

What books would you recommend reading?  Why? - aswanson


======
Kaizyn
1) Musashi's Book of Five Rings 2) Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and
Influence People 3) Machaivelli's The Prince 4) Sun-Tzu's The Art of War 5)
Hayakawa's Language in Thought and Action 6) Steven Johnson's Emergence 7)
Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel 8) Bill Bryson's A Short History of
Nearly Everything 9) Mark Buchanan's Nexus 10) C. S. Lewis's The Problem of
Pain

Taken together, these books cover just about everything there is to know about
the sciences, about human history, human nature and how to understand and
communicate effectively with other people. Only one other book besides these
needs to be studied/read: The Bible.

~~~
Jd
Brilliant. Double up-vote (if I could) on Musashi's Book of Five Rings.

~~~
endlessvoid94
Guns Germs and Steel is possibly one of the most fascinating books I've read
in years. No wonder it won a Pulitzer.

Also I have to add a Carl Sagan book. "Varieties of Scientific Experience" is
fantastic. "pale blue dot", as well.

------
Xichekolas
Favorite computer book: Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs -
ISBN 0-07-000484-6 - Whether you actually like Scheme is beside the point. I
got this book for an intro class into functional programming, and we only used
sections one and two... but I enjoyed it so much I went through the rest of it
on my own during Christmas break. Was probably the greatest experience I have
had programming since first groking OO.

Favorite non-computer book: Ender's Game - ISBN 0-812-55070-6 - I have
probably read this about 10 times. All the other books in the series are good
too, but it really stands apart from the rest.

As an aside, the Economist is probably the best (IMHO) news source out there,
as it actually goes in depth as to the causes of events, rather than just
listing them with pretty explosions. It's also delightfully devoid of
sensationalist stories normally found on TV News or Newspapers. Added bonus:
you get a nice discount if you subscribe as a student. Not sure I could
recommend it highly enough.

~~~
bluishgreen
I think "Speaker For The Dead" which is the second book in the Ender Series is
better than the Ender book itself. The first 10 pages which is the authors
introduction is the best introduction to a book I have ever read.

~~~
alex_c
Couldn't resist:

<http://xkcd.com/304/>

~~~
Xichekolas
Yeah, the alt text on that comic made my day...

------
ericb
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. It is arguably the
most useful book I've ever read, albeit with the most embarassing title.

As inklesspen mentioned, Elements of Style is a must.

Code Complete and the Mythical Man Month by Fred Brooks. Timeless coding
wisdom.

For a laugh, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, or Hitchhiker's Guide.

Body Language, Julius Fast. Kitschy but fascinating insights into body
language.

Fabric of the Cosmos, Brian Greene. Brian is a fluke of nature--a physicist
who can explain things realy well!

Anything by Phillip K. Dick. Sci-fi stories that make you think.

~~~
Jd
All excellent suggestions. Altho I am unfamiliar w/ Body Language I will check
it out. Just working through the Carnegie book now.

