
Summer Reading List - craigcannon
https://blog.ycombinator.com/ycs-2017-summer-reading-list/
======
jackschultz
I know this is a technical site, but for all of these I always get a little
sad with how few fictional books are listed on these types of posts. Going
over it, seems like there's just one, "The Nix" (may be more where I just
missed them).

I like seeing fictional books since I can relate to the people writing them.
If I enjoyed some of the fictional books that people talk about, then I'll go
along with their non-fiction recommendations. Also, reading fiction shouldn't
be treated like time wasted! I see that comment a lot by people who only read
the non-fiction books, but I highly disagree with that thought. For another
comment I guess.

One way to do that is to have different sections, one for fiction and one non-
fiction. I'd love to see that here.

On that note, I've actually experienced that here, with some of the book
recommendation threads, finding comments with books I also like and then
reading the others. Always fun to talk to people who read the same as you.

~~~
dsplittgerber
I'm interested in your argument to why fiction is not time "wasted"! Would you
mind discussing? I have thought about this a lot and personally only read non-
fiction, but am always interested in other viewpoints.

~~~
ashark
Do you consider time experiencing _any_ art to be wasted?

I find it to: enhance empathy; expose me to new ideas and perspectives (both
of background and state of mind); improve my writing; allow me to experience
the beautiful and the sublime, which I'd count as among the least-wasteful
uses of time; act as a kind of therapy by letting me see that my struggles
both great and mundane are, without exception, not only my own; generally aid
self reflection, understanding, and improvement.

Granted few or none of these things may result if we're talking about trash
fiction, which _isn 't_ better than any other time-waster one may choose (TV,
say—though both are fine if one's goal is simply entertainment). The above is
what The Good Stuff does, by definition—achieving most or all of those things
is overwhelmingly _why_ those works are considered great.

[EDIT] I'd add that even mediocre fiction can be a great source of inspiration
and ideas, while also being entertaining.

~~~
ioddly
> Granted few or none of these things may result if we're talking about trash
> fiction, which isn't better than any other time-waster one may choose (TV,
> say—though both are fine if one's goal is simply entertainment).

I think there's an argument for reading as entertainment, regardless of
quality, as a form of non-productive entertainment that is less harmful than
other forms of entertainment. I've taken to switching off my devices at night
and just reading books (fiction and non-fiction) before bed.

I would say my attention span has benefited greatly from this, as has my sleep
(from not staring into blue lights late into the night).

Of course reading fiction isn't the only activity that this could apply to.
Just the one we happen to be talking about.

~~~
bostonvaulter2
Just curious, how long is your average nightly reading period? I'm thinking of
taking up a similar habit but not sure how long to allot. Also I'm a little
worried about going over-time, especially when reading fiction!

~~~
ioddly
Probably about a half hour minimum, sometimes going for hours, depends on when
I turn the computer off. I have a pretty flexible waking time as I work
remotely but I've never totally lost track of time doing it.

------
ThomPete
If I may recommend a book that really will make most people change their
perspectives it's "The End of Alchemy: Money, Banking, and the Future of the
Global Economy"

Rarely have I read a book which made me think about a subject I thought I had
a pretty good understanding of completely different. And if that is not enough
it's probably one of the few books which doesn't have a moral/ethical agenda
but merely seeks to inform about how the crisis happened (and what money
really is)

For me it's one now on my list of books about important fundamentals in this
world.

[https://www.amazon.com/End-Alchemy-Banking-Future-
Economy/dp...](https://www.amazon.com/End-Alchemy-Banking-Future-
Economy/dp/0393247023)

~~~
harigov
What other books do you consider as important fundamentals?

~~~
ThomPete
Obviously these lists are subjective but a couple of examples would be:

The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins (Evolution)

MindStorms by Seymore Papert (Education)

Structure of Scientific Revolution by Thomas Kuhn (Scientific Method/
Philosophy)

Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas R. Hofstadter (Formal Systems)

The Innovators Dilemma by Clayton Christensen (Entrepreneurship)

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Peter F Druckert (Entrepreneurship but most
likely because I had a quite crazy experience while reading it)

They are all books written by what I consider careful thinkers i.e. people who
are able to avoid confusing what they want the world to be with what they
actually observe.

They don't have to be right and can be highly subjective as long as their
premise is clear and they are aware of it.

