Ask HN: What book did you read in 2016 that was so good you gifted it to others? - 3stripe
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kirubakaran
"Deep Work" and "Traction". More here: [http://www.kirubakaran.com/books-
read.html?utm_source=hnbook...](http://www.kirubakaran.com/books-
read.html?utm_source=hnbooks2016)

~~~
bnchrch
I can second "Deep Work by Cal Newport" the man gives some great insights and
actionable advice on how to consistently get into the zone as a programmer and
produce great work.

I've gifted it twice already.

~~~
PagingCraig
I also recommend it. Given two copies to people this year.

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oyebenny
Sounds childish, but because a lot of people seem to be losing wonder and
imagination: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_Galaxy)

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davidgould
In programming there is the concept of "technical taste".It applies to
cookbooks too:

Every Grain of Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop.

[https://www.amazon.com/Every-Grain-Rice-Chinese-
Cooking/dp/0...](https://www.amazon.com/Every-Grain-Rice-Chinese-
Cooking/dp/0393089045)

This is a fantastic cookbook if you are interested in cooking Chinese food and
a great reason to become interested if you are not. The author is a fine
thoughtful writer and has really good taste and recipe judgement. The result
is an intriguing collection of simple but good to amazing recipes with almost
no duds. I've made over 60 of the recipes this year and almost all were a
success. I love food and cooking and have over 70 cookbooks but this one has
given me the most pleasure.

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Alexqw85
Neither are new books, but this year I both read and subsequently gifted

* 1491 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1491:_New_Revelations_of_the_A...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1491:_New_Revelations_of_the_Americas_Before_Columbus)

* Stranger in a Strange Land (the "Original, Uncut version") [https://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Strange-Land-Robert-Heinlein...](https://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Strange-Land-Robert-Heinlein/dp/1442005831)

1491 is about the societies in the Americas prior to European contact. And if
anyone knows of any books on the topic that have been written since then (and
thus are even more up-to-date with the current state of the field), I'm very,
very interested.

Stranger in a Strange Land is just... excellent. I really appreciate Heinlein
and I like his world view. Though I've never read the traditional "cut"
version, I've talked with people who have read both and I'm sold on the
unabridged version. As an aside, if you enjoy Heinlein, then I also recommend
reading "For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs." It was Heinlein's first
book, but was never published (until recently, of course). It's not polished,
but it is very interesting to see how he had already formed in the 1930s a lot
of the ideas that would dominate his writing for the rest of his career. A
good and enjoyable read.

\---Alex

~~~
JauntTrooper
1491 is fantastic. Have you read the sequel, 1493? It's thoroughly enjoyable
as well.

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yolesaber
The Moral Underground: How Ordinary Americans Subvert an Unfair Economy

An incredible look into the lives of the working poor and what it actually
means to try and get out of poverty in America. It's a beautiful book.
[http://thenewpress.com/books/moral-
underground](http://thenewpress.com/books/moral-underground)

------
BatFastard
Daemon and Freedom by Danial Suarez

Some amazing insights in AI, Augmented Reality, and a distributed
manufacturing society.

~~~
qwertyuiop924
Daemon really needs some more recognition. It's one of the most interesting
and most _real_ sci-fi books I've read in a long time.

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pklausler
"Infinite Jest," whose 20th anniversary of publication was celebrated this
year.

~~~
Y201K
Did you get the version with the new cover?

~~~
pklausler
No, I just re-read my original hardcover from '96.

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jstewartmobile
Two books:

\- John Taylor Gatto's "The Underground History of American Education"

\- Carroll Quigley's "Tragedy and Hope"

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drakenot
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

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qwertyuiop924
The Cuckoo's Egg.

I always say this if I can, but I reread it again, and it's still great.

For those of you who don't know, it's a story about chasing down a hacker at
the dawn of the computing era (mid 80s, AFAIK). It's riveting, and absolutely
true.

~~~
happy-go-lucky
+1. It's a page turner.

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simoch
Several:

* "The Elements Of Computing Systems", by Nisan and Schocken

Accompanies www.nand2tetris.org and leads you through implementing logic
gates, a CPU, Assembler, right up to a functional computer, with the help of
simulator software on a PC. Fascinating, but requires 100-200 hours to
complete all the exercises.

* "The Rosie Project", by Graeme Simsion

Easy to read novel about a man searching for a wife, as recommended on Bill
Gates' blog

* "Island Of The Lost", by Joan Druett

A true story of survival after being shipwrecked on a remote island

* "River Town", by Peter Hessler

The experiences of an English teacher who spent two years working in China

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i0nutzb
Oh, that's easy: Code, by Charles Petzold [1]. One of the best book I _ever_
read, that teach you about how computers work. The best thing is that it
doesn't starts with any assumption and it gets you from the very basic - how a
CPU works, how memory works - to fairly complex things (how video graphics
work, how color video works and so on).

[1]: [http://amzn.to/2g6Lcfo](http://amzn.to/2g6Lcfo)

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charlesroper
Team of Teams by General Stanley McChrystal.

Fundamentally about being agile, adaptable, transparent, collaborative and
decentralised. You could say it's about digital transformation but on a
military scale. An excellent companion to some other books mentioned here,
such as Deep Work (this book is a constructive counterpoint in many ways),
Extreme Ownership, and Ego is the Enemy.

[https://mcchrystalgroup.com/teamofteams/](https://mcchrystalgroup.com/teamofteams/)

~~~
chiefalchemist
+1

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eswat
A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy _by William B. Irvine_

Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win _by Leif Babin and Jocko
Willink_

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aengusmcphail
totally off topic, but what ever happened to "gave"

~~~
ronald_raygun
My guess is that gave just implies transfer of something, but gifted
specifically implies giving something as a gift.

~~~
3stripe
Bingo. I asked a longer version of this question on Twitter but it was > 80
chars.

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RUG3Y
Books I've give away this year:

\- "In the Garden of Beasts", Erik Larson: An excellent history of diplomatic
relations between the US and Germany leading up to WWII.

\- "Dune", Frank Herbert: Most of you are probably familiar with this book.

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matt101589
Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike Great founder story

When Breathe Becomes Air Story about the meaning of life. Not sure how anyone
can go through this and not cry. (First book I've ever cried reading)

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mywittyname
An Empire of Wealth

[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/101341.Empire_of_Wealth](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/101341.Empire_of_Wealth)

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chiefalchemist
Haven't gifted these yet but both Chaos Monkeys and Sprint should see action
next month.

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gravypod
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

~~~
partisan
What were your takeaways from the book?

Also, Citizen of the Galaxy and Double Star are really good reads in the same
sort of vein of political-minded science fiction.

~~~
gravypod
How different we may seem to others. When they talk about earth they are
talking as if we talk about other strange lands.

"Did you know..." applies to everyone, no matter how far they are.

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porker
Being Mortal, by Atul Gawande. It changed my outlook on life.

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du_bing
All works of Carl Jung, great writings, I love them.

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IpV8
"Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius

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kkoppenhaver
Linchpin - Seth Godin

Pitch Anything - Oren Klaff

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erinyong
Zero to One by Peter Thiel

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3stripe
Liminal Thinking by Dave Gray

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mayreck
Big Magic

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mayreck
GO for NO

