
Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days? - pmcpinto
I&#x27;m finishing the Art of War by Sun Tzu and I&#x27;m looking for some book suggestions, so I&#x27;m curious to know which books are being read by the members of the HN community.
======
GregBuchholz
"Metallurgy of Steel for Bladesmiths & Others who Heat Treat and Forge Steel"
by John Verhoeven [http://www.feine-
klingen.de/PDFs/verhoeven.pdf](http://www.feine-klingen.de/PDFs/verhoeven.pdf)
An interesting technical introduction to metallurgy, without being overly
tedious. Congratulations to the author, for what sounds like it could be a dry
subject. I am pleasantly surprised by how ignorant I was about such a common
everyday material, and about the fascinating changes that take place in the
crystal structure of steel with mere temperature changes. I've got no plans to
forge steel, or make blades, but found this book very good so far (although I
have been interested in metalworking in general lately).

"Basic Lathework" by Stan Bray. This is the best of the beginning lathe books
that I've been reading recently, covering the parts of the machine and
accessories, techniques, and cutting tools. Very minimal pre-requisites.

"Metals in the Service of Man" by Arthur Street and William Alexander. A very
light read about industrially useful metals, a little history about them, and
their uses.

"Measurement" by Paul Lockhart. I finally got this book after reading his "A
Mathematicians Lament" from a while back.
[https://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/LockhartsLament....](https://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf)

"How Round is Your Circle" by John Bryant and Chris Sangwin. Just started
this, but it sounds interesting, the pictures are intriguing, and it pushes a
lot of my "interesting" buttons.

~~~
joekrill
The Metallurgy book sounds very interesting, definitely going to check it out.
Along those lines, but I think _much_ more simplistic, is a book I just read
called "Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-
Made World" \-- one chapter each devoted to a common everyday material. You
may like that one based on why you liked the Metallurgy book.

------
wpietri
I'm almost done with _The Field Guide to Understanding Human Error_ :
[http://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Understanding-Human-
Error/...](http://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Understanding-Human-
Error/dp/0754648265)

It's a brilliant book written by Sidney Dekker, a "Professor of Human Factors
and Flight Safety". The basic point is that the default way of understanding
bad outcomes is what he calls "the Old View or the Bad Apple Theory". He
instead argues for the New View, where "human error is a symptom of trouble
deeper inside a system".

Normally with a book like this, I read the first couple of chapters, say, "Ok,
I get the idea," and can ignore the rest. After all, I both agree with and
understand the basic thesis. But so far every chapter has been surprisingly
useful; I keep discovering that I have Old View notions hidden away. E.g.,
when I discover a systemic flaw, I'm inclined to blame "bad design". But he
points out that's a fancy way of calling the problem human error, just a
different human and a different error than normal.

Even the driest parts are helped by his frequent use of examples, often taken
from real-world aviation accident reports. There are also fascinating bits
like a system for high-resolution markup of dialog transcripts to indicate
timing (down to 1/10th second), speech inflection, and emphasis. I'll never
use it myself, but I will definitely use the mindset that it requires.

Given how much time software projects spend dealing with bugs, I believe we
need a new way to think about them, and for me this book describes a big piece
of that.

~~~
joshgel
You'll probably like Thinking Fast... and Slow. By Daniel Kahneman. It's all
about how the mind works and why errors in judgement/logic happen.

------
pierrec
Greg Egan renewed my faith in Science Fiction. I just finished reading
Diaspora, and I am now a fan. It's an incredibly well thought out
extrapolation of the future of the human race, much less phantasmagorical and
much more grounded in science than pretty much every other SF I know of, while
still going off into mind-bending tangents.

I think the most common critique of his work might be about the occasional
digressions on physics. It's undeniable that they make the book a bit dense,
but in fact, he appears to have restrained himself to keep it readable and
entertaining, instead publishing the actual hairy details on his website:

[http://gregegan.customer.netspace.net.au/DIASPORA/DIASPORA.h...](http://gregegan.customer.netspace.net.au/DIASPORA/DIASPORA.html#CONTENTS)

PS: I'd like to thank HN for making me discover this author. Now I'm keeping
with the tradition!

~~~
bemmu
Diaspora and Permutation City put totally new questions in my head.

If consciousness is only a series of states in your brain, does it matter what
the order of running that sequence is? In Permutation City there is an
experiment where brain states are played back backwards or in a random order,
but to the person perceiving it, it seems like just business as usual.

I always assumed that after my brain is destroyed there would be just
nothingness. But maybe if the "next state" will again exist some time in the
future (or past?) from my perspective it will still be a totally continuous
experience. Death might seem like just a bad dream.

He plays a lot with this stuff. In Diaspora consciousness is just a piece of
software. Since this software can be run at a much higher speed than wetware
can, each moment of real time seems much longer to the uploaded. But when they
want to, for example when waiting for an interstellar trip to complete, they
can "skip forward" and let the brain emulator run them at a much slower pace
to make the trips more bareable.

I thought running a consciousness backwards or in random order would be as far
as he goes, but in Diaspora they even go a step further, having every state be
a completely separate structure in a completely separate universe. The book
assumes that to the participants even that would seem like a continuous
experience.

It really makes me question what I really am, how malleable is this "me"?

~~~
rwallace
> If consciousness is only a series of states in your brain, does it matter
> what the order of running that sequence is?

I liked Permutation City, but I regard it as something of a cognitive hazard
because it's not obvious which parts are realistic and which parts aren't
unless you have a fairly specialized background. The above is something that
wouldn't actually work, for the simple reason that the later states depend on
the earlier ones, so you can't calculate them without first calculating the
earlier states.

~~~
teraflop
Yeah, Egan's "Dust Theory FAQ" page discusses some of the philosophical
problems with the novel.
[http://gregegan.customer.netspace.net.au/PERMUTATION/FAQ/FAQ...](http://gregegan.customer.netspace.net.au/PERMUTATION/FAQ/FAQ.html)
(contains spoilers)

Incidentally, his answer to Q6 on that list inspired a more recent story,
"Crystal Nights": [http://ttapress.com/553/crystal-nights-by-greg-
egan/](http://ttapress.com/553/crystal-nights-by-greg-egan/)

------
nemo1618
_Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid_ , and I'm loving it. Some parts
are funny, some are dry, and some are truly mind-blowing. As someone who loves
wordplay, self-reference, and multiple layers of meaning, this book is like
crack. Every chapter surprises me with something new. Its reputation is well-
deserved.

~~~
mcgaffin
I've had that book for over 10 years, but haven't read more than a chapter of
it. I should give it another try.

~~~
wpietri
It took me doing a reading group to get through that one. That was more my
fault than the book, but GEB is real work, and having a number of people
involved definitely helped me stick through the parts where I might have
wandered off for brain candy.

------
ndesaulniers
I have this weird habit where if I sit and read too much about the same topic,
I have trouble retaining all of the information I just read. So, I find I can
retain everything better if I read small amounts from multiple books. I sit
with a stack of a few books and read chapter out of each. Weird, I know.
Here's my current stack:

* The C++ Programming Language, 4th Edition (Bjarne Stroustrup)

* Effective Modern C++: 42 Specific Ways to Improve Your Use of C++11 and C++14 (Scott Meyers)

* Interactive Computer Graphics: A Top-Down Approach with WebGL (7th Edition) (Edward Angel & Dave Schreiner)

* Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture (David Kushner)

* Neuromancer (William Gibson)

I most recently finished:

* Corporate Confidential: 50 Secrets Your Company Doesn't Want You to Know---and What to Do About Them (Cynthia Shapiro)

* C++ for dinosaurs (Nick Economidis)

I am highly anticipating the final(?) book of the Ender's Game Series by Orson
Scott Card titled Shadows Alive.

I just learned about and probably will buy:

* The Denial of Death (Ernest Becker)

~~~
mjhoy
_Masters of Doom_ I read recently and devoured it in about two days. I am
apparently starved for stories like that. I don't even like video games!

~~~
partomniscient
Have you read:

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution

by Steven Levy?

[http://www.stevenlevy.com/index.php/books/hackers](http://www.stevenlevy.com/index.php/books/hackers)

Artificial Life is also great and has a kind of similar feel to it too.

------
AngrySkillzz
Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan. He is most famous for remarking that
"the medium is the message."

The media we use influence the way we think, the way we act, the political
narrative of our times, etc. by placing limits and incentives on the messages
we convey through those media. As an easy example, consider Twitter: you
cannot have a coherent and intellectually involved conversation on Twitter. If
Twitter were our only method, or main method, of communication, that property
would drastically shape public discourse.

As technologists, we are developing the communications media of the future; it
is imperative that we take on this task responsibly by first reflecting on the
design and effects of media from the past.

~~~
ckoepp
I also read some of his books. He does make a great introduction to the topic
of media philosophy.

If you're interested in his topic, you might want to read some books of Vilem
Flusser. "Post-History" and "Does Writing Have a Future" are great texts which
I think are highly relevant to computer scientists like me. Sadly, Flusser is
almost unknown to people not taking classes in philosophy. I would never have
read any text of him without taking philosophy as my minor subject ^^

------
iN7h33nD
Audiobooks I have Read Recently: (Sanderson is Awesome)

    
    
      * The Reckoners #1/#2
      * Stormlight Archive #1/#2
      * Mistborn #1/#2/#3
      * Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures As the World's Most Wanted Hacker
    

Digital Books:

    
    
      * How to Win Friends and Influence People
      * Malazon Book #1
      * The Forever War
      * The Martian
    

Things on my List:

    
    
      * Think and Grow Rich
      * Watership Down
      * Rainbows End
      * Snow Crash
      * What is Zen
      * Wool: Silo
      * Founders at Work
      * Light Bringer
      * Hyperion
      * The War of Art
      * Atlas Shrugged
      * The Demon Haunted World
      * Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software
      * Joe Abercrombie's books
      * Rich Dad Poor Dad
      * Founders at Work
      * Fear the Sky
      * Daemon -- EDIT ADDED
    
    

Things I recommend:

    
    
      * All of Brandon Sanderson's Books
      * The Kingkiller Chronicles
      * How to Win Friends and Influence People
      * Issac Asimov's short stories and Foundation series
      * The Forever War
      * Gentleman Bastards
      * Ready Player One
      * The Martian
      * A Wizard of Earthsea
    

EDIT: Short Reading I Recommend:

    
    
      * http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html

~~~
edge17
Can someone enlighten me about how to read the Foundation series? Do you read
them in the order of publication or the chronology of the story?

~~~
sanderjd
I read in order of publication! Seemed to work well.

~~~
michaelgold
I read Foundation, then the two prequels, then everything else by publication
date. I remember this working well, but this was around 20 years ago :)

------
chubot
"Quantum Computing since Democritus" by Scott Aaronson. This book makes me
wish I was cool enough to understand everything in it. But still, it does a
very good job at connecting the high level bits, and letting you skip over
proof sketches if necessary.

He is connecting quantum computing, computability, computational complexity,
foundations of mathematics, probability, crypto, philosophy, and a bunch of
other things I haven't gotten to yet. All the deep stuff -- but it's not
pretentious or tedious at all.

Scott Aaronson is a great writer and lucid thinker. I got hooked from the
preface alone.

