
Ask HN: Interesting (Non software) books? - froo
I was wondering what books people could recommend that would be relevant to the HN community and aren't related to software?
======
keyist
Don't miss sivers's great list: <http://sivers.org/book>

As for mine,

Science Fiction (I like these authors so I'd recommend most of their books --
listing which ones I think are a good 'starter novel' for them):

    
    
      Charles Stross: Halting State
      Vernor Vinge: A Fire Upon The Deep
      Iain M. Banks: Culture novels, start with Player of Games
      David Louis Edelman: Jump 225 Trilogy
      Daniel Suarez: Daemon and Freedom(tm)
      John Scalzi: Old Man's War series
      Dan Simmons: Hyperion
    

Self-improvement:

    
    
      The Talent Code
      Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger
      Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
    

Non-fiction:

    
    
      Amusing Ourselves To Death (highly recommended)
      The Science of Fear
      The Black Swan
      Tokyo Vice
      Racing The Beam (Atari history, very cool)
      books by Daniel Pink
      Guns, Germs, and Steel
      The Prize by Daniel Yergin
    

Fantasy:

Anything by Gaiman or China Mieville, pretty much.

EDIT: links to previews (legally) available online

Charles Stross's Accelerando (entire book):
[http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-
static/fiction/accelera...](http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-
static/fiction/accelerando/accelerando-intro.html)

David Louis Edelman's Infoquake (1st 7 chapters):
<http://www.davidlouisedelman.com/jump225/infoquake/>

~~~
aarongough
Good stuff in the SciFi section there! The culture novels in particular are
great! My favorite Culture novel so far is 'Use of Weapons'...

------
fara
Douglas R. Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
[http://www.amazon.com/Godel-Escher-Bach-Eternal-
Golden/dp/04...](http://www.amazon.com/Godel-Escher-Bach-Eternal-
Golden/dp/0465026567)

~~~
steveplace
It's taken me 6 months to get through 1/3 of the book.

------
staunch
You will not be wasting your time poking around the great stuff in
<http://classics.mit.edu/Browse/index.html>

One of my favorites is Caesar's The Gallic Wars, because it's so amazing that
we have his very own account: <http://classics.mit.edu/Caesar/gallic.html>

Josephus' account of The Jewish Wars is amazing.

Marcus Aurelius' Meditations is a must-read:
<http://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.html>

~~~
lionhearted
It's amazing how many good historical works are out of copyright and free. I
got an Amazon Kindle as a gift, and it's been really wonderful for me.

If you like Roman history, you've got to check out Gibbons' History of the
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. It's just a masterpiece. I flip through
my copy of Meditations from time to time (actually, now I look at it on my
Kindle, but I used to flip through my paper copy) and just pick out random
quotes. A great work. "It is not the thing itself that disturbs a man, but the
man's perception of and reaction to the thing. The thing may not be able to be
changed, but a man's perception and reaction may be changed." I'm butchering
that quote, but it's incredibly meaningful to me, and I try to reflect on it
when things seem to be going wrong or I get inconvenienced.

While talking about classics, there's a lot of good philosophy out of
copyright. Beyond Good and Evil and Thus Spoke Zarathustra aren't perfect
works and I disagree with a fair bit of it, but there's some absolute jewels
in them too.

Lately I've been looking for a decent electronic copy of Freud's Civilization
and Its Discontents and Kierkegaard's Either/Or, but I've been having a hard
time finding copies that are decently formatted and readable.

Also, got any other recommendations Staunch? I'm going to get Gallic Wars, and
it seems like you and I have similar taste if you have other recommendations.

------
theblackbox
Herman Hesse - The Glass Bead Games (though I would hazard to say any of his
famous five are worth reading - haven't got round to them all myself _yet_ ,
though)

I read The Glass Bead Games after I happened across Timothy Leary's "The
Politics of Ecstasy" (a good read but not great - his ignorance/arrogance
get's in the way all too often). The thing that switched me onto HH was TLs
insistance that the man had achieved enlightenment: I figured that was not to
be missed!

HH won the Nobel Proze for literature shortly after it's publication, and I
cannot overstate the majesty of this book - it is simply awe inspiring. Easy
to read, with a persuasive storyline that seduces the reader into an
abominably utopian world of intellectual rule (Epistocracy?).

I won't ruin it for any readers. The basic thrust of the tale is the student
becoming the master in a world where the highest grand masters (of "the game")
are revered with something approaching religious zeal.

It changed me. Fundamentally. Before reading it I was naive and starry eyed
about what education could achieve, now I'm more aware than ever that
humanity, educated or not, is still just a many faced beast. All these
trappings of wealth, power, and intellect are just reigns temporarily thrown
around this rampaging behemoth.

It's not so much an epiphany of despair or futility, strangely it is somehow
quite the opposite. It's a realease. I can't quite explain it. It's something
that sends me into wild flights of lyrical rhetoric about the nature of
humanity and my own part in it. I don't think there is anything better that
you can ask from a book.

------
apgwoz
Books about Richard Feynman, or essays, etc. by him. "Surely You Must Be
Joking, Mr. Feynman!" in particular. I guess, this is unfair, as eventually he
did get into software/hardware, but....

~~~
dunstad
"Surely You Must Be Joking, Mr. Feynman!" can be found here:
<http://www.gorgorat.com/>

------
dschobel
I'll repost my suggestion from the last "great reads" thread on HN.

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

 _The Bet_ by Anton Chekhov

You can read it here: <http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-
stories/UBooks/Bet.shtml>

It shouldn't take more than 10 minutes. It's so fantastically misanthropic, I
cannot recommend it enough.

The polemic against society at the end is just epic.

~~~
matt1
I read this story in high school and several years later I had a strong urge
to read it again. I couldn't remember the title or the author, so I paid
someone $10 on Google Answers to identify it. Highly recommended.

------
aarongough
I'm a big fan of Sci-Fi because I feel it makes people think about what they
want the future to be, as well as avoiding the re-hashing of historical and
current events that many fiction books set in the present do. With that in
mind a list of great books to read:

    
    
      The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
      Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
      Gridlinked - Neal Asher
      Neuromancer - William Gibson
      The Reality Dysfunction - Peter F. Hamilton
      The Dreaming Void - Peter F. Hamilton
      Fallen Dragon - Peter F. Hamilton
      Altered Carbon - Richard Morgan
      Market Forces - Richard Morgan
      Blindsight - Peter Watts
      The Electric Church - Jeff Somers
      Tunnel in the Sky - Robert A. Heinlein
      The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert A. Heinlein
      1984 - George Orwell

~~~
berntb
I also liked most of those. I'm just reading Blindsight, wonderful.

