
Ask HN: Summer Reading Recommendations? - neilc
I'm about to take a few weeks off, and I'd love to hear recommendations from HNers on books they've read recently and enjoyed. I'm open to anything, fiction or non-fiction -- and I'd be particularly interested in subjects other than programming or entrepreneurship.
======
dkarl
_Palace Walk_ , by Naguib Mahfouz

A family drama set in Cairo during and after World War I. It's a long book,
but the going is easy. The variety of characters of different ages and
temperaments, each with their own preoccupations in a turbulent time, provide
a fascinating glimpse of what to me was an entirely unknown society and
culture. It's the first book in a trilogy, so if you like it, there are more
books waiting.

 _Never Let Me Go_ , by Kazuo Ishiguro

Very sad. It ripped me up the first time I read it. Anybody who grew up
feeling different and somehow deficient should read it.

 _Talking to Strange Men_ , by Ruth Rendell

An easy and fast-paced kind-of-mystery by a well-known mystery writer. There
are two stories related in a crucial but indirect way. Each story has
mysteries and twists that could stand on their own for suspense, but they play
second fiddle to the development of several interesting characters.

 _Persepolis_ and _Persepolis 2_ , by Marjane Satrapi

Graphic memoirs about growing up in Iran and Europe.

------
lemming
On a "what makes us tick" non-fiction bent:

1\. Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (<http://tinyurl.com/33kv6te>) -
fascinating look at the author's theory of Flow, the state of total absorption
that accompanies total concentration - so called "optimal experience". Anyone
who programs knows this feeling. Really excellent book.

2\. Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert (<http://tinyurl.com/38lvdzc>) -
not the self-help book it sounds like, but an interesting look at why we're so
bad at working out what will make us happy.

3\. The Tiger that isn't by Andrew Dilnot (<http://tinyurl.com/38hntqx>) -
interesting guide to our instinctive interpretation of statistics and how the
media manipulates it.

4\. Bad Science by Ben Goldacre (<http://tinyurl.com/3yk8woz>) - at once
amusing and horrifying look at various aspects of pseudoscience, especially as
applied to healthcare.

Fiction:

1\. Anything by Iain Banks, especially the sci-fi.

2\. If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor
(<http://tinyurl.com/3496d34>) - worth reading just for the language he uses.

3\. American Gods by Neil Gaiman (<http://tinyurl.com/3xyr65w>) - great
fantasy with a darkly humorous side.

------
rudyfink
Here are some nonfiction books that I've enjoyed.

 _How We Know What Isn't So: The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life_
\- Gilovich - a good book on the inability of the human mind to accept things
as random.

 _Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High_ \- Patterson,
et all - fluffy but nice short and solid book for better skills at listening
and responding in conversation

 _Full Throttle: The Life & Fast Times of Racing Legend Curtis Turner_ \-
Edlestein - Curtis Turner was an influential figure in the development of what
became NASCAR. I enjoyed the book for his character and as insight into a pass
time that I had not really understood.

 _Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day_ \- Reinhart - His latest book on
quality home baking. This is definitely a do along with the book kind of read,
but I found it to be easy to follow, appealing to detail, and satisfying in
producing delicious bread.

 _Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails: From the Alamagoozlum to the Zombie
100 Rediscovered Recipes and the Stories Behind Them_ \- Haigh - If you're of
age, this is an interesting background in cocktails and their evolution in
America.

I forget whether it was on HN or not, but I've been enjoying this list of
great magazine articles <http://www.kk.org/cooltools/the-best-magazi.php> .

------
m0th87
I'm reading The Joy of Clojure right now. I've never been able to get myself
into lisp, but this book is doing a pretty damn good job.