~~~
farresito
Thank you for your suggestion! I love this type of books. Looks very
interesting, although not easy at all :)

------
pnathan
"Guns of August", Barbara Tuchman

I am particularly interest in rereading it and paying particular attention to
the question of judgement and how poor judgements were formed. World War 1 is
_notable_ for its poor judgements. This interest is sparked by my recently
listening to [1], which was very enlightening.

The essential question in our field often is not how fast we work, but if
we're working on tasks worthy of attention - in other words, we have to judge
the systems and features and determine what brings us the best outcomes. I've
had some number of technically successful projects that were nulls when
released. Avoiding that is part of significant improvement for me going
forward.

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFcHX0Menno](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFcHX0Menno)
, "Stranger than Fiction Case Studies in Software Engineering Judgment" Steve
McConnell

~~~
jbattle
If you haven't read it already, Tuchman's The March of Folly continues the
same theme, but as the consequences of the limits of humans and our
institutions played out in a few other historical settings. Not as good as
Guns of August, but still worth reading

------
Vaskivo
_1984, George Orwell._ I'm enjoying it. It's bleak and scary and messes with
your mind. The only think I dislike is that the overall mood is "look at how
wrong this is". I was expecting a more detached and unemotional description of
the setting, where all the "wrongness" would be creeping up in back of the
reader's mind.

 _Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy, Simon Blackburn._ Not
enjoying it. It is a well written book, and reads easilly, but it's way of
explaining the themes is just not good. It's long-winded, goes back and forth
between the philosophers and the analogies are not very good. Maybe I'm too
used to technical books, but I was expecting something like "Theme X. This is
what philosopher A thinks of it. This is what philosopher B thinks of it. This
is how these theories clash". Probably gonna drop it.

 _Programming in Lua, Roberto Ierusalimschy._ The first programming language
book I bought since college. IMO, Lua is the most well-designed and beautiful
language yet (from the one I know). The book is clear, concise, full of
examples and it is simply a treat to read.

~~~
slayed0
Regarding your critique of 1984, try Brave New World if you haven't already. I
think it fits your expectations of the dystopian genre much better.

~~~
a_bonobo
You may also like Yevgeny Zamyatin's "We" [1]. Orwell asserted that Huxley
ripped it off for Brave New World, but Huxley said that he had never heard of
it.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_%28novel%29](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_%28novel%29)

~~~
ylem
I read this as part of a science fiction class back in college. It was amazing
and well thought out!

------
amazing_jose
I usually read more than book at once.

«Ready Player One», Ernest Cline -- Because all my friends read it and I've
to.

«What is to go to war», Karl Marlantes -- After learning about it in a
podcast, very interesting.

«Los enemigos del comercio, II», Escohotado -- Slowing progressing through it,
full of footnotes and amazing stories about all the attempts of communism and
socialism. Nearly clinical dissection of the original texts and sources.

«The windup girl», Paolo Bacigalupi -- Harsh, hot, cruel, realistic and
futuristic. I'm enjoying it a lot.

------
loudmax
Stories of Your Life and Others is a collection of short stories by Ted
Chiang. The stories explore wildly different topics, but every one of them is
amazing.

Someone on HN had recommended The Box by Marc Levinson. It's a history of the
shipping container. That sounds dreadfully prosaic, but the book is well
written and the shipping container's influence on our modern global economy
cannot be overstated.

Not reading per se, but Dan Carlin's WWI podcasts on the Hardcore History blog
are well worth listening to. [http://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-
series/](http://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/)

~~~
cushychicken
I didn't realize until the other day that DC isn't even at the point where the
US enters the war yet. I've got a long way to go!

------
twosheep
I just read Andy Weir's The Martian in one day -- it was (obviously)
fantastic. I highly recommend it.

~~~
teh_klev
One of the best books I read in 2013, hugely enjoyable and very funny. Was
also lucky to get the 99p Kindle self published one before he got picked up by
a publisher.

~~~
dbot
I remember seeing that deal. Should have jumped on it then but forgot about
it. Then I saw the book at an airport news stand and grabbed it...glad it got
picked up by a publisher!

------
wsc981
I recently read 'The Lean Startup' and 'The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy'. I would
recommend both books.

I think 'The Lean Startup' is not just a good read for startups in the usual
sense; it's also a great advise on how to handle personal projects.

With regards to 'The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy' I think the stoic view of life
is great and fits well into our western mindset while still being somewhat
'zen' like. I plan to read Marcus Aurelius' Meditations at some point since
it's a bit like a diary of a stoic.

I will soon start with 'Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of
Pilgrimage'[0] which was recommended in a previous HN thread.

\---

[0]:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorless_Tsukuru_Tazaki_and_Hi...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorless_Tsukuru_Tazaki_and_His_Years_of_Pilgrimage)

~~~
tbjohnston
It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on Marcus Aurelius. I read the
Ancient Art of Stoic Joy and moved on to Seneca next.

------
draven
I'm usually reading two books at once, one technical I read in the evening,
and another one I read in bed before sleep, usually fiction.

The current technical one is Functional Programming in Scala:
[http://manning.com/bjarnason/](http://manning.com/bjarnason/) which is
awesome.

The non technical one, after a few books by Vernor Vinge, is Metro 2033. I'm
halfway through it and it's a good read. It's kinda weird, a postapocalyptic
novel with some mysticism mixed in.

Also, thanks to everyone who answered the question, my reading list is now
long enough to last me a year or two!

------
andrea_sdl
Quiet by Susan Cain, great book about introversion and why we have the
"Extrovert Ideal". It's really fascinating to see how introverts have their
qualities and how

Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance - Robert Pirsig: Fantastic book that
talks about philosophy in a new way and goes deeper into discovering what's
"Quality" and what are the main 2 ways of interacting/reading the world around
us.

Adam Smith, theory of moral sentiments: Just began the book under ryan holiday
advice, but can't really say more about it.

Game of thrones, 1st volume, I suppose this book doesn't need any explanation
:)

~~~
kelukelugames
Can you help me understand why Quiet is a good read? It's been recommended to
me before but it just keeps on getting bumped on the backlog.

~~~
GregBuchholz
(Not the OP). Maybe try the audio book, which is the route I took with
"Quiet". It's been over a year since I listened to it, and I can't really
recall any great take-away points, other than the generic "listening is
important". Think of it more of a pep-talk for people who aren't overly
talkative.

~~~
kelukelugames
Thanks. Does the pep-talk encourage them to be more talkative?

~~~
GregBuchholz
No, its more about celebrating and recognizing the strengths of those who are
less boisterous.

------
crossroads091
"Harry Potter and The Methods Of Rationality" by Eliezer Yudkowsky. I am
really liking the recasting, so far.

~~~
FlailFast
Likewise! I'm halfway through myself. I'm a huge HP fan, and the concept of a
Harry Potter universe with slightly modified initial conditions taken to a
logical conclusion ("taken to a logical conclusion" being the operative phrase
with this book) was hugely appealing. Loving every page, would highly
recommend.

Another fanfic that's well worth reading for the consumate HP fan, although
cut from a very different cloth: Dumbledore's Army and the Year of Darkness
[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4315906/1/Dumbledore-s-Army-
and...](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4315906/1/Dumbledore-s-Army-and-the-Year-
of-Darkness)]. If you've ever read Ender's Game, imagine Ender's Shadow for
Book 7 of Harry Potter. :)

------
davedx
These threads always make me happy. Old books and new.

Currently I'm reading book three of the "Kefahuchi Tract" trilogy by M. John
Harrison. It's like a cross between Donnie Darko and Neuromancer. Just surreal
enough to be fun, without losing me completely, and some really amazing
writing. [1]

[1] [http://www.newstatesman.com/2013/10/future-without-
nostalgia](http://www.newstatesman.com/2013/10/future-without-nostalgia)

------
Eliezer
* The Fall of Doc Future - [http://docfuture.tumblr.com/post/82363551272/fall-of-doc-fut...](http://docfuture.tumblr.com/post/82363551272/fall-of-doc-future-contents)

There are very few stories that strike me as having been 'natively' written
for a reader like me; this is one of them.

I also bought book 1 of the Bartimaeus series, read it, and am now onto book
2.

* [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0786852550/ref=as_li_tl?ie=...](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0786852550/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0786852550&linkCode=as2&tag=yudkowsky-20&linkId=44AFFDXTIEYENJT2)

~~~
jedharris
Sequel: [http://docfuture.tumblr.com/post/111819789111/skybreakers-
ca...](http://docfuture.tumblr.com/post/111819789111/skybreakers-call-
contents)

Plus some short stories and outtakes set in the same universe.

------
pjc50
Just finished Nate Silver's "The Signal and The Noise". Interesting collection
of prediction case studies, seeing what can and can't be effectively
predicted. Good for correcting black-and-white thinking.

Currently reading "Naples 44", diary of an intelligence officer there just
after the US landings. The author is classically trained enough to immediately
fall in love with the place despite the war, so it's a strange mix of lounging
around Paestum and the stark effects of war.

Next in queue: pick one to re-read from Iain M Banks or Pratchett.

(Presumably Clausewitz is in your reading list somewhere as well; his book is
unfinished but contains both good quotes to mine and real insight into how few
military problems are about actual fighting itself.)

------
dasboth
I like how most people here have a fiction and non-fiction book on the go at
the same time. Not just me then :)

Currently reading The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, after finishing East
of Eden, which I loved. On the non-fiction front I'm reading Big Data by
Kenneth Cukier and Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Wherever You Go, There You Are
by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Both interesting and compelling in their own ways.

------
definity
Some I've recently finished...

Epidemiology-focused

\- Virus Hunter - C.J. Peters with Mark Olshaker

\- Panic in Level 4: Cannibals, Killer Viruses and Other Journeys to the Edge
of Science - Richard Preston

\- Asleep: The Forgotten Epidemic That Remains One of Medicine's Greatest
Mysteries - Molly Caldwell Crosby

\- The Woman With a Worm in Her Head and Other True Stories of Infectious
Disease - Pamela Nagami

General good nonfiction

\- Voluntary Madness: My Year Lost and Found in the Loony Bin - Norah Vincent

\- Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb - Jonathan Fetter-Vorm

\- Life, Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes and Autism - Ron Suskind

Fiction

\- Funny Once - short story collection by Antonya Nelson (sad, weird, but very
good)

\- It's Kind of a Funny Story - Ned Vizzini

\- Backward Compatible - Sarah Daltry

Also definitely recommend the Magic 2.0 trilogy by Scott Meyer (starting with
Off to Be the Wizard).

------
atom-morgan
I'm currently reading The Design of Everyday Things. I'm not sure if anyone
else does this but I recently created a Github repo to log all of the books I
read [1]. I could use Goodreads but I like the visibility of Github for any
future employers.

