● Mobilize: How to Reboot the American Industrial Base and Stop World War III
Shyam Sankar and Madeline Hart
Review via The Wall Street Journal
Shyam Sankar is a Silicon Valley Paul Revere. The chief technology officer of the software company Palantir, Mr. Sankar comes at us with warnings of imminent danger, although not on a galloping steed. Instead, he delivers his hair-raising message—that we’re staring at “a humiliating and bloody defeat” if we go to war with China—in a jaunty, clever and sometimes breathless book.
“Mobilize,” written with the assistance of Madeline Hart, a strategist at Palantir, intends to jolt us out of our national-security slumber. “Complacency in peacetime can lead to war,” Mr. Sankar writes. (The book went to print before the U.S.-Israeli use of force against Iran.)

● Lucky Devils: The True Story of Three Rebel Gamblers Who Beat the Odds and Changed the Game
Kit Chellel
Review via Publishers Weekly
Bloomberg journalist Chellel (Dead in the Water) sheds light on advantage gambling, or using math and technology to beat the house, through the stories of three of its pioneers in this fascinating history. In the 1970s, gamblers Bill Nelson, Rob Reitzen, and Bill Benter arrived in Las Vegas obsessed with beating the house, and went on to redefine what that meant. Nelson’s success with a computer-driven sports betting syndicate drew FBI scrutiny before he resurfaced with a lucrative roulette operation. Reitzen went from playing poker in casinos to founding online poker sites where human players competed against algorithmic bots, with fortunes won and lost at dizzying speed. The most spectacular arc belongs to Benter, who became a legend in Hong Kong and U.S. horse racing by combining massive betting syndicates with sophisticated statistical modeling, and later parlayed his winnings into the Benter Foundation, which supports causes including the arts, Alzheimer’s research, and financial education.

● Financial Mathematics for Cryptocurrencies
Tom J. Espel
Summary via publisher (Wiley)
Financial Mathematics for Cryptocurrencies by Tom J. Espel combines two of today’s most dynamic fields – quantitative finance and cryptocurrencies – in a comprehensive guide that addresses the unique mathematical challenges faced by everyone involved in the crypto markets. Espel draws on his extensive experience in frontier assets to explain the analytical frameworks you’ll need to make informed investment decisions, identify pricing opportunities, and manage risk in this volatile asset class. The book adapts relevant quantitative finance methodologies specifically for digital assets, bridging the gap between traditional financial mathematics and the distinctive characteristics of blockchain-based instruments. Espel introduces three essential constructs for DeFi pricing theory: network time, the validator account as a new numéraire, and wrapped token frameworks for cross-chain valuation. Its modular structure allows readers to navigate directly to relevant sections, covering everything from blockchain fundamentals to advanced valuation models, staking contract mathematics, and liquidity cost analysis in cryptocurrency markets.

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