
Ask HN: What were the best books you read this year? (2019) - freedomben
Last year toward the end of 2018 there was an awesome thread asking this same question.  I personally found it very valuable, but have not seen one so far for 2019.  I thought I&#x27;d get it started!<p>What were the best books you read this year?  Preference to books released this year, but if an older book changed you for the better by all means please include it!
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mtmail
Related

"Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?"
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21900498](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21900498)

"Ask HN: Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2019?"
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21792158](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21792158)

"Ask HN: What book(s) had the most impact for you in 2019?"
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21677320](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21677320)

"Ask HN: Books You Read in 2019?"
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21799531](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21799531)

"Ask HN: What were the best science fiction books that you read in 2019?"
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21925100](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21925100)

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freedomben
Nice, thanks. This list probably covers it all!

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mindcrime
Well, first things first, here's the list of what I read (well, everything I
_finished_ ) in 2019.

[https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/33942804-phillip-
rhode...](https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/33942804-phillip-
rhodes?read_at=2019)

Out of those, which ones would I pick as "the best"? Hmm... I guess I'd single
out the following for mention:

Non-fiction:

 _A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science_ \- Barbara Oakley

 _On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft_ \- Stephen King

 _CustomerCentric Selling_ \- Michael Bosworth

 _The Prime Solution: Close the Value Gap, Increase Margins, and Win the
Complex Sale_ \- Jeff Thull

 _The Man Who Tamed Lightning_ \- Floyd Miller

 _Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid_ \- Douglas Hofstadter

 _Mastering the Complex Sale: How to Compete and Win When the Stakes Are
High!_ \- Jeff Thull

Fiction:

 _Zero Sum Game_ \- S.L. Huang

 _The Institute_ \- Stephen King

 _The Night Window_ \- Dean Koontz

 _Blue Moon_ \- Lee Child

~~~
freedomben
Thanks for the list! Several of those look incredibly interesting. Do you tend
to prefer fiction or nonfiction more?

~~~
mindcrime
_Do you tend to prefer fiction or nonfiction more?_

That's a tough question. I hate to sound like I'm dodging the issue, but I'd
say it's pretty close to 50/50\. But if you put a gun to my head and made me
pick, I guess I'd say that I have a very slight preference for reading non-
fiction.