[1] [https://github.com/atom-morgan/read-it](https://github.com/atom-
morgan/read-it)

------
jayhuang
Some of my favourite books or books currently on my wishlist (in no particular
order). Many of these have been mentioned in other comments:

* Harry Potter series (thankfully I read this as a kid when I had more time)

* Thinking, Fast and Slow

* How to Win Friends and Influence People

* David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

* Self-Made Man: One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man

* The Martian: A Novel

* How to Break a Terrorist: The U.S. Interrogators Who Used Brains, Not Brutality, to Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq

* Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets

* Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

* Outliers: The Story of Success

* The Rare Find: How Great Talent Stands Out

* The Martian's Daughter: A Memoir

* Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

* Ghost in the Wires: My Adventure as the World's Most Wanted Hacker

* The Better Angels of our Future

* Daemon

------
nutmeg
\- Mort, Terry Pratchett

The first Pratchett book I've read, and I can't believe I've waited so long to
read his work. Humorous in a Douglas Adams sort of way.

\- Arabian Nights, Haddawy translation

This is a great read. The translation is modern and clear, and the stories are
exciting. I can understand why these stories have been around for centuries.

~~~
sdab
I also recently read my first Pratchett book after reading some excerpts from
around the time he died. Im 5 books in now including having read Mort. On
Reaper Man now.

------
jhallenworld
My 11 year old son did not want me to get him a story book. Instead he wanted
a programming book, so we bought "Hello Python" by Anthony Briggs from a
bookstore. The Amazon reviews for it ended up not so good, so we'll see how it
goes: [http://www.amazon.com/Hello-Python-Anthony-S-
Briggs/dp/19351...](http://www.amazon.com/Hello-Python-Anthony-S-
Briggs/dp/1935182080)

Anyway, I've recently read (my Kindle list):

    
    
        * Curious Myths of the Middles Ages by S. Baring-Gould
        * American Gods by Neil Gaiman
        * Instrumentalities of the Night series by Glen Cook
        * The Dragon Never Sleeps by Glen Cook
        * Many HP Lovecraft stories which I hadn't already read (I bought HP Lovecraft Complete Fiction)
        * Grimm's Fairy Tales
        * Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius
        * Takeshi Kovacs series by Richard K. Morgan
        * A Fire in the Sun (Budayeen series) by George Alec Effinger
        * Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey
        * Hunted (Iron Druid Chronicles) by Kevin Hearne
        * Catspaw by Joan D. Vinge
    

Also I've been watching videos more than reading recently:

    
    
        * Peaky Blinders
        * Top Gear
        * Skins
        * Grimm (where everyone in Portland lives in restored craftsman style homes and uses devices from Apple)
        * The Grand Budapest Hotel
        * Constantine
        * Moby Dick (Patrick Stewart version)

------
cdcarter
Some short story collections:

    
    
       * This is How You Lose Her - Junot Diaz
       * Get in Trouble - Kelly Link
       * St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves - Karen Russell
       * The 10th of December - George Saunders 
       * Nocturnes - Kazuo Ishiguro
       * After the Quake - Haruki Murakami
       * The Girl in the Flammable Skirt - Aimee Bender
    

Longer Form (but all still quick reads):

    
    
       * The Buried Giant - Kazuo Ishiguro
       * Death with Interruptions - Jose Saramago
       * The Whispering Muse - Sjon

------
laxatives
Metamorphoses by Ovid: a bunch of Roman/Greek myths, many are common
references in all kinds of stories

Probability by Pitman: its embarrassing I never took this course in college.
This is the book used for intro stats/probability at Berkeley

Code Complete: honestly I don't understand the hype around this book. There's
good info, but its so sparse, I feel like I only get something good every
20-30 pages and the thing is like 800 pages total.

------
nick_wikilerts
Obviously there are a lot of good books out there, however "Traction: A
Startup Guide to Getting Customers" is certainly one which most of the folks
here would find interesting. It's a comprehensive list of what you can do to
get your initial bunch of users.

The best line in the book though is the definition of traction: "It's
identical to the Supreme Court's definition of porn: you know it when you see
it!"

------
lostphilosopher
I'm a huge believer in going back to primary texts, and understanding where
ideas came from. If you've liked a book, read the books it references
(repeat). I also feel like book recommendations often oversample recent
writings, which are probably great, but it's easy to forget about the
generations of books that have come before that may be just as relevant today
(The Mythical Man Month is a ready example). I approach the reading I do for
fun the same way, Google a list of "classics" and check for things I haven't
read.

My go to recommendations:

[http://www.amazon.com/Structure-Scientific-
Revolutions-50th-...](http://www.amazon.com/Structure-Scientific-
Revolutions-50th-Anniversary/dp/0226458121) \- _The Structure of Scientific
Revolutions_ , Thomas Kuhn, (1996)

[http://www.amazon.com/Pragmatic-Programmer-Journeyman-
Master...](http://www.amazon.com/Pragmatic-Programmer-Journeyman-
Master/dp/020161622X) \- _The Pragmatic Programmer_ , Andrew Hunt and David
Thomas (1999)

Things I've liked in the last 6 months:

[http://www.amazon.com/How-Measure-Anything-Intangibles-
Busin...](http://www.amazon.com/How-Measure-Anything-Intangibles-
Business/dp/1118539273) \- _How to Measure Anything_ , Douglas Hubbard (2007)

[http://www.amazon.com/Mythical-Man-Month-Software-
Engineerin...](http://www.amazon.com/Mythical-Man-Month-Software-Engineering-
Anniversary/dp/0201835959) \- _Mythical Man Month: Essays in Software
Engineering_ , Frederick Brooks Jr. (1975, but get the 1995 version)

[http://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-
Others/dp/00...](http://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-
Others/dp/0066620996) \- _Good To Great_ , Jim Collins (2001)

Next on my reading list (and I'm really excited about it):

[http://www.amazon.com/Best-Interface-No-brilliant-
technology...](http://www.amazon.com/Best-Interface-No-brilliant-
technology/dp/0133890333) \- _The Best Interface is No Interface_ , Golden
Krishna (2015)

~~~
walterbell
Your list of primary sources ends at 2001 :)

No classics beyond that date?

~~~
lostphilosopher
The top was, "choose your own adventure" advice, the bottom was, "here's some
clickable immediate gratification" advice. But point well taken, haha.

------
sk2code
Not sure how I missed it - Reading "Ready Player One". Can't wait for the
movie, currently in talks with Spielberg behind the camera.

~~~
pwelch
Ready Player One is on the top of my favorites list.

If you liked that you might also enjoy Daemon and the sequel Freedom TM by
Daniel Suarez.

~~~
sk2code
Thanks for the recommendation.

------
sagarjauhari
Currently reading

    
    
      * 7 languages in 7 weeks, Bruce A. Tate
      * Coders at Work, Peter Seibel
      * Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
      * Neuromancer, William Gigson
    

Just finished

    
    
      * The Island of Doctor Moreau, H G Wells
      * Brave new world, Aldous Huxley
    

Recommend

    
    
      * The Martian: A Novel, Andy Weir
      * Dune, Frank Herbert
      * 2001: A space odyssey, Arthur C Clarke

------
ayberk
I'm reading 2nd book of The Kingkiller Chronicles (Wise Man's Fear) and loving
it!

Anyone slightly interested in fantasy should definitely read the series. The
story has been great so far and storytelling is exceptional.

~~~
davedx
They are great, but he seems to be really struggling with writing the third
book. :(

------
squeaky-clean
I just finished "How to Fly a Horse" by Kevin Ashton. It was a fun and
inspiring read on the history of creativity and innovation. The book
continually makes the point that creation is the product of effort and
persistence, rather than random flashes of genius or inspiration. Though I
mostly bought it for the historical anecdotes and stories within it, I love
those sorts of things. The author posted this excerpt on HN before it was
released, and this is what made me buy the book. [0]

[0] [http://www.howtoflyahorse.com/what-coke-
contains/](http://www.howtoflyahorse.com/what-coke-contains/)

Now I'm starting "The Naked Sun" by Isaac Asimov, having read "Caves of Steel"
a few months ago. I don't know why I've never read Asimov before, but wow, the
worlds and characters he creates are amazing.

As far as technical books go, I'm working on "Build Your Own AngularJS" by
Tero Parviainen. I'm only a few chapters in, but enjoying it.

------
khingebjerg
"Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman.

Review in The New York Times:
[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/books/review/thinking-
fast...](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/books/review/thinking-fast-and-
slow-by-daniel-kahneman-book-review.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)

~~~
pmcpinto
That is one of the best books I've read in 2014.

------
chops
After years of only reading technical, business, and philosophical books, I
finally decided to take the plunge and read some fiction about 2 years ago.

Since then, I've caught up with Song of Ice and Fire, read the first 11 books
of Sword of Truth, and did the first 2 Dune books.

Most recently, I finished Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and I'm currently
going through a bunch of HP Lovecraft (it feels good to finally understand the
Cthulhu mythos and all that it implies).

When I finish that, I'm going to finish up the Sword of Truth series (the most
recent 3 books), and I'm eagerly awaiting the 6th book in A Song of Ice and
Fire.

These days, I don't actually _read_ all that much, as I've picked up an
appreciation for audiobooks and how you can read your stories while doing
other things like driving, cooking, and shopping. So I don't read in freetime
anymore, but instead just rock the audiobooks in the "between" times.

Obviously, audiobooks don't work with technical books so much.

~~~
navbaker
You would probably really enjoy Brandon Sanderson's and Patrick Rothfuss's
novels, based on your fiction list.

~~~
chops
Thanks, I'll look into them!

------
justizin
Command and Control, a historical account of failures in safety and other
procedures with america's nuclear arsenal:

[http://www.amazon.com/Command-Control-Damascus-Accident-
Illu...](http://www.amazon.com/Command-Control-Damascus-Accident-
Illusion/dp/0143125788/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428599088)

~~~
jamesmishra
I just finished that book last night! It is a must-read for people in systems
engineering. I learned a lot about what kind of errors can happen...

------
sharkbot
I'm reading "The Professor and the Madman" by Simon Winchester, a look at the
creation of the Oxford English dictionary and the personalities, challenges,
and environment of the people involved in its compilation.

I'm also currently learning French, so it's interesting to see that English
also contains exceptions, debates and colourful characters.

------
demiraven
"The Better Angels of our Nature" by Steven Pinker. Highly informative, well-
researched and compelling look at the history of violence, and how violence
relates to economy, information, literacy, trade, etc. Very enjoyable, if
long, read.

[http://amzn.com/0143122010](http://amzn.com/0143122010)

------
patrickk
"Dune" the classic sci-fi novel for the first time and I've just finished the
Fountain series. Before that was Snow Crash. On a classic sci-fi reading
bender right now.

~~~
trey-jones
I did quite the bender over the last few years and covered all of the (Frank
Herbert) Dune novels, as well as most of Orson Scott Card's and the Ringworld
series. I highly recommend all of the Ringworld books if you haven't read
them.

~~~
patrickk
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll definitely take a look.

------
virtualwhys
_The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand_ a revelation, much like encountering Tolstoy for
the first time via Anna Karenina.

 _A Dance with Dragons, George R. R. Martin_ , is the Tolkien of our times,
but with a dark and raunchy twist ;-) Almost finished; book 6 is a year or
more away if previous publishing trend continues -- we needs it ;-(

------
monksy
* The last Girlfriend on Earth * Grails In Action: 2nd edition * Keep It up

I guess it counts: Going through my 2 year old reading queue in instapaper.

I think we should have this on a weekly or monthly basis.