The only one I hated was "Market forces" by Morgan. It felt like reading "The
Pilgrim's Progress", but with Chomsky as Jesus -- a little bit too heavy
handed in political propaganda. For that kind of stuff done in a fascinating
way, check Ken MacLeod's "The Stone Canal" and following.

(Asher got a little too much of Space Opera for me, in the end.)

For sf, I'd add Greg Egan (Stross has been mentioned multiple times).

I'd also like to recommend the worst author I used to buy books in hardcover
from -- Robert L Forward. The guy couldn't have written a believable character
to save his life, but he had some cool physics ideas. RIP.

For fantasy, which I didn't see mentioned, I'd add Scott Lynch, most stuff by
Jack Vance, the black company series (Glen Cook), Joe Abercrombie and Vlad
Taltos (Brust).

Dawkins' Selfish Gene has been mentioned. Steven Pinker was interesting.

Edit: Re Schoeder, I've heard good things but not read anything yet. Thanks
for advice and kick to start.

~~~
aarongough
Strongly agree on Greg Egan. "Schild's Ladder" is one of the best 'hard' SF
novels I've ever read!

I can see how you'd feel that way about Market Forces. Personally what I liked
most in that book was the way the main character developed/changed over the
course of the story. That being said I would consider it on the 'lighter' end
of the SF spectrum, but I still think it's an interesting exploration of a
society taken to the extreme.

~~~
berntb
I was probably extra angry because I bought it in hard covers instead of
waiting. :-)

------
davi
Infrastructure: A Field Guide to the Industrial Landscape Brian Hayes

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393329593/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp...](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393329593/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-
top-
stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0393059979&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=01V6WSCHFX2V6N5CR1XX)

This book is a "how it works" guide to the infrastructure of modernity: the
power grid, mining, steel production, etc. Great photographs & readable text.
I read it cover to cover and was enriched thereby.

------
btilly
I don't know what you mean by "related to software". I'm going to take a
narrow definition that you mean related to the process of writing, designing,
tracking, etc. So something like _Information Rules_ on the economic theory of
pricing software products is OK. Or a classic on managing software developers
like _Peopleware_ is OK.

Some other general business books I like include _The Innovator's Dilemma_ ,
_The Innovator's Solution_ and _First, Break all the Rules_. A non-software
specific design book I highly recommend is _The Design of Everyday Things_.
Even though it is geared towards manufacturing related industries, I'm also
very fond of _Winning at New Products_.

If you haven't already you should learn more about negotiation. Even if your
only negotiation is negotiating a new job every several years, reading a book
on it is very worthwhile. If you can negotiate yourself an extra $1000 bonus,
once, the book has paid for itself with interest. The two books I recommend
there are _Start with No_ and _Bargaining for Advantage_. I'd recommend the
first if you need a general purpose bargaining strategy and aren't
experienced. I'd recommend the second if you're an experienced bargainer who
is looking to improve.

A few years back I read _The Prince_ by Machiavelli. I liked it a lot more
than I thought I would.

For general interest for anyone who likes math I strongly recommend _The
Mathematical Experience_ by Davis and Hersch. My summary of it is that _Godel,
Escher, Bach_ is the book that non-mathematicians have on their coffee table
book, while _The Mathematical Experience_ is the one that mathematicians have.

Lots of people gave sci-fi recommends for you. To those I'll add Peter
Hamilton's _Reality Dysfunction_ series and Bujold's _Miles Vorkosigan_
series. Furthermore if you haven't seen it yet, go to an IMAX and see _Hubble
3D_. If you ever dreamed of space, you need to see it. Really.

For random science fact, I like Jared Diamond. I like virtually everything by
Stephen J. Gould. I recently re-read _Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors_ and
still love that.

I could list more, but that's enough for the moment.

~~~
TeHCrAzY
I would second Reality Dysfunction. The series is very well written, and takes
some interesting ideas on technology, genetics and human modification and
pushes them through to interesting endpoints. Well thumbed copies are on my
bookshelf.

------
aasarava
The Conquest of Mexico, by Bernal Diaz -- a conquistador who traveled with the
Cortes expedition to Mexico City to overthrow King Montezuma. Incredible, true
story written by someone who has actually there. An unknown land; the clash of
two cultures; the clash of two religions; temples to angry gods; hoardes of
gold in hidden rooms; human sacrifices; alliances; mutinies; enslavement;
first description of Tenochtitlan, the city on the lake; the destruction of
Tenochtitlan; and more.

~~~
jacobolus
You probably won’t find it under that name though. The title in Spanish is _La
Verdadera Historia de la Conquista de la Nueva España_ , or in English, _The
True History of the Conquest of New Spain_.

It’s especially fun to compare it to the accounts written by historians in
Spain who had never been to New Spain, and didn’t know anything about
anything.

------
wooby
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

~~~
lincolnq
Can someone summarize this book? I've heard about it a bunch of times, but I
don't know what it is about.

~~~
JoelMcCracken
The scientific process can be formalized, even taught to a machine, however
the hypothesis-generation step is a human, artistic, creative process.

This book is about reconciling this, and thus reconciling rationality, art,
and religion with one another, though the religious part isn't touched on all
that much. The author goes on to suggest an idea that "quality" is the
fundamental force in the universe. As an example of this idea-application in
practice, the author says to open the Tao Te Ching and replace "the
way"(etc..) with "quality", and then see how much it makes sense.

While insightful, it really is a bit silly. But don't let that get you down on
the book -- the book is well worth your time to read. The material is really
very interesting. I am certain you will love it.

~~~
lincolnq
Thanks very much. I will.

------
yesbabyyes
* Daniel Quinn - Beyond Civilization (an easy read about what's wrong with today's society, why, and how to fix it. Not political, rather what you can do yourself. It was a real eye-opener to me)

* Jared Diamond - Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (Jared Diamond is a geographer who writes about societies and civilizations, and how they tackle changing conditions)

* Herfried Münkler - Empires: The Logic of World Domination from Ancient Rome to the United States (Münkler writes about different historical and contemporary empires and hegemonies, why they did what they did, and why they failed early or managed to stay for centuries. Very non-political and matter-of-factly)

* Ursula K. LeGuin - The Word for World is Forest, The Earthsea Saga (Science Fiction/Fantasy, LeGuin is pretty different from most sci-fi-writers. Earthsea is pretty standard magicians/dragons-fantasy, though)

* Ryszard Kapuściński - Travels with Herodotus (Kapuściński was a Polish journalist who traveled a lot. Here, he tries to walk in Herodotus' foot-steps. Basically, a modern day Herodotus)

* Jules Verne - All of his books are worth reading. Visionary and engaging.

------
MikeCapone
A few that I've read recently and liked:

 _Predictably Irrational_ by Dan Ariely

Mostly about cognitive biases. Helps you think better by knowing your
shortcomings.

 _Whole Earth Discipline_ by Stewart Brand

About protecting the environment, but with interesting takes on nuclear power,
GMOs, cities and slums, etc.

 _Good Calories, Bad Calories_ by Gary Taubes

Made me re-think a lot of things about food. Despite the "pop-science" title,
this is a well researched book that looks at countless studies from the past
150 years.

 _American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheier_ by
Martin Sherwin and Kai Bird

A biography of Robert Oppenheimer. Fascinating man.

 _The Blank Slate_ by Steven Pinker

A must read. Evolutionary psychology.

------
olalonde
Richard Dawkins' "Selfish Gene" and "God Delusion" are excellent reads.

