Ask HN: What books are you currently reading? - zatkin
======
strictnein
Recently:

\- The Invention of Russia: From Gorbachev's Freedom to Putin's War

\- The Red Web: The Struggle Between Russia’s Digital Dictators and the New
Online Revolutionaries

Both excellent and pair really well. Add in "Nothing Is True and Everything Is
Possible" and you've got some decent insight into modern Russia, I think.

Just finished:

\- Left of Boom: How a Young CIA Case Officer Penetrated the Taliban and Al-
Qaeda

Interesting to read. Author is rather sure of himself, but I guess that helped
him be successful. Also interesting to see what the CIA redacted, since they
left all the redactions in place in the book and used classical music in the
audio book to represent them. Kind of sloppily redacted at times, with the
redacted country or entity clearly referenced a sentence or two later. And
then there's strange things redacted, like the language of bootleg DVDs that
are purchased in SE Afghanistan. It's Farsi, for the record.

\- The Hacked World Order: How Nations Fight, Trade, Maneuver, and Manipulate
in the Digital Age

If you're interested in kind of an overview of the cyber (yes, I hate the word
too) space, from the perspective of nation states and the impact of their
actions, this is a good read.

------
DarkTree
A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bill Bryson).

It's a cursory overview of all of history (title) from the dawn of time to the
evolution of humans. It seems to be only slightly dated in some information,
but really interesting to learn how the knowledge we assume is true today came
to fruition over time.

Before that,

Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed (Ben R. Rich)

Such an awesome book about not only the engineering feats achieved by Lockheed
Martin during the Cold War Era, but the incredible ability to keep
developments secret from the mostly everyone. If you want to know more about
the purpose of Area51, check it out.

~~~
bawigga
SkunkWorks was a fantastic read! The aviation history was great and I also
really liked seeing how they accomplished so much with a small team.

------
spapas82
Right now: The Poet by Michael Connelly. Very interesting crime novel.

Before that: Best served cold by Joe Abercrombie. A great fantasy novel, the
fourth after the First Law trilogy. I recommend it to fantasy lovers! It is
standalone but I recommend reading The First Law first to have more info about
characters and the universe of this novel.

------
ronald_raygun
I'm reading a few. The Power Broker (really good, but really long). The
dictators handbook (good, but repetitive). Deep thinking (easy and enjoyable
if you're interested in AI). Investment Science (very good if you're
interested in math finance).

~~~
checkdigit15
Investment Science - is that the one by David Luenberger? Green cover?

~~~
ronald_raygun
Yes! It actually has a bunch of really deep math hiding in plan sight (they
have a chapter where they reinvent RL but call it dynamic portfolio
optimization, and when they axiomize risk they are really talking about
special measures)

------
kiliantics
Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds: really creative world-building in a
galactic society and an engaging, twisting plotine.

The Battle for Spain by Antony Beevor: this is on my shelf long-term as it's
quite dense but it's apparently one of the best works on the Spanish
revolution.

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides: unique intersection of themes with American
immigration, industrialisation and gender all packed into one. Fitting themes
for the politics of today though the book already seems slightly dated when it
comes to gender politics.

Anarchosyndicalism: Theory and Practice by Rudolf Rocker. This is to
compliment my interest in the Spanish civil war and the history of
unionism/syndicalism.

------
FredrikMeyer
* "The history of western philosophy" by Bertrand Russell. A fun read so far (~100 pages). Russell is not afraid to tell the reader that he really dislikes Plato, and thinks he destroyed western philosophy.

* SICP (Structure and interpretation of computer programs). Learning Scheme for fun now with this book. I'm only in chapter 2 so far, but it is really fun

* "Gödel, Escher, Bach" by Douglas Hoefstadter. The story in one line: he have a theory that consciousness aries from "strange loops". Along the way he talks about fractals, programming, patterns in music and in pictures,...

* "The Idiot" by Fyodor Dostoyevskij. Fun read.

~~~
pvarangot
Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics is a nice book to read
after SICP if you like torturing your brain with extremely thorough material
written by and for geniuses that want to master something everybody think he
knows bu he really doesn't.

------
thisisforyou
'The Woman in the Dunes' by Kobo Abe: Sometimes called the Japanese Kafka.
Looks at a Japanese salaryman who is imprisoned in the bottom of a sand pit
with a woman he does not know and is forced to remove the sand in order to
protect a nearby village. Creepy and ripe for symbolic analysis.