------
adamgray
Systems Performance by Brendan Gregg

[http://www.brendangregg.com/sysperfbook.html](http://www.brendangregg.com/sysperfbook.html)

------
zmower
Functional Programming Application and Implementation by Peter Henderson. Old
but interesting. Woken Furies by Richard Morgan. Good sci-fi detective
thriller series. Working Effectively with Legacy Code by Michael C Feathers.
Hell of a book. Up there with Mythical Man Month.

------
ecem
I just finished "Kafka on the Shore" by Haruki Murakami. While it was really
interesting, I am not sure I fully understood it. Still recommending to
everyone that likes a little bit of fantasy combined with fiction and lots of
cultural references :)

------
Stoo
Recently read:

Blindsight (Peter Watts) - Hard sci-fi with themes of perception and identity.

Ancillary Justice (Anne Leckie) - More of a murder / mystery sci-fi with
themes of gender.

Reading:

Green Mars (Kim Stanley Robinson) - Hard sci-fi covering the terraforming of
Mars. Very political, takes a broad scope.

~~~
RobotCaleb
+1 for Blindsight. I recently read through the sequel and all of the Behemoth
series. So great.

------
joak
"Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Harari A breathtaking history
book, I read in one night like a good thriller.

~~~
fillskills
Thats the best beginning to a book I have ever read! I just bought it

------
mcgaffin
I'm reading _Consider the Lobster: And Other Essays_. I forgot until I picked
this book up again how much fun it is to read David Foster Wallace. Despite
all the footnotes, he's very engaging.

Also, my girlfriend just sneaked Raymond Carver's _What We Talk About When We
Talk About Love_ into my computer bag the other day. I haven't read him in a
long time, but coincidentally was just very recently talking to a friend about
_What I Talk About When I Talk About Running_ by Haruki Murakami, which is
mostly unrelated to the Carver book, but also a really good read about his
life of running.

~~~
pdiddy
Birdman also heavily revolves around What We Talk About When We Talk About
Love.

------
rndn
I'm reading "Gödel, Escher, Bach" and "Rationality: From AI to Zombies" in
online reading groups:

[http://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/2yys1i/lets_start_...](http://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/2yys1i/lets_start_the_read_through/)

[http://lesswrong.com/r/discussion/lw/lx0/rationality_from_ai...](http://lesswrong.com/r/discussion/lw/lx0/rationality_from_ai_to_zombies_online_reading/)

------
dhagz
_Practical Object Oriented Design in Ruby_ , Sandi Metz. Doing this for a
bookclub I sort of helped start with some local developers.

 _A Game of Thrones_ , GRRM. The new preview chapter restarted my hype train
and reminded me how much I missed reading the books. So I started another
read-through, hoping I'll be done by the release of the next book.

I've also been reading lots of stuff on Git. I'm trying to learn everything I
can about hooks so that I can start doing awesome things automatically, and I
feel it's the one aspect of git workflows I haven't explored yet.

------
iheredia
I'm starting to work from home some days, so I just started reading Remote,
office not required

[http://37signals.com/remote/](http://37signals.com/remote/)

~~~
ryanSrich
I read _remote_ almost two years ago shortly before starting my first remote
job. I'm a huge 37signals fan but the book just didn't do it for me. I found
the advice to be mostly obvious. That doesn't necessarily make it a bad book
but I was really looking for more well tested industry specific advice. It
would have been great to also hear of any remote working failures they endured
during their 16 years in business.

------
sandebert
Just a couple of weeks ago I got back into reading books again, and mainly
scifi. It feels great to read again!

I loved The Forever War by Joe Haldeman, recommended previously in this
thread, and that got me to Old Man's War by John Scalzi. (It might be
interesting to note that Ridley Scott has hold the movie rights to this book
for many years now. I can't see it really becoming a mainstream movie without
cutting out some themes from the book.)

The theme in Old Man's War are sort of the same as The Forever War, but in
such a minor way that it didn't bother me even once. Scalzi then turned that
book into a series, all very well worth reading (except Sagan's Diary - give
that a miss). After his Old Man's War series I read Redshirts (so and so),
Agent to the Stars (good read) and now I'm reading Fuzzy Nation, which is
shaping up nicely.

In the afterword to Agent to the Stars Scalzi actually recommends other scifi
books, and per his recommendation I tried out Stranger in a Strange Land by
Robert A. Heinlein (of Starship Troopers fame) but that quickly grinded to a
halt. Might give it another chance later.

Oh, I also read Haldeman's Camouflage. Seems to be liked by the reviews I find
online, but I found it to be a waste of time due to a very weak end chapter.

After this I plan to dive into Rama territory and perhaps Dune also.

Please keep the book recommendations coming, this thread is a goldmine. :)

------
vivab0rg
The Guns of August: The Outbreak of World War I[1], the Pulitzer-award winner
by Barbara Tuchman, and the book that might have helped avoid WW3 during the
Cuban missile crisis, as recognized by JFK himself.

[1]: [http://www.amazon.com/Guns-August-Outbreak-Tuchmans-
Nonficti...](http://www.amazon.com/Guns-August-Outbreak-Tuchmans-Nonfiction-
ebook/dp/B002TXZS8A/)

------
intull
"How to Enjoy Your Life and Your Job", by Dale Carnegie. I can open any page
in this book and find some wisdom and truth in it. He conveys a deep
understanding of human nature and on how to lead a more effective life. As
some say, "I was a good man; after reading this book, I was a better man".

I also recommend "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by the same author.

------
jkimmel
Regenesis by George Church

It's an interesting primer on the potential benefits of synthetic biology to
society at large from one of the field's luminaries.

He covers everything from engineering "mirror humans" (with inverted
biochemical chirality) to reviving extinct species.

[http://www.regenesisthebook.com/](http://www.regenesisthebook.com/)

~~~
GregBuchholz
On a somewhat similar topic, I also enjoyed "The Machinery of Life" by David
Goodsell. Worth it for the diagrams alone.

------
ashark
Currently: Emma, by Austen, and Debt: The First 5,000 Years by Graeber. Both
good.

Recently finished Austen's Persuasion and Dickens' Oliver Twist. I'm trying to
fill in big gaps in my reading of major English novels. Both were good.
Dickens seems to have more compassion, which I appreciate. The two most moving
scenes belong to his two worst villains. Persuasion was great though, and in
many ways (compassion aside) a better novel than Dickens', not that they
really deserve to be compared to one another. Persuasion's the first Austen
novel I've managed to finish; usually I bounce off them in the first chapter
or two. Looking like I'll make it through Emma, too, but it's certainly
rougher going. Made it farther than I did on my last attempt, anyway.

The Things they Carried by O'Brien is up next after Graeber, probably, on
recommendation (and loan) from a friend.

I haven't read it recently, but I feel compelled to recommend Revolutionary
Road by Yates at every opportunity.

------
cmiles74
"Lies My Teacher Told Me" by James W. Loewen, he's a sociologist that examines
the major textbooks sold in the US. The title is a little cheesy, the book is
a bit more serious.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lies_My_Teacher_Told_Me](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lies_My_Teacher_Told_Me)

~~~
richardbrevig
Agreed. Didn't read the whole thing but found his analysis of how textbooks in
the US changed history over time. I believe the main example was justification
for manifest destiny and how it was presented in various textbooks at
different times.

------
candeira
I'm reading Españopoly, a book by investigative researcher and "data
journalist" Eva Belmonte on the social networks that link the people who hold
the power in Spain, my native country. I assume some HNers will read Spanish,
but hail from a different part of the world. This book will really explain
modern Spain to you.

------
vollmond
Just finished Ryk Brown's "A Show of Force" [1]. It's the 13th book in his
Kindle scifi series, which I'm basically addicted to.

Also working through "Bold" by Peter Diamandis [2]. Discussing how to leverage
exponential technology over the next few decades.

\------

[1] [http://www.amazon.com/Ep-13-Show-Force-Frontiers-
ebook/dp/B0...](http://www.amazon.com/Ep-13-Show-Force-Frontiers-
ebook/dp/B00VKPIXO4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&tag=libraryextension-20&camp=211189&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1511573171)

[2] [http://www.amazon.com/Bold-Create-Wealth-Impact-World-
ebook/...](http://www.amazon.com/Bold-Create-Wealth-Impact-World-
ebook/dp/B00LD1RZGM/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-
text&ie=UTF8&qid=1428611496&sr=1-1&keywords=bold+peter+diamandis)

------
mjhoy
_Don Quixote_. Touches on a lot: perception, value, narrative, ethics,
creativity. Above all it is funny as hell and beautifully written.

 _Types and Programming Languages_ , Benjamin Pierce, slightly intimidating
mathematically for me but worth diving in, lots of interesting ideas, I'm only
through to the second chapter.

~~~
mathattack
I struggled with Don Quixote. After 100 pages or so I just felt like I was
missing something. It was as if the story was just repeating itself. Did you
get to the end? Did it get better?

~~~
mjhoy
I'm about 40 chapters (~350 pages) through. I wouldn't say it gets better, or
worse: I loved it from the beginning. If you aren't hooked by 100 pages, I'd
put it down. However I'd recommend coming back to it later, maybe in a few
years, try it again, see if you don't get more out of it.

Also, if you didn't read the Edith Grossman translation, try that, it is very
smart and modern. The older translation feels a bit stuffy to me.

~~~
mathattack
Thanks! I kind of felt I needed to visit Spain again to appreciate the
cultural feel. :-)

Do any movies do it justice?

~~~
mjhoy
> Do any movies do it justice?

I have not seen any, my guess is no! Sometimes I think Monty Python comes
close.

------
JimmyM
I'm working through _Introduction to Algorithms_ by Corsen, Leiserson, Rivest
and Stein.

I've just finished _Tamerlane: Sword of Islam, Conqueror of the World_ by
Justin Marozzi. A fantastic, thrilling, unnerving read. Tamerlane's ingenuity
and political nous appears to have been incredible. Learning about Temur's
life may change how you read all other history books. His mere existence
changes the context and relative importance of much of Western European
history.

I'm also enjoying and recommend _Bloodhoof_ by Gerthur Kristny (trans. Rory
McTurk), _The Zoo Father_ by Pascale Petit, and _Black Cat Bone_ by John
Burnside. _The Zoo Father_ and _Black Cat Bone_ are among the most powerful
collections of poetry I've read that were published within the last three
decades, and _Bloodhoof_ is also very good.

------
ryanSrich
Currently I'm trudging through GEB[1]. Last month I read:

\- The Dip (super short read and has a few good points but overall I didn't
really like it)[2]

\- Going Clear (great book, terrible formatting, but a great book)[3]

\- The Martian (short read, very entertaining and well researched)[4]

1\.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_Bach](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_Bach)

2\.
[http://sethgodin.typepad.com/the_dip/](http://sethgodin.typepad.com/the_dip/)

3\.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going_Clear](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going_Clear)

4\.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Martian_%28Weir_novel%29](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Martian_%28Weir_novel%29)

~~~
monksy
I know there are a lot of fans of "The Dip" but I got the feeling that it was
just too preachy and didn't have a lot of concrete examples.

~~~
ryanSrich
Yeah it's super handwavy. The entire book is essentially "just be the best at
what you do!" so...yeah.

