
Ask HN: What are your favorite books? I'm bored - shire
I like HackerNews, I feel like there are a lot of smart people on here and I find it a creditable source for knowledge and information.<p>Anyways lately I&#x27;m bored and have time to do stuff 
I want to read stuff that makes me smarter. Anything interesting about life, religion preferably Buddhism. But anything that&#x27;s life changing and eye opening I&#x27;m willing to read. Plus I like to know what other folks are reading to stay sharp and on edge. Or the top most popular or must read or whatever works.<p>just throw some suggestions at me.
======
chms
Bertrand Russel – A History of Western Philosophy.

Easily my most favorite non-fiction book. Even though there are _some_ flaws
in the treatment of _some_ philosophers (and their models) here and there
(esp. 19th Century ones – but it might just be that I'm more familiar with
these myself), it's a great read: Well written, thorough, and never shy with
his own opinion. The chapter on scholastic philosophy was an eye-opener for
me, as was the part about the 11th-Century church reforms.

Before I read this book, I rarely cared about pre-Kantian philosophy, as I
thought it to be outdated and not really relevant anymore. Russel encouraged
me to re-discover the philosophical models from a cultural-historical point of
view – something that sounds obvious to me now, but at the time I discovered
the book (in my early twenties) it was not.

------
screwt
Catch-22. In a similar vibe (but a fair bit shorter), Slaughterhouse 5. Both
cover the hell of war by examining its absurdity. Catch-22 is also the
funniest book you'll ever read.

If you're into engineering books, the best I've read is Skunk Works (Ben R
Rich). It's an account of the work of Lockheed's legendary skunk works
division - behind the U2 spy plane, stealth fighter and the blackbird sr-17.

------
un_publishable
"Perfume" by Patrick Suskind, and the movie is great as well. The main
character is a horrible person but so is everyone else. Possibly the funniest
nihilist book ever written.

Also interesting to those of us with no sense of smell.

------
dirktheman
\- Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance was a real eye-opener to me.

\- Last year, I read both Das Kapital by Karl Marx and The General Theory of
Employment, Interest and Money by John Maynard Keynes.

\- Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Note that these are classic works (Zen is the newest, from 1974), but they
haven't lost their relevance yet. Zen is a journey in your mind, disguised as
a journey by motorcycle by a father and his son. Das Kapital and GToEIM offer
deeper insight in why our economy works the way it does, and I especially
liked the contrast between the two books. Walden is difficult to classify. It
changed the way I look at things, but I can't say exactly how. Sometimes I
encounter a situation and a quote or scene from the book pops up in my head.
Highly recommended!

------
joshmlewis
Just got done reading Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz, most if it
was pretty insightful, especially the stories in the beginning. The executive
management parts I skimmed over in the middle and some parts were really
irrelevant for early stage companies but overall it was a good read and
informative.

Peter Thiel's book Zero To One is on pre-order, but you can pre-order and then
get a pre-print edition mailed to you. It's based around the class notes in
his Stanford startup class. I don't agree with everything but it's a very good
perspective. It really helped me get out of the perspective of shitty ideas
and to think bigger.

Edit: Ops, got Marc and Ben confused. ;)

~~~
austenallred
The hard thing about hard things is by Ben Horowitz :)

~~~
joshmlewis
Ha, my bad. Fixed.

------
personlurking
Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano (the one Chavez gave to Obama
in 2009), from 1971.

"In the book Galeano analyzes the history of Latin America as a whole, from
the time period of the European settlement of the New World to contemporary
Latin America, describing the effects of European and later United States
economic exploitation and political dominance over the region."

The main takeaway (I'm not finished yet), as stated early on, seems to be that
for a country/region to lose out economically/developmentally, another
country/region has to win. It made me think about cause and effect
historically, but also in general.

Somewhat relatedly, at least in terms of cause and effect, and with a
historical basis in exploitation, is a question I read that was posed by
philosopher Peter Singer, also in 1971, based on a paper he wrote called
Famine, Affluence, and Morality. In it, an analogy is made where a drowning
child in a pond (in the US) needs saving but at the cost of ruining your new
shoes. At the same time, an equally in-need child (in Africa) is starving to
death and he/she could be saved by foregoing the purchase of the new shoes.
Most people would help the drowning child but not the starving one.

