Ask HN: What is the best book you read on 2017? - zwrt
======
mindcrime
Non-fiction:

Tough to call. I got a lot out of _Deep Work_ by Cal Newport, _The Obstacle Is
The Way_ by Ryan Holiday, _How To Win At The Sport Of Business_ by Mark Cuban,
_Thinking Fast and Slow_ by Daniel Kahneman, and _The Engines of Creation_ by
Eric Drexler, as well as the three Grant Cardone books I read: _The 10x Rule_
, _Sell or Be Sold_ and _Be Obsessed or Be Average_.

Fiction:

I'll go with _The Whispering Room_ by Dean Koontz. _A Wild Sheep Chase_ by
Haruki Murakami was also pretty good.

You can see the entire list of what I've read lately (and further back) on my
Goodreads profile:

[https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/33942804-phillip-
rhodes](https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/33942804-phillip-rhodes)

or, if this link is visible publicly, on this "2017 in books" page:

[https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2017/33942804](https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2017/33942804)

------
mattmanser
More replies to similar question here:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15801996](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15801996)

As for me, best fiction: three body problem

Best non-fiction: WTF by Robert Peston

------
radva42
Wool (Silo series)

[https://www.amazon.com/Wool-Omnibus-Kindle-Motion-Silo-
ebook...](https://www.amazon.com/Wool-Omnibus-Kindle-Motion-Silo-
ebook/dp/B0071XO8RA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1513880513&sr=8-2&keywords=wool+hugh+howey)

~~~
Tomte
IMO the first chapter is the strongest by far:
[https://www.2uo.de/wool/](https://www.2uo.de/wool/)

------
kirubakaran
scifi: [https://kirubakaran.com/bookshelf/columbus-
day/](https://kirubakaran.com/bookshelf/columbus-day/)

nonfic: [https://kirubakaran.com/bookshelf/data-science-from-
scratch/](https://kirubakaran.com/bookshelf/data-science-from-scratch/)

fiction: [https://kirubakaran.com/bookshelf/everyone-
burns/](https://kirubakaran.com/bookshelf/everyone-burns/)

Here is my full list:
[https://kirubakaran.com/bookshelf/](https://kirubakaran.com/bookshelf/)

~~~
lastofus
For anyone looking for a DS primer, I have to say I was really disappointed
with "Data Science from Scratch". It was all breadth with little depth. It
felt more like a suggested list of topics to further research w/ other
material.

I personally got way more value and insight out of "Data Science for Business"
and would highly recommend it.

~~~
kirubakaran
Thanks for the recommendation. I like "Data Science from Scratch" for the same
reason you dislike it :-)

------
sunilgiri
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck [Mark Manson]

Its an easy & enjoyable book on subject : A Counterintuitive Approach to
Living a Good Life.

------
daleco
Dark Matter: A Novel (Fiction) - One of my favorite SF story so far.
[https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Matter-Novel-Blake-
Crouch/dp/110...](https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Matter-Novel-Blake-
Crouch/dp/1101904224)

Principle: Life and Work, Ray Dalio (Business & Decision- Making) - Very
interesting and thoughtful book around building a meritocracy.
[https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Life-Work-Ray-
Dalio/dp/150...](https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Life-Work-Ray-
Dalio/dp/1501124021)

~~~
yannickt
Principles is my best non-fiction read of 2017. Superbly written.

------
Tangokat
Web serials:

Worm ([https://parahumans.wordpress.com/table-of-
contents/](https://parahumans.wordpress.com/table-of-contents/))

A Practical Guide to Evil
([https://practicalguidetoevil.wordpress.com/](https://practicalguidetoevil.wordpress.com/))

Both of these have active communities on Reddit also. I really think web
serials are underrated compared to "real" books.

------
zodiac
I don't normally read him but yudkowsy's book Inadequate Equilibria was a
really good look at how he analyzes "market failures" in society at large. And
it's freely available from
[https://equilibriabook.com](https://equilibriabook.com)

2017 was also the year I read classics like 3-body problem and ready player
one

------
henrik_w
Fiction: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Nonfiction: The Banker's New Cloths by Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig

Full list:
[https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2017/63629672](https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2017/63629672)

------
drunkencarolina
I normally only read books to help me sleep and usually that book is "Lord of
The Rings". However, I did branch out in 2017 with "American Gods" by Neil
Gaiman which I quite enjoyed until near the end where it got a little too
crazy.

------
jfaucett
1\. Thinking fast and slow - Kahneman

2\. Outliers - Malcom Gladwell

3\. How to read and do proofs - Daniel Solow

All of these were packed with great insights and are books I'm sure I will
return to in the future for multiple re-reads.

~~~
mattmanser
I enjoyed Outliers when I read it a while ago, but have since realised it's
just a bunch of anecdotes.