~~~
tgb
I took a philosophy of science course in college and still never got what it
was that Kuhn was saying. My memory is the professor spent many lectures
telling us what he was _not_ saying, but I never figured out what he _was_
saying beyond a "science goes through fads" simplistic interpretation. Is
there a good short overview of it?

~~~
axplusb
My take from this book is that:

\- scientific knowledge is embedded in some intellectual ether made of
underlying hypotheses often not explicitly stated called paradigms

\- paradigms follow a Darwinian evolutionary process, i.e. better paradigms
evolve out of not-so-good previous paradigms

\- paradigm replacements start with an epistemological crisis , i.e. facts
that the current paradigms don't explain well enough.

Hope it helps !

~~~
ThomPete
Great summary but also important to note that Kuhn didn't believe (unlike
Popper) that science moved towards some final destination or explanation.
Instead he saw each paradigm as optimal for what it was trying to express.

~~~
tgb
Yeah, I think I was struggling with this aspect. I recall my professor saying
something like "it's not that general relativity is correct and newtonian
mechanics was wrong, it's that when a general relativist says 'mass' they are
talking about something different than when a Newtonianist says 'mass' \-
after all, you have to measure mass differently in those two things, they
behave differently, etc. It's more that general relativity doesn't say
_anything at all_ about Newtonian mass." But I never bought that (even if they
were talking about different things, it seems like they were _trying_ to talk
about the same thing), so I figure I'm missing something from Kuhn's argument.

~~~
ThomPete
Think about it like this.

If you believed the world is flat you can still get from one village to the
next one and you wouldn't fall of the earth. It's true enough for what it is
trying to accomplish. If you want to navigate longer and longer distances or
go to the moon however this believe will meet it's limits.

The primary thing people struggle with in general with science and philosophy
of science is actually more fundamental in other parts of life to which is
Truth.

Popper thought science helped us approach the some objective Truth. Kuhn
realized (and I agree) that truth is always depending on the context in which
it's defined.

We don't need truth we just need useful.

------
orthoganol
Sapiens is a very preachy, low-on-citations work... the Goodreads reviews are
interestingly divided ("Dude it changed my whole world!" to "This is not a
serious work."), but the early sections on pre historical humans are still
interesting to read, and seemed mostly correct from what I remember from my
college anthropology class.

~~~
GuiA
Any recommendations for a book about the same subject matter, but more on the
academic side?

~~~
gradys
Why the West Rules for Now - broad coverage of human history, starting with
pre-human hominids. Loosely guided by looking for an account of why in 20th
century so much power was concentrated in the West compared to the East, but
that guiding question only comes up occasionally. It's mostly a plain history
book.

I've also heard Our Kind recommended for this kind of thing, but I haven't
read it myself.

~~~
markdog12
I read Our Kind over a decade ago, and thought it was a very good book at the
time, but its central thesis, that culture dominates biology, is overstated. I
haven't read Why the West Rules for Now, but just looking at its wiki page, it
looks to be a complete rehash of Guns, Germs and Steel? The title made me
think of The West and the Rest, excellent book:
[https://www.amazon.ca/Civilization-West-Rest-Niall-
Ferguson/...](https://www.amazon.ca/Civilization-West-Rest-Niall-
Ferguson/dp/0143122061)

------
baldfat
So I really like the description of "The Righteous Mind" WHY is it $2.50 more
to get the Kindle version then to have a paperback book shipped to my home!

Kindle Version - $11.99

Paperback (Prime) - $9.32

[https://www.amazon.com/Righteous-Mind-Divided-Politics-
Relig...](https://www.amazon.com/Righteous-Mind-Divided-Politics-Religion-
ebook/dp/B0052FF7YM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501784788&sr=8-1&keywords=the+righteous+mind)