You can see Mr. Singer discuss it here (2 min)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCgmPRxUYDY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCgmPRxUYDY)

Singer on this question and others (9 min)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVViICWs4dM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVViICWs4dM)

A university professor exploring it in more detail (14 min)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pyzv2UWzaos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pyzv2UWzaos)

~~~
Shorel
Even Eduardo Galeano himself dismisses that book as shortsighted.

[http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/24/books/eduardo-galeano-
disa...](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/24/books/eduardo-galeano-disavows-his-
book-the-open-veins.html?_r=0)

If you want a good view of the matter, please read Guns, Germs, and Steel: The
Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond.

------
kilo_man
Just listing books that have had a big impact on me:

* The Now Habit - [http://www.amazon.com/dp/1585425524](http://www.amazon.com/dp/1585425524)

* Getting Things Done - [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0142000280](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0142000280)

* Simply Christian - [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0061920622](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0061920622)

* Surprised by Hope - [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0061551821](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0061551821)

* The Great Divorce - [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060652950](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060652950)

* Mere Christianity - [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060652926](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060652926)

* The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius - [http://www.amazon.com/dp/048629823X](http://www.amazon.com/dp/048629823X)

* Tao Te Ching - [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060812451](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060812451)

Books from the Bible that I like:

* Genesis

* Judges

* Ruth

* Tobit

* Job

* Psalms

* Ecclesiastes

* Sirach/Ecclesiasticus

* Everything written by John

------
yen223
I binge-read Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. If you're looking for
something religious-y, start with the brilliant Small Gods.

~~~
AnkhMorporkian
Small Gods is a wonderful little book, and it's a great introduction the the
humor of the series since it pretty much stands by itself.

~~~
yen223
Hah, relevant username!

------
bubblicious
I just finished Masters Of Doom ([http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-
Transformed-Cultu...](http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-
Culture-ebook/dp/B000FBFNL0)). I read it almost non-stop. I highly recommand
it to anyone who has gone through the early days of ID Software games Wolf3D /
Doom.

~~~
agumonkey
For fun half-technical reads, books by Michael Abrash are very good.
[http://www.gamedev.net/page/resources/_/technical/graphics-p...](http://www.gamedev.net/page/resources/_/technical/graphics-
programming-and-theory/graphics-programming-black-book-r1698)

------
danschuller
I really enjoyed "The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner
Creative Battles".

I've have it recommended a few times but the title sounded a bit self help-
like so I avoided it. Eventually I did ready and it's pretty great. It covers
how people manage to get work done, which is pretty important for everyone.

Last year I read The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen
Greenblatt. It's non-fiction, though I believe the central premise is a little
tongue in cheek. An ancient Roman manuscript that's rediscovered and helps set
off the enlightenment and our modern culture.

For Buddhism I enjoyed Zen Flesh, Zen Bones by Paul Reps, mainly a collection
of translated koans. If you've never it I recommend Godel Escher Bach : An
Eternal Golden Braid, as it also likes to play with Buddhism. It's a book that
tends to get a bit of hate but I found it quite fun and playful.

