
Ask HN: Best books you read in 2012 - dudurocha
I think this year was poorly in comparison with 2011, in regards of new releases. So, what were the best books you read this year?
======
pg
Liddell Hart's _The German Generals Talk_ ([http://www.amazon.com/German-
Generals-Talk-Basil-Liddell/dp/...](http://www.amazon.com/German-Generals-
Talk-Basil-Liddell/dp/0688060129)), originally published in England as _The
Other Side of the Hill_. Probably the most interesting book I've ever read
about WW II. I'm surprised it's not better known.

------
Urgo
I read a number of good books but hands down my favorite that I read in 2012
was Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

This is from Amazon: At once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible
nostalgia, READY PLAYER ONE is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and
charming debut—part quest novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera
set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese robots,
entire planets are inspired by Blade Runner, and flying DeLoreans achieve
light speed.

It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending
his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets
you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall
in love on any of ten thousand planets.

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the
ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For
somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday
has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune—and
remarkable power—to whoever can unlock them.

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing
only that Halliday’s riddles are based in the pop culture he loved—that of the
late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest
another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday’s
icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the
finer points of John Hughes’s oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics
as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.

And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.

Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the
hunt—among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real
murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and
preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave
behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life—and love—in the
real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.

A world at stake. A quest for the ultimate prize. Are you ready?

~~~
jlees
I wouldn't class _Ready Player One_ as the best book of 2012, but it was
certainly enjoyable (when I read it in 2011). I prefer _This Is Not A Game_
and _Pattern Recognition_ in this genre; also worth checking out is Tad
Williams' _Otherland_ series.

~~~
DigitalJack
In what way is Pattern Recognition similar to Ready Player One? I was
intrigued by the description of RPO, but when I read you talking about Pattern
Recognition being in the same genre, I was really confused.

I thought Pattern Recognition was truly awful and couldn't finish it.

~~~
jlees
I classify them all as kind of cyberpunk/ARG fiction. Pattern Recognition
takes place more in the physical world than Ready Player One, but they are
both digital treasure hunts. As an ARG junkie, they naturally feel the 'same'
to me. The style of writing is quite different though, and Gibson's style in
Pattern Recognition isn't as fun to read as Ready Player One.

------
jamesbritt
_How Music Works_ by David Byrne

<http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936365537>

 _Feeding Back: Conversations with Alternative Guitarists from Proto-Punk to
Post-Rock_ by David Todd

<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/161374059X>

 _Rise of the Videogame Zinesters: How Freaks, Normals, Amateurs, Artists,
Dreamers, Drop-outs, Queers, Housewives, and People Like You Are Taking Back_
by Anna Anthropy

Some interesting ideas; the referenced tech is now dated. It's even easier to
make games now then when this book was published.

<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1609803728>

I recently started _10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10_ by Nick Montfort,
et al <http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0262018462> (but also available as a
free PDF)

 _Generative Design: Visualize, Program, and Create with Processing_ , by
Hartmut Bohnacker, is under the Christmas tree. :)
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1616890770/>

------
diego
Here's a list of books that I read this year and liked. My favorite was
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. The rest are all worth reading. I
hesitated to put "The Joy of Clojure" on that list because it's too narrow,
but it's one of the best programming books I've seen.

<http://diegobasch.com/books>

~~~
rickhanlonii
I'll second Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman for top book of 2012
and for top all time book like another commenter.

If you really want to expose the bias and structure of your consciousness,
this the book to read. I would also pair this book with Incognito by David
Eagleman (2012) to rehash some of the ideas of Kahneman and for a discussion
of the implications of these ideas in morals and justice.

Also Connectome by Sebastian Seung (2012) gives a good outline of the
structure of the brain, and an interesting discussion of how understanding
that structure is a great scientific goal and some hypothetical implications
of that understanding.

Really, I'd recommend reading anything to do with the emerging understanding
of the brain because, without hyperbole, the better we understand the brain
the better we understand the self.

------
imrehg
Gravity's Rainbow - took 4 months out of my year, but and it's still mostly a
whoosh, but every time I started reading another book after that, it was just
amazing how much better Pyncheon writes. Will revisit it for sure, though not
very soon.

Anna Karenina - just a whole different level, Tolstoy's writing in a way I
don't feel many contemporary writes could. Feels creepy how similar the
people's lives in the 19th Century was to ours. Creepy but fun too.

If On A Winter's Night A Traveller - Italo Calvino will just punch you in the
face, this is a book for people who love reading books.

The Magicians - adult magic fiction, and somehow it feels that if magic was
indeed real, it would be like it is depicted here, not like anything in Harry
Potter's (no matter how much I loved the storytelling, the magic theory was
just so full of plotholes).

The Casual Vacancy - JKRowling's not-Harry-Potter-book. It's very gritty, and
feels very real. Still having my cold shivers thinking of small-town living
after this.

(Except for the last one the others are older releases, don't usually jump
into the newest ones, I just take it casual)

~~~
david927
What a great reading list. It's a really nice mix. If you're up for a reading
group, let me know (email is in my profile).

~~~
tucosan
Seconded. I am surprised that there are not more of Pynchon's books in this
thread. 'Vineland' is an easy, humorous read. If you want to take Pynchon head
on, I can't recommend 'Against the day' too much.

------
chernevik
"The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson" Robert Caro

LBJ "hacked" the American Senate, understanding its operations better than
anyone perhaps ever. He further understood its role in American politics, and
the impact of American politics upon it. This 3rd volume of Caro's multi-
volume biography covers LBJ's adoption of the vice-presidency, why his hopes
of dominating JFK from that position failed (tldr; Kennedy was much, much
smarter that Johnson understood), and Johnson's extraordinary transition to
the Presidency on Kennedy's assassination.

The book would be outstanding simply for its sketches of JFK and RFK, figures
secondary to its primary focus. Taken as a whole it's required required
reading for anyone thinking they understood politics.

~~~
hexis
This book was actually the 4th volume of the series.

------
tokenadult
The best book I read this year was not a 2012 release, but HN participants
should read it if they haven't already. That book is The Checklist Manifesto:
How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande,

[http://www.amazon.com/Checklist-Manifesto-How-Things-
Right/d...](http://www.amazon.com/Checklist-Manifesto-How-Things-
Right/dp/0312430000)

which was mentioned favorably in several HN threads this year. (Thanks to the
recommenders here who reminded me to read this book.) The Checklist Manifesto
is practical, exciting, and thought-provoking in balance, and it will help you
do your work better, whatever you do, and enjoy your family life better,
whoever is in your family. It's a great read; don't miss it.

~~~
KMBredt
I just finished the book three days ago, really liked it, and thought, that
there must be a site to collect programmers checklists for different tasks to
have a similar collection as the aviation experts. Turns out, there is not...

~~~
jamessb
For launching websites, there's Launchlist: <http://launchlist.net/>

(free lite version: <http://lite.launchlist.net/>)

------
borlak
Mostly scifi and fantasy. I've never been much of a reader, so I'm trying to
catch up on classics.

* Hunger games 1-3 -- not bad, would probably recommend

* Hitchiker's guide to the galaxy -- good, surprised how short it was. really liked the style of writing, fun to read. recommended

* Stranger in a Strange Land -- currently reading this one, interesting, but nothing ground breaking. one character seems to dominate the book. don't know if I'd recommend.

* Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep -- interesting, a bit boring. I kept comparing it to the movie, and in the end I like the movie better. they each focus on different subjects, but I like the movie's subject better, and it felt more professional/solid. would recommend.

* Ringworld -- pretty good. the 'Teela problem' is fascinating to me and got me thinking a lot outside of reading, which to me is a sign of a good book. the 'spacey stuff' in the book was not that great. even the ringworld itself was not that interesting. would recommend.

* The Mote in God's Eye -- my favorite book of the year. so much to think about (moral problems/dilemmas). the realistic part of the space travel was new to me (like the consideration of g-forces in constant acceleration), and so that was more to think about. definitely recommend.

* Cryptonomicon -- a close second. Neal Stephenson goes into wicked detail in his books and always blows my mind (never heard of Van Eck Phreaking before this book, how is that possible?). definitely recommend.

~~~
jotaass
Definitely read the other Hitchhiker's books. At least, the second one, which
is as good as the first, if not better. Also, absolutely recommend the radio
series. Even after you read the books, it's different enough to keep you
entertained, and worth it for Marvin's lines alone.

------
nichodges
A few highlights for me...

Abundance - Peter H. Diamandis, Steven Kotler. Diamandis has an almost
infectiously positive way of looking at the world. And a hope that's not just
based on a philosophical belief but is backed up with hard data.

Distrust That Particular Flavor - William Gibson. I never got into Gibson as a
fiction writer, but this collection of essays, articles and talks immediately
made me appreciate him as an amazing thinker, observer, and truly brilliant
writer. This book is worthwhile for the pieces on Japan alone, but every
single piece is wonderful.

Finite and Infinite Games - James Carse. An old book but one I only just
discovered. No book has every so subtly had an impact on my life every day.
The finite vs. infinite way of looking at the world has changed the way I
think and act completely on the inside, yet it's probably hardly noticable on
the outside. An amazingly easy book to read, couldn't recommend it highly
enough.

How Music Works - David Byrne A unique and refreshing take on creating music
that can be applied to the creation of anything. Byrne leaves the mysterious &
ethereal world of 'creativity' for dead, and looks at how he creates music,
and how the industry works, in a grounded and logical way. A brilliant book
for anyone who creates anything.

The Plenitude: Creativity, Innovation, and Making Stuff - Rich Gold Another
old(er) book, but one I can't believe I only just found. Rich Gold's outlook
on how and why we make things should be required reading for anyone who plans
on thrusting their big idea into the world.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking - Susan Cain
It's had a lot of press, but I'm going to recommend it anyway. HN undoubtedly
has a higher than average number of introverts who truly operate in an
extroverted world. This book was absolutely eye opening in how it deconstructs
different situations and personalities in a useful and positive way. I
wouldn't say it's 'changed my life', but it has made a few relationships with
close friends and colleagues a lot better.