I think technical books are best combined with fiction, because it's pleasant
to keep switching between the two as you get bored. I just finished and highly
recommend Fluke by Christopher Moore. Its synopsis does not do it justice:
once you start reading it, it's impossible to put down.

~~~
deathbob
I think "Lamb" is my favorite Christopher Moore book.

------
robertg
I really like the Sherlock Holmes stories.

They are a bit dated, but still good reads.

[http://www.amazon.com/Study-Scarlet-Sherlock-Holmes-
Mystery/...](http://www.amazon.com/Study-Scarlet-Sherlock-Holmes-
Mystery/dp/1450596185/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280782968&sr=8-1)

------
lkozma
Surely you are joking, Mr. Feynman.

D. MacKay: Sustainable energy - without the hot air.

N. Taleb: Fooled by randomness.

M. Karinthy: A journey round my skull.

~~~
tptacek
Not a fan of Taleb, who is in love with the sound of his own voice, and who is
articulating concepts that may be shocking to pit traders but not so much to
anyone who has spent quality time on Usenet.

~~~
lkozma
Yeah, he gets repetitive for sure. But I still think the core of his message
is sound and (somewhat) counterintuitive (to me at least): you can lose most
bets if you win the rare large ones, people underestimate the probability of
outlier events, people tend to find patterns in sheer randomness, etc.

------
JunkDNA
It's older, but I really enjoyed Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson.

------
squidsoup
I think Haruki Murakami (<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruki_murakami>) is
one of the most interesting and weird contemporary novelists alive today. On a
similar Japanese tip, also check out anything by Kobo Abe, particularly The
Woman in the Dunes and The Box Man.

If you're into sci-fi, as inevitably a lot of hackers are, Jeff Noon's Vurt
and Pollen are both brilliant.

~~~
aik
I enjoyed The Woman in the Dunes as well. Very well written, though it left me
feeling a bit disturbed.

Another great novel (also Japanese) is Kokoro by Natsume Soseki. It's not sci-
fi and the plot isn't especially thick, however just like a lot of Japanese
novels, the focus is on the character development, and it is done very very
well.

------
tptacek
Things you can easily read on the beach:

 _A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again_ by David Foster Wallace.

 _The Master and Margarita_ by Mikhail Bulgakov.

 _Medium Raw_ by Anthony Bourdain (but read _Kitchen Confidential_ first if
you haven't already).

Also recommend FiveBooks.com, which does interviews with various academics and
"thinkers" each recommending 5 books on a particular subject. It's a bit
slanted towards politics but has a fair bit of hard science as well.

~~~
anr
_The Master and Margarita_ is very good, but you have to take care with which
translation you pick up.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Master_and_Margarita#Englis...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Master_and_Margarita#English_translations)

------
mqmouse
If you like SciFi, I really recommend Ian M. Banks and his Culture Series.

Here is a link to the "first" in the series:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consider_Phlebas>

Basically to give you a flavour, imagine a utopian society where energy is
basically free and run by super intelligent benevolent AIs. So basically the
citizens have nothing to do but live a completely hedonistic life.

Whenever they encounter "primitive" societies, they try to make them more
human and civilized. Basically the opposite of the "prime directive". The
organization responsible for that is called Contact. Unfortunately, in order
to make these societies more humane they sometimes have to resort to some
dirty tricks (like assassinating evil dictators, instigating civil wars, etc
etc). The organization responsible for that is called "Special Circumstances".

Another author I find great is Sheri Tepper.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheri_S._Tepper>

SciFi with a feminist bent. Examples are Grass / and the Margarets.

If you want something more acid, anything by Victor Pelevin. Buddha's little
finger is brilliant.

------
JangoSteve
Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman

Also, as a good counterpoint (sort of)...

Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered by E.F. Schumacher

I personally don't think the whole book is that great, but the chapter,
"Buddhist Economics", is really good and reprinted here:
[http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/buddhist_economics/english.h...](http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/buddhist_economics/english.html)

------
cschep
If you haven't, read Ender's Game. It's phenomenally well written science
fiction.

If you have read it a long time ago, re-read it!

~~~
squidsoup
Also, if you love the book, it might pay to avoid reading anything about Orson
Scott Card, particularly any recent interviews.