Non-fiction for sci-fi and fantasy: Robin Hobb and Vernor Vinge.

~~~
Shorel
Vernor Vinge is fantastic. If you can read True Names before any other
cyberpunk book, do it.

And read it before watching 'Her'. It's worth it.

------
omnibrain
Arthur C. Clarke - Rendezvous with Rama is one of the most imaginative and
inspiring books I've ever read.

------
Aym_C
Dive into the classics.

John Cowper Powys may help you to plan a great journey :

[http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12914/pg12914.html](http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12914/pg12914.html)

(Despite a few bizarre choices. Paul Bourget, seriously ?)

If I had to choose myself : Homer (The Iliad _and_ the Odyssey), the Bible
(David's psalms and Job's book), Augustine, Dante, Saint Simon, Shakespeare,
Rousseau, Dostoievsky, Proust, Céline.

 _Aparté :_

If you like ambitious history with economic insights, I would strongly suggest
to read Fernand Braudel works. He wrote three fantastic _triptychs_ :

\- _The Mediterranean: And the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II_
(his thesis)

\- _Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century_ (the best history books
I've ever read)

\- _The Identity of France_

------
watwut
"The Coming of the Third Reich" from Richard J. Evans

I read it recently and it did changed the way I look at the politics and
government now. It made me fully understand that things like
separation/accumulation of powers are really important. As in when activists
of all kinds complained about such set-ups before, I treated it only abstract
theoretical problems. Not anymore, I see the point now. The Third Reich did
not happen overnight as it seemed from high school version of it, it was made
possible by thousands tiny steps by varying parties.

There were other things to learn from that book too, but the above was the
most important. It is a first part of a trilogy and whole of it is worth
reading. That first part was the most eye opening to me through.

------
sergiosgc
Come summer, my recommendation for best book I ever read shifts to Asimov's
Foundation series. Light, fast paced, brilliant in the use of sci-fi to raise
interesting sociological questions. It makes a great vacation read.

Ask again in four months for the serious stuff...

------
itazula
Disturbing the Universe, by Freeman Dyson. [http://www.amazon.com/Disturbing-
Universe-Foundation-Science...](http://www.amazon.com/Disturbing-Universe-
Foundation-Science-Series/dp/0465016774)

------
Shorel
I just finished this: [http://www.amazon.com/The-Antidote-Happiness-Positive-
Thinki...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Antidote-Happiness-Positive-
Thinking/dp/0865478015)

I think you will like it. It paints Buddhism and Stoicism in a very pragmatic
light.

I second the Discworld recomendation. The series is fantastic. Read everything
Pratchett has written, it is worth it.

Also: Ishmael by Daniel Quinn: the only book to truly explain the genesis
scripture.

The prophet by Khalil Gibran: One of the most beautiful books I've read.

And please ignore Paulo Coelho books. Paulo Coelho is to Richard Bach what Dan
Brown is to Humberto Eco.

------
fractalb
I'm currently reading "Godel, Escher, Bach" by Douglas Hofstadter

~~~
cursork
That's a great book. I've just started reading I Am A Strange Loop by
Hofstadter and it's promising.

Also by Hofstadter: Le Ton beau de Marot was a good read.

GEB is the big one, but if you like his style - probably worth checking out
some of the others. Best to get print books for this particular author though.

------
joeclark77
How can there be 71 comments and not one mention of G. K. Chesterton? Go out,
right now, and check out _The Everlasting Man_ and _Orthodoxy_ from your local
library.

I would also throw out there _Shop Class as Soulcraft_ by Matthew Crawford, as
something to inspire makers & engineers without being a technical book. If you
like history, David McCullough's biography _John Adams_ is a masterpiece (also
see _1776_ by the same author).

I can't think of anything else that hasn't already been mentioned.

------
waitingkuo
If you're interested in ycombinator, how about this one "The Launch Pad:
Inside Y Combinator, Silicon Valley's Most Exclusive School for Startups" (
[http://www.amazon.com/Launch-Pad-Combinator-Exclusive-
Startu...](http://www.amazon.com/Launch-Pad-Combinator-Exclusive-Startups-
ebook/dp/B00AFLLS3W/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406707523&sr=1-1&keywords=inside+y+combinator)
)

------
cellover
I like understanding where I am located in space and time, that is why I love
reading about science & science fiction ; it is indirectly related to religion
in the sense that it makes you think about your world, about yourself.

Buddhism / Religion / ... :

\- Siddartha - Hermann Hesse

\- The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

Science:

\- A brief history of time - Stephen Hawking (space, time)

\- The Blind Watchmaker - Richard Dawkins (evolution)

\- Le cerveau intime - Marc Jeannerod (in french only)

Science-fiction:

\- The Road - Cormack Mc Carthy

\- City - Clifford D. Simack

\- Time is the simplest thing - Clifford D. Simack

\- Ringworld - Larry Niven

~~~
shire
have you read Siddhartha? did you like it.

~~~
tomp
It's an amazing book. Apparently, the author had to stop writing it for a few
years, since he needed to reach another level of "enlightenment" before he
could accurately describe the last part of the book.

------
alphadevx
I just finished reading The Martian recently, inspired to write a review:
[http://www.alphadevx.com/a/453-Review-of-The-
Martian](http://www.alphadevx.com/a/453-Review-of-The-Martian)

Currently reading Flash Boys by Michael Lewis, which is about High Frequency
Trading in Wall Street which is interesting for the technology involved.

Favorite book of all time is Frank Herbert's Dune, the six books are great in
fact.

------
tdubhro1
Buddhism: Not Always So, and anything else by Shunryu Suzuki, What Buddha
Taught, by Rahula

Smarter: A Mathematical Bridge by Stephen Hewson, it will make you grok the
real structure of mathematics even if you're starting with fairly basic
undergraduate level math, and it will make it immensely easier to tackle new
areas of mathematics.