And a quick plug - for any avid Kindle readers out there, I've built a web app
for viewing/sharing/organising Kindle highlights. If any HN'ers want early
access sign up at <http://kindred.it/> and I'll ping you a beta login.

~~~
aik
Hey nichodges -- I'd love a beta account for kindred.it. I've been seriously
wanting something like that ever since I got a Kindle a few years ago and am
completely amazed that what Amazon offers in terms of highlight management is
so extremely poor. I'm also curious about the tech under it.

~~~
davidw
> I'm also curious about the tech under it.

Me too - I did not realize the highlights or much of anything else was
available through some sort of API.

~~~
aik
Not sure if there is. I found the below page with some ideas -- a few people
have written some scripts to basically scrape the content.

[http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5374045/how-to-access-
kin...](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5374045/how-to-access-kindle-
highlights-api)

~~~
nichodges
Yep unfortunately there's no public API supplied. There's a few different
methods out there that I've had variable amounts of success with. Currently
it's written using a lot of XPath.

I'll send out emails to all of the HNers who've signed up over the next few
days. Thanks for the interest!

------
StavrosK
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality:

<http://hpmor.com/>

And my free ebook conversion:

<https://leanpub.com/hpmor/>

~~~
paulovsk
Best book of the year by far.

A hell of a fiction, but the most important part is that it awakens on the
reader the awe to the universe and the fascination to science, rationality,
evolution, etc.

~~~
pavs
It looks like the book is not finished?

~~~
dudurocha
No, it's not. Eliezer is still releasing chapters.

------
judofyr
I'm going to repost my collection of Hacker News threads that contain book
recommendations:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4185504>

—

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

Science Fiction: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2978027>

Computer Science: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3595599>

General: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1752139>

Design: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3276986>

Computer Science: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1636275>

Developing mental models and increasing cognition:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3277457>

Quant finance: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3177815>

General: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=663662>

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

Math: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=665029>

General: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=875686>

Entrepreneur: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2928211>

Statistics: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=902074>

Philosophy: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1503137>

General: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1865350>

Math for beginners: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=755043>

Military strategy: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=456275>

General: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=797070>

Investing: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=248469>

"I want to start a web company": <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1567456>

~~~
QuantumGuy
Military strategy? Some people have ambition of world domination I suppose but
in all seriousness all you need is The Art of War. Oh yeah the link in the
second computer science thread is bad.

~~~
ceautery
Nonsense. "A Book of Five Rings" is the strategy book for the pure pragmatist.
"Art of War" is for sounding cool at parties.

~~~
Kluny
Protip - if you start talking about Art of War at a party, you will not get
laid. Save that for the morning after.

------
jamesmcn
Walter Jon Williams' _The Green Leopard Plague_ , which is also part of an
anthology of the same name. The anthology includes several other stories that
build up the world that _GLP_ takes place in. Some interesting ideas about
identity and consciousness in a society with extremely advanced
bioengineering.

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

Umberto Eco's _Prague Cemetery_ which expands greatly on a tiny section of
_Foucault's Pendulum_. Eco's writing is extremely dense. Similar to Neal
Stephenson, but with more of a literary flavor than a technogeek flavor. A
nice way to balance out your reading if you find you are a bit too focused on
modern technology.

I finally read Robert Anton Wilson's _Illuminatus!_ trilogy. Early Internet
and web culture was so deeply infused with RAW's ideas that the trilogy felt
like one long déjà vu session. Lots of fun. RAW + Eco are a _great_ antidote
to taking conspiracy theories seriously, while having a ton of fun at the same
time.

Gibson's _Sprawl_ trilogy. Wow. Since the release of the _Blue Ant_ books,
I've been telling people that _Blue Ant_ is the place to start, as it updates
a lot of the underlying themes of _Sprawl_ for this decade. But _Sprawl_ is
still very current and relevant. If you read _Sprawl_ during or before the
dot-com bubble like I did, you probably focused on the prophetic internet
stuff. If you read it again, you will find out that there is plenty more
interesting stuff to feed your brain in Gibson's early novels.

~~~
DigitalJack
I loved Neuromancer and Burning Chrome, to a lesser extent count zero and mona
lisa overdrive.

But, the blue ant books are so boring! I am so genuinely perplexed whenever
anybody recommends them. Honestly I can't say anything after Pattern
Recognition is any good or not as I never gave it a shot.

I guess I just struggle with what exactly and who exactly I'm supposed to be
paying attention to in Pattern Recognition. Too many asides that I only found
distracting and not amusing or even interesting.

But I loved the sprawl series so much, I keep trying to pick up Gibson again.
I'm just left mystified what anyone sees in his recent 5 or 6 books.

I did read the Sprawl books pretty much as they were published, or within a
couple years. I think I was in 6th grade when I read Neuromancer the first
time.

~~~
jamesmcn
I think it is easy to see the _Sprawl_ books as being technology-oriented with
cyberpunk window dressing. If that is your perspective going in to _Blue Ant_
, then I can see how you might be disappointed. The _Blue Ant_ series makes it
clear that Gibson is interested in contemporary humans and their culture.
Technology informs these topics, but _isn't_ the primary focus.

Going back to _Sprawl_ after reading _Blue Ant_ , new layers of detail became
apparent to me. There is a _lot_ more than just an AI-driven singularity story
going on. If anything, the [Spoiler!] Neuromancer-Wintermute union is a
McGuffin made too explicit, distracting many readers from the rest of the
interesting content. Like Space Rastas. How awesome are Space Rastas?!

I found it easy to follow the Cayce Pollard thread in _Pattern Recognition_.
Everything seems to develop around her or eventually relate back to her. In
some sense, Cayce is a hybrid of Case from _Neuromancer_ and _Marly Krushkova_
in _Count Zero_. Bigend is a hybrid of Josef Virek ( _Count Zero_ ) and
perhaps the physical aspects of Armitage ( _Neuromancer).

All of Gibson's books deal with characters that operate with relatively little
wealth and power on the fringe of society and their interactions with figures
of extraordinary wealth and power who have ambiguous locations within society.
But these characters aren't just computer hackers / programmers. They can be
marketing advisors, children, fashion designers, linguists, artists or
mercenaries.

It is worth giving the _Blue Ant* series a second change, there is more in
common with _Sprawl_ than first appears.

------
jacoblyles
The best book I read this year was "Julian" by Gore Vidal. This is a
thoroughly-researched historical fiction book about the Roman emperor Julian,
the last pagan emperor of Rome. Thirty years before Julian rose to the throne,
his grandfather Constantine the Great transformed Christianity from a
persecuted sect practiced by a significant minority into the official religion
of the state. In those thirty years, the ancient cults had mostly withered and
died, their temples turned into churches or abandoned in disrepair.

Julian set out to revive the old religions and convert Rome away from
Christianity. He was a bookish boy, a bit of a philosophy nerd. When he
unexpectedly rose to a position of prominence, it turned out that he had a
knack for military command which helped him gain popularity with the people
and seize the emperorship.

I enjoyed this book because it gets you inside the head of people in a
different time and place, with different thoughts and concerns than modern
westerners. It also shows you how quickly the world can change. Julian lived
in a time when thousands of years of tradition were changing quickly, in a
blink of an eye by historical terms. These are great lessons to have in mind.

------
barredo
Cloud Atlas, little scifi in it. Good writer.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_Atlas_(novel)>
[http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Atlas-Novel-David-
Mitchell/dp/03...](http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Atlas-Novel-David-
Mitchell/dp/0375507256)

------
napoleond
These are the ones I remember, but not necessarily for being the best.

 _Steve Jobs_ \- Walter Isaacson. I thought it was interesting; an honest
attempt at cataloguing the life of a fascinating and complex person.

 _How To Win Friends And Influence People_ \- Dale Carnegie. I'd skimmed
through it in high school, and decided it was full of obvious/cheesy
platitudes, but was somehow convinced to take another look this year and I'm
very glad I did. It _is_ mostly full of very basic "don't be an ass" advice,
but I needed it.

 _Never Eat Alone_ \- Keith Ferrazzi. I'm not sure what to think of this one.
It's pretty low on actionable advice, but it did help me (together with
_HTWFAIF_ , above) reframe the way I approach interpersonal relationships.

 _The Cat's Table_ \- Michael Ondaatje. I haven't finished this one yet, but
it's part of a recent concerted effort to read more fiction. I've always loved
Ondaatje's work, and this latest novel is no different.

 _Freakonomics_ \- Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner. I just started reading this
last night, and I'm already 100 pages in. It's an addicting read, and is
already causing me to re-evaluate the incentive systems that are everywhere.

 _Napoleon Bonaparte_ \- Alan Schom. I've been reading this one slowly for a
while (it's a hefty book). It's a very well written account of Napoleon's
entire life story--highly recommended.

 _Crossing the Chasm_ \- Geoffrey Moore. Just started this one last night as
well (Christmas presents!) and so far it seems like it will live up to the
hype.

 _The Education of Millionaires_ \- Michael Ellsberg. This one, I can't
recommend. As always, though, YMMV :)

------
jkuria
Blue Ocean strategy -- Really solid and well researched book on how to create
things customers will gladly pay for while minimizing your own costs. Creating
uncontested market space for yourself and making the competition irrelevant.

Visual Communication -- old book currently out of print but timeless
principles for effective communication. Visual communication is often more
effective than words.

Eat, Drink and Be Healthy -- How to enjoy food but stay in great shape. You do
not need to live on steamed broccoli and granola to do this! Lots of bland
foods are unhealthy and lots of healthy foods are actually tasty. You just
need to know which ones.

How to build a start up community in your city -- Book by Brad Feld with some
interesting ideas about 'leaders' and 'feeders'. Read it to to build a
community around <http://AfriTech.org>

Positioning -- interesting ideas on how to succeed in a crowded market place

Writing Non Fiction -- another old book that is out of print but lots of good
ideas on how to communicate effectively

------
sb
This year I either read, or started to read the following interesting books:

 _Mathematics: Form and Function_ by Saunders Mac Lane. This is one of my
favorite books concerning the "build-up" of mathematics (it also contains nice
diagrams of "relatedness" of subjects). On HN somebody once recommended
_Mathematics: Its contents, methods, and meaning_ (from Russian mathematicians
in the 50s) which is similar but without the cross references.