~~~
Danihan
Still one of the best books I've read, period. Can't recommend it highly
enough.

~~~
greenshackle2
I'm about one third of the way through, but I was turned off by him dismissing
Kant and Bentham's moral theories because they are autistic ("diagnosed" on
the basis of circumstantial evidence).

I see the value of bringing systematizing vs empathizing in the picture, but
you can do that without character-assassinating them. It was really bizarre to
read him bring up their autism, then insist he didn't commit Ad Hominem, then
continue on as if he had invalidated Kant's view (without actually making any
substantive argument).

~~~
ethbro
So much of modern philosophy seems like the task of obfuscating an illogical
argument with unrelated logical ones until the reader forgets and assumed the
original argument must have been proved logically.

I believe it was Apollo Robbins who said one of the brainjacks he uses is the
"A, B, C, 7" pattern, where people with distracted attention tend to leap to
assuming the next object is like the former ones.

~~~
qntty
>So much of modern philosophy seems like the task of obfuscating an illogical
argument with unrelated logical ones until the reader forgets and assumed the
original argument must have been proved logically.

Can you give an example of this?

~~~
ethbro
Other than parent's gripe, nothing modern comes to mind as I haven't read
modern philosophy since college (for reasons mentioned). But I'd cite some of
Aquinas' work as evidence of incredibly logically stout edifaces built on top
of a single suspect assumption.

------
capocannoniere
Am I the only one who would actually prefer these Amazon links to be affiliate
links?

Affiliate links make me feel like I'm paying back the curator(s) for the
awesome recommendations I'm thankful for. However minor that might be.

Do people feel like recommendations would be biased if the links were
affiliate links?

~~~
adsfsdc
Amazon smile is for you!
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=...](https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201365340)

~~~
vblord
I donate all my smile bucks to the Youth Competitive Programming Circle.

------
makmanalp
Every time I see Sarno's book recommended, it's always controversial, with the
"woo-woo" camp and the "it worked for me so I don't care" camp, though I think
the people-who-I-respect-who-recommend-this ratio is way higher than most
crank books, so it's interesting in that regard. Thoughts? (I haven't read it)

~~~
paul
It always surprises me that people find the concept of the brain being
connected to the body to be "woo-woo". The objections are very unscientific.
Biology is incredibly complex, and our understanding of it is very shallow,
yet people scornfully dismiss the idea that the brain could in any way cause
sensation in the body. I think the key to their misunderstanding is the
tendency to imagine the brain as a completely separate thing, like the driver
of an automobile, rather than a deeply integrated and intertwined system,
which science shows it to be.

Phantom limb syndrome is in many ways similar -- do these same people consider
that "woo-woo"?

My one issue with Sarno is that he's a little light on detail in terms of what
exactly I need to do to get rid of the pain. For that, I've found this
organization/program to be helpful:
[http://www.tmswiki.org/forum/pages/overcomingpain/](http://www.tmswiki.org/forum/pages/overcomingpain/)

~~~
makmanalp
> It always surprises me that people find the concept of the brain being
> connected to the body to be "woo-woo"

I don't think it's an objection to psychosomatic phenomena as much as just
skepticism towards Sarno's work specifically, lack of support from other MDs,
lack of strong peer reviewed evidence, etc.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tension_myositis_syndrome#Cont...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tension_myositis_syndrome#Controversy)

IMHO we're fairly likely to eventually find that what he calls TMS is an early
precursor / catch-all to a larger class of health issues (like "cancer"), and
as we find better ways to classify, distinguish and diagnose these, we're also
going to be able to run better studies and come up with more specific
treatments that satisfy the medical community's standards of proof.