Pattern recognition and machine learning by Bishop

Popular: Coders at Work, Founders at Work, Behind the Cloud

------
ibz
Ishmael

(from Wikipedia) Ishmael is a 1992 philosophical novel by Daniel Quinn. It
examines the mythological thinking at the heart of modern civilization, its
effect on ethics, and how this relates to sustainability and societal collapse
on the global scale.

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

------
xemoka
I'm currently reading 1491 by Charles C. Mann, excellent book about the
Americas before Columbus and how much of what we have been taught is either
incorrect or misinformed. A follow up to this is 1943, what happened in the
Americas after the arrival of Columbus. A great pair of books.

I'll also say Ishmael by Daniel Quinn and The Story of B are two of my
favourite books.

------
khc
Poor Economics - Abhijit Banerjee & Esther Duflo

Thinking, Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman

The Signal and The Noise - Nate Silver

Predictably Irrational - Dan Ariely

This Time is Different - Carmen Reinhart & Kenneth Rogoff

Subliminal - Leonard Mlodinow

Fooled by Randomness - Nassim Taleb

For something more lighthearted, I also enjoyed:

An Economist Gets Lunch - Tyler Cowen

Inside Jokes - Matthew Hurley & others (mostly skipped the dense parts)

------
nhebb
When there's nothing on my reading list from other sources, I go to the
Project Gutenberg most popular downloads list:

[http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/%3Fsort_order%3Ddownl...](http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/%3Fsort_order%3Ddownloads)

------
lawn
A Song of Ice and Fire and I don't even like fantasy.

The Millenium series by Stieg Larsson are very good as well.

------
outrightfree
I bought Labyrinths of Reason many years ago, and I still love dipping into it
every now and then. I always seem to find something new in it (one benefit of
a failing memory)

Labyrinths of Reason: Paradox, Puzzles, and the Frailty of Knowledge by
William Poundstone

------
markcrazyhorse
Anything by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

------
louhike
Someone made a website listing books which are often recommended on HN:
www.hn-books.com

------
tomp
Buddhism (and better living): Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Siddhartha (by
Hermann Hesse), The Way of Zen (by Alan Watts - I learned a lot about
meditation and satori).

Also: Think and Grow Rich (by Napoleon Hill, the original self-improvement
book)

------
shankysingh
India: A History. Revised and Updated by John Keay

Url : [http://www.amazon.com/India-A-History-Revised-
Updated/dp/080...](http://www.amazon.com/India-A-History-Revised-
Updated/dp/0802145582)

------
syntaxgoonoo
Soil and Soul by Alastair Mcintosh -
[http://www.alastairmcintosh.com/soilandsoul.htm](http://www.alastairmcintosh.com/soilandsoul.htm)

------
watwut
'Enron: The smartest guys in the room' by Bethany McLean. Be warned, it is
difficult to read (a lot of jargon and the pages are too packed with new
informations).

------
namin
Quantum Computing since Democritus
[http://www.scottaaronson.com/democritus/](http://www.scottaaronson.com/democritus/)

------
rotub
Read a kids book, seriously — [http://www.rotub.me/blog/kids-
books.html](http://www.rotub.me/blog/kids-books.html)

------
k0t0n0
Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (9 vols. , English)
[https://db.tt/3sGQNzs1](https://db.tt/3sGQNzs1)

------
INTPenis
I really liked the Wool series, Wool, Shift, Dust.

The Expanse series is fast paced, hollywood-style action, sci-fi but gets sort
of repetitive in the 4th book.

------
vsviridov
Quantum Thief trilogy by Hannu Rajaniemi.

------
paublyrne
Brasyl by Ian McDonald. Quantum physics, lots of colour, and a Cloud Atlas-
like mixing of time threads.

------
johnlim5847
Insanely Simple The Obsession That Drives Apple's Success by Ken Segall is
quite good

------
pbowyer
_Shades of Grey_ by Jasper Fforde. One of my favourite books ever!