 _Proofs and Refutations_ by Imre Lakatos. I have started reading this only
recently and have to say that I find the approach and idea excellent. It would
be great if we had something comparable for CS theory as well.

 _Notes on Introductory Combinatorics_ by Polya, Tarjan, and Woods. Have not
read this exhaustively, but the introduction with Pascal's triangle and some
of Polya' legendary problem solving insights (paraphrased from my memory: "you
are on to something once you find a pattern") are definitely highlights in
this book.

 _Mathematical Discovery: On Understanding, Learning and Teaching Problem
Solving_ by George Polya. Based on the previous book and my fond memories of
reading "How to Solve it", I got this one from the library. Again I can't
attest for all of the contents, but AFAICT now it's another gem from Polya.

From HN advice in previous years I read _The Tibetan Book on Living and Dying_
, which I can heartily recommend, too. It is an anti-thesis to Christian
theology and I find it to contain many insightful comments and different views
on leading a good, meaningful life. I disagree with some of the church-y
comments on that it really is important to have a master and that only the
master can do certain things, but that's probably just me being an atheist all
along.

I actually read some other books, but the list is already kind of long and
might hold interesting pointers for other mathematically inclined readers,
too. I for one am always fascinated on how much advice on problem solving in
mathematics translates to CS.

------
jlangenauer
Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofsteder. Barely needs any introduction here,
but the depth of thought is just staggering.

Lights Out in Wonderland by D.B.C. Pierre. A wonderful story with a few
incidental observations about modern society.

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Sure, you can read about people who've
made everything, but what about people who lose everything. Absolutely
everything. Shattering, tragic fiction.

------
nhebb
I read a lot of mediocre stuff this year, but two are worth mentioning.

 _Wool_ \- by Hugh Howey. He self-published Wool and now has a deal to make
into into a movie directed by Ridley Scott. In that, it's a pivotal work in
the self-publishing movement. [http://www.amazon.com/Wool-Omnibus-Edition-
ebook/dp/B0071XO8...](http://www.amazon.com/Wool-Omnibus-Edition-
ebook/dp/B0071XO8RA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1356473029&sr=8-2)

 _Blood Song_ \- Anthony Ryan. Best epic fantasy I've read since Martin's
_Song of Fire and Ice_. <http://anthonystuff.wordpress.com/books/>

~~~
arram
A second recommendation for Wool and its sequals. I really hope the movie gets
made.

~~~
mdavidgreen
Third that one. I'm not anxious to see a movie of Wool, but I hope one gets
made for the sake of the author.

------
cwebbdesign
3 of my favorites were JavaScript books:

Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja by John Resig (2012) is a very hands-on look
at writing a Javascript library: <http://j.mp/RgOcXO>

High Performance JavaScript by Nicholas C. Zakas (2010) is one of the most
thorough treatments of performance and JS I have read: <http://j.mp/V0R0X3>

Professional JavaScript for Web Developers (2012 3rd edition) is an incredibly
in-depth reference of JavaScript as it relates to the DOM. The third edition
was heavily updated: <http://j.mp/V3eGKC>

~~~
juddlyon
I've been studying JS recently and recommend: JavaScript Web Applications -
Alex MacCaw JavaScript: The Definitive Guide - David Flanagan

~~~
cwebbdesign
Those are both good as well!

------
portman
Funny, I just posted this: <http://willsllc.github.com/blog/books-2012/>

Most Thought-Provoking Books of 2012

 _The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation_ by Jon
Gertner published March 15, 2012 Over the span of a few decades, a single
research lab invented the transistor, the microprocessor, radar, the
communication satellite, the CD, and more.

 _The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business_ by Charles
Duhigg published February 28, 2012 Why toothpaste tingles, how Febreeze was a
flop, and hundreds of other tidbits that are perfect for cocktail parties and
future Jeopardy episodes.

 _The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail-but Some Don't_ by
Nate Silver published September 27, 2012 Weaves together baseball,
earthquakes, the weather, poker, and terrorism. Chapter 7 is the best
description of Bayes theoreom I've ever read.

 _The Honest Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone---Especially
Ourselves_ by Dan Ariely published June 5, 2012 The third Ariely book, and
just as fun. Would be ranked #1 except it's essential the same formula as his
prior two gems.

 _Automate This: How Algorithms Came to Rule Our World_ by Christopher Steiner
published August 30, 2012 Surprisingly good read from a first-time author (and
YC alum). Expands on Andreessen's quip to cover trading, couter-terrorism, the
Arab Spring and more.

------
rdl
I'm pretty happy with Nassim Taleb's _Antifragile_.
[http://www.amazon.com/Antifragile-Things-That-Disorder-
ebook...](http://www.amazon.com/Antifragile-Things-That-Disorder-
ebook/dp/B0083DJWGO)

It's essentially the culmination of Fooled By Randomness and The Black Swan.

~~~
stiff
I found this the worst book from those three, time after time he describes an
idea that sounds somewhat interesting and then every single concrete example
he gives seems completely wrong, the more so the more real-world experience I
have in a topic he describes. For example he goes on and on about how "random
tinkering" beats science when it comes to engineering - I would love to see an
engineer that would agree with him on this. What he says about evolution seems
completely misguided.

~~~
rdl
I'm only about 1/6th of the way through (listening in the car). I did have
some disagreement on the specific examples, but they seemed to just be badly
chosen examples (since he only really understands finance and some liberal
arts, not engineering). So he's a bad writer, but not in a way which directly
detracts from his philosophical argument. (and yes, the evolution parts
sounded whacko too, but I think he was quoting someone else's beliefs, and had
an argument that even if the explanation was wrong, it would still be a valid
conclusion due to another argument)

~~~
jmilloy
Why would you include examples if they aren't necessary to understand the
argument, or arguments that aren't required to make your point? That sounds
confusing and tedious.

~~~
rdl
Because he likes to hear himself talk (well, read his own words) and show off
superficial tangential knowledge (or fairly deep tangential knowledge about
some humanities things, especially classics and lebanese culture).

It's kind of grating, but works for an audiobook in the car, where I might
lose a few seconds due to temporary attention increase on the road. He'll
reliably spend 3-4 minutes saying the same thing with minor variations when 20
seconds would do.

------
rsync
The MIT "platform series" is fascinating - specifically:

_Racing The Beam_ (study of the atari 2600 platform) _The Future was Here_
(study of the amiga platform)

Best books I've read in the last five years:

_Debt: The First 5000 Years_

_Rising Up and Rising Down: Some Thoughts on Violence, Freedom and Urgent
Means_ (william vollman)

~~~
contingencies
Another HUGE vote for 'Debt: The First 5000 Years'. This book simply changes
the way you look at the entire world.

Another one I read and loved this year that is in the same sphere of interest,
with a relatively similar appreciation (though it is European history focused
rather than anthropologically centered) is 'Founder: Meyer Amschel Rothschild
and His Time' @ <http://www.amazon.com/b/dp/0571279635>

------
rehack
Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance - A book on philosophy, can go as
deep as you like. Was written over 25 years ago, but feels very fresh. My key
take away from this book was that you should be humble enough to appreciate
various models of the world - e.g. Science or Religion. Favorite quote: "When
you have a Chatuahaha in your head, you can't resist inflicting it on innocent
people". Still makes me smile :-)

Life of Pi - Bought it following the buzz of the movie. Read the book first,
then saw the movie. A good simple read. Sort of reinforces, the 'various
models' idea of the 'Zen...' book. Found the movie slightly better than the
book, which was a surprise. Ang Lee has made subtle changes, which makes the
story more peppy.

Perfect Rigor - Captures the story (and math) behind, the turning down of a
million dollar prize by Gregory Perelman. The genius Russian mathematician,
who solved a 100 year old standing problem, of the missing proof of the
Poincare Conjecture. It was perhaps my best technical read of the year.

I am feeling Lucky (by Doug Edwards): Google's emplpyee number 59, writes
about his experience at Google. I found it the best book on Google. Better
than some of the others, which seem a bit like _officially authorized_
versions.

 _Below ones I read it in 2011. But haven't posted here, so here goes:_

Born to Run (By Chris Mcdougall): A health book. Has really helped my running.
Highly recommended to all.

A guide to a good life: The ancient art of Stoic Joy (By Joseph Irvine): A
very good book on philosophy. Read it on the reco (<http://sivers.org/book>)
of Derek Sivers.

~~~
Maro
I tried to read Zen a couple of years ago but lost interest. I picked it up
again this year and got through it this time.

