
Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List? - gozzoo
It become somewhat a tradition for YC to publish a reading list for the vacations months. This hasn&#x27;t happen for a while. I have discovered some very intersting books there apreciate suggestions from similarly minded people.<p>I recently stumbuled upon this list [1] and the selection seems quite good. I read _The Oracle Year_ which I liked a lot.<p>My question for the community here is: Have you read somthing interesting recently?<p>[1]  https:&#x2F;&#x2F;geekdad.com&#x2F;2018&#x2F;06&#x2F;5-reasons-to-read-5-great-books-june-2018-edition&#x2F;
======
stochastic_monk
As for me —-

0: Jorge Luis Borges, Labyrinths

Anyone interested in information theory, intelligence (artificial or
otherwise), many-worlds interpretations of quantum mechanics, metafiction, the
nature of art, or even probabilistic sequence modeling should read Borges’
short stories. I couldn’t recommend it highly enough.

1: Hero With A Thousand Faces

A classic book collating world mythologies and psychoanalytical thought to
investigate an individual’s core struggle for meaning and purpose. I find that
it has informed my appreciation of literature, film, music. More importantly,
it helped me understand how I want to live my life and from whence I now
choose to derive my personal senses of direction and meaning.

2: Samuel Beckett, Malone Dies

An obtuse, rambling, depressing novel without a sense of momentum or even
plot. The narrator or narrators are unreliable, prone to aporetics, and
capricious. Beyond its stark exterior, the prose is, at times, achingly
beautiful, the narrator is relatable in his uncertainty and frailty, and the
dual struggle for meaning and accepting the absolute absence thereof is
invigorating. It’s book two of a trilogy, but these postmodern novels are
enjoyable on their own, and the rare, tenuous grasp on plot or direction makes
reading them in sequence seem to be more a suggestion on how to experience
them than a strict ordering.

I’ve also been reading The Double (Dostoevsky), but I haven’t progressed far
enough to make an informed recommendation.

~~~
anacleto
> 1: Hero With A Thousand Faces

Unusual. The first time, I - happily - see someone on HN mentioning Joseph
Campbell and this book.

As a following up lecture, I'd recommend: The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell
on His Life & Work.

[0]
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/242530.The_Hero_s_Journe...](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/242530.The_Hero_s_Journey?ac=1&from_search=true)

~~~
moretai
Probably a result of Jordan Peterson becoming famous. He mentions Campbell a
lot.

~~~
wellpast
Had the same thought. On this note, Peterson's reading list [1] is worth
pursuing, however I'd dovetail it with less serious books for the sake of
levity -- his reading list, like himself, can be pretty serious + severe.

[1] [https://jordanbpeterson.com/books/book-
list/](https://jordanbpeterson.com/books/book-list/)

~~~
stochastic_monk
I came to read it by way of a fellow House of Leaves enthusiast’s
recommendation. I don’t remotely care for Jordan Peterson.

~~~
wellpast
But what do you think of his book list?

~~~
stochastic_monk
I like a surprising number of them. I’m surprised to see Demons mentioned;
that’s been my favorite of his for over 5 years.

So I don’t like his platform, but he has some excellent taste in books.

------
toomanybeersies
I'm going to do something a bit different from everyone else and suggest some
poetry.

1) _Songs of Innocence and of Experience_ from William Blake.

2) _The Ballad of Reading Gaol_ by Oscar Wilde

3) _The Rime of the Ancient Mariner_ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

I've started to enjoy reading poetry again. The education system managed to
extinguish any love I had for poetry. It's been a bit over half a decade since
I was in school, and I've started to enjoy reading poetry again.

Turns out it's possible to just read a poem and enjoy it without having to go
through line by line and word by word analysing the thing to death.