I've let what he stands for as an individual colour my enjoyment of his
novels, which is a pity as they're some of my favourite in the genre.

~~~
edanm
I'm a huge fan of Orson Scott Card, so take the following with a grain of
salt.

Despite "recent interviews" which most people really disagree with, I still
think almost all his fiction works are great. So if you liked Ender's Game, be
sure to pick up other fiction books by him. I especially recommend
"Songmaster" and "The Worthing Saga".

~~~
esoteric
I remember reading something about him personally and tried to not let it
taint my recent reading and then next year rereading of Ender's Game. I've
forgotten what I was so upset about, thankfully, so I can still enjoy that and
Speaker for the Dead for what they are.

I don't often get really emotional when I read books anymore (I'm newly in my
30's), but Ender's game just hit me so hard. I'm glad for the experience.

------
hop
Recently finished _The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition_
\- An extraordinary true story and possibly the best book I've ever read.

------
johnfn
A Game of Thrones by George R R Martin. Fiction. Fantasy, but not _too_
fantasy; it's almost the same as the world we live in. But Martin is a genius.
His world is deep and it seems like he's lived there for years. His characters
are fascinating and unique, to a level I've never seen before. His writing
style is subtly distinct, enough that you don't notice it initially but you
gradually pick up on small changes that he made and appreciate it more. Last,
his plot writing is truly masterful. If you're familiar with it, this is sort
of "The Wire" of fantasy books.

~~~
cludwin
+1 for A Game of Thrones.

As a side note HBO picked up the rights to AGOT and is currently filming the
series which should be airing sometime in 2011.

<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0944947/>

Martin is an incredible writer and the books have lots of depth. His
characters are amazing. I've read them a couple times and continue to find
them fantastic.

Martin chooses each detail that he writes about with intent, while not always
apparent on your first reading, he has an artful way of layering plot points
or connecting characters with subtle details.

------
kjbekkelund
My favourite books read lately are Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky and
Perrotta's Metaprogramming Ruby. If you haven't read Free by Chris Anderson,
it's also highly recommended. It's just an article, but Anarconomy by the
Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies was a very interesting read
(<http://www.cifs.dk/doc/medlemsrapporter/MR0309UK.pdf>).

If you are willing to check out an audiobook, World War Z is truly an amazing
book. Absolutely the best audiobook I have heard so far.

Enjoy your weeks off!

~~~
metellus
The print version of World War Z is very good as well.

------
dill_day
I just finished Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.

It's a 1000-page kind of experimental fiction about entertainment/addiction.

It took me a while to read, but is something I'd recommend, anyway.

~~~
pkghost
So, what's the jest of it? Someone told me that if you finish it, the joke is
on you ;)

~~~
Willwhatley
While witty enough as a throwaway comment, I disagree and recommend IJ to
anyone who likes nested (recursive!), variable scope humor. The experimental
portions of it do not thrill me except insofar as they are amusing.

The novel is a sort of intersection of so funny it hurts and it hurts so much
it's funny.

The eponym of the title is apt for one of the viewpoint characters, who is
unable to communicate by the end of the story (beginning of the book), and
much more so his father, who is a very type of Yorick: mute by being dead, of
excellent fancy, etc.

------
SandB0x
Two of my favourite summer books:

 _The Great Gatsby_ by F. Scott Fitzgerald

 _Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture_ by Douglas Coupland

Any friend of Gatsby is a friend of mine.

~~~
lionhearted
> The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I read Gatsby and came away with two thoughts:

1\. How incredibly well constructed. Almost every paragraph weaves a story
together that starts off slow and then accelerates incredibly rapidly.

2\. I think it's so popular because it paints a picture of rich people as
actually unsuccessful at what really matters to them, depraved, inconsiderate,
immoral, and miserable and hollow on the inside. Note how frequently the book
is recommended by English professors with no money who generally hate wealthy
people - it's like, "see, they're like us, just _even worse!_ "

Worth reading, though, at the very least to see what the fuss is about. It is
incredibly well-constructed from a writing standpoint.