I think [one of] the basic messages of the book, that of paying attention and
enjoying the little things of life like understanding and servicing your BMW
motorcycle is great. Unfortunately I didn't get much out of the philosophical
ramblings about _arete_ (quality) and the author's nervous breakdown, which
takes up most of the second half of the book. I did enjoy the description of
the road trip though, if I were living in the US right now I'd love to do it.

~~~
rehack
Yes, I think, there are various takeaways at various levels in that book. The
way I understood it, at the surface level, there is the lovely story of Father
and Son on a road trip.

At deeper levels a lot of things are left to the interpretation of the reader,
as it is with most abstract things. He uses the word Quality in the most
fundamental way. To me that word held the meaning for his life. _Quality_ in
the way in which he understands and reacts to the world.

Before he learned to fix his motor cycle, he was at the mercy of various kinds
of mechanics with varying skill levels and attitudes. He particularly cites an
example of some listening to music while working on the machine. Which he does
not like. For him working on the machine or writing technical documents for
his job, is a spiritual activity.

Also, he makes a point regarding his nervous breakdown, that for others it was
a nervous breakdown. But for him, the way he saw it, it was the deepest of
meditations. Following which phase the understanding and meaning of Quality,
dawned on him, and he was at peace with his life.

Also, I found the way he treats his 11 year old son, i.e like an adult, very
interesting.

Another delightful thing, was the book full of philosophical quotable quotes.
Like the (approximate) one I have cited in my above comment.

But most basic reason I liked the book, is because, it talked to me in the
tone, I wanted it to talk to me. For example the moment any book becomes very
specific (for example 'Life of Pi' is very specific in being inclusive to all
religions, in a rather simplistic way), as a reader I tend to start to
disagree. But if it is abstract, and "Zen.." is very very abstract in
portions, I can provide my own concrete implementations!

------
kul
The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes.

I first heard about it in Michael Lewis' Vanity Fair profile on Obama (Obama
was reading it - [http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2012/10/michael-lewis-
pro...](http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2012/10/michael-lewis-profile-
barack-obama)), and then my cofounder Omar mentioned it as an engrossing book
whilst he was reading it, specifically because of the topic it handles: the
malleability of our memories.

Anyway, it was a pleasure to read, captivating, and the imagery jumping out of
the pages was brilliant. I frequently had to stop and re-read parts. It also
made me laugh.

A personal favourite sentence:

"History is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of
memory meet the inadequacies of documentation."

It won the Man Booker prize last year.

More: [http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/15657664-the-sense-
of-a...](http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/15657664-the-sense-of-an-ending)

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

On the non-fiction side, probably "Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Kahneman,
though I haven't quite finished it. It's dense, but filled with insight after
insight.

------
lpolovets
I really liked Succeed by Halvorson, as well as Willpower by Baumeister and
Tierney. The former covers research on setting goals, the latter covers
research on being more disciplined. Both book are a great blend of interesting
studies and practical advice.

Amazon links: <http://www.amazon.com/dp/0452297710> and
<http://www.amazon.com/dp/0143122231>

Thorough book notes: [http://www.quora.com/Leo-Polovets/Exceptionally-long-
book-no...](http://www.quora.com/Leo-Polovets/Exceptionally-long-book-notes-
for-exceptionally-good-books/Notes-on-Succeed-by-Halvorson) and
[http://www.quora.com/Leo-Polovets/Exceptionally-long-book-
no...](http://www.quora.com/Leo-Polovets/Exceptionally-long-book-notes-for-
exceptionally-good-books/Notes-on-Willpower-by-Baumeister-and-Tierney)

------
NatW
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine - Michael Lewis. A highly-
entertaining insider's view of the mortgage/financial debacle.
[http://www.amazon.com/Big-Short-Inside-Doomsday-
Machine/dp/0...](http://www.amazon.com/Big-Short-Inside-Doomsday-
Machine/dp/0393338827)

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's
Berlin - Erik Larson Highly entertaining non-fiction that reads like fiction.
Accounts of the build-up to hitler's Germany like you're actually there.
[http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Beasts-Terror-American-
Hitlers/...](http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Beasts-Terror-American-
Hitlers/dp/030740885X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1356475642&sr=1-1&keywords=in+the+garden+of+beasts)

------
smartial_arts
1\. "59 Seconds" <http://amzn.to/12DMx27>

A good no-nonsense self-help book. Outlines set of strategies for dealing with
challenging situations in everyday life, touching on areas such as Parenting,
Career, Dating. Author also looks into common misconceptions about how we
function and which mental tricks are efficient and which are not so much.

2\. "Start Small, Stay Small: - A Developer's Guide to Launching a Startup"
<http://amzn.to/12DMzHt>

I actually have a blog post on it here - <http://blog.nimblegecko.com/when-
your-drugs-wear-off/> \- in short it's a book for developers that focuses on
how to start building an online product, with heavy emphasis on market, and
marketing. It also addresses some of the common mistakes we, as developers,
tend to make when conceiving and carrying out the execution of an idea.

3\. "The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-by-Step Guide for Building a Great
Company " ebook - <http://amzn.to/V3BxWq> dead tree book -
<http://amzn.to/12DNfwd>

This is classic, really. What was interesting for me in particular is the
types of markets that a startup launches to - new market, resegmenting an
existing market (low-end, high-end, specific features), clone market, and all
of the limitations/dangers/expectations/growth profiles that choice of
marketing strategy entails.

4\. "Core Transformation: Reaching the wellspring within"
<http://amzn.to/Vw5nAR>

Not that I've only read this book in 2012, but I keep returning to it - that's
probably one of not too many truly life changing books for me. It contains
very simple, yet very efficient reframing exercise (think NLP) that helps to
uncover the true motivations behind behaviours that you don't like in
yourself, and change those for good, yet in a completely unexpected and never
predictable ways.

------
kooshball
I read quite a few this year and the best one is really hard to define. But my
favorite and the one that had the biggest immediate impact is definitely
Bounce by Matthrew Syed <http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7845157-bounce>

Syed was the top Pingpong player in England, and goes in detail about his
trainings and what he thinks are the reasons for his success: lots of
circumstantial luck, and thousands of hours of deliberate practice with
immediate feedback. Even though it's too late for me to become a national
player, the book forced me to refocus my thoughts on the everyday activities
that are important to me, and find a way to practice and improve up on them.

------
dgallagher
"Learn cocos2d 2 - Game Development for iOS" by Steffen Itterheim and Andreas
Low

<http://www.apress.com/9781430244165>

Still reading it (up to Chap 11 of 15).

Covers creating 2D games for iOS using the cocos2d 2.x framework, and Kobold2d
2.x framework. All code is in Objective-C, and it's expected you know Obj-C to
understand the content. If you've done any OS X or iOS development already
you'll have no problems following along. The frameworks are really simple to
learn and use.

It does promote some inexpensive pay-for tools to aid in development, but
always offers a free alternative if available. TexturePacker, Tiled (qt)
(free), GlyphDesigner, and ParticleDesigner.

------
msohcw
Moonwalking with Einstein. Not particularly new but a pretty entertaining book
on the Art of Memory. Not particularly useful (the book kind of says so
itself) but insightful and methods of loci is still a marginally useful skill
to have.

------
abecedarius
Favorite novel, I think: _Orthogonal_ by Greg Egan. First couple books in a
trilogy are out. If you liked Egan in the 90s but mostly lost interest this
millennium, like me, then take a look.