I actually prefer poetry to long form text right now. I don't have the time or
attention span to sit down and read a whole book, but poems are like a shot of
literature. I've been enjoying reading sci-fi short stories for the same
reason.

~~~
therealdrag0
Many years ago I collected short stories I enjoyed in an Evernote list. Here
it is if you want some inspiration. :)

Asimov, Isaac - "Nightfall"

Asimov, Isaac - "The Last Question"

Barthelme, Donald - "Some of us had been threatening our friend Colby"

Beckett, Samuel - "That Time"

Bisson, Terry - They're Made Out of Meat

Boyle, T. C. - The Hit Man

Carver, Raymond - Little Things

Chekhov, Anton - "The Bet"

Dick, Philip K - "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" Gibson, William -
Dogfight ("...he had nobody to tell it to. Nobody at all.")

Hemingway, Ernest - The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber

Hemingway, Ernest - Hills Like White Elephants

Makkai, Rebecca - "The Briefcase"

Bradbury, Ray - "The Veldt"

Saroyan, William - "Seventy Thousand Assyrians"

------
rayalez
Here are the best books I've read over the last few months:

\- Lost and Founder - the founder of Moz shares his advice and experience from
building a 40M/year company. I found the things he says about building a
startup extremely insightful and practically useful. Reading it feels like
having a dinner with a friend who shares with you the things he has learned in
a very honest, down to earth way. Highly recommend it.

\- Rationality from AI to Zombies - probably the most influential book I've
read in my life, profoundly changed the way I think. It's a collection of
LessWrong essays on science and rationality. (recently they've released an an
audio version by the way).

\- "A Short History of Nearly Everything" and "Our Mathematical Universe" \-
two general popular science books I'm enjoying a lot. Haven't finished reading
them yet, but so far they're brilliant(and very easy to understand, authors do
an amazing job explaining complicated things in a simple, accessible way).

\- Hacking Growth - an AMAZING book on "growth hacking". It provides a
framework for marketing a startup, gives a ton of practical advice and
specific tactics. It breaks down step by step how startups and big tech
companies grow their products. Most of the books I've read on the subject were
bullshit, but this one is absolutely fantastic, can't recommend it enough.

Other great books I should mention: This Idea is Brilliant, Actionable
Gamification, The Design of Everyday Things, The Master Algorithm (great
overview of machine learning techniqes), Springfield Confidential (fun behind
the scenes from one of the writers on Simpsons), Homo Deus(from the author of
Sapiens).

~~~
oxymoron
I recommend ”A short history of nearly everything” to everyone, regardless of
background. It covers a range of scientific fields and their history. My
favorite part is his description of biological taxonomy. I also rememver
enjoying his chapter on the history of plate tectonics.

”Our mathematical universe” is a fun and interesting book, but probably more
of interest to someone with an explicit interest in physics. I enjoyed the
first few chapters the most, but still feel a bit skeptical about his level 4
multiverse.

~~~
amorphous
> I recommend ”A short history of nearly everything” to everyone, regardless
> of background

Yes, not forgetting to mention that Bill Bryson is such a fantastic writer who
can not only make the complex simple but who is also fun to read. Love his
travel memoirs as well.

------
saryant
1) _Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation_ by Edward
Chancellor

Everything from the tulip craze to the dotcom boom.

2) _If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look On My Face?_ by Alan Alda

Alan Alda of MASH fame teaches you how to build more empathy and improve your
communication skills.

3) _Bad Blood_ by James Carreyou

Theranos. Enough said.

4) _Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America 's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and
Pakistan_ by Steve Coll

I think of this as the last book in Coll's unofficial trilogy on Afghanistan.
First up was _Ghost Wars_ , a history of American involvement in Afghanistan
from the Soviet invasion up to 2001. Second is his biography on the Bin Laden
family. Last year he released _Directorate S_ , a chronicle of American and
Pakistani involvement post-9/11 primarily told through the lens of the
Pakistani intelligence directorate tasked with influencing Afghanistan.

Coll has interviews with everyone from in-country CIA agents and foot soldiers
who were on the ground all the way up to defense secretaries and military
leaders, from both sides. An in-depth examination of what went wrong and why
we're still stuck there.

5) _Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads_ by Paul Theroux.

The greatest travel writer of the last half-century finally turns his
attention homeward: the American Deep South. Four road trips over four
seasons. He published an article in Smithsonian Magazine hitting the
highlights: [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/soul-
south-180951861/](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/soul-south-180951861/)

~~~
killaken2000
+1 for bad blood as well. I don't think I've read a book faster. Every chapter
was more unbelievable that the next.

~~~
arethuza
If someone had written _Bad Blood_ as a work of fiction I'm sure it would have
been savaged for being completely unrealistic.

------
paraschopra
\- The Origin of Wealth. Fantastic book on the new field of complexity /
evolutionary economics

\- The Language Instinct. How mind creates language.

\- The Elephant in the Brain. I’ve posted notes here
[https://invertedpassion.com/notes-from-the-elephant-in-
the-b...](https://invertedpassion.com/notes-from-the-elephant-in-the-brain/)

\- Existential Cafe. History of existential thought. Excellent book.

\- 12 rules of life. Highly opiniated but well argued book on how to live life

\- Skin in the game by Nasim Taleb.

\- Daemon. The sci-fi book that anticipated what rouge blockchain like
programs can do. Again, highly recommended

~~~
adamnemecek
There are two books called origin of wealth by the same author. "Origin of
Wealth: Evolution, Complexity, and the Radical Remaking of Economics" and "The
Origin of Wealth: The Radical Remaking of Economics and What it Means for
Business and Society". Which one did you mean?

~~~
adora
It's the same book. For some reason they changed the title for the later
printed paperback version.

------
pbnjay
For sci-fi recs: I recently read The Three-body Problem by Cixin Liu (a
trilogy) and thought it was really good.

Also just started another sci-fi trilogy with A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor
Vinge which has some really fun and interesting (if hand-wavy) ideas about
deep space physics.