~~~
ravitation
Yes. Malcolm Gladwell loves to write about his own brilliantly uncovered
anecdotes...

Peak loses a lot of that, and is co-authored by a psychologist who is behind a
lot of more scientific work in the area of expertise (his work is also
referenced in Outliers).

In general, I recommend people skip Outliers (really just skip Gladwell
entirely) and read Peak instead.

------
indescions_2017
Kurt Vonnegut: Complete Stories

[https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/mister-kurt-he-
posthumou...](https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/mister-kurt-he-posthumous-
vonneguts-complete-stories/#)!

Goethe: Life As A Work Of Art

[http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2017/12/21/super-
goethe/](http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2017/12/21/super-goethe/)

------
chamoda
Consciousness and the Brain: Deciphering How the Brain Codes Our Thoughts
[Stanislas Dehaene], interesting book about up to date neuroscience.

Book of Proof [Richard Heath Hammack], great books on maths. gives a head
start on proofs.

Mastery [Robert Greene], best self help book I've read.

[https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2017/5980292](https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2017/5980292)

------
qrv3w
Non-fiction: Illumination in the Flat-woods by Joe Hutto, an amazing story
about raising turkeys.

Fiction: Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins, a new great magical realism
book, great if you like Stephen King / Clive Barker / Robert McCammon.

My list:
[https://schollz.github.io/books-2017/](https://schollz.github.io/books-2017/)

------
skadamou
By far the most memorable book I read this years was "When Breath becomes Air"
by Paul Kalanithi. It's a quick read an immensely impactful.

[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25899336-when-breath-
bec...](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25899336-when-breath-becomes-air)

------
SirLJ
The best book published in 2017 for me is this one:

"A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer
and the Market" by Edward O. Thorp

[http://www.edwardothorp.com/books/a-man-for-all-
markets/](http://www.edwardothorp.com/books/a-man-for-all-markets/)

------
jf
Fiction: _We Are Legion (We Are Bob)_ by Dennis E. Taylor - the first of a
very enjoyable SF trilogy

Non-Fiction: _Chasing the Harvest: Migrant Workers in California Agriculture_
by Gabriel Thompson - a collection of detailed and moving stories from people
who work in the fields in California.

------
kevindeasis
I've read over 100 books this year, but mostly non-fiction. I'm kinda
surprised that my favourite book ended up being a fiction book, which is:
'Ready Player One'

~~~
gt2
Do you have a speed reading technique or just read for a long time per day?

~~~
kevindeasis
I read when I'm in transit or waiting for people

I made a promise to buy a book / e-book per week. So I better make sure I
finish it.

When I'm driving or walking from one place to another I'm listening to an
audiobook and it is at 3x speed

I think if you're forced to read a lot of book, you'll come up with a system
that works for you. Some of the advice people give over the internet might not
work at least that was my experience

------
correlation
Martin Kleppmann's "Designing Data-Intensive Applications" is one of the best
books in computing I've read in a very long time (and thus the best book of
2017).

------
andersthue
The best book I have ever read I read in 2017, it’s the book “The Anatomy of
Peace” (and it’s twin Leaders and Self Deception) from the Arbinger Institute.

------
nkzednan
Nonfiction: Hillbilly Elegy By JD Vance

Fiction: Golden Son by Pierce Brown - liked the whole trilogy; Rosie
Project/Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion

------
DanBC
I've been reading David Walliams' books for children. I think they're very
good. More importantly, so does my child.

------
grafelic
Fiction (fantasy): Broken Empire Trilogy by Mark Lawrence (2013)

Fiction (Sci-fi): The Three-body Problem by Liu Cixin

Non-fiction: The C Programming Language

------
pramodbiligiri
"Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise" by Anders Ericsson and
Robert Pool

------
aestetix
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann.

------
shoo
Hilary Mantel's novels "Wolf Hall" and "Bring Up the Bodies"

------
HiroshiSan
Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield

------
jgamman
The Monsters of Education Technology

------
yesenadam
Some of the most memorable/useful/wonderful:

Fleck - _Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact_

Hacking - _The Social Construction of What?_

Felsner - _Geometric Graphs and Arrangements_

xkcd volume 0

Tommy Wonder - _The Books of Wonder_

Elisabeth Lloyd - _Science, Politics and Evolution_

..and, it's embarrassing to admit it on here :-) but I didn't read
_Refactoring_ or _Clean Code_ or Kent Beck until 2017. Better late than never.

------
benzesandbetter
Nonfiction: Tools of Titans

Fiction: Shantaram

------
nahumfarchi
Hyperion

Einstein: His Life and Universe

Ready Player One

------
pedrodelfino
Grit

Mindset

Peak