~~~
andrewcooke
more technical again? good. but has he learnt to portray real people and
emotions yet? i guess i will try it anyway...

~~~
abecedarius
Yes to more technical, no to people, alas. Despite which, the conflicts and
resolutions were pretty good. But the science fiction is _brilliant_.

(Incandescence also had some neat ideas, and I don't regret reading it -- it
showed a reasonable way much of general relativity could be discovered before
newtonian physics; but the people stuff irritated me. There was eventually an
in-story explanation for the implausible characters, but it wasn't enough.)

------
arunabh
NON-FICTION 1) Thinking fast and slow (currently reading)

2) The Lean Startup (Read when I joined founders institute, was helpful in
quite number ways. Doubled it with same course on udemy )

3) Banker to the poor - Md. Yunus (Got a chance to interview Md.Yunus,)

4) Business Model Generation <http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com/book>
(Quite a read, for business model generation. One can explain whole biz plan
in 1 page)

5) The Dilbert principle

6) Steve Jobs

FICTION 1) The Hobbit 2) Ulysses 3) Sense of ending

------
colomon
New: Range of Ghosts, Elizabeth Bear Throne of the Crescent Moon, Saladin
Ahmed

Old: The House of the Stag, Kage Baker Soldier of Sidon, Gene Wolfe

Range of Ghosts was definitely the stand out book of the year for me, the
other three I'm sure I will reread. (Actually this time around was already a
reread for Soldier of Sidon.) I'm pretty sure there were a couple of other
books I read and quite enjoyed that I've forgotten now. No science fiction
books come to mind at all, which makes me kind of sad.

------
Tloewald
No-one seems to have mentioned Iain Banks's _Hydrogen Sonata_ so I will. It's
not first rate but it's something of a return to form over his last few (at
least for me).

------
lightblade
Seven Databases in Seven Weeks: A Guide to Modern Databases and the NoSQL
Movement [http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Databases-Weeks-Modern-
Movement/...](http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Databases-Weeks-Modern-
Movement/dp/1934356921/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356465395&sr=8-1&keywords=7+databases)

Not the kind of short cut book that it may lead you to think. The book is a
brief introduction to modern database types and what are their
characteristics, what are their use case, and why you should choose it over
other database types.

Seven Languages in Seven Weeks: A Pragmatic Guide to Learning Programming
Languages (Pragmatic Programmers) [http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Languages-
Weeks-Programming-Prog...](http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Languages-Weeks-
Programming-
Programmers/dp/193435659X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356465626&sr=8-1&keywords=7+languages)

Similar book as above, but introduces you to 7 different programming
languages. The focus of the book is not on how to use each language, but to
explore the different programming paradigms introduced by each programming
language. (prototypical inheritance, functional programming, logic
programming, object-oriented programming)

------
mindcrime
_The Mysterious Island_ \- Jules Verne. Probably my first favorite book, which
I've read about 10 or 12 times in my life. Just re-read it again a few weeks
ago. Never gets old. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mysterious_Island>

The three titles in _The Newsflesh Trilogy_ by Mira Grant. I'm not normally
real big on zombie stories, but this one was a breath of fresh air. Part
zombies, part conspiracy story, and wildly entertaining.
<http://miragrant.com/newsflesh.php>

_Living Low Carb_ \- Jonny Bowden. Picked this up after I was diagnosed as
diabetic, and needed to clean up my diet and lose some weight. Very detailed
book, explains the endocrine cycle and the relationship between carbs, fat,
insulin, etc. very well, and makes a compelling case for eliminating most
carbs from one's diet. I've been following this approach for the last 2-3
months and feel pretty good about it. My weight is coming down, even though
I'm not doing a lot more exercise (that part will come eventually, but for now
I'm basically just doing on mountain bike ride of about 2 hours, on
Saturdays). [http://www.amazon.com/Living-Low-Carb-Controlled-
Carbohydrat...](http://www.amazon.com/Living-Low-Carb-Controlled-Carbohydrate-
Long-Term/dp/1402768257)

 _The Startup Owner's Manual_ \- Steve Blank and Bob Dorf. The successor to
the famous _The Four Steps to the Epiphany_ , this is the Bible of Customer
Development. <http://www.stevenblank.com/startup_index_qty.html>

_Winning The Knowledge Transfer Race_ \- kinda niche, but important to me,
vis-a-vis Fogbeam Labs. Our space is (largely) knowledge management, and I got
a ton of ideas from this book, in terms of how to articulate problems our
customers might be facing, how some of the solutions map to capabilities we're
working on, etc. <http://www.michaeljenglish.com/books/winning.html>

_Outthink The Competition_ \- Kaihan Krippendorff. Definitely got me thinking
about the value of strategy and strategic thinking. Contains a nice catalog of
basic strategies one can employ. Inspired me pick up some other books on
strategy and strategic thinking as well. I definitely recommend this one,
unless you happen to be in a business that might compete with us at Fogbeam
Labs, in which case, forget you ever heard of this.
<http://www.kaihan.net/outthinkthe_competitionbook.html>

_Capability Cases: A Solution Envisioning Approach_ \- Irene Polioff, Robert
Coyne, Ralph Hodgson. An interesting book on matching business problems to
technical solutions through something called a "capability case". Think of a
"capability case" as something like a cross between a "use case" and an
Alexanderian pattern, and a business "case" like you'd study in business
school. Basically it's an approach to distilling the essence of a problem an
organization might have, laying out the capabilities needed to address that
problem, and demonstrating the business justification for the solution.
<http://www.capabilitycases.org/>

_Steve Jobs_ \- Walter Isaacson. Just a fascinating story of a strangely
interesting man. Lots of computer industry history embedded in here as well.
[http://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-
Isaacson/dp/14516485...](http://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-
Isaacson/dp/1451648537)

 _Hackers_ \- Steven Levy.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackers:_Heroes_of_the_Computer...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackers:_Heroes_of_the_Computer_Revolution)

 _Artificial Life_ \- Steven Levy.
<http://www.stevenlevy.com/index.php/books/artificial-life>

_The Apocalypse Codex_ \- Charles Stross. My first foray into "The Laundry
Files" and it was a good one. When somebody first recommended this series to
me, they said it was "sci fi with a Lovecraftian bent" which caught my
attention as a huge fan of Lovecraft. Sure enough, that's exactly what it is.
As soon as I encountered the phrase "computational demonologist" I knew I was
in the right place. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apocalypse_Codex>

_The Fountainhead_ \- Ayn Rand. I like to read this for inspiration every now
and again. Howard Roark is one of my favorite characters and I aspire to be
more like him. Unfortunately, to date, I think I'm closer to Gail Wynand.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fountainhead>

_Trust Me, I'm Lying_ \- Ryan Holiday. How one man manipulated a variety of
media outlets to gain free PR for his clients. Some of these tactics may seem
(and probably are) underhanded, perhaps even downright unethical. But even if
you don't want to use them yourself, you should probably be aware of them, as
it may help you understand why certain stories get featured in the media and
why others don't. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust_Me,_I%27m_Lying>

_Ghost In The Wires_ \- Kevin Mitnick. [http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wires-
Adventures-Worlds-Wanted/d...](http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wires-Adventures-
Worlds-Wanted/dp/0316037702)

 _This Machine Kills Secrets_ \- Andy Greenberg. History of the cypherpunk
movement, from the early days through Wikileaks and the Bradley Manning and
Julian Assange sagas. Lots of great stuff here, definitely recommended for
anyone interested in cypherpunks, government/corporate transparency,
information security, and related topics.
<http://www.thismachinekillssecrets.com/>

Started, but haven't yet finished _Taking People With You_ by David Novak.
Another book on leadership and how to engage other people and get them onboard
with whatever it is you're trying to accomplish. So far it strikes me as
pretty good, with actual actionable material, not just a bunch of pithy
aphorisms. But I'm only about 1/3rd of the way in, so kinda early to pass
judgement. <http://www.takingpeoplewithyou.com/>

Started _Reamde_ by Neal Stephenson, but got distracted, set it aside and
never resumed it. Will probably start it again sometime next year. Was
entertaining up to the point I stopped. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reamde>

Started, but didn't finish _The Singularity is Near_ by Ray Kurzweil. It's a
long book, what can I say?
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Singularity_Is_Near>

~~~
mikeash
Definitely recommend the rest of the Laundry books. Also be sure to check out
Stross's short story "A Colder War", which came before those, and is very much
in the same overall theme, although substantially darker.

~~~
mindcrime
Will do! I have a handful of other Stross books waiting in a pile to be ready
already, but not sure I have any more of the Laundry ones yet. I know I have
several of his other traditional sci-fi works waiting, and I'll definitely get
to the rest of the Laundry books eventually.

~~~
inetsee
I can highly recommend "Accelerando". It's one of my all time favorite books.
I've read it a half dozen times, and I'll probably read it again, just not
right away.

I also liked his Eschaton series, "Singularity Sky", and "Iron Sunrise".

In spite of loving "Accelerando", I've never been able to get into his non-
hard science fiction series, like the Laundry series, or Merchant Princes.

~~~
zem
"singularity sky" is not necessarily my favourite stross book, but it's the
one that impressed me the most. one of the best treatments of FTL in a
relativistic universe I've seen (as in "fine, have FTL, but you can't ignore
the fact that it violates causality".)

------
stevenj
"Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson [http://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-
Isaacson/dp/14516485...](http://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-
Isaacson/dp/1451648537)

"Liar's Poker" by Michael Lewis [http://www.amazon.com/Liars-Poker-Michael-
Lewis/dp/039333869...](http://www.amazon.com/Liars-Poker-Michael-
Lewis/dp/039333869X)

"Reminiscences of a Stock Operator" by Edwin Lefevre
[http://www.amazon.com/Reminiscences-Stock-Operator-
Commentar...](http://www.amazon.com/Reminiscences-Stock-Operator-Commentary-
Livermore/dp/0470481595)

"The Big Miss: My Years Coaching Tiger Woods" by Hank Haney
[http://www.amazon.com/Big-Miss-Years-Coaching-
Tiger/dp/03079...](http://www.amazon.com/Big-Miss-Years-Coaching-
Tiger/dp/0307985989)

"The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker
Game of All Time" by Michael Craig [http://www.amazon.com/Professor-Banker-
Suicide-King-Richest/...](http://www.amazon.com/Professor-Banker-Suicide-King-
Richest/dp/0446694975)

------
xiaoma
_Mastery_ , by Robert Greene!

It's the result of years of his research on the process a human goes through
to achieve mastery in a field. It breaks the process down to key components
and stages and examines masters of various disciplines that exemplify these
concepts. The subjects were pretty varied, from Leonardo to Darwin to PG!

In short this book is everything I had originally hoped for in _Outliers_.

------
lemma
1Q84. True "literature" without feeling like it. I wish I could read the
original Japenese. Also, too bizarre to really describe accurately.

~~~
andrewcooke
just want to warn others - this is by far the worst of murakami's books. above
all, it's way too long. if the three volumes were edited to one, it would be
much improved. i wish i had googled for reviews (which were generally
negative) before buying and reading these.

~~~
lemma
It's my first of his novels, I'll check out the others. I can see the point on
length, I wonder how much of that is a function of translation and of the
desire to create the sensation of having lived that year. I just finished, so
it'll take me some time to gain a better perspective on it.

~~~
andrewcooke
oh lucky you! the others are so much better :o) they don't need to be read in
order or anything, but i'd suggest trying to do so. i remember thinking that
some of the later ones tended to "explain" in a certain way some of the
earlier ones (not completely, and not directly, but there seemed to be
references at times).

(also, from what i remember, the third volume of 1q84 was most like his other
works - i almost stopped after the 2nd and was glad i continued).

ps on translation - i don't think that would make this one so different to the
others (which are also translated). i do agree that murakamis books feel
translated (like you could guess they were translated if you were given one
and didn't know what it was), but that seems to be just something about either
translated books or authors that work well in translation (or may just be me
imagining things). i don't think i have ever read a book in both the original
language and a translation, but i know that roberto bolano, who was recently
very big in english translation, reads like a translated author in the
original (if you see what i mean)...

------
ratzinho87
Someone on HN recommended "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" by Oliver
Sacks. I was fascinated by how fragile "normal behaviour" is.

------
ThomPete
I read a lot of books this year but these are my favorites:

The Post Capitalist Society - Peter F. Druckert

The War of Art - Pressfield, Steven

Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology (Bradford Books) - Braitenberg,
Valentino

The Art of Doing Science and Engineering - Hamming, Richard W. (this book is
even better if you are good with math, which I am not) it's still fairly
inspirational.

Re-read:

Mindstorms: Children, Computers, And Powerful Ideas Papert, Seymour A.

------
xfax
'How to win friends and influence people' - Dale Carnegie.

Simple, to the point and effective.

------
davidwparker
I really enjoyed _Running Lean_ by Ash Maurya. It's basically _Lean Startup_
\+ _Business Model Generation_ \+ Applied exercise.

I liked it a lot better than Lean Startup because it's actionable.

I also really enjoyed _Logicomix_ which I thought was an excellent and
entertaining throughout.

I read many others which were also good +/-, but those two were definitely the
best.