------
epynonymous
ayn rand, the fountainhead jean jacques rousseau, the confessions sterling
seagrave, dragon lady knights of king arthur's court romance of the three
kingdoms

------
kgogolek
Herman Hesse - Steppenwolf. Actually everything by Hesse.

~~~
un_publishable
Hesse is timeless, there's a reason he resonated with so many people in the
60s movements.

Siddhartha is a great meditation on life in its entirety. For startup-focused
professionals it can be hard to imagine satisfaction with a life lacking
"accomplishment" but Hesse paints a thoughtful picture.

------
sogen
* Anything by Cortázar.

* Trainspotting,

* Fight Club

* Anything by Carl Sagan, specially Contact

* Lord of the Rings

* The Hobbit

* And finally:

Anything by Michael Ende:

The Neverending Story,

Momo (one of my faves).

------
sogen
The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen

------
declancostello
The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes

------
arh68
re: buddhism: read Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It's not about
motorcycles. ;)

------
glormph
Thinking, fast and slow by Kahnemann.

------
charlie_vill
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

------
epynonymous
also check out bill gates' reading list, he reads a book a week

------
doczoidberg
All from Isaac Asimov

------
mrcdima
Some titles I've recently read or at least have placed on my reading list.

\--------------------

Philosohpy

 _Letters from a Stoic: Epistulae Morales Ad Lucilium_ \- Seneca

 _Meditations_ \- Marcus Aurelius (must read)

 _The Republic_ \- Plato

\--------------------

History

 _Five Chimneys_ \- Olga Lengyel

 _The Gulag Archipelago_ \- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (must read)

 _The Diary of a Young Girl_ \- Anne Frank

\--------------------

Fiction

(particularly dystopian) _1984_ , _Brave New World_ , _Animal Farm_ ,
_Fahrenheit 451_

(crime/action) _Child 44_ , _The Secret Speech_ , _Agent 6_ \- Tom Rob Smith

\--------------------

Economics

 _Capital in the Twenty-First Century_ \- Thomas Piketty

 _Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty_ \-
Banerjee, Duflo

 _Why Nations Fail_ \- Robinson

\--------------------

Economics/Decision making/Psychology

 _Undercover Economist_ , _Freakonomics_ , _Nudge_ , _Thinking Fast and Slow_

\--------------------

Random titles

 _The Selfish Gene_ , _Self-Reliance_ , _The Elements of Style_ (about
writing), _Slaughterhouse-Five_

\--------------------

Some links to inspire your reading (though you may want to checkout the
websites first to get an idea of the topics they cover)

[http://www.gatesnotes.com/Books](http://www.gatesnotes.com/Books)

[http://bookpickings.brainpickings.org/](http://bookpickings.brainpickings.org/)

[http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/reading/](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/reading/)

[http://www.ryanholiday.net/reading-
newsletter](http://www.ryanholiday.net/reading-newsletter)

 _I’m just a working-class guy trying to take part in the conversation that
all the smart people are having. What books should I read?_ \-
[http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/03/im-just-a-working-
cl...](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/03/im-just-a-working-class-guy-
trying-to-take-part-in-the-conversation-that-all-the-smart-people-are-having-
what-books-should-i-read/)

------
seafoodplatter
Qur'an by God Almighty.

~~~
seafoodplatter
[http://quran.com/](http://quran.com/)

~~~
shire
Not really interested by this in particular sorry. Nothing against it but just
more towards Buddhism.

~~~
seafoodplatter
No problem :)

------
judofyr
Every year or so I repost this. Hopefully you'll find something interesting in
here.
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6078221](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6078221)

\---

Hacker News stories which contains plenty of book recommendations (sorted by
points, labeled by topic):

Science Fiction:
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2978027](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2978027)

Computer Science:
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3595599](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3595599)

General:
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1752139](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1752139)

Design:
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3276986](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3276986)

Computer Science:
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1636275](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1636275)

Developing mental models and increasing cognition:
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3277457](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3277457)

Quant finance:
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3177815](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3177815)

General:
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=663662](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=663662)

General (non software):
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1226736](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1226736)

Math:
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=665029](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=665029)

General:
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=875686](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=875686)

Entrepreneur:
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2928211](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2928211)

Statistics:
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=902074](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=902074)

Philosophy:
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1503137](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1503137)

General:
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1865350](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1865350)

Math for beginners:
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=755043](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=755043)

Military strategy:
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=456275](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=456275)

General:
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=797070](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=797070)

Investing:
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=248469](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=248469)

"I want to start a web company":
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1567456](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1567456)

~~~
michaelmcmillan
Great stuff considering my brand new Kindle! :)