------
raghuiyer4882
I'm working on "Napolean: A Life" by Andrew Roberts [http://www.andrew-
roberts.net/books/napoleon-a-life/](http://www.andrew-
roberts.net/books/napoleon-a-life/). This is a well written and pretty hefty
biography. The author has done a great job of poring over the enormous
material available from that era and consolidating it in a coherent fashion.
I've always been fascinated by that period mostly because it seems to be the
first time there was so much written down on paper which is preserved till
today. Almost everyone who was literate seemed to maintain a diary and take
notations of everything. Pretty decent descriptions of war maneuvers and
battle tactics as well, if you guys like reading that kind of stuff ( I do :)
)

------
eli_gottlieb
_Plato 's Camera_ and _Player of Games_ are what I'm trying to get through on
my Kindle. _Trying_ being the operative word: they're slow-going.

 _Goedel, Escher, Bach_ \-- I'm trying to push through it for the sake of
keeping up with a subreddit-communal reading, but it's boring as all hell. At
least, for the special value of "boring _iff_ you've read quite a lot of
theoretical computer-science and logic papers before", which I understand is
not really anyone's usual meaning for the word. I'm still waiting to see how
he actually gets to the bit about consciousness.

 _Certified Programming with Dependent Types_ \-- started it recently, working
through the programming exercises. I need to understand well-foundedness
termination proofs for certain parts of my research proofs.

------
topaz0
"The Moon is Down" by John Steinbeck, and "A Discipline of Programming" by
Edsger Dijkstra. Before that, "The Most Human Human", by Brian Christian. "The
Most Human Human" was particularly interesting, about what we can learn about
being human by looking at machines.

------
andreasvc
Atomic Accidents - A History of Nuclear Meltdowns and Disasters, by James
Mahaffey. [http://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Accidents-Meltdowns-
Disasters-M...](http://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Accidents-Meltdowns-Disasters-
Mountains/dp/1605986801/)

------
prezjordan
Started Flatland on the train yesterday - lots of fun so far.

I'm looking for more Sci-fi if HN can recommend anything! I've been reading a
lot of historical non-fiction over the years, but recently finished Snow Crash
and the Diamond Age. Love the genre, but don't know much about it.

~~~
monk_e_boy
"Off to be the wizard" is pretty light and fun. "John dies at the end" was
fun, not really sci-fi, more buffy the vampire slayer esque. "Existence" by
David Brin made me want to puke it had so many good ideas. A tiny bit dated,
but very smart. "The Martian" I expect you've read it. Good romp, easy to
read. Reminded me of a Michael Crichton. "World War Z" was good.

~~~
dasboth
I'm a huge fan of John Dies At The End. It's really not for everyone but I
found it incredibly entertaining. The follow-up, This Book Is Full of Spiders
is also worth reading.

------
bdat
Just started reading _Ubik_ and liking it so far. Before that I reread _To
Kill a Mockingbird_. I really enjoy hacking on side projects in my free time
but sometimes it's nice to step away. I've found getting deep into a book is a
good way for me to do that.

------
robotcookies
"Longitude" by Dava Sobel.

Sailors knew for a while how to get your latitude (by using the position of
the north star) but didn't have a way of getting their longitude pre-18th
century. This was a serious problem in navigation and this is the story of how
a solution came about.

------
davidw
Here's my 'reading blog': [http://davids-book-
reviews.blogspot.it/](http://davids-book-reviews.blogspot.it/)

Currently working my way through Thiel's book. It's not bad if you haven't
read it yet.

~~~
pmcpinto
Interesting blog, I loved the Thiel's book

------
tbjohnston
Just finished:

The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen (as did pdevr) -
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Snow_Leopard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Snow_Leopard)

A Guide to the Good Life: the ancient art of Stoic joy by William Irvine -
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5617966-a-guide-to-
the-g...](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5617966-a-guide-to-the-good-
life)

Now Reading:

Seneca's Dialogues & Essays -
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1933080.Dialogues_and_Es...](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1933080.Dialogues_and_Essays)

------
xasos
Getting around to finishing Marc Andreessen's blog post collection [1].

[1] [http://a16z.com/2015/01/09/pmarca-blog-
ebook/](http://a16z.com/2015/01/09/pmarca-blog-ebook/)

------
Intermernet
The Ancient Paths by Graham Robb [1]

Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman [2]

Metamagical Themas by Douglas Hofstadter [3]

[1]: [http://www.amazon.com/The-Ancient-Paths-Discovering-
Celtic/d...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Ancient-Paths-Discovering-
Celtic/dp/0330531514)

[2]: [http://www.amazon.com/Trigger-Warning-Short-Fictions-
Disturb...](http://www.amazon.com/Trigger-Warning-Short-Fictions-
Disturbances/dp/0062330268)

[3]: [http://www.amazon.com/Metamagical-Themas-Questing-Essence-
Pa...](http://www.amazon.com/Metamagical-Themas-Questing-Essence-
Pattern/dp/0465045669)

------
jules
Linear and Geometric Algebra by Alan Macdonald. It's a nice book but a bit
slow for my taste. I wonder if anyone has a recommendation for a fast paced
route to geometric algebra for somebody who is already familiar with
conventional math?

~~~
geometricalgebr
Sent you an email with a couple recommendations

------
enedil
Some interesting books by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.: Breakfast of Champions Bluebeard
Deadeye Dick

~~~
ashark
Those are my three favorite Vonnegut novels. Nice choices :-)

I'd second my sibling poster's recommendation of Galapagos, if you haven't
read that one.

Slaughterhouse Five and Cat's Cradle are probably his two most widely-read and
widely-referenced books, so if you haven't read those yet and you're still on
a Vonnegut kick after those three, maybe read them. They're all quick cotton-
candy reads anyway, so it's a small cost to read another. I do consider Cat's
Cradle overrated, though. I think all the cute and memorable made-up words
have boosted it to higher prominence than it deserves.

~~~
enedil
After reading Vonnegut's novel after novel, I needed to stop for a while. In a
list of books of Vonnegut which I read, there is no Galapagos, no Mother
Night, no Sirens of Titan, no Player Piano, and that's pretty all.

------
ajones
Being Geek by Michael Lopp

Rands does a great job at giving a broad range of career advice for software
engineers. I also recommend his blog:
[http://randsinrepose.com/](http://randsinrepose.com/)

------
scelerat
_Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party_ by
Waldo E. Martin

[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15722514-black-against-
em...](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15722514-black-against-empire)

A comprehensive study of the origins, actions, philosophy and results of the
Black Panther party. Outgrowth of my interest in historical topics in general
and Oakland, my adopted hometown, specifically.

I'm in awe of the drive, focus, and audacity of these revolutionaries,
especially in light of present-day politics of race, inequality, police, and
armed citizenry.

------
DawkinsGawd
Currently reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and Exploding the Phone By Phil
Lapsley. Atlas Shrugged is an amazing account ofIndustry and government.
Lapsleys book is a bit dry but it's a quick read and very informative

------
jraines
The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing
Personal

Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge

One traces the history of computing from inception to roughly 1990, the other
feels like it picks it up around 2030. Highly recommend both.

------
MilnerRoute
"The Secret History of Wonder Woman."

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385354045/ref=as_li_tl?ie=...](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385354045/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0385354045&linkCode=as2&tag=destinyland-20&linkId=WJD5LLT6NYJGMYRW)

It's stunning that the comic book character was created by a man who secretly
lived with two wives as part of the radical women's rights/free love movement
of the 1920s...

~~~
richardbrevig
Off topic but I met a guy once that had a room dedicated in his apartment for
Wonder Woman...posters, action figures. Everything.

------
yirgacheffe
A book I read recently that I think others on HN would appreciate is Robert
Scheer's latest book, "They Know Everything About You: How Data-Collecting
Corporations and Snooping Government Agencies Are Destroying Democracy".
Here's a link to the book on AMZN: [http://www.amazon.com/They-Know-
Everything-About-Data-Collec...](http://www.amazon.com/They-Know-Everything-
About-Data-Collecting/dp/1568584520)

Highly recommended to anyone that cares about their privacy online!

------
pdiddy
Currently reading: The House of Life, Mario Praz; Spring and All (try to read
it every spring)

Recently finished: 1089 and All That (finished today), The Life-Changing Magic
of Tidying Up, Gibson's The Peripheral

------
res0nat0r
Reading right now: Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of
Belief

Up next: God's Bankers: A History of Money and Power at the Vatican

[http://www.amazon.com/Going-Clear-Scientology-Hollywood-
Pris...](http://www.amazon.com/Going-Clear-Scientology-Hollywood-
Prison/dp/0307745309)

[http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Bankers-History-Money-
Vatican/dp/...](http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Bankers-History-Money-
Vatican/dp/1416576576)

------
kirubakaran
I keep my virtual book-shelf of books read here:
[http://www.kirubakaran.com/books-read.html](http://www.kirubakaran.com/books-
read.html)

------
jacobroufa
I just finished the Manifold series by Stephen Baxter. The series is a look at
the (solution to, reason for, questions surrounding the) Fermi Paradox through
three potential lenses. Best and most raw sci-fi I've ever read. The books
left me hopeful, suspended, disgusted and in awe of the depth of this man's
observation of humanity.

If you're looking for something lighter, perhaps check out Time Ships by the
same author. This was the only authorized sequel to the legendary classic The
Time Machine by H.G. Wells.

------
mid_max
* _" Spartan Up!: A Take-No-Prisoners Guide to Overcoming Obstacles and Achieving Peak Performance in Life"_, Joe De Sena;

Great thoughts on life, by creator of the Spartan Race.

* _" Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World"_, Mark Williams, Danny Penman;

Meditation excercies plan for mindfulness, which gives different view on
everyday life. Also considered as a good therapy for apathy, depression etc.

* _" Mud, Sweat, and Tears: The Autobiography"_, Bear Grylls;

Great stories from former SAS member and adventurer.

------
valbaca
I just finished Pragmatic Thinking and Learning: Refactor Your Wetware
([http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A32NYYE](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A32NYYE))

Next I'm picking up Working Effectively with Legacy Code
([http://www.amazon.com/dp/0131177052](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0131177052)).
It's been in my reading list for years and I can finally get to it!

------
AlexOrtiz201
If you like history at all, the Robert Greene books are awesome. 48 laws of
power, 33 strategies of war, etc... They break down each lesson and their
reversals with historical examples.

~~~
sagarjauhari
Have you read Ken Follet?

~~~
AlexOrtiz201
no, I'll look into it.

------
bko
I'm reading Don Quixote and Becoming Steve Jobs.

I can't get enough of reading about the history of Apple and Jobs in
particular. I read the Isaacson's Jobs biography twice. It's now more of a
guilty pleasure than anything.

Don Quixote is good too. I'm listening to the audio book. While listening to
it, I don't really know what to make of it. It's part comedy, part tragedy and
all around captivating. Also recommend the mini-story within Don Quixote
called The Ill-Advised Curiosity.

~~~
rayalez
Then I would highly recommend you to read iWoz as well.

------
jvreeland
Where Sea Breaks Its Back. It's about a journey that naturalist Gregor William
Stellar (Different transliterations different spelling) and a trip he took
with Bering to Alaska. He was the first naturalist to describe a number of
species, a number of which were never seen again or hunted to extinction
before being studied and he was the only one to describe. To top it all off
most of the products of his research, notes books diagrams specimens etc. were
lost of damaged.