------
kilroy123
Slightly off topic, but how many books do you all read a month? I have a hard
time getting past 1 a month.

~~~
eliben
Audiobooks are a great way to increase your book intake considerably.
"Reading" while washing dishes, other house chores and commuting can easily
get you through 2-3 extra books a month (depending on the length of the
commute :)

~~~
chadgeidel
I've listened to 2 or 3 Audiobooks and nearly every one of them (short of
Wheaton reading his own "Just A Geek") was unbearable to listen to. I don't
know what the percentage of readers interject their own "emphasis" outside of
just reading the words, but it's too many for my tastes.

I don't want a robot to read the book, but I also don't want the reader adding
"color" by reading some characters with different voices (or - as i've heard
in some cases - multiple readers each "in character").

Is this common?

~~~
aweiland
The reader(s) can really make or break a book.

James Marsters reads the Dresden Files books and he is amazing. It really is a
performance by a good actor and (IMHO) adds to the book. He does use "voices"
for different characters and it works really well. Most other readers will try
to do this has well. It can be hit or miss.

A really good ensemble book is World War Z by Max Brooks. The cast is
incredible (Alan Alda, Martin Scorsese, Simon Pegg, and more)

------
DanielleMolloy
I'd like to recommend these lists of short reviews of books neuroscientist
Christof Koch has (recently) read: [http://www.klab.caltech.edu/koch/books-i-
read.html](http://www.klab.caltech.edu/koch/books-i-read.html)
[https://alleninstitute.org/what-we-do/brain-
science/about/te...](https://alleninstitute.org/what-we-do/brain-
science/about/team/staff-profiles/christof-koch/book-list/)

They are a captivating mixture of science, scientific theory, cognitive
science, AI, science fiction and the like and quite an interesting inspiration
for future books to read.

------
mehrzad
Do they ever choose any radical literature to test their beliefs? Kropotkin's
_The Conquest of Bread_ would be a good choice.

~~~
perfmode
Thanks for the recommendation. Found a Kindle version on sale for $1.19.

[https://www.amazon.com/Conquest-Bread-Peter-Kropotkin-
ebook/...](https://www.amazon.com/Conquest-Bread-Peter-Kropotkin-
ebook/dp/B074CJWR7X/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1501834065&sr=1-6&keywords=the+conquest+of+bread&refinements=p_n_feature_browse-
bin%3A618073011)

~~~
mehrzad
I'm pretty sure it's out of copyright!

------
The_Hoff
[https://blog.ycombinator.com/yc-summer-
reading/](https://blog.ycombinator.com/yc-summer-reading/) is the link to last
year's. Anyone else sites would make their URLs consistent? It's always
pleasant when you can go to the URL and change the 2017->2016 and it takes you
where you want to go.

------
icco
For a far better reading list, longform.org + mailchimp put out a great one
this year: [http://readthissummer.com/](http://readthissummer.com/)

~~~
amk_
Some thought-provoking stuff in that one.

------
filiwickers
If you struggle to get diverse voices inside your field, maybe you should read
from diverse voices outside your field. I understand it is hard and I also
gravitate towards comfortable reading, usually meaning from people that look
like me. This is the problem. Start being accountable to yourself about it.

2 of 19 the books in the list are by female authors (both recommended by
women). Looking for some good books from women? Check out these:

Nonfiction:

* Radical Acceptance, Tara Brach

* The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs

* Freedom Is a Constant Struggle, Angela Davis

* Rising Strong, Brené Brown

* Cleopatra, Stacy Shiff

* The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander

Fiction:

* Anything by Ursula Le Guin

* Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie

* Too Like the Lightning, Ada Palmer

* Citizen: An American Lyric, Claudia Rankine

... so many more

~~~
engi_nerd
...Or they just asked a number of people to recommend a favored book, and this
is the list that they got.

Why does everything have to be about diversity?

