
Ask HN: What book(s) had the most impact for you in 2019? - petecooper
It&#x27;s &#x27;best of&#x27; season on the books and music front, so I wish to ask about how you found your reading lists this year. What stood out?<p>I didn&#x27;t read as much as I&#x27;d have liked due to life complications, but I particularly enjoyed:<p>* Manufacturing Consent (Edward Herman &amp; Noam Chomsky)
* The Psychedelic Experience (Timothy Leary)
* Young Men and Fire (Normam Maclean)
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jrepinc
They Don't Represent Us: Reclaiming Our Democracy
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43309161-they-don-t-
repr...](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43309161-they-don-t-represent-us)

Don't Be Evil: How Big Tech Betrayed Its Founding Principles — and All of Us
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46758636-don-t-be-
evil](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46758636-don-t-be-evil)

Stolen: How Finance Destroyed the Economy and Corrupted Our Politics
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43789131-stolen](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43789131-stolen)

------
tony
_An Introduction to Theories of Personality_ by Robert B Ewen

It's a textbook. For a very good overview of Freud, Jung, Adler, Horney,
Sullivan, Erickson, Maslow, etc. In each section, it feels like you found a
theory of personality you like best, then it gets better. Each time, they
recommend further reading. For example, one good one is _Our Inner Conflicts:
A Constructive Theory of Neurosis_ by Karen Horney.

Also, _Personality Theories: Journeys Into Self_ by Williard and Patricia
Frick is an interesting workbook. You don't have to fill it out, it's helpful
read what it's asking and think on it, then also think of those questions when
understanding people.

Attachment Theory: _Attachment in Adulthood, Second Edition: Structure,
Dynamics, and Change_ by Mario Mikulincer and Phillip R. Shaver. For an easier
read, _Bad Boyfriends: Using Attachment Theory to Avoid Mr. (or Ms.) Wrong and
Make You a Better Partner_ by Jeb Kinnison is on Audible and Kindle and
despite the title is very canon to modern adult attachment theory.

------
vo2maxer
Just finished _The Butchering Art_ by Lindsey Fitzharris. I can’t express
strongly enough my gratitude that if I were to need surgery, it wouldn’t be in
an operating room where “the screams of those struggling under the knife
mingled discordantly with everyday noises drifting in from the street below:
children laughing, people chatting, carriages rumbling by.”

Currently reading _These Truths: A History of the United States_ by Jill
Lapore where she argues for the pressing relevance of our foundational
principles. It’s a hefty tome of about 800 pages, so I still have a ways to
go.

Next up are two books which have been featured in several end of year lists:
_Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland_ by
Patrick Radden Keefe and _Exhalation_ by Ted Chiang.

Reading aloud with my 10 year old daughter: _Little Women_ by Louisa May
Alcott (Penguin’s 150th anniversary annotated edition with a Patti Smith
foreword). Enough said about how influential this experience is for both of
us.

------
texteller
* Machine Platform Crowd: Harnessing the Digital Revolution Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson

* Kiss The Ground Josh Tickell

* Do Purpose: Why Brands with a Purpose Do Better and Matter More by David Hieatt

* The Future of Humanity: Terraforming Mars, Interstellar Travel, Immortality, and Our Destiny Beyond Earth by MichioKaku

* The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World by Stephen Brusatte

* The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos by Christian Davenport

* * * 95 Best Books most impacted me in 2019:

[http://casualwalker.com/95-best-books-to-read-
in-2019](http://casualwalker.com/95-best-books-to-read-in-2019)

------
probinso
The new trail of tears - overview of policy law and history leading to
systemic disenfranchisement of first persons.

Braiding sweetgrass - biographical story of the mix of native spirituality and
science

What the eyes don't see - discussion of the policy and governmental resistance
to disclosing the Michigan water crisis

Weapons of math destruction - the ethical and cultural costs of artificial
intelligence at-scale

~~~
omosubi
Seems like youre interested in native Americans - do you have any other book
recommendations on them?

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7thaccount
"This is how you lose the time war".

A science fiction short book where rival agents send each other letters and
attempt to thwart each other.

It is also has some of the most beautiful prose/poetry I've ever seen that
made me re-read each section over and over. I've been an avid reader since
childhood and this is the first book to have that impact on me. Not at all
what I was expecting.

~~~
lordCarbonFiber
Seconding this recommendation. This was the first book in maybe a decade that
my first instinct after finishing was to start again.

------
WickerMint
__Smartcuts: The Breakthrough Power of Lateral Thinking __

Fabulous book about how certain individuals strive in what they do, and what
separates these people from the rest of us. It has very interesting stories as
well of how these individuals became so accomplished in life.

------
diehunde
The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday. I've been reading 1 meditation per day so I'm
not done yet but I would say out of every 5 I read I find at least one really
valuable lesson that makes me rethink a lot.

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asicsp
I mostly read fantasy books and this year I got Kindle Unlimited subscription
and checked out a lot of self published books. Top 3 among them would be:

* The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang

* Cradle by Will Wight

* Arcance Ascension by Andrew Rowe

------
iamthelord
Preacher the comic book.it was something that made me give respect to the
medium and now on a journey to read all the well known

------
lmiller1990
Why We Sleep - Matthew Walker.

Sleeping is important, and since I started doing more (and improving the
quality of), I feel better and get more done.

~~~
enonevets
On a related note, there was a recent thread debunking most of the book here:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21546850](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21546850)

~~~
lmiller1990
That post has a lot of analysis. I don't doubt there are mistakes or
exaggerations in the book; however, I still think there is value in
prioritizing a good night's sleep. Of all the research he presents, I noticed
that his anecdote about the pianist becoming more proficient at a pattern he
was struggling with after sleeping to ring true; I have found this true in my
personal experience, as well.

I personally don't have a lot of knowledge in the field (the author has an
entire professional career of researching) so I take at lot of the advice, at
least what seems logical and reasonable to me, at face value. I'll read the
link you posted and consider the points as well, though - thanks for that.

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tcbasche
* Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson * Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut * Children of Time - Adrian Tchaikovsky

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Yvonne_McQ
"Blowing the Bloody Doors Off : And Other Lessons in Life" by Michael Caine

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parasite______
permanent record by edward snowden. you can read it in plain text here if
you’d like :) [https://texts.tg-z.now.sh](https://texts.tg-z.now.sh)