Also, I believe Code Complete is by Steve McConnnell.

~~~
ericb
Oh sorry, didn't mean to imply Brooks wrote Code Complete. I just accidentally
left the author out of the sentence...

------
inklesspen
In fiction:

Bridge of Birds, by Barry Hughart. Easily some of the best storytelling I've
ever read. 1/3 comedy, 2/3 adventure, in an ancient China that never was.
<http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0345321383/>

Homer's epics. I prefer the translation by W.H.D. Rouse, which you can find at
<http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0451527372/> and
<http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0451527364/>

Heading even further back in time, I love this rendition of Gilgamesh:
<http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0618275649/> Even in 2000 BCE they thought the
world was ancient.

Lady of Mazes by Karl Schroeder has one of the best treatments of post-
singularity life (and what makes life in general worth living) that I've ever
read: <http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0765350785/>

Nonfiction: The Mythical Man-Month. A little dated (it's directed at mainframe
developers and their managers) but still relevant.

The Elements of Style (Strunk and White). Learn to write clearly -- it's
valuable no matter what you do.

Programming Erlang: Software for a Concurrent World. Easily the best
programming text I've read in the last year, and it's sold me on Erlang.

------
samson
Here are three books that I have loved reading

1\. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

I know its been mentioned already, but truly this is a book worth mentioning
twice. For the introverted or the arugmentative type and for anyone else, this
book hits alot critical and sometimes overlooked human traits that everyone
should be aware of in their daily interactions with other people.

A few quotes by Carnegie. Avoid arguments "you can't win an argument, because
if you win it you lose it, and if you lose...well you lose it."

"few people think of themselves as bad people" -means regardless of how they
look,dress or talk, most people are appproachable with a smile and a "hi".

"people will always strive to justify themselves".

All three of these quotes are connected.

2\. The Innovators Solution - Christensen and Raynor

If you've ever heard the quote "First they ignore you,... then they fight you,
then you win." by Gandhi. This book puts it in perspective in relation to how
small companies over take large companies.

3.The 48 Laws of Power _ Robert Greene. Go Go read if you haven't yet. This is
a great book! It pullls lessons which you can learn from various types of
people throughout history from painters,generals to presidents.

My favorite was Law 28: "Enter action with boldness". Be bold in your ideas,
be bold in how your carry yourself in life.

I know I said three 3, but Seth Godin still deserves some mention with All
marketers are liars. Which simply I take to mean for us here is if your
developing a startup, make sure it has a good...no a great story to tell.

------
herdrick
Among all books since the printing press? Can you be more specific?

Actually, I take that back. I do know some great ones that you ought to read
no matter what your situation.

The Little Schemer <http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/matthias/BTLS/>

Master and Commander
[http://books.google.com/books?id=rx_yw5iMtnIC&dq=&pg...](http://books.google.com/books?id=rx_yw5iMtnIC&dq=&pg=PP1&ots=quZSkX-66f&sig=4rmlsrtPNSRNEfB8Zg6BmXiA0us&prev=http://www.google.com/search%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3Dmaster%2Band%2Bcommander%26btnG%3DGoogle%2BSearch&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title)

Lord of the Rings (you can find this one yourself)

and probably a lot more, but I've got to run. Good luck!

~~~
uuilly
I second the master and commander series. I read all 21. Amazing.

Afghan history Books, both incredible:

[http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-Afghanistan-Invasion-
Septem...](http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-Afghanistan-Invasion-
September/dp/1594200076)

[http://www.amazon.com/Great-Game-Struggle-Central-
Kodansha/d...](http://www.amazon.com/Great-Game-Struggle-Central-
Kodansha/dp/1568360223/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-2598053-1933600?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190171658&sr=1-1)

Why: While the Master and Commander Series are historical fictions they teach
you A LOT about the Napoleonic Wars, The British Empire and the British Navy.

The Afghan books are also incredible adventures that happen to be entirely
true. I like books that teach me history in a fun way.

------
rkabir
Hubbard's "A Message to Garcia" (written in 1899) is a must-read. It's
available online here: <http://www.birdsnest.com/garcia.htm>

My AI professor made us read it for his class - no one else in the class
seemed to like it, so you might not either.

My other two staples are

Paul Arden's books. ("It's Not How Good You Are, Its How Good You Want to Be:
The World's Best Selling Book", and "Whatever You Think, Think the Opposite")

They're short reads, with huge print. Very simple, and to the point. They
don't really say anything new / earth shaking - but it's a nicely packaged
dose of one part inspiration, one part ambition, and one part a kick in the
pants to do stuff. Anytime I'm in a lull, I re-read them both. They're also
handy to give to nay-saying family, "friends" and colleagues.

If I haven't gifted you with this personal tri-force, you're probably not my
friend.

~~~
aswanson
Can I be your friend?

~~~
rkabir
being my friend doesn't guarantee you get the presents... but i'm always open
to meeting new people.

------
axiom
It's pretty tragic how little most people understand about basic economics.
Not just with respect to how societies function, but basic concepts like
incentives and the law of supply and demand. Oh, and of course No Free Lunch.

So in that spirit, here are a couple of economics books that I quite seriously
believe everyone should be forced to read.

Economics in One Lesson, by Hazlitt

Free to Choose: A Personal Statement, by Milton and Rose Friedman

Freakonomics, by Levitt and Dubner (this book is just so damn fun to read)

and for the hackers: The God of the Machine, by Paterson (Think engineering
principles as applied to economics, history and politics. Probably one of the
most interesting books I've read in my entire life, even if I don't entirely
agree with the thesis.)

~~~
yters
Is freakonomics pretty credible? It seemed intriguing, but also smelt a bit of
marketing obvious ideas when I flipped through it in the store.