------
krishna2
Currently reading "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich".

Would appreciate more suggestions for World War 1, World War 2 histories,
especially Russian History books.

Already on my reading list (a few related to the above):

\- Gulag

\- Guns of August

\- Churchill

~~~
pbiggar
Try "the kings depart: The Tragedy of Germany - Versailles and the German
Revolution" \- [http://www.amazon.com/The-Kings-Depart-Versailles-
Revolution...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Kings-Depart-Versailles-
Revolution/dp/184212658X)

Also, if you like podcasts, try Hardcore History -
[http://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-
series](http://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series). There's a 5 part
Series on WW1 called "Blueprint for armageddon".

------
koevet
"The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains" by Nicholas Carr. I'm
halfway through it. The main thesis of the book is that the Internet has
quickly modified our brain (neuro-plasticity) so that we absorb information
quickly but we don't get deep into any topic any longer.

The book start strong with this thesis and then goes into a very interesting
detour on the history of writing, from the egyptian to Gutemberg all the way
to Vint Cerf.

Very well researched book and well written.

~~~
DawkinsGawd
Does the book address the issue of specialization in the professions and
either exempt it or adapt it to the thesis?

~~~
koevet
No. The first part of the book explains neuro-plasticity with several examples
and mentioning various experiments about the way the brain adapt quickly to
external stimuli.

Then the author dives deep into the history of culture (oral, written, mass-
media, internet). So far I haven't encountered any mention of how the mind of
a "professional" wouldn't be affected by the distracting impulses of the
internet and digital communication.

------
AtmaScout
Showstopper!

I'm really enjoying it. It is filled with history about creating NT that I've
never found online. Also a large amount of information about Cutler, which is
interesting.

------
mtreis86
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2680](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2680)

------
steakejjs
They are technical.

Brushing up on:

K&R - The C Programming Language

K&P - The Unix Programming Environment

K&P - The Practice of Programming

Kerrisk - The Linux Programming Interface (Not light reading)

Even though it is mostly review, reading code and seeing commands that K&R&P
run has actually helped my workflow, code quality, etc.

Highly recommend re-reading if it has been a while. Even things like variable
names have noticeably improved since beginning re-reading.

And, the Linux Programming Interface....is huge. There's always more to learn
in there.

------
robbyking
I just finished reading John Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" for the the third
time, and for the third time I was completely enthralled from beginning to
end.

------
bshimmin
I've been reading Pynchon's _Against The Day_ for the better part of a decade
now. I'm hoping to finish it within the next three or four years.

~~~
pmdulaney
I was that way with The Brothers Karamazov. But it was worth it in the end.

------
rayalez
Here's my usual list of recommendations, the best books I've read in the past
5 years.

Fiction:

\- Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

If you know nothing about this book you might naturally hesitate to read
"Harry Potter fanfiction" and assume that it's dumb/horrbile, but it's not.
Just suspend your disbelief and read the first 5-10 chapters. Trust me, it's
brilliant, hilarious, and life-changing.

\- Atlas Shrugged

Controversial, I know, a lot of people here hate it for some reason, but it
was incredibly influential on me, inspired my passion for entrepreneurship and
science and philosophy. Still is one of the best books I am aware of.

Nonfiction:

\- Hackers and Painters by Paul Graham

Also a collection of his essays that you can find on github. He is one of the
most clever writers I am aware of, but I assume you know that, since you're on
HN.

\- "On Intelligence" by Jeff Hawkins

This book explains in simple terms a very awesome and elegant theory on how
mind works. Incredibly fascinating, I've learned a lot from it and it explains
a lot of things, and will change the way you think about thinking process.

\- The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins

Engaging and entertaining explanation of evolution, absolutely fantastic book.

\- The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli.

Despite the stigma, and people thinking that Machhiavellian = "evil", I've
found this book extremely clever and wise.

\- Serious Creativity by Edward De Bono

The best book on creativity and the process of generating ideas that I'm aware
of.

\- Abundance

This is a very inspiring and optimistic book about the future of technology.

Entrepreneurhsip:

\- Start Small, Stay Small

Guide to creating your first product/business for hackers. It lays out all the
basics of entrepreneurship in a very concise and clear ways, my favorite
introduction to startups.

\- Rework

Very wise and intelligent advice about startups, intelligent and witty, must
read.

\- Lean Startup

Classic book on "lean startup methodology", very useful.

\- 4-Hour Workweek

Despite the silly title I think it is a great book and is very much worth
reading. Many people here dislike Tim Ferris, but whatever, I think this book
is cool.

Autobiographies:

\- Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman

\- Ghost In The Wires by Kevin Mitnick

\- Catch me if you can by Abagnale

\- iWoz by Steve Wozniak

\- Losing my Virginity by Richard Branson

All these are fantastic and very intelligent autobiographies by the very
awesome people.

Now I'm reading "Gödel, Escher, Bach" and "Rationality: From AI to Zombies."

"Rationality" is great and I would definitely recommend it to anyone. Can't
say much about GEB, I've only started reading it, but everyone is saying that
it is so great and the best book ever, so I think it's definitely worth
checking out.

~~~
JTon
A good friend of mine recommended Atlas Shrugged a while back. I couldn't
finish it. I just couldn't swallow the "better than you" venom Dagny spewed
everywhere. Maybe I'm missing something

~~~
tallanvor
You're not missing anything. There's a reason John Rogers wrote “There are two
novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the
Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a
lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally
stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The
other, of course, involves orcs."

~~~
rayalez
Can anyone explain to me why so many intelligent people love hating on this
book?

Do you disagree with her philosophy? If so - can you tell me about which
things exactly made you dislike it and why?

Everyone repeats this quote, and everyone generally says bad things about this
book, but never anything concrete, never a clear reason what exactly is so bad
about it.

~~~
tallanvor
Yes, I disagree with her philosophy. Rand believed that a person had no
further moral duty than to pursue their own happiness, and that you are solely
responsible for your success or failure. If you succeed, you should be
applauded and be given the deference to do what you want. Those who point out
that the government, by and for the people, provides for the schools that
educate the workers, the roads that are use to deliver products, the police
who keep the country safe, etc., are parasites and moochers for wanting the
wealthy to acknowledge this and contribute to paying for the services the
government provides. The same goes for unions who want recognition and fair
wages for the workers.

If you reject her philosophy, it's very hard to identify with the characters
she positions as the good guys. And why else do you read fiction if not so
that you can root for the good guys?

------
cjbar
CODE - Charles Petzold

Seven Concurrency Models in Seven Weeks - Paul Butcher

[http://www.braveclojure.com/](http://www.braveclojure.com/)

------
HolyLampshade
Currently reading a few, including:

\- The Good Spy - Kai Bird (Robert Ames bio)

\- Becoming Steve Jobs - Brent Schlender (after reading Isaacson's Jobs' bio I
figured another perspective wouldn't be horrible)

\- Countdown to Zero Day - Kim Zetter (RE: Stuxnet and cyber-espionage)

And finally, I'm re-reading The Accidental Guerrilla by David Kilcullen
(something of a social science approach to "Why do
rebels/guerrillas/terrorists exist?")

~~~
bob_loblaw
I'm a big fan of The Accidental Guerrilla. I went through a big counter
insurgency phase about seven years ago. That book and The Gamble by Ricks were
my favorites.

------
MalcolmDiggs
Just started reading "Continuous Delivery" by Jez Humble, et al. Really wish I
would have grabbed this years ago, great primer on what (for me) is a
confusing topic. [http://www.amazon.com/Continuous-Delivery-Deployment-
Automat...](http://www.amazon.com/Continuous-Delivery-Deployment-Automation-
Addison-Wesley/dp/0321601912)

------
tjradcliffe
Fiction: Nicholas Nickleby (Dickens). Dickens' prose is like a sugared donut.
Rich and enjoyable in small bites, cloying as a steady diet, so this is
heavily interspersed with other reading.

Non-Fiction:

Global Crisis ([http://www.amazon.com/Global-Crisis-Climate-Catastrophe-
Seve...](http://www.amazon.com/Global-Crisis-Climate-Catastrophe-
Seventeenth/dp/0300208634/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428607230&sr=8-1&keywords=global+crisis))
Excellent history of the climate disaster known as "the Little Ice", and the
social, political and economic disruptions it produced. Due to where the
records are best, lots of stuff from China, some from Japan, and various parts
of Europe (particularly England) but it takes a genuinely global perspective
on a decades-long event that may have reduced the human population of Earth by
as much as 1/3\. Data rich and extremely well-written, it gives some insight
into how humans are apt to respond and adapt in the face of climate change
(the first generation or two is not pretty, but new institutions, attitudes
and adaptations do come along.)

Loneliness ([http://www.amazon.com/Loneliness-Human-Nature-Social-
Connect...](http://www.amazon.com/Loneliness-Human-Nature-Social-
Connection/dp/0393335283/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428607389&sr=8-1&keywords=loneliness))
Recent science on the effects of social connection and the lack thereof, by
one of the premier researchers in the field. Highly recommended for people who
are feeling out of the loop (I work at home and recently changed cities, and
recognized I was lacking a bit in human contact even for someone who is very
comfortable on their own.)

The Civilization of the Middle Ages, Norman Cantor: a somewhat dated by still
useful account of medieval civilization, from it's Roman roots to the early
Renaissance.

Other recommendation: [http://www.amazon.com/Darwins-Theorem-TJ-
Radcliffe/dp/099375...](http://www.amazon.com/Darwins-Theorem-TJ-
Radcliffe/dp/0993754317/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428607524&sr=8-1&keywords=darwin%27s+theorem)
Speculative fiction with big ideas (the nature of god, the role of science,
the universality of evolution) and character-driven action (I am the author,
so take the recommendation for what you will.)

------
sizzzzlerz
The interstellar age: Inside the 40-year Voyager Mission by Jim Bell.

The dawn of planetary science and the amazing discoveries of Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus found by the two Voyager space craft and the people who built and
operated them and the scientists who analyzed the data returned.

Flash Boys: A Wall Street revolt by Michael Lewis

How and why we all were totally fucked by Wall Street during the 2009 market
meltdown.

------
baisong
"False Necessity", by Roberto Mungabeira Unger

A strong theory of history and toolkit for re-shaping society. Truly
refreshing and inspiring.

------
komaromy
"Worm": [https://parahumans.wordpress.com](https://parahumans.wordpress.com)

~~~
aharrison
I will second this and say that in my opinion it gets better as you go along,
although it gets tedious in parts. Be prepared, it is a _long_ story.

------
teekert
Spam Nation by Brian Krebs.

It's nice but I started reading other books while being half way in. A sign
that I experience it more as a study book than a relaxing read (ok, I did the
same with Game of Thrones). I'll finish it at some point, it is quite
fascinating to read about the world of spam, the Russians and the high quality
of illegal online pharmacies.

------
owly
[https://www.schneier.com/books/data_and_goliath/](https://www.schneier.com/books/data_and_goliath/)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Martian_%28Weir_novel%29](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Martian_%28Weir_novel%29)
Enjoy

------
olifante
Recently read:

* “Disciplined Minds” by Jeff Schmidt. A mind-opening book that shows how both academia and business select for conformity.