------
rockyroadster
This sounds like a weird suggestion but it's an incredibly entertaining and
interesting book about an amazing entrepreneur who was one of America's first
fruit tycoons. [http://www.amazon.com/Fish-That-Ate-Whale-
Americas/dp/037429...](http://www.amazon.com/Fish-That-Ate-Whale-
Americas/dp/0374299277)

~~~
davidw
I actually value the "weird suggestions" most: the "latest thing" books are
pretty visible. Whether bubbled up through Amazon's creaky recommendation
engine or twitter or whatever, Nate Silvers' book was going to show up on my
radar, whereas something like this might not have. Thanks!

------
aik
Few books from this year:

The New Solution Selling -- The first sales book I ever read and extremely
enlightening. It demystified much of the sales process for me.

The Intelligent Investor -- Timeless ideas on investing.

Steve Jobs -- I had no intention of reading this book but found it incredibly
interesting. Very insightful.

The Intelligent Entrepreneur -- This book followed 3 HBS grads from pre-HBS to
entrepreneur success, and attempted to draw some overarching conclusions on
what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. Very interesting.

Name of the Wind -- The only fully fiction book I read this year. Great book.
Waiting on the 3rd to come out before I read the second in the series.

Dreaming in Code -- I'd heard great things about this book but I felt it was
very lacking in insight. Some interesting moments but overall a
disappointment. Perhaps it is because I read it after ~6 years of professional
programming experience + 4 years of school + a number of other programming
books?

Teaching Minds -- Roger Schank's latest book on education. In this one he
outlines key cognitive abilities that education should be centered around
rather than subjects. Very interesting.

A Concise Guide to Macroeconomics -- I had read very little macroeconomics,
and this book provided a very readable and quick guide on the basics.

Bounce (by Matthew Syed) -- Great book about how great performers became great
performers. This goes back to the nurture vs nature debate, and sides very
heavily on the nurture side. Syed was an olympic ping pong player from the UK.

The Willpower Instinct -- I'm still reading this one (with my wife), and find
it to be unbelievably insightful. If you have any desires to change any habits
or behaviors, this book is incredible.

The Innovator's Solution -- The book after The Innovators Dilemma. Very
insightful, just like the previous one.

~~~
hisyam
I think Dreaming in Code is a pretty good book for a newbie programmer.

------
Reltair
_How to Get Rich: One of the World's Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His
Secrets_ \- Felix Dennis. The most life-changing book that I read this year.
[http://www.amazon.com/How-Get-Rich-Greatest-
Entrepreneurs/dp...](http://www.amazon.com/How-Get-Rich-Greatest-
Entrepreneurs/dp/1591842719/)

~~~
venus
+1 to this book. It's worth it just for the crushing realisation of what
income category the actual rich consider you to belong to.

------
mjouni
Signal and the noise by Nate Silver(Very nice read. Chapters on climate change
and GDP forecasting were a bit slow, but everything else was a page turner)
<http://www.amazon.com/dp/159420411X>

Why I left Goldman Sachs by Greg Smith (Good insight into the 2008 financial
breakdown and a look into the day to day operations of Goldman Sachs)
[http://www.amazon.com/Why-Left-Goldman-Sachs-
Street/dp/14555...](http://www.amazon.com/Why-Left-Goldman-Sachs-
Street/dp/1455527475)

The Hobbit [http://www.amazon.com/Hobbit-There-Again-Illustrated-
Author/...](http://www.amazon.com/Hobbit-There-Again-Illustrated-
Author/dp/B0038AYINO/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1356521874&sr=1-4&keywords=the+hobbit)

Data Mining: Concepts and Techniques(Great intro into data mining)
[http://www.amazon.com/Data-Mining-Concepts-Techniques-
Manage...](http://www.amazon.com/Data-Mining-Concepts-Techniques-
Management/dp/0123814790/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1356521918&sr=8-2&keywords=data+mining)

Programming Collective Intelligence(You can play around with actual
implementations of the concepts in the previous book)
[http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Collective-Intelligence-
Bu...](http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Collective-Intelligence-Building-
Applications/dp/0596529325/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1356521951&sr=1-1&keywords=collective+intelligence)

Ghost in the Wires by Kevin Mitnick (Was really nice to see the details behind
Mitnick's adventures) [http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wires-Adventures-Worlds-
Wanted/d...](http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wires-Adventures-Worlds-
Wanted/dp/0316037702/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1356522381&sr=1-1&keywords=ghost+in+the+wire)

On War By Clausewitz(Really enjoyed this book.)<http://www.amazon.com/War-
Carl-von-Clausewitz/dp/1448676290>

------
swatkat
'The Joy of X: A Guided Tour of Mathematics, from One to Infinity' by Steven
Strogatz.
[http://www.flipkart.com/joy-x-1848878443/p/itmdekzuwjwwngfz?...](http://www.flipkart.com/joy-x-1848878443/p/itmdekzuwjwwngfz?pid=9781848878440)

'Anything You Want: 40 Lessons For A New Kind Of Entrepreneur' by Derek
Sivers. [http://www.flipkart.com/anything-you-
want-1936719118/p/itmdy...](http://www.flipkart.com/anything-you-
want-1936719118/p/itmdynfvqes6fdbd?pid=9781936719112)

'Jugari Cross' by Poornachandra Tejaswi; an amazing thriller novel that takes
place in real-time. [http://www.flipkart.com/jugari-
cross/p/itmd7gdp6xvushkd?pid=...](http://www.flipkart.com/jugari-
cross/p/itmd7gdp6xvushkd?pid=RBKD7GDPGERXMG4T)

------
firstprimate
Fiction:-

The Expanse by James S. A. Corey
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leviathan_Wakes> &
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calibans_War>

Near SF by Daniel Saurez <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_(Suarez_novel)>

Non Fiction:-

Katherine Boo: <http://www.behindthebeautifulforevers.com/>

Susan Cain: <http://www.thepowerofintroverts.com/>

Daniel Kahneman: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking,_Fast_and_Slow>

~~~
inetsee
I read Daniel Suarez's new book, "Kill Decision". I was expecting it to be a
continuation of "Demon" and "Freedom", but it was a completely new storyline.

I liked "Kill Decision" a lot, and I can highly recommend it.

------
ulrikrasmussen
Invisible - Paul Auster. Definitely my favourite book of the year, and also my
favourite book by Paul Auster, whose books I've been reading throughout the
summer. The story itself is captivating, but the style of the book is one of
the best things about it. It tells a continuous story, but is told from the
point of view of several authors, and with different styles (changes from
first to second to third person, for instance). On top of that, the authors
occur in the main story itself, interact with other people in the main story
while retelling it, and even deliberately change and obscure information.

Although this may sound very complex, the book is actually not that hard to
follow. Highly recommended!

------
gammarator
Two highlights from an earlier blog post
([http://bellm.org/blog/2012/11/24/the-best-books-i-read-
in-20...](http://bellm.org/blog/2012/11/24/the-best-books-i-read-in-2012/)):

How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming, Mike Brown

A funny and very humanizing picture of a scientist at work: A great account of
the quest to discover planets beyond Pluto, and of the upheaval that followed.

Moonwalking with Einstein, Joshua Foer

Can a normal person become a memory champion? Joshua Foer covers a lot of
ground in this well-written book, including extensive historical background as
well as considerations of neuroscience, deliberate practice and expertise,
savantism, and immersive journalism.

------
w1ntermute
_Who Stole the American Dream?_ \- Hedrick Smith:
[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13331153-who-stole-the-
am...](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13331153-who-stole-the-american-
dream-can-we-get-it-back)

------
elssar
[Pandora's Star](<http://books.google.com/books?isbn=0330518917>) by Peter F.
Hamilton. A old book, yes, but a part of some of the best science fiction I've
read.

~~~
rmccue
In the same universe, Dreaming Void, Temporal Void and Evolutionary Void. I
read the Temporal Void a year or two ago without reading the first and despite
not completely understanding the story, loved it. Went back and read the whole
series this year, and found it fantastic.

~~~
elssar
I found The Dreaming Void a few years ago while wandering a library
desperately trying to find a good science fiction book to read - none of the
suggestions I got from friends were there. I'm so glad that none of the
suggestions were there.

------
jlees
_It Starts With Food_ was the book that has had the most significant impact on
my life this year. _Power, Speed, Endurance_ , which I recently got, has a
shot at being the next most impactful.

 _Among Others_ was one of the most enjoyable fiction reads. Beautiful. _Prep_
was also surprisingly good, and not something I would usually have read.

 _Leading So People Will Follow_ surprisingly insightful and clearly
actionable.

The Big Nerd Ranch's guide to iOS development carried me through last
Christmas and the new year admirably. I haven't really read many programming
books this year but it stands out as being well crafted.

------
Bootvis
The Iliad, I had high expectations but it was even better than I expected.

~~~
jacoblyles
Fagles translation?

~~~
Bootvis
I read it in Dutch as translated by H.J. de Roy van Zuydewijn. If you want to
read it in Dutch his translations of The Ilias and the Odyssey are highly
recommended by me and more importantly my classics teacher. The Ilias is out
of print but available in the second hand market at a premium.