~~~
axiom
There is definitely some of that. After all the book is targeted towards a
popular audience. But that being said there are a couple of remarkably
original ideas.

For example, going from least to most intersting:

1\. Statistically speaking a child is much more likely to drown in a swimming
pool than be killed by a gun (of course, corrected for socioeconomic status
and all the standard stuff.) Yet we see countless campaigns against gun
violence with the argument that x number of kids get killed due to guns, and
none for "swimming pool safety" or a host of other things that are far more
likely to kill you.

2\. There is a study of a daycare center where a problem they were dealing
with was parents picking up kids late. So the daycare instituted fines. The
result was more parents picking up their kids late. Why? because after
conducting interviews they found that the guilt associated with being late was
more of a motivator than the small fine. Having paid the fine, the parents no
longer felt as bad about being late. That's a very conterintuitive result if
you ask me.

3\. The famous abortion-crime link. The idea being that the legalization of
abortion in the 70s is what caused the massive decrease in violent crime in
the 90s. Very convincingly argued. And certainly presents a better theory than
The Tipping Point.

Anyway. There's more where that came from.

~~~
jimbokun
"Having paid the fine, the parents no longer felt as bad about being late."

It became paid babysitting.

------
comatose_kid
Anything by Richard Feynman. I recently read 'Perfectly reasonable deviations
from the beaten path' and really enjoyed it. It gave good insight into how
Feynman lived his life (eg, asking not to be a member of the National Academy
of Sciences), and how he treated others. I think the most beneficial thing I
learned from this was how he let 'unimportant' things slide to make time for
his life's work.

------
brent
GEB (Godel Escher Bach : An Eternal Golden Braid )

Read it because no matter who you are, what you know, and even whether or not
you've read it before it will make you think critically and you will learn
something.

~~~
Tichy
It was a fun read, on the other hand, couldn't it be condensed down to five
lines or so? OK, or maybe two pages? It seems to just put forward lots of
variations of the same theme, which might be more confusing than clarifying in
the end.

~~~
brent
Also, try to narrow it down into 5 lines. I'd be curious what you come up
with.

~~~
davidmathers
GEB slowly builds up an analogy that likens inanimate molecules to meaningless
symbols, and further likens selves (or "I"'s or "souls" if you prefer --
whatever it is that distinguishes animate from inanimate matter) to certain
special swirly, twisty, vortex-like, and meaningful patterns that arise only
in particular types of systems of meaningless symbols. It is these strange,
twisty patterns that the book spends so much time on, because they are little
known, little appreciated, counterintuitive, and quite filled with mystery.
And for reasons that should not be too difficult to fathom, I call such
strange, loopy patterns "strange loops" throughout the book, although in later
chapters, I also use the phrase "tangled hierarchies" to describe basically
the same idea.

\-- Douglas R. Hofstadter

------
yters
Being a programmer, you've probably felt the appeal of Platonism, so I'd
recommend a couple of his dialogues: Phaedrus, Symposium, and the Republic (in
order of length, short to long, since they are pretty dense). I'd also
recommend reading the Republic last, so you can get over the misconceptions
you were probably taught in high school.

Allan Bloom's Closing of the American Mind is also very enlightening for a)
understanding the goals of the enlightenment, and b) understanding the current
state of our culture.

~~~
phony_identity
Plato is crap: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=57000>

~~~
yters
Before Plato and Heraclitus, Greeks thought reality was essentially chaotic
and impossible to understand. You can see this in their creation myths.
Heraclitus originated the idea of the Logos, a pattern underlying everything,
and Plato built on this.

~~~
Jd
I think you mean before Thales.

~~~
yters
Search for logos here: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraclitus>

~~~
Jd
You stated that before Heraclitus 'Greeks thought reality was essentially
chaotic and impossible to understand.' Thales is a counter-example who is
earlier than Heraclitus. See the IEP <http://www.iep.utm.edu/g/greekphi.htm>
or Edward Hussey's excellent book.

~~~
yters
Assuming a material origin implies reality is orderly and understandable?

~~~
Jd
Speculating on a causal principle implies that there is causality in the
universe. Consequently, order and the possiblity of some degree of
understanding are also implied, although the translation from speculation to
empirical confirmation is not.