~~~
zooey
I think it's more a fact of describing the life of upper class people. The
poor characters are not so well painted too. But they live (or want to live)
in the upper class world, in the book. We have only flash of the world of the
"poor".

The narrator, also, is from a bourgeois family (Nick graduated from Yale).

So maybe it was just a novel describing a world. A World fading away.

------
viraptor
Fiction:

\- Someone already mentioned Neil Gaiman's "American Gods", but it's so good,
I'll mention it again :) Very well constructed and has its specific
atmosphere...

\- Anything by Iain Banks - "Walking on glass", "Wasp factory", "A song of
stone" are definitely not light reading, but worth spending some time on them.
His science-fiction is much simpler, but... didn't get me as excited as
"Walking on glass".

Non-fiction:

\- "Leading Lean Software Development - Results are not the point"
([http://www.amazon.com/Leading-Lean-Software-Development-
Resu...](http://www.amazon.com/Leading-Lean-Software-Development-
Results/dp/0321620704)) is the best team / organisation / project leading book
I've seen. I hate most of books like that with passion, but this one is
different. I can't wait for the next story they introduce in every chapter. It
touches many topics useful for anyone working with even one other person and
you can read it like a good adventure book - it's got clear examples,
interesting quotes and in-depth but not boring analysis.

~~~
gw666
There's Iain Banks (The Wasp Factory), and there's Iain M. Banks (other
books). Same guy--the latter is science fiction, and always worthwhile; the
former is his "experimental" fiction, some of which I can't figure out the
point of. The Wasp Factory isn't SF but is good: the story of an average
British boy, his odd circumstances, and the odder resolution of his problems.

------
agentargo
I've been into Klosterman lately

Downtown Owl (novel) Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs (essays on pop culture) Eating
the Dinosaur (more essays)

Other Novels:

Lolita - Nabokov White Noise - Delillo

------
sgoraya
I recently went on a Ernest Hemingway bender after not having read much
fiction in a while (sort of a gray area for these novels since a lot of it is
based on Hemingway's experiences during the wars); I would highly recommend:

For whom the bell tolls & A farewell to arms

Out of those two, I liked _For Whom The Bell Tolls_ a little bit better.

------
gsaurus
"Into Thin Air" (Krakauer) Journalist/Mountaineer account of an Everest
expedition gone wrong. Read it, ponder, but know that there is some
controversy. Very interesting look into expedition dynamics.

"Mountains Beyond Mountains" (Kidder) An account of Paul Farmer's work in
Haiti, and later in other parts of the world. If you are interested in public
health it is a great read, and may provide a fresh angle on recent Haiti <->
world politics.

"Three Cups of Tea" (Oliver, I think) Greg Mortensen starts building schools
in Pakistan / Afghanistan. Adventure ensues. There's some definite political
bias here but it's worth a read.

Fun summer read: "World War Z".

Unrelated, I use Shelfari [<http://www.shelfari.com/>] to organize my books-
to-read, if you need an organization tool.

------
kranner
For anyone interested in the human side of Nigerian "419" spam email, I
recommend the funny novel "I Do Not Come to You by Chance" by Adaobi Tricia
Nwaubani.

<http://www.amazon.com/Do-Not-Come-You-Chance/dp/B002KHMZOA>

------
Ixiaus
Here's my partial book list, if you look under "Favorites" you can use those
as my suggestion :)

<http://books.google.com/books?uid=5646369799681106085>

------
nopassrecover
Some recents:

 _Surely You're Joking Mr Feynmann_ is a good read.

As is Vonnegut's _Cat's Cradle_

As is Hugh Laurie's _The Gun Seller_

And I'm just getting into Orwell's _Keep The Aspidistra Flying_ which is quite
good too.

------
lionhearted
I just started "The Ultimate Sales Machine" - looks really, really promising.
Author gives good general advice you might've already heard before (sell to
current clients, have a good training program, consistency and processes), but
he actually takes the time to write about how much "pigheaded discipline and
determination" a given policy is going to take to implement. It's been a good
read so far, very synergistic with E-Myth for those who like E-Myth.

------
mgunes
* Go to <http://www.thinkingforaliving.org/topics/shelf>, close your eyes, move your pointer around at random , buy the book the pointer rests on, scroll down; repeat five times. You can't go wrong.

* Points of View - A Tribute to Alan Kay -- the second hardcover edition just came out, and it's downloadable as PDF at <http://vpri.org/pov/>.

------
ojbyrne
I really enjoyed "Grumby" by Andy Kessler. It's about a fictional (very
fictional) Silicon Valley startup. Light read and people here would probably
enjoy it.

------
wallflower
_How Buildings Learn_ by Stewart Brand.

It's about how the foundation you build something on top of determines its
adaptability to change/new usage patterns

------
brianto2010
A People's History of the United States (Zinn)
[[http://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States-
Present/...](http://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States-
Present/dp/0060838655/)]

There's so much history that _isn't_ taught in school (politically covered up)
and Zinn presents many of these little-known history gems. Be warned, there is
a light liberal swing.