~~~
to_bpr
Perhaps because virtue signalling has never been more popular?

In an industry where we all earn well, have similar qualities of life, similar
careers, etc. virtue signalling (often wherever possible) appears to have
become the perceived fertile soil for differentiating yourself, and
"elevating" yourself.

~~~
bduerst
I think it's more a sign of the times.

I mean, when the President broadcasts to the world that transgender people can
no longer serve in the U.S. armed forces, it only deepens the systemic bias.
Why is it then selfish to showcase that they are able to write good books too?

------
gordon_freeman
'Healing back pain' is an interesting entry to the list. I just recalled my
friend lent me this book and a reminder to now read it. Anyone who has read
this book can share their thoughts?

~~~
imsd
I had back pain for three years, which I attributed to sitting for long hours.
I had seen a doctor, multiple physical therapists, a chiropractor, and massage
therapist ... all of whom provided temporary relief at best.

Upon reading 'Healing Back Pain', I came to understand that it wasn't the
sitting but rather built up stress and anxieties causing the pain.

Within 1 week of reading, my back felt 80% better. Within one month, 95%.
Several months later, I'm now pain-free.

My girlfriend also experiences anxiety at times and had back pain that would
come and go. She read the book and it cured her back, as well.

Admittedly, I found it very strange how effective this book was. I approached
it hesitantly, but it has had profound results. Check the reviews on Amazon
for further support.

This book has had a great impact on my quality of life and I highly suggest it
to anyone experiencing not just back pain, but any physical ailment that might
be tied to stress, anxiety, tension, etc.

------
idlewords
Pretty cool to see Sheck Exley on this list. He's a pioneer of cave diving,
which has a lot of great (and terrifying) lessons about safety, risk, and
human factors for programmers to steal.

~~~
evgen
Also worthwhile for programmers who read the book to remember that Sheck died
diving a cave, so even the experts get it wrong with catastrophic
consequences.

------
arnioxux
No opinion on "The Man Who Knew" but kind of bummed that it will now beat "The
Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan" in autocompletion.

~~~
gregwebs
Also a pretty ironic title considering Greenspan did not see the major
finanical crisis of his time and instead pushed for continued de-regulation.
There are some Frontline stories about this:
[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/warning/](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/warning/)

~~~
sumedh
I cannot take the list seriously because of that.

I really don't understand why people respect Greenspan. His excuse for not
having regulations was that he thought companies wont make mistakes so there
is no need to regulate them.

------
Dowwie
These are safe books. Where's Marx's "A Critique of Political Economy"?

~~~
itg
Maybe they are familiar with it and don't think it is worth anything.

------
adamnemecek
I wish there were also a reading list for technical books/textbooks.

------
thisrod
I'm currently reading _Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce_ by Anthony Reid.
It's well written history, and the topic has some interesting aspects.

The view of Europe from 20 thousand kilometres is quite insightful. The big
patterns stand out, as power shifts from the Spanish to the Dutch and then to
the British. The different things that those people are trying to achieve in
Asia neatly summarise the different things that they might have valued at
home.

It's also interesting to see a long term situation where land is abundant, and
labor is the scarce resource. Women get liberated (or so Reid claims). Battles
are fought in order to take the other army from its land, not the land from
the army. Labour productivity is so high, and construction materials so easily
available; 3 days after an event like Hurricane Katrina, the city has been
rebuilt and life is back to normal.

------
b_emery
I haven't read _Behave_ by Robert Sapolsky, but I did read 'A Primate's
Memoir' a while back and it was fantastic. A memoir of his time in Africa
studying baboons, well written and entertaining. One of those books that I was
sad to finish. You can learn a lot about human behavior and society by
studying baboons.