~~~
olliesaunders
There are a number of problems with the God Delusion. The attitude its
abhorrent, some of the arguments are bad, and its too long. Not worth it, IMO.
There must be better pro-atheism books out there.

~~~
tommorris
I don't agree that the arguments in the God Delusion are too bad. He does take
some real liberties with Aquinas, but all the scholarly dressing you apply to
Aquinas doesn't really improve the arguments. Dawkins deals with them too
hastily, but even if Dawkins was an Aquinas scholar and applied the principle
of charity to the arguments, they'd still be unconvincing arguments. The God
Delusion is a popular book, not a scholarly refutation of all arguments for
the existence of God.

If you want to read scholarly refutations of arguments for the existence of
God, as well as read some arguments put forward explicitly for the non-
existence of God, then you have to turn elsewhere: Michael Martin's "Atheism:
A Philosophical Justification", Robin Le Podevin's "Arguing for Atheism" and
Nick Everett's "The Non-Existence Of God". Another good book from an agnostic
rather than atheist perspective is Anthony Kenny's "The God of the
Philosophers". A slightly easier read is Julian Baggini's "Atheism: A Very
Short Introduction" which is okay. I have some reservations with it, but it
covers most of the important arguments and has some stuff about ethics and
living the good life and all that happy-clappy stuff too.

As for stuff that isn't concerned with the philosophical arguments? I found
Onfray's "In Defence of Atheism" a pretty good read - it is polemical, but is
well-written. Nietzsche is always good to read so long as you don't - you know
- become a damn goth or whatever after reading it or try and commit genocide
or something. Russell's "Why I Am Not A Christian" and the much less read
compilation "Russell on Religion" (not widely available outside academia as
far as I'm aware) - Russell is a good writer and says some very refreshing
things like:

<blockquote>Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after
the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh
air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their
own.</blockquote>

------
JoelMcCracken
"How to Read a Book", by Mortimer J. Adler.

This book was very important for me, as it gave me a new way of approaching
both books and almost everything in life. It also gives a rather thorough
collection of the most important books of western culture, ordered by authors
then dates.

If you ever wanted to know how to read more effectively, this book is it. It
teaches you how to mark up a book in such a way that you'll be able to
remember what you need from it after a few minutes of review. I highly
recommend it. My life would have been much poorer without having read it.

------
pinstriped_dude
Can everyone commenting on this thread also add 2 lines on -

1) What the book is about 2) Why do you recommend it?

------
ckopec
I just finished 'A song of ice and fire' series by George R.R. Martin and it's
an amazing read.

~~~
bisceglie
I've really enjoyed this series, even with the fear of it being left
unfinished. Martin's characters remind me of the characters of Glen Cook's
writing - also some kick-ass dark fantasy. Check out his Dread Empire series:
[http://www.amazon.com/Dread-Empire-Glen-
Cook/lm/R1423C8TEEUL...](http://www.amazon.com/Dread-Empire-Glen-
Cook/lm/R1423C8TEEULHS)

Also along this line of epic fantasy are the Malazan Empire books by Steven
Erikson - [http://www.amazon.com/Gardens-Moon-Malazan-Book-
Fallen/dp/07...](http://www.amazon.com/Gardens-Moon-Malazan-Book-
Fallen/dp/0765310015)

------
semmons
Flatland (<http://amzn.com/1607961024>)

~~~
alanthonyc
Upvoted...and here's my summary, since it's not on the OP:

The adventures of a two-dimensional creature into the lands of the single-
dimension and the three-dimension (and more). Also, on his efforts to
evangelize his visions.

When I first read this over ten years ago, I was surprised to learn that the
book itself had been published in the 19th century. It was my first true
realization that people just as "smart" as us modern folk have existed for
quite a while.

------
zupatol
Ficciones, by Borges

Very imaginative short stories bordering on the philosophical, some of them
hilarious.

~~~
korch
Seconding Jorge Luis Borges! Even before Godel, Escher, Bach! Although Borges
is pre-computer era, and is long part of the literary Canon, I think the tone
of so many of his stories make a lot more sense from the perspective of the
Internet era. If Google were an author, I think it would be Borges more so
than any other writer.

Borges constantly wove themes of what is too much knowledge, how are we
ensnared and consumed by it, and ultimately how are beauty & wonder itself
contained in that paradoxical process from which all things flow.

------
pyronicide
Here are some books that are a mix of psychology and economics that I think
are especially suited for HN:

Behavioral Economics:

    
    
      Predictably Irrational - Dan Ariely
      Nudge - Richard Thaler
      Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard - Chip and Dan Heath
    

Economics:

    
    
      The Black Swan: Impact of the Highly Improbable - Nassim Taleb
      Fooled by Randomness - Nassim Taleb
      Drunkard's Walk - Leonard Mlodinow
    

Psychology:

    
    
      Opening Skinner's Box - Lauren Slater
    

Management:

    
    