~~~
yters
I see. Well, sounds like you know more about the pre-Socratics than I. I was
under the impression that it wasn't until Heraclitus that people thought
things in our mind, like math, would correspond with external reality.

~~~
Jd
FYI, Pythagoras also pre-dates Heraclitus.

~~~
yters
Huh, I'll have to find out what made Heraclitus' notion of Logos so distinct
then.

------
chwolfe
Founders At Work - Startup advice straight from those who have done it and
have been successful.

------
garnerwoods
Usually I will find out what book famous people has read, what are their
favorite books, hope that any book which bring influence on them, will bring
good influence on me too.. also, as famous n successful people combined with
their experience, I'm sure they have better taste on their choice too.

Stephen King's Favorite: This Book Will Save Your Life by A. M. Homes Saturday
by Ian McEwan The Mad Cook of Pymatuning: A Novel by Christopher Lehmann-Haupt
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson The Tenderness of Wolves: A
Novel by Stef Penney When Will There Be Good News?: A Novel by Kate Atkinson

J.K. Rowling's Favorite: The Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L. Sayers I Capture
the Castle by Dodie Smith Skellig by David Almond The Woman Who Walked into
Doors by Roddy Doyle

Jeffrey Eugenides, author, Pulitzer prize winner "Herzog," by Saul Bellow
"Love in a Fallen City," by Eileen Chang "The Lay of the Land," by Richard
Ford

Oprah Winfrey's Favorite: White Oleander by Janet Fitch The Color Purple by
Alice Walker A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith The Four Agreements by
Don Miguel Ruiz To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee The Bluest Eye by Toni
Morrison The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

For complete list visit <http://www.famouspal.com>

------
davidmathers
Against the Gods by Peter Bernstein. At worst, a good background education on
the history of probabilistic thought. At best, could fundamentally alter your
world view.

~~~
ctkrohn
That book was OK, but the later parts (where he talks about CAPM and so forth)
are uninformative to anyone who knows about modern mathematical finance.

If you're looking for pop-math/finance books that could change how you look at
the world, I'd recomment Taleb's "Fooled by Randomness" instead. Taleb is
smug, but he makes an important point: people are way too eager to see
patterns where none exist.

------
viergroupie
It depends on your age and level of education. Goedel, Escher, Bach was mind-
blowing when I was 19. Four years (and some college) later it's a tedious
bore.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "Memories of My Melancholy Whores" is pretty great.

Oliver Sacks' "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat" is full of _amazing_
case studies that will help you construct a personal theory of mind.

------
ced
The Evolution of Cooperation. It puts in formal terms some common sense about
interactions among self-interested individuals.

~~~
nostrademons
Also pick up a game-theory textbook, which puts those formal terms in even
more formal terms. ;-)

My course used Prajit K. Dutta's _Strategies and Games: Theory and Practices_
([http://www.amazon.com/Strategies-Games-Practice-Prajit-
Dutta...](http://www.amazon.com/Strategies-Games-Practice-Prajit-
Dutta/dp/0262041693/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-0581323-0293267?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190224551&sr=8-1)),
which seemed fairly good, though I don't have much to compare it with.

------
runningskull
Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger is among my favorites of all time.

The Dark Tower series (Stephen King) is one of the most amazing tales I have
ever had the pleasure to become immersed in.

There are plenty more, but the key thing is just to READ. Read everything you
can get your hands on.

------
alex_c
For fiction, I'm surprised no one has mentioned:

The Dune series by Frank Herbert. Unlike anything else I've read, and one of
the most compelling and detailed fictional universes in literature.

The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. Don't confuse it for fantasy - it's
brilliant satire. Littered with geeky references and clever wordplay, I
actually enjoy it a bit more than the Hitchhiker's Guide books. If you like
Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett is a pretty safe bet.

Anything by Stanislaw Lem - clever and funny science fiction. A good match for
my weird sense of humour.

All of the above can slightly change the way you see the world.