* “Go It Alone: The Streetwise Secrets of Self Employment” by Geoff Burch. Great read, witty and savvy author.

* “The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael E. Gerber.

* “Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life” by William Deresiewicz.

------
calebm
Just finished "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" and "Kafka on the Shore" by Haruki
Murakami (as recommended by this HN post:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9127092](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9127092)).
Haruki is amazing!

~~~
hokkos
I loved Kafka, and after I read Chronicle and I couldn't finish it, it felt it
went nowhere and so many tropes where similar to Kafka, now I think the
murakami bingo is real, his book are about the same things.

------
mathattack
I'm currently about a third of the way through Hyperion by Dan Simmons. It's
interesting Science Fiction.

In my queue: iWoz, the Google Way and the Lean Startup.

I want to pick up some Terry Pratchett books. Several years back a colleague
said, "You're too serious in your reading, go look up this Pratchett
fellow..."

~~~
sunir
For those interested, The Hyperion series has some excellent audiobook
editions on audible. Particularly appealing for the first book which in in the
style of the Cantebury tales.

------
borgia
Rapidly working my way through "Breakfast at Sotheby's" by Philip Hook[1].
Very enjoyable book.

[1] [http://www.amazon.com/Breakfast-Sothebys-A-Z-Art-
World/dp/14...](http://www.amazon.com/Breakfast-Sothebys-A-Z-Art-
World/dp/1468309668)

------
Liquix
Ram Dass - Be Here Now [http://www.amazon.com/Be-Here-Now-Ram-
Dass/dp/0517543052/ref...](http://www.amazon.com/Be-Here-Now-Ram-
Dass/dp/0517543052/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428595174&sr=8-1&keywords=be+here+now)

------
cjoelrun
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy. Intriguing, hilarious, and fun.
I recommend this to anyone.

------
Rapzid
\- Twelve Years a Slave

\- Writing High-Performance .Net

\- The Joy of Cojure

\- Systems Performance

\- The Linux Programming Interface

\- The Design and Implementation of the FreeBSD Operating System

\- Building Microservices

Wow, I'm glad this topic came up; the pile-up is bigger than I realised. It's
apparent that I finish novels faster than technical books :| I really need to
buckle down and finish these off..

~~~
pricees
This looks, regrettably, similar to my own bookshelf. Look up "Tsundoku" \--
it is what we suffer from. I now have a "Field Notes" planner that here I plan
out what tech book I need to finish for the month, before I move on to fiction
or other tech books.

The LPI is June-July.

Good luck, my friend.

------
msg
_Anna Karenina_. It's probably my favorite book, and this is probably read #7
or so.

It's a very observant novel about love and marriage and adultery and divorce
in most every permutation, life and death and meaning.

It's different every time I read it and has something to say to readers in any
phase of life.

------
smhenderson
After exhausting anything interesting on Wikipedia about Greek mythology I
finally decided to dive into the real stuff.

[http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hesiod/theogony.htm](http://www.sacred-
texts.com/cla/hesiod/theogony.htm)

~~~
a_bonobo
You may also enjoy two books by Edith Hamilton as more "preparation":

"Mythology" is a summary of the most common "stories" of Greek and Roman (and
a bit Norse) mythology, good to understand contents and allusions.

"The Greek Way" is her "love letter" to Greece - why it was (according to her)
better than our society, the differences in general thinking compared to
Egyptians, Hindus, and "us modern Westerners", why we still have much to learn
from the Greek.

------
vegancap
I've just finished The Lean Startup by Eric Reis. I'm now onto 'Zero to One'
by Peter Thiel. Also read Business Adventures by John Brooks recently. Oh! And
'Tales of Mystery & Imagination' by Edgar Allen Poe I've got for bath-time
reading :)

------
awalGarg
I am somewhat new to programming (<1.5yr, age 17). Recently read the book
Seven Languages in Seven Weeks. It was a very sweet read. Have read some HP
books and skimmed through rest (1, 2 and 6 were my favorite reads). I will
give some more time to read books soon though :)

------
thingamarobert
Maybe you'd like to follow that up with "The Art of War", by Niccolo
Machiavelli? :)

I'm in the middle of Paulo Coelho's "The Zahir". The next one in line is
"Thinking, Fast and Slow", by Daniel Kahneman. I'm really looking forward to
that one!

~~~
pmcpinto
I've started The Prince of Niccolo Machiavelli, but I wasn't in the best mood
for that kind of book :) I have to try that one again

------
metaphorical
Three Body by Cixin Liu.
[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0765377063](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0765377063)

Alien, cult, virtual reality propaganda in a communist regime. A fascinating
and entertaining book!

------
killnine
1\. [http://www.amazon.com/Sapiens-A-Brief-History-
Humankind/dp/0...](http://www.amazon.com/Sapiens-A-Brief-History-
Humankind/dp/0062316095)

2\. [http://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Marcus-
Aur...](http://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Marcus-
Aurelius/dp/0812968255)

3\. [http://www.amazon.com/Surely-Youre-Joking-Mr-Feynman-
ebook/d...](http://www.amazon.com/Surely-Youre-Joking-Mr-Feynman-
ebook/dp/B003V1WXKU/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1428590999&sr=1-1&keywords=surely+you%27re+joking+mr.+feynman)

4\. [http://www.amazon.com/Book-Five-Rings-linked-TOC-
ebook/dp/B0...](http://www.amazon.com/Book-Five-Rings-linked-TOC-
ebook/dp/B0035FZM28/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1428591020&sr=1-2&keywords=book+of+5+rings)

------
bra-ket
Neural engineering by Chris Eliasmith: [http://www.amazon.com/Neural-
Engineering-Representation-Neur...](http://www.amazon.com/Neural-Engineering-
Representation-Neurobiological-Computational/dp/0262550601)

------
heleph
I finally got around to reading Logicomix, a graphic novel about the
development of mathematical logic around the first half of the 20th century.
It's told as the story of Bertrand Russell and has a theme of wanting to
understand the world through logic and madness.

------
redmaverick
Currently reading: Never Eat Alone - By Keith Ferrazi and Tahl Raz

How to network?

Basically, don't treat people like stepping stones. Make meaningful connection
with them and always be an active go-giver without keeping score. Also, really
ask for help when you need it without being bashful about it.

------
selleck
A.M. Train Ride - Creative Thinkering

\- Just okay

P.M. Train Ride - Counter Hack Reloaded

\- so far so good. a little dated but a good intro to security.

Audiobook - 48 Laws of Power

\- I love the history lessons in it. Very engaging. You don't have to be
power-hungry to read it.

Digital Book at work - The Art of Software Security Assessment

\- Just started, I will let you know next month.

------
brandonlipman
Currently Reading

\- "Venture Deals" by Brad Feld

\- "Capital In The 21st Century" It's okay, it's really long. There are some
great nuggets but it is hard to consume and I end up having to do a lot of
rereading to understand it. It will take me a few months to finish.

------
ThomPete
May I suggest the War of Art. It's actually a great book.

[http://www.amazon.com/The-War-Art-Through-
Creative/dp/193689...](http://www.amazon.com/The-War-Art-Through-
Creative/dp/1936891026)

------
gdubs
An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth [1]

1: [http://www.amazon.com/Astronauts-Guide-Life-Earth-
Determinat...](http://www.amazon.com/Astronauts-Guide-Life-Earth-
Determination/dp/0316253014)

------
tomahunt
I'm reading the biography of Alan Turning by Andrew Hodges. After seeing the
film I read all war year chapters and have now gone back to read the Cambridge
years. It fills in many gaps about the war years and is just a lot of fun.

------
lxa2
I really enjoyed _The Last Policeman_ series by Ben H. Winters. It's a noir
detective novel while a massive asteroid is about to destroy the world. Made
me think about society and why people do things. The ending is perfect.

------
realbarack
"Politics - Observations and Arguments" by Henrik Hertzberg. Collection of
work by Hertzberg, the longtime New Yorker writer. Excellent, succinct writing
that illustrates beautifully a rational, progressive political stance.

------
patricksanders
Dataclysm: Who We Are (When We Think No One's Looking) by Christian Rudder. An
interesting peek into some of the data gathered by OkCupid, as well as an
overall assessment of the power of data held by tech companies today.

------
rhubarbcustard
Casino Royale - It's kind of jarring how different the book and film versions
of Bond are.

Learn You a Haskell for Great Good! - partially read it before online but
couldn't get into it, bought the book and hope to nail it this time.

------
evo_9
Philip K Dick - VALIS, Divine Invasion and (next) Transmigration of Timothy
Archer.

------
colund
I'm casual reading these books

* Iron-Clad Java: Building Secure Web Applications.

* How Linux Works: What Every Superuser Should Know.

* Black Hat Python.

Paused reading

* Functional Programming in Scala.

* Version Control with Git.

Bought due to HN praises, skimmed through, but probably won't read

* Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs.

------
oskarth
I am currently reading _Skiena, Algorithm Design Manual_ and _Thucydides,
History of the Peloponnesian War_.

Next up is _Cipolla, Clocks and Culture_ and _Chiusano and Bjarnason,
Functional Programming in Scala_.

------
broken
_The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test_. I just finished chapter 18: "Cosmo's
Tasmanian Deviltry", with its retelling of the legend of Owsley's freakout at
the Muir Beach Acid Test. Funny stuff.

------
charford
Just finished reading Tribal Leadership. Opened my eyes to things I had not
realized before about life in general and working with teams. I would highly
recommend it if you have not read it yet.

Next up, The Lean Startup.

------
nicois
No one has mentioned The Blade Itself and its successors by Joe Abercrombie?

This turns and twists as you go, lulling you into thinking you know what is
happening before forcing you to review all your assumptions..

------
salusinarduis
Currently reading:

* Machine Learning - Peter Flach

* Guns, Germs, and Steel - Jared Diamond

* Dune ( for the third time, I love it :) ) - Frank Herbert

I usually read some of pg's, sama's, avc's or some other prominant essayist in
the bath each week.

------
aestetix
For such a community of hackers, I'm surprised nobody has brought up "Hackers:
Heroes of the Computer Revolution" by Steven Levy. Maybe you've all read it
already ;)

------
anilmujagic
_Programming F# 3.0, 2nd Edition_

While not reading it right now (read it 4-5 yrs ago) I recommend _The
Alchemist_ by Paulo Coelho. One of the few non-technical books that I really
enjoyed :)