Before that:

'Kolyma: The Arctic Death Camps' by Robert Conquest. A nice, short overview of
the Kolyma Region with a special focus on the especially brutal years of
1937-1938. Has some great eyewitness accounts as well as some semi-rigorous
historical analysis (as well as appendices of camps, administrative regions at
c.)

~~~
mrexroad
"The Woman in the Dunes" is an excellent film as well.

------
eduren
'Salems Lot by Stephen King. Just got done with his memoir/writing guide "On
Writing" and it's given me a new appreciation for his style. Currently going
back and reading the books of his that I missed in middle school.

The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin. First book I'm reading on a Kindle, so
not yet sure how that will effect my perception of the novel (it is helpful
for footnotes I've found). Absolutely fresh SciFi is rare these days so it's
wonderful so far.

------
Skunkleton
I am reading the Dark Tower series. I have been meaning to read it for a long
time, and with the upcoming movie I figured I should read it before someone
spoils it for me :)

~~~
strictnein
I'm jealous of you. Wish I could read it again for the first time.

~~~
Skunkleton
Yeah, I am having a pretty great time right now.

------
mlenhard
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

~~~
kahoon
I see quite a few people reading this on my commute. How do you find it so
far?

------
kirk211
* Angel by Jason Calacanis about angel investing. ([http://amzn.to/2eOqkyn](http://amzn.to/2eOqkyn))

* Tools of Titans by Tim Ferris ([http://amzn.to/2uYv9LH](http://amzn.to/2uYv9LH))

* Softwar about Larry Ellison ([http://amzn.to/2uYHHmf](http://amzn.to/2uYHHmf))

* Wild ride about Uber ([http://amzn.to/2eOqrdh](http://amzn.to/2eOqrdh))

* Social Intelligence: the new science of human relationships ([http://amzn.to/2uYGueV](http://amzn.to/2uYGueV))

* Rereading - Letters to shareholders by Warren Buffett ([http://amzn.to/2h3xFe0](http://amzn.to/2h3xFe0))

~~~
bawigga
How are you liking _Tools of Titans_? Any good take-aways?

------
kevmo
Empire of Cotton. It's a story about the development of the international
cotton trade, which was the specific environment within which many of the
state and capitalist institutions we now live with were originally developed.
It's a whirlwind of history about international relations, domestic relations,
labor, and the development of the wage system. Slightly pedantic, but an eye-
opening read.

The Name Of The Wind. I bought this because it was the #1 selling book in
Borderlands Books last month (I always swing by that bookstore when I'm in San
Francisco). Entertaining read, good world-building.

Linux: What Every Superuser Should Know. A No Starch Press book about Linux.
It weaves a rich tapestry out of disparate knowledge I already had.

------
pdwetz
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!

Edited biographical anecdotes based on taped conversations. If you've enjoyed
any of his videos, it's hard to read and not hear his voice telling the
stories. I'm about a quarter the way through and am enjoying it so far.

------
bawigga
_The Handmaid 's Tale_ \- Margaret Atwood

 _The 4-Hour Body_ \- Tim Ferriss - Lot's of anecdotes from Ferriss' own
experiments.

 _S._ \- by J.J. Abrams - Layers upon layers. Unlike anything I've read before
and a true Abrams experience. Check it out if you haven't heard of it!

 _Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software_ \- Charles
Petzold - Fascinating PopSci book on the origins of Computers and Code. Each
chapter seems to build on the knowledge you've built from previous chapters.
Interesting read for the programmer/computer engineer and VERY approachable.

~~~
godelmachine
How is Code? I am curious to know

------
DanBC
Kids books:

Currently reading _The Saga of Eric the Viking_ by Terry Jones.
[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Saga-Erik-Viking-Puffin-
Books/dp/01...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Saga-Erik-Viking-Puffin-
Books/dp/0140322612/)

In the queue _Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls_ by Elena Favilli and
Francesca Cavallo.
[https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/014198600X/](https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/014198600X/)

------
GoldDust
"Wireshark Network Analysis: The Official Wireshark Certified Network Analyst
Study Guide"

Either I'm more of a nerd than I thought, or this is actually pretty well
written. I'm really enjoying it.

~~~
bawigga
Wireshark is a fantastic tool. If you do any web development also be sure to
check out Charles Proxy, it's like Wireshark for HTTP.

------
webosdude
Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn
[http://amzn.com/0345536932](http://amzn.com/0345536932). 2 weeks into the
book and 8-week course of MBSR on my own with it's companion meditation and
yoga app, [https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jkz-
series1/id700402554](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jkz-series1/id700402554).
So far liking the book.

------
Robelius
If Our Bodies Could Talk by James Hamblin. There was a passage from his book
hosted on The Atlantic that got to the front page of HN. It went over a crash
course on sleep.

The book only has a small passage on the topic. Instead, the book goes over
random topics from STDs to popping zits with the same depth that his sleep
article followed. I started reading it, but gave the audiobook version a try.
The author makes the book even better and would recommend that form instead.

------
openfuture
Mahabharata - Extremely interesting ethics in my opinion, also the cosmology
is so inconsistent and interesting.

A Radically Beneficial World: Automation, Technology and Creating Jobs for
All: The Future Belongs to Work That Is Meaningful - Charles Hugh Smith

This one is a must read already and I'm only a few chapters in. His arguments
are good enough and perfect is the enemy of good. Wish this book was more
popular.

------
dopeboy
Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance per the recommendations of a lot of
HN'ers.

Have to say, having a pretty difficult time following it.