      The Education of a Coach - David Halberstam

~~~
ColemanF
Another good Behavioral Economics book: Sway: The Irresistible Pull of
Irrational Behavior by Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman I liked it a lot better
than Predictably Irrational.

------
andrewcooke
Hayek's Challenge by Caldwell - [http://www.amazon.com/Hayeks-Challenge-
Intellectual-Biograph...](http://www.amazon.com/Hayeks-Challenge-Intellectual-
Biography-F/dp/0226091937)

I wrote a review on Amazon that you can read there for more details, but in
short: this book describes the themes that interested Hayek, their historical
context, and how attitudes to them evolved.

I consider myself "left wing" and Hayek is no great hero of mine (when I read
the book I was barely aware of him - I think he is more famous in the USA than
Europe), but that doesn't stop this being one of my favourite books. The range
covered is huge, the historical background of the times is fascinating, and
Hayek is a much more complex thinker than you might imagine from the way he is
treated in current popular culture.

Vaguely related, "Machine Dreams" by Mirowski is another absorbing, thought-
provoking book on the history of Economics (simplifying hugely - the influence
of the cold war on the rise of "free market economics"). The style can be a
little frustrating, but it's worth the effort. [http://www.amazon.com/Machine-
Dreams-Economics-Becomes-Scien...](http://www.amazon.com/Machine-Dreams-
Economics-Becomes-Science/dp/0521775264)

------
lionhearted
If you're talented and get frustrated with stupid people, you have to read
"Musashi" by Eiji Yoshikawa. I mean, you _have_ to.

Musashi was one of the greatest (maybe the greatest) swordsman of all time. He
invented a Japanese longblade/shortblade mixed style of swordsmanship, at one
point fighting himself out of an ambush when he was attacked by over 30 men.
He was undefeated in over 60 duels, including defeating arguably the second
best swordsman in Japan at the time while fighting with a wooden oar he carved
into a rough swordlike shape.

Here's Musashi's Wikipedia page:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyamoto_Musashi>

The book by Eiji Yoshikawa is historical fiction - it's period accurate and
follows all of Musashi's most well known story. It fills in some other details
we don't know of Musashi's life - how he might have trained, some minor
scuffles with bandits of the day, and it added a love story.

The book is exceptional. Musashi has immense amounts of raw talent, but is in
conflict with himself in the world, arrogant, keeps getting into problems and
trouble until he comes to more mastery and wisdom. Seriously, I read a lot,
and this is hands-down my favorite book of all time. It's a hell of an
enjoyable read, really pleasant and beautiful, fun and adventurous, but also
filled with deep wisdom. It's a great swashbuckling story, but also teaches
you about thinking critically, tactics, strategy, training, tradeoffs, and so
on. Just a masterpiece. Easily the most influential book of my life.

No affiliate link:

<http://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Eiji-Yoshikawa/dp/4770019572>

Whilst on subject, I'll also recommend Husain Haddawy's translation of Arabian
Nights, which is uproariously funny and also contains a lot of wisdom, and
"The E-Myth Revisited" by Michael Gerber, which I consider the Bible of small
business. I buy a copy of E-Myth and make anyone I'm going to partner with
read it before I'll do business with them.

Arabian Nights:

[http://www.amazon.com/Arabian-Nights-Norton-Critical-
Edition...](http://www.amazon.com/Arabian-Nights-Norton-Critical-
Editions/dp/039392808X)

E-Myth:

[http://www.amazon.com/E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-
Abou...](http://www.amazon.com/E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-
About/dp/0887307280)

Edit: Wow, that's quite a few upvotes pretty quickly. If you pick a copy of
one of these and enjoy it, feel free to shoot me an email if you want to chat
about it. These books have been huge for my life, and not enough people read,
so I don't get to talk books as much as I'd like. Also, people with similar
tastes feel free to make recommendations either commenting here or by email.
Lurkers too! I'm always looking for great books.

~~~
grinich
Will you post an affiliate link?

If you recommend a good book to me, I'd like you to get a kickback.

How do others feel about affiliate links? I've created an Ask HN on the topic:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1227196>

~~~
lionhearted
Interesting thought. I just posted "Suggest to HN: A Hacker News Amazon
Affiliate Link" -

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1227254>

Basically, I don't recommend enough books to bother with an affiliate link,
but if someone on the HN/YCombinator team would register a link, I'd
voluntarily add it to my recommendations. It is a bit wasteful to leave the
potential affiliate commission on the table when it could go to something
valuable. People can discuss in that thread.

And Paul, if you're reading this, what's your take? I figure a bit of extra
resources in the way of free books couldn't hurt, and it might add up. I
reckon a lot of the community would be happy to give back that way.

------
detcader
Before anything, read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas
Adams. Then try the Salmon of Doubt by him. Salmon of Doubt is a must, but
it's made more accessible by reading Adams' fictional works first.

~~~
lief79
Great read, but I'm not sure I can honestly put an entertaining read above
everything else.

If you are reading Hitchhiker's, the "best books" of the "trilogy" are the
1st, 5th, and 4th. The 2nd and 3rd are relatively weak, but the 4th and 5th
will make substantially less sense without them. The readers can decide what
to do with this knowledge.

------
soren
There's a list at stackoverflow: <http://stackoverflow.com/questions/38210>

------
ktf
Pale Fire, by Nabokov. A story of insane obsession, which I'm sure many HN
readers could relate to...

~~~
MikeCapone
I enjoyed it, but if you want epic Nabokov, check out ADA. It's a HUGE book,
but very rewarding if you have the patience.

~~~
sonnym
As much as I enjoyed both Pale Fire and Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle, I
cannot, in good conscience, let these be the only Nabokov books to be
mentioned here. Having read all his nonfiction and his autobiography over the
past three years, I must warn against starting with either of these, two of
his most difficult, novels.

You see, Nabokov toys with his readers - he leaves puzzles throughout his
books; he writes in defiance of literary criticism (part of his impetus in
Pale Fire); he foreshadows with a trail of anagrams. To throw someone in media
res of two of his most complex tales (perhaps only surpassed by Lolita and The
Gift), might give a premature distaste for Nabokov's heady style.

What I would personally recommend for someone new to Nabokov would be any of
Despair, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, or Transparent Things.

If you like Nabokov, you may also want to try:

Rushdie, Salman - The Satanic Verses

Pynchon, Thomas - The Crying of Lot 49

------
awolf
Atlas Shrugged bu Ayn Rand

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_Shrugged>

------
kingsley_20
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

AMZN blurb: You have heard about how a musician loses herself in her music,
how a painter becomes one with the process of painting. In work, sport,
conversation or hobby, you have experienced, yourself, the suspension of time,
the freedom of complete absorption in activity. This is "flow," an experience
that is at once demanding and rewarding--an experience that Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi demonstrates is one of the most enjoyable and valuable
experiences a person can have. The exhaustive case studies, controlled
experiments and innumerable references to historical figures, philosophers and
scientists through the ages prove Csikszentmihalyi's point that flow is a
singularly productive and desirable state. But the implications for its
application to society are what make the book revolutionary.

~~~
Estragon
His other book, _Creativity_ , is far more relevant to HN. It is a set of
interviews with creative people, exploring how their creative capacities
developed.

[http://www.amazon.com/Creativity-Flow-Psychology-
Discovery-I...](http://www.amazon.com/Creativity-Flow-Psychology-Discovery-
Invention/dp/0060928204)

------
aantix
I don't get it, am I the only hacker that ever has problems with
relationships?

I've done more than my fair share of stumbling (including one divorce) and at
the age of 32 only now do I feel like I am "getting it".

Nonetheless, I'd recommend the book _Conscious Loving_ by Gay and Kaithlyn
Hendricks.

Instead of the superficialities preached by the Venus books, etc they get to
the heart of the matter by having us examine ourselves for personal projects,
secrets that we are hiding and other subconscious developments that lay at the
root of our psyche. We our worlds truly are in our head and our relationships
are manifestations of those thoughts. I finally found a book that helps me
peal back those layers and helped me figure out why I had been fucking up over
so many years...