~~~
Rapzid
How are you finding the F# book? I have read/skimmed many F# books, including
this one, and haven't really been satisfied with any of them.

~~~
anilmujagic
As I'm just 50 pages in, so far it's basically all familiar stuff, because I
already have read most of the article series on _fsharpforfunandprofit.com_.

I was searching for recommendations online and people on reddit were
recommending this book, together with _Expert F#_.

There is also this article recommending those two books:
[http://jorgetavares.com/2015/01/01/reading-list-for-f-
learni...](http://jorgetavares.com/2015/01/01/reading-list-for-f-learning)

------
jgamman
i binge buy from amazon and i have eclectic tastes - i don't have a tv and i
don't like reading from electronic devices YMMV. Looking up at my bookcase
shelf: Triumph of the City - Glaus, Time Enough for Love - Heinlein, We The
Navigators, Strength to Love - Martin Luther King, The Filmmakers Handbook,
Schaums's Mathematica, Other People's Wars - Hager, What if?, The Fiery Trial,
The Difference Engine, Robert's Rules of Order, The Swerve.

This should take me a couple months.

------
abhiyerra
\- Rise of Theodore Roosevelt \- Heart of Darkness \- $100 Startup

------
taiwan_on
Just finished "Who Shot The Water Buffalo?" by Ken Babbs.
[http://www.skypilotclub.com](http://www.skypilotclub.com)

------
bobsh
Buckminster Fuller's Synergetics. It's online, btw. Hard to read, but well
worth the effort. I have been reading it since I first got it, a couple
decades ago.

------
mangamadaiyan
Pompeii, by Robert Harris.

It's historical fiction, and one of the best reads I've had in a while. I
particularly liked the descriptions of the aquarius debugging the waterworks.

------
juniordev89
I recently finished predictably irrational by Dan ariely. It's a pretty cool
book about how humans think they decide things and how they actually decide
things.

------
perdunov
Haven't really read a book in 10 years. Terminal ADHD.

------
vayarajesh
I am reading "Autobiography of a Yogi" (after reading the steve jobs book, I
got to know about this book. It was the only book in Steve jobs iPad)

------
robodale
I just read Smartcuts, Made to Stick, and Traction - a great trio of books to
get your mind in the right spot as you pursue a market to create a product.

------
0xdeadbeefbabe
An HP Lovecraft anthology. I just read The Temple, and wondered if some people
take it as evidence of Lovecraft's outrageous political views.

------
stevenmays
The Third Chimpanzee, Jared Diamond - Human evolution.

Code Complete 2 - Only halfway through but this is by far the best book about
programming I have ever read.

------
bvinicius
I am reading the Foundation Trilogy - Asimov. I am now on the second book,
called Foundation and Empire.

Non-fictional i am reading "Pratical Node.js"

------
fiatjaf
"The Wind in the Willows", Kenneth Grahame

------
threadhead
Wool - Hugh Howey

Post-apocalyptic dystopian sci-fi at it's best.

------
jnericks
The New Touring Omnibus, a dev who was interviewed on FogCreek's blog, Peteris
Krumins, said that it was his favorite book of all time.

~~~
sigjuice
I think you meant The New ''Turing'' Omnibus :)

------
ElDiablo666
Currently reading Mein Kampf. Going to start some others too, like I bought
Glenn Greenwald, No Place to Hide but haven't started it.

------
dotdi
Last week I finished re-reading LOTR. It was awesome.

Besides that, I am currently reading Scala in Depth (Suereth) and re-reading
Refactoring (Fowler).

------
faragon
After Sun Tzu's "Art of War", I recommend you Bertrand Russell's "The Conquest
of Happiness" (1930) :-)

------
gregjwild
Fiction - currently waiting on Poseidon Wakes, by Alastair Reynolds.

Non-fiction - Pragmatic Thinking and Learning: Refactor Your Wetware, by Andy
Hunt

------
blwsk
Forty Stories by Donald Barthelme - a collection of short stories

Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon - an encyclopedic novel, to say the least

~~~
pdiddy
Barthelme is the best. My wife and I love the story Conversations with Goethe.
We frequently get it off the shelf and read it to one another. "Youth," Goethe
said, "is the silky apple butter on the good brown bread of possibility."

------
howlr5
Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves by George
M. Church, Ed Regis. Mind blowing to say the least.

------
zem
just finishing up a dune reread (on book 6 now). been ~15 years since i read
it last; interesting to see how my tastes in sf have changed since. (book 5
was actually my favourite this time around, and i found books 2 and 3 fairly
tedious, whereas earlier i used to typically reread books 1-3 and not bother
with the second half of the series)

------
howlr5
Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves: George M.
Church, Ed Regis. Mind blowing to say the least.

------
ljsocal
The Zero Marginal Cost Society: The Internet of Things, the Collaborative
Commons, and the Eclipse of Capitalism Jeremy Rifkin

------
hashberry
Mindfulness In Plain English. An excellent book for anyone who wants to
approach meditation in a rational, secular manner.

------
drethemadrapper
Codex Magica - Secret SIgns, Mysterious Symbols, and Hidden Codes of the
Illuminati

THE OCCULT SCRIPT - A Colossal and Monstrous Conspiracy

------
wpqq
I'm starting Hardwiring Happiness. If you've read it, what did you think, and
did it impact your life? How so?

------
superananas2
Notes from a big country, Bill Bryson, is an controversial view on the USA
from an Englisch man who moved to Amerika.

------
lion0
I'm currently reading Star Trek The Fall: Revelation and Dust by David R.
George and Oreillys Visualizing Data.

------
utopianmonk
-Software Architecture: Perspectives on an Emerging Discipline by Mary Shaw and David Garlan

-The Age of Reason by Jean-Paul Sartre

------
hacknat
_Lila_ , by Marilynne Robinson, it's in the same league as _Gilead_. I highly
recommend it.

------
moks
The Codebreakers by David Kahn, The Road to Reality Roger Penrose,
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

------
headgasket
next 100 years by George Friedman. weird balance between profound insight,
geopolitical fiction. Writtin pre-cryptocurrency, so its missing any
predictions on the tremendous impact this can have on nation-states.

Just started The Epic struggle of IofT by Bruce Sterling. Wow.

------
samora
How to create a mind - Ray Kurzweil

~~~
griffinmahon
I liked this one a lot. What do you think of it? Really interesting to learn
how the brain can be modelled.

------
jsat
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.

Interesting fictional depiction of highly technical/scientific minds.

------
joeclef
1) The Way of the Superior Man by David Deida 2) Headhunters Hiring Secrets by
Skip Freeman

------
glup
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

Capital in the 21st Century by Thomas Piketty

Bayesian Data Analysis by Andrew Gelman et al.

------
lazyant
_The physics of Wall Street_

------
srathi
* A short history of the world by HG Wells.

* Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru.

A bit of history dose this month.

------
Gotperl
I'm reading "The Beam: Season 1" by Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant

------
beat
Search Patterns: Design for Discovery, by Peter Morville and Jeffery
Callender.

This is a re-read.

------
iterationx
"Icebreaker: Who Started the Second World War?" by Viktor Suvorov

------
maxehnert
Art of War is one of my favorites.

Currently rereading The Snowball by Alice Schroeder

and Eloquent Javascript

------
bandless55
Anna Karenina by Lev Tolstoy. Absolutely amazing, I highly recommend it.

------
jonbaer
The Riemann Hypothesis: The Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics

------
dataminer
1984 by George Orwell

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Smalltalk Best Practice Patterns by Kent Beck

------
mightymaike
Reamde of Neil Stephenson

------
notsrg
A People's History of the United States - Howard Zinn

------
tehcodez
The Hard Thing about Hard Things (for the 3rd time).

------
mayreck
Dmt and the Soul of Prophecy by Dr. Rick Strassman

------
jeffnv
Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana

------
Syssiphus
Metro 2034, the 'sequel' to Metro 2033

------
humility
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, great read!

------
warrenm
The Last American Vampire by Seth Graeme-Smith

------
ing33k
currently reading - Zero To One - Peter Thiel

~~~
richardbrevig
Really enjoyed that. A major takeaway for me was that while working on machine
learning projects I felt I wasn't getting good enough models...his chapter on
machine + human provided great insight that it's ok, and just make it to
improve human ability.

------
dome82
The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy (4th time)

Meditations (4th time)

Becoming Steve Jobs

The Hook Model

------
coolsunglasses
A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin

------
Cognitron
Sailing to the Reefs by Bernard Moitessier

------
vonnik
Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

------
rock8y
The wisdom of crowds by James Surowiecki

------
monroepe
Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

------
calbear81
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

------
jjuhl
Effective modern C++ by Scott Meyers.

------
jdalgetty
Mike Tyson's Undisputed Truth.

------
rbanffy
"What the Doormouse Said"

------
bruna597
Code 2.0, by Lawrence Lessig

------
javamonn
I read three books at a time, and only pick up/start/buy a new one once I
finish one. Helps acquiring a large back log of unread literature around the
apartment. :)

    
    
      * Labyrinths - Jorge Louis Borges [0]

I believe HN was the reason I picked this up, if I remember correctly. It's a
collection of short stories, each of which can be finished in a night, which
is satisfying. I really dig his writing style and fantastical nature of the
stories. I've done a bit of philosophical reading but a lot of the references
he makes go over my head, leaving me to do a bit of research after each story.

    
    
      * The Design of Everyday Things - Don Norman [1]

Picked this up after finishing Debbie Millman's How to Think Like a Great
Graphic Designer [2] (Misleading title, I would 100% recommend this book to
anyone). I'm not sure what I expected, but so far this hasn't been satisfying.
The first couple of chapters have been laying out a framework and defining
terms. Considering swapping this out for Jon Kolko's Well Designed - How to
Use Empathy To Create Products People Love [3], which seemed much more
actionable after picking it up at Barnes and Noble.

    
    
      * Real World OCaml - Yaron Minsky, Anil Madhavapeddy, Jason Hickey [4]
    

Second time picking this up, originally read up to chapter on Functors over
the summer. I started over this time and I'm about finished with the first
section, "Language Concepts", now. It's worth noting that the entire text is
available online for free on the book's website. [5] I did some Scheme in high
school and read through the fist half of SICP and dabble in functional js, but
this is my first experience with a semi pure functional language and I'm
loving it. I'm going through the functional challenges on Hackerrank in OCaml
at the same time to solidify some of the language concepts. Decided to go with
OCaml over Haskell or Clojure because I'm super interested in
using/contributing to Mirage OS [6]

[0] [http://www.amazon.com/Labyrinths-Directions-Paperbook-
Jorge-...](http://www.amazon.com/Labyrinths-Directions-Paperbook-Jorge-
Borges/dp/0811216993)

[1]
[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465050654](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465050654)

[2] [http://www.amazon.com/Think-Like-Great-Graphic-
Designer/dp/1...](http://www.amazon.com/Think-Like-Great-Graphic-
Designer/dp/1581154968)

[3] [http://www.amazon.com/Well-Designed-Empathy-Create-
Products-...](http://www.amazon.com/Well-Designed-Empathy-Create-Products-
People/dp/1625274793)

[4] [http://www.amazon.com/Real-World-OCaml-Functional-
programmin...](http://www.amazon.com/Real-World-OCaml-Functional-
programming/dp/144932391X)

[5]
[https://realworldocaml.org/v1/en/html/index.html](https://realworldocaml.org/v1/en/html/index.html)

[6] [http://openmirage.org/](http://openmirage.org/)

edit: formatting

------
dominotw
CSS Secrets by Lea Verou.

------
wj
Hyperion by Dan Simmons

The $100 Startup

------
cfolgar
surely you're joking mr feynman

------
omarmeky
the power of habits

~~~
GregBuchholz
You also need to read "Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results". I've been
successful with a mini-habit for about three months now.

------
omarmeky
The Power of Habits