~~~
Shmulkey
Zinn is an ideologue who picks his facts based on the social goal he is trying
to achieve (imposition of a Marxist system in the US):

<http://hnn.us/articles/1493.html>:

“Objectivity is impossible,” Zinn once remarked, “and it is also undesirable.
That is, if it were possible it would be undesirable, because if you have any
kind of a social aim, if you think history should serve society in some way;
should serve the progress of the human race; should serve justice in some way,
then it requires that you make your selection on the basis of what you think
will advance causes of humanity.”

~~~
Mod_daniel
troll much? Nothing, in any of his writing, and certainly not that quote, give
any indication of a desire to "impose a marxist system". Sounds kind of like
your the ideologue here. I fail to understand how relating the experiences of
those who built the country you probably think you value would be such a
threat to its survival.

------
johngunderman
I've been following the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (RIP) which is
one of the most famous fantasy series of the past 50 years, and all of Peter
F. Hamilton's novels, which can only be described as epic space operas. Both
authors are worth reading, but be forewarned that getting through the
(currently) 12 books in WoT will take quite a bit of your time.

~~~
squidsoup
Some of the customer reviews on amazon for Robert Jordan's later books are
hilarious:

 _"Those who can appreciate great setup will really love this book.
Personally, I thought the setup in books 8 and 9 were good ... but this was
absolutely stupendous. Fans of total plot inertia will be in heaven."_

 _"Some other notable developments:_

 _The quality of tea has really taken a nosedive since the early books in the
series, and it's starting to negatively impact the morale of our heroes"_

[http://www.amazon.com/Crossroads-Twilight-Wheel-Time-
Book/dp...](http://www.amazon.com/Crossroads-Twilight-Wheel-Time-
Book/dp/0812571339)

------
c1sc0
"East of Eden" or anything Steinbeck. The art of storytelling is vastly
underestimated in the startup world. If you know how to tell a good story,
writing blog posts, doing marketing copywriting etc ... suddenly becomes much
easier. Reading world-class fiction teaches you this skill. For a slightly
geekier read: "The Glass Bead Game" by Hermann Hesse.

------
dedalus
Just finished reading "Small Pieces Loosely Joined"
(<http://www.smallpieces.com/>) which is a wonderful read on why we care about
the Web.

The author's previous work called "The Cluetrain Manifesto"
(<http://www.cluetrain.com/> ) is also a nice read

------
sr3d
Not in any particular order, but I'd highly recommend these interesting books:

How to run a Thriving Business - Ralph Warner (the founder of Nolo book)

The Death of Ivan Ilyich - Leo Tolstoy (I read this based on a recommendation
by a fellow HNer)

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions - Dan
Ariely.

