Siggy is always on me -- metaphorically, understandably -- for not publishing unique, original reviews on SN... always republishing versions of them here from originals elsewhere. Occasionally, though, it happens: #1073289 that SN gets the scoop.

...And today is one of those days...And today is one of those days

Mostly, it's because I can't get the book in question into one of my regular outlets -- timing, content, effort, nothing original or interesting to say etc.
And for the next few months, those others' losses are ~BooksAndArticles' win, since there are plenty of meh-quality Bitcoin books in my possession, ready to be grilled by a grumpy Den, and that I can't for the life of me picture writing about for e.g., a Mises.org audience.

Alas, here we are:

This book was very underwhelming. In Bitcoin is for Everyone: Why Our Financial System is Broken and Bitcoin is the Solution, journalist Natalie Brunell does as decent a job as could be expected of writing yet another Bitcoin book. You haven't really made it until you've written your version of what-bitcoin-is-and-how-it-works, right?

The very simple, all-purpose structure such books follow:

• Look at all these bad things in our society
• actually, look at money and finance, which are, like, soooo broken (hashtag housing, hashtag inflation)
• cool bro, here's a magic internet money thing that fixes (=addresses) all of these ills
• here's how it works, and why you should care about it too

That story has been written a gazillion times, and Bitcoin is for Everyone is no different — even down to the examples and analogies used! (The most exciting new stuff Brunell brings to the table is to compare hashing to making a smoothie: nonreversible process.)

Whenever I read boring Bitcoin books like this, I usually conclude that the problem is me; put differently, this book isn't meant for me. We all learned our Bitcoin trivia somewhere, had to have our specific, lowly and dumb-ish questions answered, and needed somebody — often a person, an author, or a podcaster — walk us through the stuff we hadn't grasped. And her happily colored book, out with a mainstream/big-five publisher, is a perfect such example. It's easy af to read, complete with highlighted sections and executive chapter summaries.

and semi-natural breaks every five paragraphs: very readable before falling asleepand semi-natural breaks every five paragraphs: very readable before falling asleep

Plus, the description of the topics, while simplified and dumb-proof, are adequate and accurate. Even in the description of the banking system and how money operates — an area I always find things to quibble with, no matter the author — Brunell acquits herself honorably.
(The only error I found was her claim that Iceland, because of abundant, surplus renewable energy, has "actively welcomed Bitcoin miners to stabilize" its grid... not the case; Iceland uses aluminum smelters for that, and no, the Icelandic public hates this drug-trafficking, money-laundering, climate-destroying internet troll. The little mining that exists (t)here is small-scale, colocated/hidden under the more generic "data server" industry.)

I've repeatedly said something similar about e.g., The Progressive's Case for Bitcoin. There is no "progressive" case for Bitcoin; it makes no sense, collapses under its own contradiction. But it's the only way a progressive or even remotely left-wing person will take the time to learn about bitcoin... (and Bitcoin's success is way more important than the cultural/political/ideological convictions of its individual users)... plus: if they hear about it from me, they'll always suspect foul play, being an awful, disgusting capitalist-fascist. But when Trey Cross or Jason Maier, with impeccable progressive credentials, see value in Bitcoin then perhaps they can reach an audience I could never speak to.

Brunell is trying to pull off something similar with the wider public (I picture this book in an airport shop) and with women, being a very approachable journalist with a decent sob story: immigrant parents fleeing communism, instill in her decent values, work their way up in America — and then get fucked by the GFC. Money printing broken, etc.

In our identity-obsessed times, this might be the most important thing that Bitcoin is for Everyone brings to the table:

I think of Farida [Togolese human rights lady wielding bitcoin] often as I contemplate one of my own deepest personal missions: educating women about Bitcoin as a tool for true empowerment. Bitcoin provides a way for every woman—no matter where she lives and no matter how oppressive the government and culture—to achieve financial security and agency in her life. (p. 190)

Thus, we get semi-kind-maaaybe true populist statements like "The gap between the rich and everyone else isn't just growing; it's widening at an accelerating rate, making it impossible to catch up" (p. 17) or "this is the hidden tax of monetary inflation. The banks get the money, but we eventually pay for it—at the checkout counter, in our monthly rent, and in the fading dream of owning a home" (p. 56).

Toward the end she makes a neat, time-preference observation I come back to now and again (#1025290, #1383936):

When we see hints of the same desperation [hyperinflation, burn-the-furniture-for-fire behavior] in our own behavior, it's helpful to wonder whether the constant drumbeat of self-blame ("why can't I make better decisions?") isn't, instead, a function of the nuanced but very real effects of money that loses its value over time. (p. 209)

"Bitcoin doesn't fix money; it fixes our relationship with time.""Bitcoin doesn't fix money; it fixes our relationship with time."

Some excellent extracts:

"Bitcoin strips away the toll-takers, the gatekeepers, and the third-party overseers. It's just you and me, freed from the relentless siphoning of value that defines our current financial system." (p. 176)
"Bitcoin is not a company seeking profit. It's an open-source solution to the inflationary chaos caused by a broken monetary system." (p. 152)
"Bitcoin is like an orchestra that's found a way to keep perfect time without a conductor." (p. 140)
"Bitcoin is a bearer asset. Like a dollar bill, it's owned by whoever happens to be holding it. A dollar bill doesn't have my name on it; If I drop it, it's equally useful to the lucky person who picks it up. Protecting your bitcoin is like protecting your cash" (p. 196)

I end this as she does in the Epiloque:

I'm passionate about Bitcoin not because I believe it has all the answers, but because it encourages us to grapple with some very important questions. How do we want to live? (p. 215)

Great question, competently put together.

Tl;dr:
it's a pretty boring book, would not recommend to anybody who's been around Bitcoin for a while.
Might therefore be one of the most important Bitcoin books yet, and one I can honestly and genuinely recommend to a complete MSM/leftie newbie, knowing they could grasp it and wouldn't be put off by disagreeable extreme-libertarian fuck-the-state bros.