~~~
galactical
Agreed. I was really excited to read it because I like both Zen and
motorcycles, but I found it really dull and didn't get much out of it.

------
staz
\- How to Read Buildings: A Crash Course in Architecture ~~ Carol Davidson
Cragoe

It's a quick crash course to historical architecture, teaching how to
recognize the different parts from different time periods and why they where
made this way.

\- The Three Musketeers ~~ Alexandre Dumas

An old classic, funny and give an interesting overview of France in the XVIIe

------
lazerpants
The Nix by Nathan Hill. It's excellent.

Review: [http://www.npr.org/2016/08/31/490101821/the-nix-is-a-
vicious...](http://www.npr.org/2016/08/31/490101821/the-nix-is-a-vicious-
sprawling-satire-with-a-very-human-heart)

------
hamishtarah
Aliens: The World's Leading Scientists on the Search for Extraterrestrial Life
edited by Jim Al-Khalili. It's a nice overview of various topics including the
origins of life on earth. I think I'll look for some of the books and studies
mentioned by various authors as follow up.

------
knrz
I'm simultaneously traveling through On Becoming A Person by Carl Rogers and
my psyche. Wonderful read, and furthers some of the ideas I've picked up in
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and a couple other books I've read
over the past year...

------
Symmetry
_The Guns of August_ \- Can't say I really recommend it, read _The
Sleepwalkers_ instead. Barely talks about Austria-Hungary which was a
disappointment.

 _Astrobiology - A Very Short Introduciton_ \- Good so far but I haven't
gotten very far in yet.

------
mdekkers
Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold - some of the books are great, some
not so much, and one is like a Harlequin novel in space - not what I was
aiming for. Finishing them for completeness, but after 10 or 11 or so, they
become boring and mediocre.

------
whatrusmoking
I figure this is a bit of an usual selection for HN, but here's the top of my
in-progress list:

Moral Boundaries -- Joan Tronso

Known and Strange Things -- Teju Cole

The Feeling of What Happens -- Antonio Damasio

The Promise of Hope: New and Selected Poems -- Kofi Awoonor

And I just started Neil Gaiman's "Sandman".

------
sparq_beam
The Uplift War - David Brin

I had enjoyed Sundiver and Startide Rising from the same series quite a bit,
but I have to be honest, this one is trying my patience. I like the whole
uplift concept, but I'm finding the writing in this one a bit clumsy.

------
pbamotra
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future -- Ashlee Vance
(ISBN: 978-0062301239)

Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World --
Gary Vaynerchuk (ISBN: 978-0062273062)

~~~
godelmachine
Whats Jab about?

------
Ayaz
_The Book of Laughter and Forgetting_ by _Milan Kundera_.

I am taking a break from reading business/self-help/startup related books to
read fiction. Milan Kundera is one of my favourite authors.

------
nicolas314
Spin/Axis/Vortex by Robert Charles Wilson. The first one (Spin) has fantastic
ideas, fast pace, and lovable characters. I found Axis fairly boring. Just
started with Vortex.

------
korijn
Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H. P. Lovecraft

Science fiction and thrilling horror. Unique style. I recommend At The
Mountains Of Madness. This man knows how to keep up suspense.

------
stratfordfellow
Dune - Frank Herbert

------
soothseer
\- The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master - Andrew Hunt, David
Thomas

\- The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals - Michael Pollan

------
jbernardo95
ReWork by by David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried

------
LyndsySimon
Three at the moment:

\- Dies the Fire (S. M. Stirling)

\- The Autobiography of Malcolm X (Alex Haley)

\- Give Me a Fast Ship: The Continental Navy and America's Revolution at Sea
(Tim McGrath)

------
agentultra
_20,000 Leagues Under the Sea_ by Jules Verne

~~~
bstamour
I'm reading this right now as well. The last time I read it I was still in
grade school, and it started my love of science fiction.

~~~
agentultra
Same! I'm re-reading it as I started playing
[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/567823005/nemos-war-
sec...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/567823005/nemos-war-second-
edition)

------
koevet
The Age of Jihad by Patrick Cockburn.

The brutal, heart-breaking history of the last 20 years of the Middle East.
Field journalism at its best.

------
mrexroad
Stories of Your Life and Others (Ted Chiang)

------
spicylad
1\. Infinite Jest

2\. The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic

3\. Garner's Modern English Usage