The Winner-Take-All Society - Robert H. Frank, et all.

Gun, Germs, and Steel - Jared Diamond.

------
neilc
To get things started, this HN thread from a few months ago has some good
suggestions: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1226736>

As does Derek Sivers' book list: <http://sivers.org/book>

------
throw_away
logicomix - a graphical novel about bertrand russell, logic and the history of
computation.

diary of a very bad year: interviews with an anonymous hedge fund manager/the
big short: inside the doomsday machine - two books about the financial crisis.

~~~
edanm
If you like Logicomix and other math fiction, I highly recommend his previous
book, "Uncle Petros and Golbach's conjecture".

------
ddewey
I just read and enjoyed _The Architecture of Happiness_ by Alain de Botton.

------
gahahaha
The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better

It charts a connection between the income gap and everything from crime to
illness and under-education. Got it two weeks ago. Blew me away. Easy to read
too.

------
mrcalzone
_When Genius failed_ , a story related to (and mentioned in) _Fooled by
Randomness_.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Genius_Failed>

------
kloc
Read Shantaram if you haven't. [http://www.amazon.com/Shantaram-Novel-Gregory-
David-Roberts/...](http://www.amazon.com/Shantaram-Novel-Gregory-David-
Roberts/dp/0312330529)

------
helwr
Atlas Shrugged

~~~
tomjen3
I would be surprised if most here hadn't read it, whether they agree with it
or not, simply because it is so famous in tech circles.

~~~
jokull
I'm going to shock you lot and tell you I haven't read it although I've heard
mentions of it from hackers that seem to live by it and quote it. What's so
good about it?

EDIT: Just recalled that it's a book by Ayn Rand which to me came across as a
total looney at the time.

~~~
tomjen3
She was kind of looney (if you take what she writes at face value) but she
does have some interesting ideas, which can changes your outlook on your life.

But no you don't shock me by not having read it - I specifically said that
most people would have read it, which means that it may not make as good a
suggestion as, something that is less well known.

------
harscoat
* Bouvard & Pécuchet - Flaubert

* The hero with thousands faces - Joseph Campbell

~~~
c1sc0
I'll see your Flaubert and raise you an "Eugénie Grandet" by Balzac. Classical
storytelling genius.

------
anuleczka
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer.

------
mslate
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn--a novel about the most basic of assumptions
civilization makes about humanity's manifest destiny. Eye-opening.

~~~
sr3d
I had to write a book analysis on Ishmael for my Composition 110 class. I was
a freshman, and it was my first year in the US. I had the worst time reading
and understanding it (though I think the professor cut me some slacks and I
managed to get an A in the class). I haven't re-read it ever since, bad first
impression.

~~~
mslate
That's too bad--some of the most interesting parts of the book are analysis of
Western religions and their common conclusions about the role humanity plays
in the universe. Pretty eye-opening stuff

------
ajdecon
Charlie Stross's Laundry novels are a lot of fun. Sort of Lovecraft meets
James Bond meets Dilbert...

~~~
inetsee
I'm a huge fan of Charles Stross's "Accelerando".

I also love (most) of what William Gibson has written, including his non-
science-fiction stuff like "Pattern Recognition" and "Spook Country".

------
ascuttlefish
Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis

------
arethuza
Recent favorites of mine:

Anathem - Neal Stephenson

A People's Tragedy: Russian Revolution, 1891-1924 - Orlando Figes

The Big Short - Michael Lewis

------
bgrohman
I highly recommend Kurt Vonnegut's books. You should try _A Man Without A
Country_.

~~~
mattmichielsen
I read Breakfast of Champions a while ago and really enjoyed it. I'll have to
check that one out.

~~~
bgrohman
I haven't read _Breakfast of Champions_ yet, but it's on my list. _The Sirens
of Titan_ is also a good one.

------
akshayubhat
1\. The Black Swan

2\. Fooled by Randomness

3\. The unbearable lighness of being

4\. Ahead of the Curve (Its about a student's experience at HBS)

------
sliverstorm
Such practical and classic recommendations!

