking to understand or brush up on the core concepts of investing should consider this book.