

Ask hackers: what books have you read lately and would recommend me? - pkrumins

Hackers, i just got an awesome book entitled "Founders at Work: Stories of Startups Early Days".<p>I'll soon be finished with it, can you recommend me  (and us, other hackers) more?<p>Thanks!
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wheels
Here we go again...

<http://searchyc.com/books>

[http://www.google.com/search?&q=site%3Anews.ycombinator....](http://www.google.com/search?&q=site%3Anews.ycombinator.com+books)

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compay
Javascript, The Good Parts.

One of the most clear, logical, well-written programming books I've ever read.
Douglas Crockford covers more ground in 153 pages than I ever thought was
possible in a tech book. An absolute gem.

<http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596517748/>

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fnazeeri
Some of my favorite books:

\- Moneyball. A really engaging story about how game changing startups can
turn a centuries-old industry on it's head....er...it's actually about
baseball, but the other part is true too.

\- Crossing the Chasm. It's a roadmap for introducing a new product. Gives a
framework for thinking about the "who" and "why" of a new market.

\- Sales Learning Curve by Mark Leslie. It's actually not a book but rather a
short paper. Shows how the sales learning curve is similar to the
manufacturing learning curve.

\- Extraordinary Popular Delusions & the Madness of Crowds. Why do otherwise
intelligent individuals form seething masses of idiocy when they engage in
collective action? Why do financially sensible people jump lemming-like into
hare-brained speculative frenzies--only to jump broker-like out of windows
when their fantasies dissolve? We may think that the Great Crash of 1929, junk
bonds of the '80s, over-valued high-tech stocks of the '90s and real estate
bubble of the past few years are peculiarly aberrations of our time, but
Mackay's classic--first published in 1841--shows that the madness and
confusion of crowds knows no limits.

\- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. The title pretty
much says it all, huh? Oh, this book was first published in 1931...

\- Hiring Smart. It's a book that takes about an hour to read and provides
practical tips on how to interview someone (as opposed to the other way
around).

\- Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki. Good read with some nice tidbits
(particularly on fundraising).

\- Patton on Leadership (as in General George S. Patton). It's pretty
cool...nothing too touchy-feely.

\- Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate,
Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage

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CaptainMorgan
Nothing startup related... but I just started reading Mastering Regular
Expressions and am through the fourth chapter. It's such an amazing read and
I'm punishing myself for never starting it earlier. For what the content is
worth, the reading is not dry and makes the topic enjoyable.

You might want to read or reread Mythical Man Month, if you're looking for
startup books. While not a startup book per se, its usefulness in the aspects
of the programming environment is tenfold.

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sayhello
Engineering your start-up, Swanson and Baird
[http://www.amazon.com/Engineering-Your-Start-Up-High-Tech-
En...](http://www.amazon.com/Engineering-Your-Start-Up-High-Tech-
Entrepreneur/dp/B000P5XIM2/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217299944&sr=1-8)

Old school, published when 'startup' was still 2 words. Good book to read and
provides a guide in many situations one may encounter in a startup.

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abstractbill
I just read Richard Branson's autobiography, _Losing My Virginity_ , and
thoroughly enjoyed it.

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wlievens
I just finished Cryptonomicon. I know I'm almost a decade late, but boy that's
a must-read.

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DintyMooreNE
Intellectual Property and Open Source. It is a must-read for anyone starting a
business or working on an open source project.

[http://www.amazon.com/Intellectual-Property-Open-Source-
Prot...](http://www.amazon.com/Intellectual-Property-Open-Source-
Protecting/dp/0596517963/)

<http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596517960/>

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lutorm
Fooled by Randomness or The Black Swan, if you're interested in
probability/statistics as it applies to describing our knowledge of the real
world.

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dan-kruchinin
Knuth, "the art of computer programming"; Knuth, "Concrete mathematics"; "GEB
(Gödel, Escher, Bach)"

~~~
knv
+1 for GEB. I'm reading it right now, it's mind blowing.

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tjr
Mr. Bunny's Big Cup O' Java

[http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Bunnys-Big-OJava-
Bunny/dp/020161563...](http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Bunnys-Big-OJava-
Bunny/dp/0201615630)

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rshao
The Monk and the Riddle by Randy Komisar

I'd say it's a must read for any aspiring entrepreneur. It gives you a lot of
perspective and a decent introductory exposure to the process.

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d00723
Life and Def ---Russell Simmons... A little preachy but at it's core a good
read. Nothing beats hearing how to hustle from a NBH. natural born hustla

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azharcs
How about The Road Ahead - Bill Gates. I loved that book and saw a different
personality to Bill Gates other than showed by Media and masses.

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bh
I too thoroughly enjoyed Founders at Work. Straight after, I read Hackers &
Painters by Paul Graham, which I found equally inspiring.

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vitaminj
I read Cormac McCarthy's The Road recently. I found it compelling and
disturbing at the same time. Definitely recommend it.

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tpimental
I just finished "The Pixar Touch"... pretty good read on the evolution of
Pixar

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thinkcomp
I'd recommend "The Cuckoo's Egg" by Cliff Stoll. And of course, "Surely You're
Joking, Mr. Feynman." And...

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=85840>

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watmough
I'm reading K&R 2nd ed and thoroughly enjoying it.