I'm just trying to make it through A Clash of Kings and Dune.

------
jpdbaugh
Daemon and Freedom TM by Daniel Suarez. It will rock your world trust me.

------
wpinbacker
Coma, by Alex Garland. Choose a day when you can read it in one sitting.

------
gaius
Just finished _The Restoration Game_ by Ken McLeod, I recommend it.

------
eande
Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh (Zappos CEO)

~~~
atldev
I'm reading this right now. I have to say, I saw Tony on an episode of the
Apprentice and was left with the (apparently wrong) impression that he didn't
have much personality.

However, in his writing, he comes across as humble, hard-working and
brilliant. He also strikes me as someone who is a little crazy and probably a
blast to hang out with.

The book is a great read and inspirational for anyone contemplating the tough
road for a startup founder. It gives you a fascinating window into the mind of
an entrepreneur who has built and sold quickly (LinkExchange) and then went on
to build an "overnight success" 10 years in the making.

------
adaptives
Good to great - Jim Collins

------
namin
Some books I've read this summer, which I can recommend:

\- The Facebook Effect -- well-written insider's account of the history of
Facebook and its ambitions. [http://www.amazon.com/Facebook-Effect-Inside-
Company-Connect...](http://www.amazon.com/Facebook-Effect-Inside-Company-
Connecting/dp/1439102112)

\- The Quantum Enigma -- an accessible digest of quantum mechanics and its
philosophical consequences. [http://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Enigma-Physics-
Encounters-Cons...](http://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Enigma-Physics-Encounters-
Consciousness/dp/019534250X/)

\- Flesh & Machines -- a lightweight history of robotics and some wacky
speculations by MIT's Rodney Brooks. [http://www.amazon.com/Flesh-Machines-
Robots-Will-Change/dp/0...](http://www.amazon.com/Flesh-Machines-Robots-Will-
Change/dp/0375420797)

\- The Language of Life: DNA and the Revolution of Personalized Medecine -- a
well-backed account of what is or will be possible in medicine thanks to a
better understanding of the genome and increase use of DNA sequencing for
prevention, diagnostic, and treatment. [http://www.amazon.com/Language-Life-
Revolution-Personalized-...](http://www.amazon.com/Language-Life-Revolution-
Personalized-Medicine/dp/0061733180/)

\- ... by David Sedaris -- Funny short stories. Perhaps The Santaland Diaries
for something light but really amusing, and When You Are Engulfed in Flames
for something darker and more well-known. Also, if you like short stories, I
heartily recommend Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules, a varied
collection of short stories selected by Sedaris. <http://www.amazon.com/David-
Sedaris/e/B000AQ3YUW/> <http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0349119759>
[http://www.amazon.com/When-You-Are-Engulfed-
Flames/dp/031615...](http://www.amazon.com/When-You-Are-Engulfed-
Flames/dp/0316154687/) [http://www.amazon.com/Children-Playing-Before-Statue-
Hercule...](http://www.amazon.com/Children-Playing-Before-Statue-
Hercules/dp/074327394X/)

\- Dreams of My Father -- Barack Obama writes candidly and beautifully about
his childhood and early adulthood; it's not a political book, and it's worth
reading for the writing alone. [http://www.amazon.com/Dreams-My-Father-Story-
Inheritance/dp/...](http://www.amazon.com/Dreams-My-Father-Story-
Inheritance/dp/1400082773/)

\- Mathematics: The Loss of Certainty: a chatty history of mathematics, and
its perception. [http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Loss-Certainty-Galaxy-
Book...](http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Loss-Certainty-Galaxy-
Books/dp/0195030850)

~~~
tptacek
Regarding Sedaris, I highly, highly recommend consuming him in audiobook
format.

David Foster Wallace's "Consider The Lobster" is also an excellent audiobook;
he figured out a way to do the footnotes via audio.