By the way: If you (edit: or anyone else ;) wants to read them I can loan them
to you.

~~~
jacoblyles
If I could read Dutch I would accept your offer :) But alas, I cannot.

------
davidw
I recently started a review 'blog':

<http://davids-book-reviews.blogspot.com/>

Of that list, "Information wants to be shared", and "The Fractalist: Memoir of
a Scientific Maverick" stick out as being pretty good. "Climbing the Charts:
What Radio Airplay Tells Us about the Diffusion of Innovation" was also very
interesting, and a clever use of statistics to look at how one specific sector
works. I also loved "The Oregon Desert", although it's probably not very
interesting to most people out there.

------
shanelja
Not exactly a new release, but 'Dissolution' by C.J. Sansom was without a
doubt the best book I read this year. [1]

That aside, I reread the Dan Brown 'Angels & Demons' and 'The Da Vinci code'
novels, worked my way through 'To kill a Mockingbird' for the first time since
high school and read the 'Catechism of the Catholic Church' - to better
understand the religion my girlfriend is choosing.

[1] [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dissolution-Shardlake-C-J-
Sansom/dp/...](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dissolution-Shardlake-C-J-
Sansom/dp/0330450794)

------
cafard
_Quartered Safe Out Here_ by George MacDonald Fraser, a memoir of WW II
infantry service in Burma

 _An Essay Concerning Human Understanding_ by John Locke, started in 2011,
finished this year

 _War and the Iliad_ essays by Simone Weil, Rachel Bespaloff, and Herman Broch

 _EIMI_ by E.E. Cummings, his account of a visit to the USSR in 1931

 _Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics That Can Be Considered As a Science_ ,
Immanuel Kant (reread many years after the first reading--interesting to be
reminded how awful translations from German can be)

 _Essays Ancient and Modern_ by Bernard Knox

------
tonywok
Here's a few of my favorites I read this year:

1\. Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain by David Eagleman

2\. Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives by David Eagleman

3\. Developing a Universal Religion by David Hockey

4\. Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer

------
pkrumins
Best release this year for me was Josuttis's _The C++ Standard Library - A
Tutorial and Reference, 2nd Edition_ , which quickly got me to speed with the
new C++11 features.

------
fcardinaux
_100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People_ \- Susan Weinschenk.
This is the book from which I learned the most this year. It provides the
reader with 100 applicable and up to date insights into human psychology: how
people see, read, think, decide, etc. Very useful and well organized.

[http://www.amazon.com/Things-Designer-People-Voices-
Matter/d...](http://www.amazon.com/Things-Designer-People-Voices-
Matter/dp/0321767535/)

------
sayemm
I recently came across these two interesting reads about how Eisenhower was an
expert bridge player and during WWII, he required officers on his staff to be
good card players as well:

<http://home.comcast.net/~dist8adv/jun09/ike.htm>

[http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1...](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1129782/index.htm)

------
QuantumGuy
Biography of Steve Jobs. It was truthfully entertaining.

------
Derbasti
"The Forever War" by Joe Haldemann. Possibly the best science fiction I ever
read!

"The Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs" and its video
lectures[1]. Highly recommended!

[1]: [http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-
comput...](http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-
science/6-001-structure-and-interpretation-of-computer-programs-
spring-2005/video-lectures/)

------
kgabis
"The Century of the Surgeon" by Jurgen Thorwald [http://www.amazon.com/The-
century-surgeon-Jurgen-Thorwald/dp...](http://www.amazon.com/The-century-
surgeon-Jurgen-Thorwald/dp/B0007DNL60)

"Programming Pearls" by Jon Bentley [http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Pearls-
Joe-Bentley/dp/8177...](http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Pearls-Joe-
Bentley/dp/8177588583)

------
lazyjones
Someone recommended this - at first I thought the title sounded too cheesy,
but then again I already had plenty of (bad) management books, so I gave it a
try:

[http://www.amazon.com/Its-Your-Ship-Management-
Techniques/dp...](http://www.amazon.com/Its-Your-Ship-Management-
Techniques/dp/0446529117)

While not featuring any groundbreaking ideas, it's convincing and straight to
the point.

------
Maro
The Lean Startup - Too bad this wasn't around when I was starting my (now
failed) startup 4 years ago.

Softwar - Larry Ellison's story. Fascinating read.

Games People Play - Classic by Eric Berne. Must read psychology. Short, and
you will get so much out of it.

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff - Must read psychology. Short, and you will get so
much out of it.

Learn You a Haskell for Great Good! - Will re-read soon to get to the next
level.

------
jotaass
This year I decided to dive into the Game of Thrones* series, having
discovered it through the TV show. Those were some intense 3 months! These
books are the very definition of immersive. While they can get repetitive and
slow at times, that is more than compensated by the whole setting, atmosphere
and, well, "major events".

* or, for the pedantic out there, A Song of Ice and Fire.

------
braveheart1723
Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams

is the book on animation, takes you through all the basics and breaks down why
disney's animators were just better than everyone else... applicable to css3 /
front end development.

[http://www.amazon.com/The-Animators-Survival-Richard-
William...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Animators-Survival-Richard-
Williams/dp/0571202284)

------
arram
I read 27 books in 2012. Here are some of the more interesting ones:

 _Shogun - James Clavel_. 'Epic' is the best word I can use to describe this
historical fiction. I first read it in 2009 and have reread all 1100 pages
multiple times since. The first English pilot to reach the Japans discovers a
culture that, while strange, is in many ways far more advanced than his own.
The fictional Lord Toranaga is based on the historical Tokugawa Ieyasu, a
brilliant strategist who founded a dynasty that lasted 268 years. The book is
full of the real Tokugawa's writings, which can be very profound. For anyone
familiar with the 'marshmallow test' for determining how well 5 year olds will
do later in life, Tokugawa had it figured out 370 years before Walter Mischel:

 _"The strong manly ones in life are those who understand the meaning of the
word patience. Patience means restraining one's inclinations. There are seven
emotions: joy, anger, anxiety, adoration, grief, fear, and hate, and if a man
does not give way to these he can be called patient. I am not as strong as I
might be, but I have long known and practiced patience. And if my descendants
wish to be as I am, they must study patience."_

 _Lieutenant Hornblower - C.S. Forrester_. Shogun taught me that reading
historical fiction made regular history much more interesting, which made me
seek out more historical fiction. This is a series of 12 books covering the
career of a British navel man during the Napoleonic Wars. Gene Roddenberry
based the character of Jean Luc Picard on its protagonist. My recommendation
won't be as strong as these gentlemen though: _"I find Hornblower admirable."_
-Winston Churchill, and _"I recommend Forester to everyone literate I know,"_
-Ernest Hemingway

 _The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell_. I found this through another Hacker News
book thread. I enjoyed it so much that after reading the sequel I immediately
went back and read the first book again. SETI discovers music coming from
Alpha Centauri and the Jesuits are the first to launch an expedition to
investigate. It's science fiction, but unlike most science fiction, the story
is more about the characters and their relationships than it is about
exploring the consequences of an interesting premise.

 _Call Me Ted - Ted Turner_. At the peak (before the AOL-Time Warner merger
debacle) Ted Turner was worth $10 Billion. His autobiography is a great look
into the sort of exceptional personality that creates that kind of exceptional
result. Everything from growing up in the south and almost being lynched in
school when someone started a rumor that he'd badmouthed General Robert E.
Lee, to transforming his dad's billboard company several times until it was a
media empire with TV channels like CNN, TNT, and Cartoon Network. Here's a
great excerpt from a section written by a friend of his:

 _"And you know what I’m going to do next after I have the fourth network?” I
said, “No, Ted, what’s that?” “I’m going to run for president and be elected.”
Now I thought to myself, “This guy is absolutely nuts— and I’ve just agreed to
lend him all this money!” I said to Ted, “Oh, Ted, don’t tell anybody else
about that, okay?” And he said, “Cuz, your trouble is you don’t understand the
power of television. Let me show you.” He pulled a little book of matches out
of his desk drawer and he said, “Okay, it’s Saturday morning at 7: 30 and it’s
Captain Teddy’s Kiddy Hour, and I come on television and I say, ‘Hey kids,
today we’re going to play a game and it’s going to be so much fun. Now, don’t
tell Mommy and Daddy, this is our secret between Captain Teddy and you. Now,
everybody go get some matches. See Captain Teddy’s matches? Go get some just
like this.’” Then he goes over to his window he says, “All right kids,
everybody got your match? Go to the window and strike your match and light the
curtain or the drape,” at which point he struck his match right near the old
cheesecloth thing he had hanging in front of his window and then he flung the
window open and he said to me, “At that point, I’d look out over Atlanta and
watch it burn.” It was an incredible performance."_

~~~
dminor
> Lieutenant Hornblower - C.S. Forrester. Shogun taught me that reading
> historical fiction made regular history much more interesting, which made me
> seek out more historical fiction. This is a series of 12 books covering the
> career of a British navel man during the Napoleonic Wars. Gene Roddenberry
> based the character of Jean Luc Picard on its protagonist. My recommendation
> won't be as strong as these gentlemen though: "I find Hornblower admirable."
> -Winston Churchill, and "I recommend Forester to everyone literate I know,"
> -Ernest Hemingway

If you liked this, check out Patrick O'Brian's "Master and Commmander" series
- it's the cream of the crop for this sort of historical fiction (or any sort,
really).

~~~
arram
I've heard it's a 'spiritual successor' to Hornblower. Thanks.

------
idleworx
I'm going to add mine for 2012 too Carl Sagan's "The Demon-Haunted World:
Science as a Candle in the Dark"

[http://www.amazon.com/The-Demon-Haunted-World-Science-
Candle...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Demon-Haunted-World-Science-
Candle/dp/0345409469/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356494880&sr=8-1&keywords=carl+sagan+candle+in+the+dark)

------
alx
This Machine Kills Secrets - Andy Greenberg -
<http://www.thismachinekillssecrets.com/>

Cypherpunks - Julian Assange with Jacob Appelbaum, Andy Müller-Maguhn and
Jérémie Zimmermann - <http://www.orbooks.com/catalog/cypherpunks/>

------
madamepsychosis
"Infinite Jest" by David Foster Wallace, if you have 90 hours or so to kill
"On Numbers & Games" is a fun maths book

------
peteforde
One of the darkest, funniest books I've ever read was called "The Loom of
Ruin" by Sam McPheeters. I found myself laughing out loud regularly. You can
read an excerpt here:

<http://www.vice.com/read/the-loom-of-ruin-0000118-v19n1>

------
bennesvig
"Mastery" by Robert Greene. "The Art of Learning" by Josh Waitzkin. "The
Icarus Deception" by Seth Godin.

~~~
dudurocha
Can you expand in "The Art of Learning"?

------
treskot
Are we also talking about fiction here? This is a great book - The Immortals
of Meluha - <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Immortals_of_Meluha>

And for designers and developers, the Smashing Magazine series - brilliant!

------
dgtized
Didn't get aorund reading it till this year, but I highly recommend _The
Windup Girl_ by Paolo Bacigalupi. _Pump 6 and Other Stories_ by him is also
quite good. Finally got around to reading the Takahashi Kovec's novels,
_Altered Carbon_ by Richard K Morgan and it's sequels.

------
shanehudson
Well I didn't read many books this year but absolutely loved 'Ghost in the
wires' by Kevin Mitnick.

------
chrisringrose
Royal Flush - it's a hilarious book [http://www.amazon.com/Royal-Flush-Scott-
Bartlett/dp/09812867...](http://www.amazon.com/Royal-Flush-Scott-
Bartlett/dp/0981286704/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1356550835&sr=8-8&keywords=royal+flush)

------
idiamin
"Mastery" by Robert Greene. "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli. "Gomorrah" by
Roberto Saviano.