For non-fiction, another vote for the Mythical Man Month.

~~~
JulianMorrison
I was going to mention Dune. That series taught me an important lesson: the
techniques of mind, and the mind-body interface, are a technology - and we are
still in the dark ages. We do not know how to learn, how to teach, how to make
best use of our brains to analyze or synthesize. We are generally blind to our
own minds and bodies and running nine tenths of the time on autopilot. When
individuals get these skills, it's by aptitude or discovery. We haven't
systematized them, we haven't made a science of them, we certainly don't teach
them in school. There's a lot of room for improvement.

------
marrone
There is the Startup Library, if you did not know about it, on this site:
<http://ycombinator.com/lib.html>

~~~
nailer
That site sounds a little suspect. I'd definitely avoid it.

------
nradov
For someone who wants to establish a startup company I also recommend all of
Clayton Christensen's books on innovation
<[http://www.claytonchristensen.com/publications.html>](http://www.claytonchristensen.com/publications.html>).
He describes the difference between sustaining and disruptive innovations; if
you want to make it big with a startup then you need to be disruptive.

------
bandris
Pratkanis & Aronson: Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of
Persuasion

[http://www.amazon.com/Age-Propaganda-Everyday-Abuse-
Persuasi...](http://www.amazon.com/Age-Propaganda-Everyday-Abuse-
Persuasion/dp/0716731088)

It helped me to filter politics to save more time for coding.

------
huherto
The Origin of Wealth
[http://www.mckinsey.com/ideas/books/originofwealth/overview....](http://www.mckinsey.com/ideas/books/originofwealth/overview.asp)

I thought it was very provocative, i was feeling very bored and reading it
awoke my curiosity and eagerness to learn again.

------
tocomment
The Robert Pirsig books are excellent: Zen and the Art of Motercycle
maintenance, and its sequal Lila.

------
sexmissile
Papillion by Charest, amazing inspirational true story. Voltaire's Bastards -
John Rolston Saul - Timeless anything by Nietzsche The economist and the New
Yorker anything you can get your hands on but with a grain of salt.

------
Readmore
The Search by John Battelle. Then, just for fun, Neuromancer.

------
rkabir
Forgot the bonus round book: "Lucky or Smart" by Bo Peabody - another VERY
short reflection on his founding of Tripod during the tech boom.

------
jamiequint
Never Eat Alone, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Getting to Yes, The
Effective Executive ...and like 40 more, too many to list!

------
yters
Along a more specific line, what are the best books for understanding the
business world?

~~~
Kaizyn
Look up Peter Drucker if you're having to deal with big institutions. If
you're trying to understand web startups, then you probably need to read Gonzo
Marketing

------
jamongkad
Non hacker books: From Good to Great and Built to Last

~~~
nradov
I second the nomination of "Good to Great" by Jim Collins
<[http://www.jimcollins.com/lib/books.html>](http://www.jimcollins.com/lib/books.html>).
It's the best general business book I've read. Most popular business books
were written by one manager who was successful one time at one company, but
often their advice isn't generally applicable. "Good to Great" is actually
based on quantitative economic and sociological research across many companies
and it shows compelling evidence for how certain factors often lead to
success.

------
nmeyer
Art of the Deal, by Trump

------
sabat
I assume you're asking about books for startup people.

Paul's essays couldn't hurt. I am not a karma whore. ;-)

Mindset, by Carol Dweck. It'll change the way you think about the way you
think. Incredibly relevant for justifying your yes-I-can attitude.

The Four-Hour Work Week, by Tim Ferriss. You've never thought about life and
how to live it quite the way Tim does.

~~~
inklesspen
Tim's a bit of an ass, though. His method is sort of like a Ponzai scheme --
most of it will only work for the first X% of people to adopt it, after which
it's no longer sustainable.

~~~
rms
What's his method?

~~~
inklesspen
Get others to do your work for you as much as possible, basically.

------
kingkongrevenge
"Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative
pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls
into lazy habits of thinking." \--Albert Einstein

------
curi
The Fabric of Reality.

Why? Find out for yourself. Read the opening paragraphs here:

[http://www.qubit.org/people/david/FabricOfReality/FoRExtract...](http://www.qubit.org/people/david/FabricOfReality/FoRExtract.html)

Also, I second GEB.

------
ideas101
The One Minute Millionaire by Robert Allen and Mark Victor Hansen : it
explains you what exactly works if you want to be financially successful - I
would strongly recommend it.