~~~
levimaes
Oh my god Infinite Jest reassured me I wasn't crazy for hating the self-
loathing I associate with weed. And in such a funny way. I swear re-reading a
chapter or scene in that book is like a real-life dream sequence; I can't help
but dissociating. I still didn't understand so much of it after I "finished"
it, but that didn't stop me from pulling the same shit I do--jumping over
chapters until it's interesting--with his other work, "The Pale King". You
will not be disappointed by the candidness and "raw"-ness of the pale king,
either. I almost wanted to applaud some parts of it--a familiar reflex for
you, too, I'm sure.

~~~
spicylad
In a way, I'm sad that I'm reaching the end of Infinite Jest...it's been such
an enriching experience for me. Thanks for letting me know, I'm anxiously
awaiting it. :)

------
Dowwie
"Evicted: Poverty and profit in the American City", by Matthew Desmond

------
jim-davis
Ian Morris: Why the West Rules - for now Richard Baldwin - The Great
Convergence

------
woodandsteel
-The Young Derrida and French Philosophy, 1945-1968, by Edward Baring.

------
mattpratt
\- Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life

\- Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow

------
dragon_greens
We Have No Idea by Daniel Whiteson and Jorge Cham (of PHD comics)

------
walkingolof
"How to Be a Stoic" by Massimo Pigliucci.

So far it's really good.

~~~
bawigga
I've just recently become fascinated with Stoicism after reading the Subtle
Art of Not Giving a Fuck!

I've since read through Meditations, Letters from a Stoic and The Art of
Living, and am really enjoying The Daily Stoic every morning before work.
r/stoicism is also great.

Do you have any other books/resources you recommend on the subject?

------
kk3399
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini

------
auserperson
Grande Sertão Veredas

------
muhblah
\- Essentialism by Greg McKeown

\- The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford

~~~
hawkinsw
Watched a few great presentations by Greg McKeown. Very interesting, I think!
Check out this one from when he gave a talk at Google:

[https://youtu.be/sQKrt1-IDaE](https://youtu.be/sQKrt1-IDaE)

~~~
muhblah
thank you very much!

------
SirLJ
Stock Market Wizards by Jack Schwager

------
petra
Game of thrones - a storm of swords.

------
x009
The Art of Thinking Clearly

------
html5web
Take the Stairs - Rory Vaden

------
tzs
I typically have several books in progress. I'll read a chapter from whichever
one I'm in the mood for when I have some time for reading. Currently in
progress:

"A Book of Abstract Algebra: Second Edition" by Charles C. Pinter [1].

"How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking" by Jordan Ellenberg
[2].

"Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared Diamond [3].

"Introduction to Analytic Number Theory" by Tom M. Apostol [4].

"Algorithmic Puzzles" by Levitin and Levitin [7].

I've also got a 46 books in my Safari Library queue, although only about half
a dozen are actually in the in progress state.

In addition to the above, I'm about 3 years behind on Analog, the science
fiction magazine. Those are all on my Kindle and I'm slowly trying to catch
up.

Recently finished:

"Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything" by
Joshua Foer [5].

Probably going to pick up soon:

"The Greatest Story Ever Told--So Far" by Lawrence M. Krauss [6]. Flipped
through it at a bookstore and there were some very interesting things in it.

[1] [https://www.amazon.com/Book-Abstract-Algebra-Second-
Mathemat...](https://www.amazon.com/Book-Abstract-Algebra-Second-
Mathematics/dp/0486474178/)

[2]
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G3L6JQ4/](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G3L6JQ4/)

[3] [https://www.amazon.com/Guns-Germs-Steel-Fates-
Societies/dp/0...](https://www.amazon.com/Guns-Germs-Steel-Fates-
Societies/dp/0393354326/)

[4] [https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Analytic-Number-
Theory-A...](https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Analytic-Number-Theory-
Apostol/dp/0387901639/)

[5] [https://www.amazon.com/Moonwalking-Einstein-Science-
Remember...](https://www.amazon.com/Moonwalking-Einstein-Science-Remembering-
Everything-ebook/dp/B004H4XI5O/)

[6] [https://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Story-Ever-Told-So-Far-
ebook...](https://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Story-Ever-Told-So-Far-
ebook/dp/B01HMXUZIO/)

[7] [https://www.amazon.com/Algorithmic-Puzzles-Anany-
Levitin/dp/...](https://www.amazon.com/Algorithmic-Puzzles-Anany-
Levitin/dp/0199740445/)

------
blabla_blublu
Courage by Osho.