~~~
WildUtah
For the same reasons, if you want to understand why relationships are hard and
what is really going on between people,

The Mystery Method by Mystery - About half is a real down-to-the bits theory
of love and attraction. The other half is advice about how to pick up dates at
bars. I only wanted the first part, but both are fascinating. After reading
this, it's like the veil was lifted and I could see the fnords.

The Game by Neil Strauss - The story of field research into practical romance
by a great writer and a peek at the author of the first book above. The author
masters seductive romance and discovers that it is not the same as love. In
the end, though, he needed the first to have a chance at the second.

Once you accept that love and romance are hard and not free, these two books
are a start at finding and building a quality relationship. Of course, you'll
have to ignore that they market themselves as manuals on how to avoid one.

------
tfh
Here is what comes to my mind a my all favorite books:

    
    
      * no exit - jean-paul sartre
      * brave new world - adolous huxley
      * 1984 - george orwell
      * foucault's pendolum - umberto eco
      * l'etranger - albert camus
      * 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - jules vernes

------
akkartik
Two scifi books about turning rationality into a religion: Anathem and Altered
Carbon

My all-time scifi list started out in a reddit comment:
<http://akkartik.name/blog/2006-06-02-08-13-58-soc>

~~~
akkartik
Oops, I meant A million open doors, not Altered Carbon. Both good books.

------
jgrahamc
At the risk of being yelled at: The Geek Atlas (<http://geekatlas.com/>)

------
dkimball
You might be interested in _War and Peace and War_, a theory of history
focusing on social capital as a driving force, and in _The Fourth Turning_ --
which looks at changes over four-generation intervals, and which, written in
1997, made some surprisingly good predictions about the 2000s (the Aughts?).

Both of these are in the tradition of Oswald Spengler's _Decline of the West_
and Arnold Toynbee's _A Study of History_; I'd recommend the abridged version
of the latter, and I'd observe that if you can make it all the way through
either of these you have more stamina than I do...

------
abhiyerra

      The History of Sexuality - Michel Foucault
      Discipline and Punish - Michel Foucault
      The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America - Daniel J. Boorstin
    

These books make you look at society in a much more critical manner. The first
two are difficult reads, but none the less good and referenced quite a bit in
the humanities.

    
    
      The Perennial Philosophy - Aldous Huxley
    

Huxley ties up all the different religious views quite nicely into a core set
which is common to all of them. I'd advise reading Huxley and God before
reading this though.

------
chasingsparks
A lot of the classics mentioned can be found for free in .txt, .html, or ePub
via Project Gutenberg.

<http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page>

------
JangoSteve
My favorite non-software books (I've mentioned these a few times around HN
before):

* Atlas Shrugged (also good: The Fountainhead) by Ayn Rand

* Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

* Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Freedman

* The Plague by Albert Camus

------
Estragon
_Human Smoke_

[http://books.google.com/books?id=8HKQEJlAl9gC&printsec=f...](http://books.google.com/books?id=8HKQEJlAl9gC&printsec=frontcover)

 _Churchill, Hitler, and "the unnecessary war": how Britain lost its empire
and the West lost the world_

[http://books.google.com/books?id=PYESsQRyIIMC&printsec=f...](http://books.google.com/books?id=PYESsQRyIIMC&printsec=frontcover)

Both books are iconoclastic looks at how WWII came to be, and whether it was
truly a "just" war. The second is by Pat Buchanan, but neither book is crazy
or racist. Both are extremely well-researched and documented. Pat Buchanan's
book is explicitly in response to the "just war" trope which was used to
justify the US occupation of Iraq, but I think I see the same motivation in
_Human Smoke_.

The most interesting single tidbit I learned from the two books was that
Roosevelt was an anti-semite:

[http://books.google.com/books?id=8HKQEJlAl9gC&lpg=PP1...](http://books.google.com/books?id=8HKQEJlAl9gC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA9#v=onepage&q=harvard&f=false)

(I looked that vignette up in Morgenthau's memoirs. The story he tells there
was meant to justify to the younger Morgenthau Roosevelt's policy of
restricting emigration to the US by Jewish refugees.)

------
bhousel
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

One of the few books that I think really everybody should read.

~~~
ryanwanger
One of his other books, In Defense of Food, might almost be a better
recommendation to read first. If they like that, go for the novel version -
The Omnivore's Dilemma.

------
cromulent
My favourite read of the last few years was _The Tyrannicide Brief_.

I moved house 15000 km recently and this was one of the few books that came
along (the others are in storage). Most of the other ones are mentioned in
other comments.

From the New Yorker review:

In 1649, after Oliver Cromwell and his army had taken King Charles I prisoner,
they had to decide what to do with him. The easiest option, according to a
contemporary, was assassination, "for which there were hands ready enough to
be employed." Instead, a lawyer named John Cooke was given the brief to
prosecute him. (Other lawyers left town to dodge the job.) At the time, there
was no language for what Charles was charged with: as king, he was the law, so
prosecuting him seemed a logical absurdity. Robertson, a lawyer involved in
the prosecutions of Augusto Pinochet and Saddam Hussein, credits Cooke with
helping to make those proceedings possible; he "made tyranny a crime." But
Cooke himself was executed after the monarchy was restored. His heart and
genitals were fed to stray dogs, and his head, at King Charles II's direction,
was displayed at the entrance to Westminster Hall.

------
aik
I very much wish I would have read the below books in (or pre) high school.
I'm not sure if they have the same effect on everyone, but for me they were
huge in redefining elements of my life that needed to be
fixed/unlearned/enhanced.

All related to having a passion for learning and life in general:

"Art of Learning" by Josh Waitzkin

"Mastery" by George Leonard

"A Mathematician's Lament" by Paul Lockhart

"Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman" by Richard Feynman

------
dhyasama
"Money Ball" by Michael Lewis is great. It's about evaluating talent in new
ways to exploit market inefficiencies in baseball.

------
tsally
When I recommend books I make a coffee shop recommendation and an airport
recommendation. Both books are excellent, but the coffee shop book requires
slower reader and more mental effort to get the benefit.