Two books I've read this summer that would fit on this list are _This will
make you smarter_ from edge.org, and _Waking Up_ by Sam Harris. The first is a
collection of the essays from edge.org about what everyone should have in
their cognitive toolkit [1]. Consider it a list of a) the many ways one can go
wrong when trying to think scientifically, and b) some of the many concepts to
consider when trying to solve a problem or understand something. _Waking Up_
was good from the point of view of understanding the science behind 'the self'
and meditation. I've started meditating because of this book, and it's a
useful guide for avoiding the, shall I say, less rational aspects that are out
there.

[1] [https://www.edge.org/responses/what-scientific-concept-
would...](https://www.edge.org/responses/what-scientific-concept-would-
improve-everybodys-cognitive-toolkit)

~~~
wuch
I do recommend Behave. Robert Sapolsky is terrific writer. Though, I found it
quite funny how in each chapter Sapolsky starts by describing usually story,
criticising how it is wrong and too simplistic, elaborating on complexities
involved, but at the end of chapter can't resist giving one sentence blurb
summary himself - which is of course almost equally simplistic.

------
ryanjodonnell
I would add "The Three Body Problem" and following two books in its trilogy to
the list. Sci-fi series by Liu Cixin. Won the Hugo award and is recommended by
Obama and Zuck. I felt so small after reading that one :)

~~~
hmmm___food
I believe all of them have won either a Hugo or Nebula.

------
rosstex
Does anyone have recommendations for summer reading for teaching assistants to
undergraduates? I want to become more engaged with current pedagogy
techniques.

------
desireco42
HomoDeus is really most excellent continuation of already epic Sapiens.

If you didn't read any of those, they are long but well worth the time.

~~~
michaeloblak
Totally agree. It's in the very similar tone to the Sapiens. Reading is
entertaining and light. I really like how he approached the topic. Although,
the part about the religions was a little bit too long IMO.

Any other suggestions about similar books where author is wondering what might
happen next? I'm mostly interested in the tech part of it. Recently, I started
reading Superinteligennce by Nick Bostrom. So far it's very good.

------
ThomPete
One of the most intriguing lists I have ever read was this one:

[http://spacecollective.org/wilfriedhoujebek/4076/Summery-
Boo...](http://spacecollective.org/wilfriedhoujebek/4076/Summery-Books-Too-
Far-Out-For-Johnny-Depp)

I still have a few books left to read but most of these are amazing books.

------
champagnepapi
Chaos Monkeys: Obscene Fortune and Random Failure in Silicon Valley by Antonio
García Martínez

Read this recently. Thought it was pretty good.

------
moonka
Powerhouse is an incredible book. The author does a great job of weaving in
interviews as well as narration to paint a good story of how CAA came to
power. I highly recommend Powerhouse as well as his other books, Live From New
York (about SNL) and These Guys Have All The Fun (about ESPN).

------
matahwoosh
compiled in a Goodreads list
([https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/114264.YC_s_2017_Summer_...](https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/114264.YC_s_2017_Summer_Reading_List))
like you were going to actually read those ;)

------
cschmidt
It looks like an interesting list. Anyone else remember the Global Business
Network (GBN) book club, with Stewart Brand? It was a great resource for so
many years. Sadly, it seems to have dropped off the internet with the demise
of GBN.

~~~
cschmidt
Here's a list of the books from the glory days.

[https://web.archive.org/web/20120916000422/http://www.gbn.co...](https://web.archive.org/web/20120916000422/http://www.gbn.com/articles/pdfs/bookclub%20index%2088-06_fin.pdf)

The book club had nice reviews of each of these books.