------
martingoodson
Vision and Brain by Jim Stone <http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/vision-and-
brain-0>

A computational neuroscience approach to the visual system. Changed the way I
think about perception and cognition.

------
RBerenguel
All my 2012 reads <http://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/336049>

The best? Probably Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, but I can't say all the
other books (most non-fiction) weren't great

------
danielharan
Carbon Zero: <http://grist.org/carbon-zero/> (Free online)

An important book to understand how we could tackle climate change, as well as
how companies like Uber and Twine could be part of the solution.

------
yread
Melville's Moby Dick, Crockford's Javascript: the good parts, Vonnegut's short
stories, Defoe's Adventures and Piracies of captain Singleton (not about the
design pattern), Amsterdam in the 70s. Not a single new release though.

------
kaipakartik
I reread all of China Mieville this year and enjoyed it more than I thought I
would. I also enjoyed reading Nick Harkaway. A brilliant writer if ever there
was one. Chinaman is a must read if you are a fan of cricket.

------
Ryoku
Well, not so much as new releases, except for one. But this year I really
enjoyed: Reamde by Neil Stephenson (Can't get enough of that guy) The Art of
Deception by Kevin Mitnick Close to the Machine by Ellen Ullman

------
zwieback
"Wildwood" and "Under Wildwood" by Colin Meloy (the guy from the Decemberists)
and Carson Ellis. Written for older kids but I enjoyed them too. I don't
usually read fantasy books but these are different.

------
neumann_alfred
Erich Fromm: The Sane Society

It's not a new release, but it's the standard by which you might measure new
releases once you read it. Screw 2012, do yourself a favour and sit down with
a _really_ good book :)

------
wallflower
Alice Munro: "The Love of a Good Woman"

Ms. Munro is a masterful storyteller. Each story is different, some you may
enjoy more than others, some you will struggle through, all are boutique
crafted.

------
LeafStorm
_Code_ , by Charles Petzold

 _Through the Language Glass_ , by Guy Deutscher

------
sideprojectbook
Side Project Book: <http://www.sideprojectbook.com/> \- 39 Interviews with
Profitable Side Project builders.

------
tled
"The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter--And How to Make the Most of
Them Now" - by Meg Jay. I'm glad that I read this book while I'm still in my
twenties.

------
vivekn
Nassim Taleb's "Antifragile", Fyodor Dostoyevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov",
Robert Greene's "48 Laws of Power" were some of the good books I read this
year.

------
murrayb
For the mind: Mindfulness in Plain English - Bhante Henepola Gunaratana

For the body: Born To Run - Chris McDougall

For fun: REAMDE - Neal Stephenson

For business: What The CEO Wants You To Know - Ram Charan

------
sgarbi
Here are my suggestions. Have fun :)
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4966023>

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mrnil
The Road to Somewhere: An American Memoir

<http://bigamericannight.com/the-road-to-somewhere>

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emrekzd
"Grouped: How small groups of friends are the key to influence on the social
web (Voices That Matter)" by Paul Adams.

I think this is an amazing book for entrepreneurs.

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mridulk
India specific : India after Gandhi, India Unbound Computer Science :
GEB(still reading), Mahout in Action General : Cryptonomicon, V for Vendetta

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shriphani
Old Man's War – Joe Scalzi

Very Bad Poetry – Ross Petras, Kathryn Petras

Genghis: Birth of an Empire – Conn Iggulden

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: and other Clinical Tales – Oliver
Sacks

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King_Krak
Railsea by China Miéville is my standout book of the year; such fun with
incredible detail that it would also make such a great game world.

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mridulk
India specific : India after Gandhi, India Unbound Computer Science : GEB(
still reading), Mahout in Action General : Cryptonomicon

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angelohuang
"Mastery" by Robert Greene "Emotional Equations" by Chip Conley "The startup
owner manual" by Steve Blank and Bob Dorf "Steve Jobs"

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emehrkay
Off of the top of my head: Heny Ford -- My Life and Work. The Shape of Design.
Ken Segal -- Insanely Simple.

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wahnfrieden
Satantango, by László Krasznahorkai.

~~~
niklaslogren
Could you please expand on this? This book is on my to-read list, but I'm not
sure I'll ever get around to reading it. Wasn't it very repetitive?

~~~
wahnfrieden
I read it since Tarr is one of my favorite directors and I saw the movie
recently (the author works closely with Tarr on the screenplay and on set).
It's dark, very dark but full of humor and great visual descriptions. It adds
a lot to the movie, although they are separate works.

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arc_of_descent
1\. The Blind Watchmaker - Richard Dawkins 2\. Anxiety, Phobias, and Panic -
Reneau Z. Peurifoy

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madamepsychosis
Also: The Age of Gold by HW Brands- a really fun history of the California
gold rush.

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SirDinosaur
i highly recommend all of these: \- "Cathedral and the Bazaar" \- "Buddhism
Without Beliefs" \- "Mindfulness in Plain English" \- "Godel Escher Bach" \-
"People's History of the United States" \- "Debian Administrator's Handbook"

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joewallin
Shantaram

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sturadnidge
"Parkinson's Law" by C. Northcote Parkinson

"The New Industrial State" by J.K. Galbraith

------
the_economist
I reread The Road Less Traveled this year.

The first 150 pages are particularly great.

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tzaman
Eric Ries: The lean startup

Steve Blank, Bob Dorf: The startup owner's manual

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tessellated
"The Long Earth" - Stephen Baxter, Terry Pratchett

------
bherms
Lila - Pirisg

Walden - Thoreau

A Universe From Nothing - Krauss

Goedel, Escher, Bach - Hofstadter

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antirez
dspguide.com it's old (BASIC examples...) but it is very good IMHO compared to
other similar books.

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agentultra
Mortality, Christopher Hitchens

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SteveC
The God Problem by Howard Bloom

------
omarchowdhury
The Brain Audit by Sean D'Souza

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nyddle
"Steve Jobs" - Walter Isaacson

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wito
"4 hour workweek" it rocks.

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jcollins1991
The Shadow of the Wind

~~~
HenryWood
The Shadow of the Wind is a 2001 novel by Spanish writer Carlos Ruiz Zafón,
and a worldwide bestseller. The book was translated into English in 2004 by
Lucia Graves and sold over a million copies in the UK after already achieving
success on mainland Europe, topping the Spanish bestseller lists for weeks.For
more visit : <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shadow_of_the_Wind>

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zem
brin's "existence" was definitely up there.

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shellehs
mine:

1\. The Dark Tower 2\. You Are Not So Smart

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elliottcarlson
Sadly I don't really read quite as much as I used to; but following are the
books I read this year (though none of them were released this year).

\- Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days

[http://www.amazon.com/Founders-Work-Stories-Startups-
Problem...](http://www.amazon.com/Founders-Work-Stories-Startups-Problem-
Solution/dp/1430210788)

Excellent book covering interviews with founders of companies that became
really big. I thought this book was really insightful and inspirational.

\- Coders at Work: Reflections on the Craft of Programming

[http://www.amazon.com/Coders-Work-Reflections-Craft-
Programm...](http://www.amazon.com/Coders-Work-Reflections-Craft-
Programming/dp/1430219483)

I just started this book, but already like it - the format is the same as the
Founders at Work book but on the developer side of things.

\- World Changers: 25 Entrepreneurs Who Changed Business as We Knew It

[http://www.amazon.com/World-Changers-Entrepreneurs-
Changed-B...](http://www.amazon.com/World-Changers-Entrepreneurs-Changed-
Business/dp/1591844509)

It was a good book, but not as inspirational as the Founders at Work book.
Some of the stories are good, but since the majority of the people are not in
my sector, the book just wasn't as interesting to me.

\- Ready Player One

[http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Player-One-Ernest-
Cline/dp/03078...](http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Player-One-Ernest-
Cline/dp/0307887448)

An excellent story that really made me nostalgic to my younger years -
definitely recommend this one.

\- The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death: A Novel

[http://www.amazon.com/Mystic-Arts-Erasing-Signs-
Death/dp/034...](http://www.amazon.com/Mystic-Arts-Erasing-Signs-
Death/dp/0345501128)

I have a weak spot for Charlie Huston books - he's not the best author (sorry
Charlie), but his books are really easy to approach. This is one of his best
ones and is about crime scene cleaners - a nice departure from all the Joe
Pitt vampire novels.

\- World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

[http://www.amazon.com/World-War-Oral-History-
Zombie/dp/03073...](http://www.amazon.com/World-War-Oral-History-
Zombie/dp/0307346617)

It's OK... I read it half way through and then once I got busy I just couldn't
get myself to pick it up again. I will finish it eventually.. just not yet.

\- Hyperion

<http://www.amazon.com/Hyperion-Dan-Simmons/dp/0553283685>

A friend recommended this book to me - I could not get past the first chapter.

~~~
ericfrenkiel
I'm a huge fan of Dan Simmons, and his Hyperion series is well worth the time.
Once you make it beyond the first few pages of Hyperion, I guarantee you'll be
hooked. There are a total of 4 books in the series and each is truly a
masterpiece in science fiction.

I would also recommend "The Terror," which is a historical fiction piece
loosely based on the first expedition to the North Pole.

Simmons has won multiple awards in Science Fiction and leaps across categories
with aplomb. I highly recommend any of his work!

~~~
nhebb
I read _Hyperion_ a few months ago, and I only read to the end so that I
wouldn't be left with that nagging feeling of leaving a book unfinished. Much
like the Grammy's and the Emmy's, I've found that book awards may be a good
indicator of what other people like, but often not a good indicator of what I
like.

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guard-of-terra
Still crawling thru "The Tin Drum" by Gunter Grass.

An epic reading. If you ever wanted to know about the nazi and post-nazi
germany and get force-fed with entirely different topics in the process.

------
HenryWood
I read The 3 Mistakes of My Life written by Chetan
Bhagat....<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chetan_Bhagat>

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dkisit
The Millionaire Fastlane, don't let the title fool you. Great advice and
insight from the founder of limos.com

------
HenryWood
Genearal