Coffee shop:

 _Plowing the Dark_ by Richard Powers. The book follows to parallel stories:
one of a company that invents virtual reality and another of a teacher that
gets taken hostage by terrorists. It's an incredible book and the reason why I
decided to study computer science.

[http://www.amazon.com/Plowing-Dark-Novel-Richard-
Powers/dp/B...](http://www.amazon.com/Plowing-Dark-Novel-Richard-
Powers/dp/B002RAR1DU)

Airport:

 _Moving Mars_ by Greg Bear. Mars is a colony of Earth and the book follows a
struggle for Martian independence. Also an incredible book.

[http://www.amazon.com/Moving-Mars-Novel-Greg-
Bear/dp/0812524...](http://www.amazon.com/Moving-Mars-Novel-Greg-
Bear/dp/0812524802/)

------
olalonde
The Stranger (L’Étranger) by Albert Camus is an excellent novel. I'm sure many
HNers can relate to the main character.

------
DeusExMachina
Plato - The Republic

George Orwell - 1984

------
samlittlewood
\- David Marr: "Vision"

The foundations of computational neroscience - and lots of practial
demonstrations of how your eyes and brain work.

\- Daniel Dennett "Consciousness Explained"

How the mind works?

\- J.E Gordon: "The new Science of Strog Materials" & " Structures, or why
things don't fall down."

How is 'stuff' strong/hard?

\- Steve Grand: "Creation" & "Growing up with Lucy"

The programmer behind the game 'Creatures' and his adventures in artificial
life.

\- Joseph Campbell: "The Hero with a Thousand Faces"

Never look at Star Wars in the same way again.

\- David Deutch: "The Fabric of Reality"

Many worlds or mad as a box of frogs?

\- Richard Leakey & Roger Lewin: "The Sixth Extinction"

We're doomed - maybe

\- Braitenberg: "Vehicles"

Emergent behaviour from simple rules

\- Ian Wilmut, Keith Cambell & Colin Tudge: "The Second Creation"

How Dolly the Sheep was made. Takes you through the background such that you
can read & understand their paper which appears at the end.

\- John Brunner: "The Shockwaver Rider"

Snowcrash - hah! - 1975 and this dude got it already.

Other general authors:

Martin Gardner, Greg Egan (lots of free stuff on his site).

~~~
bilch
Snow Crash was published in 1992, not in 1975. Still, this dude got it
already.

Edit: Sorry, it's probably just a formatting problem and you were referring to
The Shockwave Rider.

------
ColemanF
The Pentagon's New Map: War and Peace in the Twenty-first Century by Thomas P.
M. Barnett.

It's like The World is Flat on steroids. It's probably even more pro free
trade. It's the most optimistic look at world affairs I've ever seen. The idea
is that trade ties countries together and makes them stop fighting.

------
NEPatriot
The War of Art - Stephen Pressfield - how to overcome yourself

Gates of Fire - same as above, the story of the stand at Thermopylae

Agincourt & 3 part series Archer's tale - Bernard Cornwell - accounts of
medievil warfare

StrengthsFinder 2.0 - Tom Rath - take a test and discover your
strengths/things you love to do, focus on on doing those

~~~
ctkrohn
Stephen Pressfield is fantastic. Besides "Gates of Fire," I've read "The
Afghan Campaign" and "The Virtues of War," two novels about Alexander The
Great. Very highly recommended.

------
nate
The Tao of Pooh, a book I read 10 years ago and just recently picked up again.
Fantastic read.

<http://www.amazon.com/Tao-Pooh-Benjamin-Hoff/dp/0140067477>

Taoism in general is something I'm going to dive more into.

~~~
RobKohr
Awesome. I loved this book. Easy read. Enjoyable.

------
jf
Anathem by Neil Stephenson (Fiction)

~~~
trafficlight
Snowcrash and Cryptonomicon, too. Or pretty much anything Neil Stephenson
writes.

------
michaels0620
Christopher Logue's War Music [http://www.amazon.com/War-Music-Account-Books-
Homers/dp/0226...](http://www.amazon.com/War-Music-Account-Books-
Homers/dp/0226491900/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269892009&sr=8-1) It's
the beginnings of a modern retelling of Homer's Iliad. If you like it there
are two other short books (All Day Permanent Red and Homer Cold Calls).

Don't be scared off by it being poetry. It is easily understandable and has an
economy and elegance of phrasing that I have yet to see elsewhere.

I've always thought that poetry and coding have a lot in common. A focus on
structure, economy, and elegance as well as working with the language to best
effect.

------
renkeyes
With NUMMI closing down any day now, "The Machine that Changed the World" by
Womack, et al (1990) is almost as relevant now as it was then. The book
describes the management and product development techniques used in the
Japanese-owned auto industry and how they contrast(ed) with those employed by
US-owned auto companies. Many of the ideas have been employed in healthcare
and software development in the intervening two decades.

I can't speak to the relevance of any specific work of fiction to any HN'er
but the one writing this comment, but "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison and
"Tender is the Night" by F. Scott Fitzgerald are two novels that stand out to
me as being particularly good.

------
enduser
King Warrior Magician Lover, by Robert Moore and Douglas Gilette. It is a
deeply insightful book about the path to a mature masculine psyche written by
a highly respected Jungian psychologist (Moore) and a mythologist and
counselor (Gilette).

I recently finished reading this book and their four subsequent volumes, each
of which goes into great detail about the four archetypes. Reading them has
given me much stimulus for thought and personal growth.

[http://www.amazon.com/King-Warrior-Magician-Lover-
Rediscover...](http://www.amazon.com/King-Warrior-Magician-Lover-
Rediscovering/dp/0062506064)

------
tommorris
Elsewhere in the thread, I posted some recommendations on books on philosophy
of religion from a non-theistic perspective. I guess I should probably list
some books on philosophy generally.

1\. Bertrand Russell - The Problems of Philosophy

A good introduction to the basic things which philosophers in the Anglo-
American/analytic tradition worry about in logic, metaphysics and epistemology
(primarily epistemology): induction, a priori knowledge, anti-sceptical
arguments, and universals.

2\. Hans-Georg Gadamer - Truth and Method

You know about the 'Continental' philosophers, right? All those wacky guys
like Derrida. They are all a bit suspicious, right? Like, Heidegger was a
Nazi, and Foucault spreads HIV. Yeah, gossip is great. A lot of this type of
philosophy seems like bunkum - Alan Sokal showed that, right? Lots of waffly
French dudes talking out of their ass, abusing science to basically support
their political ideology. Gadamer isn't like that. He sets out to try and
answer the question "how do we understand texts?" and rather than saying
something goofy like "we just make up what we understand about texts" or that
we deconstruct them by subjecting them to our ideological whims, ripping the
book apart to suit whatever the passing fancy is. No, Gadamer tries to
explicate how the reading of a book is more of a process that starts with pre-
judgement - 'prejudice' in Gadamer's words. Such prejudice is natural and
actually quite desirable. You do judge a book by the cover. To understand a
book as a whole, you need to understand all the components which make it up.
But to understand any bit of the book, you need to understand how it fits into
the wider contest of the book. This 'hermeneutic cycle' is daunting, but the
only thing you can do is jump on board.