------
jdp23
17 books by guys. 2 books by women. Both recommended by women.

~~~
ryanar
Looking for diversity? More than one book list in the world. I started
following susanjfowler.com and her reading club after the uber interviews came
out

------
spicylad
If you haven't read Infinite Jest, you should. I admit it isn't for everyone,
but it's definitely worth suffering for.

------
jonbarker
Summer is almost over. Just a nit-pick. I'd like to add to this list "The
Master Algorithm" by Pedro Domingos

------
eizo
Recently read and highly recommended: \- Platform Revolution \- The Economic
Singularity \- Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

------
gonzofish
Nexus was an awesome read, haven't started book 2, but it's free for Kindle &
Prime users

------
notadoc
I'd love a good HN summer fiction reading list, particularly with a sci-fi
focus

~~~
Dowwie
1\. Neal Stephenson, "Snow Crash"

2\. Daniel Suarez, "Kill Decision"

3\. Stel Pavlou, "Decipher"

------
romanovcode
Summer is nearly over BTW.

~~~
Dowwie
true but people take most time off in August

------
bbleciel
money and technology, self-help, and the arc of humanity. wish programmers
would read things that challenge their views rather than just reaffirm –_–

------
esseti
it would be good to know why each book is worth reading.

------
kentt
I'd consider Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection to be fiction as
well. Too long, shouldn't read: if you believe, your back pain will go away.
I'm surprised to see the anti-scientific pseudoscience promoted.

~~~
louprado
There is a drug so powerful that every drug other drug is tested against it:
the placebo.

If this book saves just one HN reader from opioid addiction then I am glad it
made the list.

~~~
wuch
Actually there is pretty limited support that placebo actually works on
anything but subjective measured outcomes.

~~~
ambivalents
Like pain?

------
malandrew
> I believe the former is the case.

I'm just curious why you hold that belief? I don't have an opinion either way,
but I'm curious if that is an informed belief.

I agree that it was a problem even more recently than a century ago. It was
probably a problem as recently as 10 years ago. However, in 2017, it's not
hard to be published. You can even self-publish.

Unless the topic is related to the author's identity (i.e. it's about gender,
race, sexual orientation, nationality, etc.), I don't see why someone should
care about the identity of an author.

Take "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" on your list. Why does the
gender of the author matter for such a topic? Books are written by individuals
not demographics.

This is a genuine question and not an attempt to troll. I don't understand why
gender or any other identity needs to be a concern aspects where it is
orthogonal/unrelated.

~~~
Mz
[http://jezebel.com/homme-de-plume-what-i-learned-sending-
my-...](http://jezebel.com/homme-de-plume-what-i-learned-sending-my-novel-out-
und-1720637627)

I have posted it twice to HN, and it was essentially ignored, but it provides
good evidence that women writers have a much harder time getting published
simply because they are female.

~~~
malandrew
I don't disagree that this is a problem that should be solved, but it doesn't
answer my question. Why should I, as a reader, just try to find quality
interesting content care about the identity of the author. Authors are just
individuals to me. Unless their experience by virtue of their identity is
relevant to the subject matter at hand, why should use identity in deciding
what to read instead of just relying on subject matter and positive reviews
and recommendations?

~~~
Mz
_Why should I, as a reader, just try to find quality interesting content care
about the identity of the author._

Sorry, it seems really obvious to me and I have heard it said before, so
didn't feel I needed to spell it out: Female authors must be better than most
to have any shot at getting published. So, women authors who do get published
tend to be better authors than most male authors.

You aren't required to care. Whether or not you care is on you, but if you
want quality writing, there is evidence that due to the fact that women are
discriminated against, IF they manage to get published, their writing will be
of unusually high quality.

------
soneca
Do americans only read books on summer?

~~~
protomyth
No, but it comes from two different traditions. The first, and most common, is
the Summer Reading List many schools give their students for reading over the
summer break. I knew people who had assigned reading, but our school didn't
bother. The other was the family vacation and the "beach books" that were once
part of the stereotypical beach vacation. Gotta do something while the kids
play in the water. Summer books are still a topic.

~~~
soneca
I knew my little joke wouldn't fit well at HN, but posted anyway. Sometimes
you just want to rebel against the stabilishment.

But thanks for the serious answer! Going all the way to the end of the page to
find my grey comment. There was a sincere curiosity behind the comment.