3\. Saul Kripke - Naming and Necessity

Kripke's book is on a slightly strange topic: how we use names. But how he
deals with this is an interesting problem is a model of clarity and
philosophical excellence. It has also been very influential - the way Kripke
solves the problem with names led to other philosophers producing many so-
called causal accounts of all sorts of things.

I'd post some more, but I've got to get the hell out of my hotel room and go
to a philosophy conference...

------
roundsquare
God's Debris. Available in pdf here:

<http://www.andrewsmcmeel.com/godsdebris/>

Its written by Scott Adams, the guy who does Dilbert, but its completely
different from Dilbert. Its basically an exploration of one theory about where
the universe comes from, the nature of god, etc... A thought experiment in
conversation form, if you will.

I like it because it brings up some neat ideas that may not be obvious.

Side Note: He gets some of the science wrong in the book, so if you do read
it, make sure you fact check any science before you believe it.

------
AmericanOP
PIHKAL- the autobiographical account by the bay area chemist who invented
MMDA. Incredible story of invention and scientific exploration. It also
contains the most authentic love story I have ever read.

------
GvS
I can recommend _Zamonia_ series by Walter Moers:

    
    
       The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear
       Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures
       The City of Dreaming Books
    

Awesome fantasy books.

------
wallflower
"How Buildings Learn: What happens after they're built" by Stewart Brand (ok,
it's about systems and software arch)

"Walt Disney: Triumph of the American Imagination" by Neal Gabler (This is
awesome because the 1st third is about his multiple failures)

Any David Macaulay book (breathtaking deconstruction construction)

Any book on child crafts and games, vintage better. (The writing is superb and
a lot of activities are excellent)

Any book on network marketing (I'm not involved but have been pitched many
times. The talk about funnels for recruiting is realistic).

------
pwk
The Gold Bug Variations, by Richard Powers: a love story that touches on
music, genetics, history, art... lots of themes that HN readers might
appreciate.

------
alex_c
I recently enjoyed "The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of
Contemporary Art". As the title promises, it's a great look into the economics
of contemporary art - what forces determine the ridiculous prices you hear
about.

[http://www.amazon.com/Million-Stuffed-Shark-Economics-
Contem...](http://www.amazon.com/Million-Stuffed-Shark-Economics-
Contemporary/dp/0230610226)

------
sshumaker
Guns, Germs and Steel - It will change the way you think about the course of
human development and the forces of history.

The Innovator's Dilemma can be summed up in two paragraphs but is still worth
reading - it explains why giant companies fail to keep innovating.

Stumbling upon happiness - how people's perception of what makes them happy
has little basis in what actually makes them happy - and why.

------
barnaby
Lately I'm into reading Biographies of Entrepreneurs.

Reserved "Founders at work" at the library, but currently reading "Match King"
the biography of Ivar Kreuger. After failing a bunch of times, he figured it
out: put on a show and pretend you're successful then other people buy in.
Problem is he took that too far.

Surprisingly, good to read as an entrepreneur, both inspirational AND
_cautionary_.

------
Mankhool
A Short History of Progress.

<http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/massey/massey2004.html>

------
scorpioxy
Oh, lots! I wish you'd narrow down to some categories you're interested in.

A few example i enjoyed: The State of Africa, Martin Meredith The Code Book,
Simon Singh Pity the Nation, Robert Fisk The Great War for Civilization,
Robert Fisk Alan Turing: The Enigma, Andrew Hodges Long Walk to Freedom,
Nelson Mandela The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch Fermat's Engima, Simon Singh

Lots more....

------
sgoraya
I just finished and enjoyed:

The Four Pillars of Investing by William Bernstein

The four pillars consisting of investment theory, history, psychology and
business. I ascribe to the indexing model of investing and this book helped
crystallize my view point as well as provide an interesting overview of
investment history.

Plus I'll throw in one of my favorite, bloody gems of a book:

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

~~~
jerrytap
The Road was also another excellent book by Cormac McCarthy. I'm not sure
about his other books but this one was a really easy read.

~~~
detcader
The Border Series (All The Pretty Horses, The Crossing, etc) is riddled with
inaccessible scene description (non-stop landscape lexicon) and bouts of
Spanish, only barely detracting from each story's general awe-inspiring
quality.

No Country For Old Men is more accessible and I'd definitely recommend it. The
Road is also a must.

------
samratjp
Einstein's Dreams. Written by a physicist. A great fiction on the nature of
how time could be. My favorite example from the book is about how one scenario
says that time slows as we go up the mountains and most people stay there to
preserve their youth and when they go down to the foothills, they go there for
work!

------
torial
I have found "The Goal" by Eliyahu Goldratt to be very insightful. It is
written in a novel like format, with the purpose of teaching a certain way of
attacking problems.

[http://www.amazon.com/Goal-Process-Ongoing-
Improvement/dp/08...](http://www.amazon.com/Goal-Process-Ongoing-
Improvement/dp/0884271781)

------
olalonde
The Four Steps to the Epiphany by Steven Gary Blank is an excellent book about
startup engineering.

------
ErrantX
Risk: the science and politics of fear. By dan Gardner

I've recommended, and reviewed, it here before. Basically it is a pop-science
look at how humans react and view fear. Brilliant read with lots of good
referecing to scientific papers etc.

It was almost as revelatory to me as the selfish gene.

------
3pt14159
I like this science book about the elements so much I wrote a blog post about
it:

[http://zachaysan.tumblr.com/post/315148493/the-elements-a-
pe...](http://zachaysan.tumblr.com/post/315148493/the-elements-a-perfect-
coffee-table-book-for-nerds)

------
wrjk
I'm a huge fan of classic literature. It's a much different perspective of
society and isn't necessarily written for ease-of-consumption.

The Count of Monte Cristo Time Machine or Invisible Man Frankenstein

One of my personal favorites which you won't be able to put down: Dracula

------
rubinelli
Getting Things Done and Making It All Work. Very down-to-Earth, techie-
friendly productivity system. It reduces the whole life-balancing act to a
schedule, a handful of lists, and simple algorithms. It also scales down well,
in my experience.

------
bmj
Some influential and interesting books on how humanity interacts with
technology (and vice-versa):

    
    
      * The Technological Society, Jacques Ellul
      * Tools for Conviviality, Ivan Illich
      * Shop Class as Soulcraft, Matthew Crawford

------
pstinnett
I've been reading The Lost City of Z by David Grann. Really enjoying it:

* The Lost City of Z

* [http://www.amazon.com/Lost-City-Deadly-Obsession-Amazon/dp/0...](http://www.amazon.com/Lost-City-Deadly-Obsession-Amazon/dp/0385513534)

------
rudders
I think that if you want a deep, and very enjoyable read you should try Isaac
Asimov's Foundation saga. It's so complex and presents a network all of
Asimov's many ideas all collected under one store. Very insightful.

------
Paddy3118
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_Bach>

Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter.

Not only did I by it, but I read it, and enjoyed it too!

\- Paddy.

------
jlees
The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler. A really interesting analysis of
modern narrative structure rooted in mythology. It'll appeal to HN readers;
it's an analytical way of breaking down every story ever told.

------
Element_
A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson

A Briefer History of Time - Stephen Hawking

------
iaind
A great way to get into history is Thomas Cahill's "Pillars of History"
series. Start with "How the Irish Saved Civilization" and if you like it,
carry on with the rest of the series.

------
zwieback
Moby Dick is one of my all time favorite classics. Should appeal to engineers
and entrepreneurs as well as being a great read. The form is very unlike other
classics of its period.

------
makmanalp
Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely: <http://www.predictablyirrational.com/>

Interesting book on why people act irrationally.

~~~
MichaelGG
Predictably Irrational is just a "popular" summarized version of work in this
area of psychology. If you like it, consider looking at some of the work by
Daniel Kahneman:

[http://www.amazon.com/Heuristics-Biases-Psychology-
Intuitive...](http://www.amazon.com/Heuristics-Biases-Psychology-Intuitive-
Judgment/dp/0521796792/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269885519&sr=8-1)

------
abyssknight
Cory Doctorow's collection of stories called "Overclocked" was a nice
distraction. Check it out if you get a chance. I believe it's actually out
there on his site for free.

------
ryanwanger
Walden 2, by B.F. Skinner.

It's like an instruction manual for a utopian society, in novel form. This
book set my mind on fire with crazy and inspiring ideas about how society
could be...

------
jlangenauer
_Walden_ , by Henry David Thoreau

One of the few books I've read 3 or more times. An important discussion about
determinining what is important in life, and what is just the details.

------
RyanMcGreal
Some recent engaging reads:

* Dan Ariely, _Predictably Irrational_

* Christopher McDougall, _Born to Run_

* Malcolm Gladwell, _Outliers_

* Jeb Brugman, _Welcome to the Urban Revolution_

* Richard Florida, _Who's Your City?_

------
GiraffeNecktie
It's a bit of a ridiculous question isn't it? Relevant in what way? Even if
you narrow it down to business and technology the scope is just far too broad.

~~~
froo
Not necessarily. I've run out of books to read, so I figured I'd crowdsource
for new points to start from, go beyond my current scope.

I figure there are lots of books people can recommend here that are relevant
to my interests, so why not ask?

------
grosales
If you'd like to understand a little bit about how our brain might process and
understand numbers, get "The Number Sense" by Stanislas Dehaene

------
evanrmurphy
If you're feeling really introspective, _His Dark Materials_ by Philip Pullman
and _Demian_ by Hermann Hesse.

------
fisadev
+1 to Snow Crash

~~~
ktf
Snow Crash is amazing. But it definitely IS related to software :)

------
mattwdelong
A few books I have in queue;

 _The Wealth of Nations - Adam Smith

Rework - 37 Signals

Ogilvy on Advertising / Confessions of an Advertising Man - David Ogilvy_

~~~
froo
I've read _Rework_ , I felt it was entirely a rehash of _Getting Real_.

In fact, while reading it I would swear I read a lot of the passages in it
were added in wholesale from _Getting Real_.

I was experiencing some serious Deja Vu while reading it. More power to
37signals for being able to sell me something I've already essentially read.

------
r7000
Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series.

A very enjoyable description of the pinnacle of pre-Industrial technology.

------
ptn
Freakonomics.

------
aufreak3
"The Logic of Failure" by Dietrich Dorner

This is a particularly good book that ought to be spread around more.

------
adw
"Real Fast Food" by Nigel Slater.

Yes, it's a cookbook. Bloody good one, though, and you've gotta eat.

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edo
Think & Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill

Taiko - Eiji Yoshikawa

Alexander of Macedon - Peter Green

and +1 for Staunch's choice:

Meditations - Marcus Aurelius

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cosmok
The Complete Stories (of) Franz Kafka, The Corrections by Jonathen Franzen

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gursikh
On Writing, Stephen King

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protomyth
Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds - I like the process and form

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geuis
Accelerando, Saturns Children, Dreams of Perpetual Motion

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Apreche
The Prince of Nothing series of books by R. Scott Bakker

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Mongoose
The Art of War is definitely worth at least one read.

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a-priori
I recommend _The Blank Slate_ by Steven Pinker.

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gcheong
50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology

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gursikh
The Teenage Liberation Handbook

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mattdennewitz
david foster wallace: oblivion

~~~
tricky
If you're willing to put in at least a month of hard labor, DFW's Infinite
Jest is worth the read.

~~~
jokull
And if you're not you could read his essay collections -

"A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" the title essay of which is now
available on the internet and is a terrific introduction to the late great
American author ([http://www.amazon.com/Supposedly-Fun-Thing-Never-
Again/dp/03...](http://www.amazon.com/Supposedly-Fun-Thing-Never-
Again/dp/0316925284/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b))

"Consider the Lobster" ([http://www.amazon.com/Consider-Lobster-David-Foster-
Wallace/...](http://www.amazon.com/Consider-Lobster-David-Foster-
Wallace/dp/0316156116))

Some of the few pieces of physical literature I actually own and chase back
every time I lend them to someone.

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boundlessdreamz
if you are into fantasy the mistborn series is awesomeness redefined :)

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borismus
The Innovator's Dilemma

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dnsworks
\- How To Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
[http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-
People/dp/06...](http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-
People/dp/0671723650) \- Beethoven As I Knew Him by Anton Felix Schindler
<http://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-As-I-Knew-Him/dp/0486292320> \- Soul Of A New
Machine (It's about hardware!) and Mountains Beyond Mountains, both by Tracy
Kidder \- Eating Animals by Jonathan Safron Foer

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zen53
Recent reads I'd recommend...

Seth Godin's Linchpin

Viral Loops by Adam L. Penenberg