~~~
mercutio2
Wow! You managed to juxtapose my favorite and least favorite science fiction.
I’ve never read anything bad by Vernor Vinge.

I could not find a single thing to like about The Three Body Problem. I’ve
heard it gets better after the first book, but I loathed the first book so
thoroughly I wasn’t willing to try any more.

What did you like about it? It seemed like there was practically zero plot,
and the science bits seemed unconvincing.

~~~
vagab0nd
Personally, the first book is my favorite out of the 3. I think if you know a
bit of the history of the Cultural Revolution, you'd enjoy it more. The way he
combined the plot with that part of the Chinese history is amazing.

~~~
mercutio2
I took several classes in Chinese literature in college. One semester was
specifically on the Cultural Revolution. I don’t think my dislike stemmed from
an insufficient (for an American) knowledge of the Cultural Revolution.

The characters ranged from caricatures to boringly malevolent, the plot
dripped out like an icicle half a degree above freezing, and the aliens, which
were at least interesting, got about 20 pages of attention.

I just don’t get the hype.

------
jackthetab
"Tailspin" by Steven Brill. It talks about how the recruiters for the Ivy
League decided to admit people based on merit instead of connections, creating
a de facto meritocracy and how this meritocracy has changed the USA in the
past 50 years.

A friend gave me the book. I was skeptical of the premise. By the third
chapter (the 70's, basically) I was like "I remember that!" "Yes, he was in
all the newspapers!" "Yes, that was 'the greatest financial disaster since the
Great Depression'!" (I've lived through three of those, btw.)

Interesting premise, good scholarship (he traces Citizen's United back to the
college paper written to impress a college prof by a fellow who ended up
clerking for SCOTUS judge who was the swing vote for Citizen's United
(Kennedy?)).

Interesting read. I know it sounds like a grandiose conspiracy theory but he
has actual facts (that I experienced growing up) to back him up.

------
a-saleh
Before I started a new job I had myself read: 1\. So good they can't ignore
you 2\. Deep work 3\. Mythical man-month 4\. Power of habit

Now I am reading Tools of titans by Tim Ferris. I never thought I would get
into the genre of self-improvement books, but it seems I like these :-) Even
though I am conscious about the fact, that I am applying maybe 10% of the
books advice :P

Another thing I am reading is Math from three to seven [1], mostly because I
would like to discuss math with my 4yo daughter one day, preferably sooner
rather than later, because I find math discussions immensely fun :-D Maybe I
will even start a math-circle :-)

[1]
[http://www.msri.org/people/staff/levy/files/MCL/Zvonkin.pdf](http://www.msri.org/people/staff/levy/files/MCL/Zvonkin.pdf)

~~~
fredley
I found _59 Seconds: Think a little, change a lot_ by Richard Wiseman to be a
good contribution to the genre, if you're looking for more.

------
guiambros
"Why We Sleep", by Matthew Walker. One of the best books I've read in a while.

I've commented before [1][2]; but pasting here: the author presents a vast
amount of scientific evidence amount pretty much every corner of why we sleep,
from its evolutionary roots thousands of years ago, to the importance of
dreams and REM sleep for your memory, reasons and impact of insomnia, to what
happens in the neurochemistry in your brain when you drink coffee, alcohol or
sleep pills, and much, much more.

[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17381235](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17381235)

[2]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17446932](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17446932)

~~~
divan
I've also started reading this book after one of your recommendations, and I
agree that it would be beneficial for people who have never questioned what
sleep is and how it works. But if someone is interested in sleep (has basic
understanding of what is jet-lag, circadian rhythms, melatonin, REM phases
etc), the amount of new information would be pretty low. I'm halfway through
the book and I can't say I've read something you can't find in popular
articles on sleep – i.e. how caffeine works and why jet-lag is more bearable
eastwest.

~~~
guiambros
Fair enough. After all, several of the popular articles on sleep are written
over slices of study covered by (or some led by) the author, so not
surprisingly there's a lot of similar content. But I still saw a lot of value,
particularly on Alzheimer's, the significance of dreams, the effect of
alcohol, sleep disorders, why doctors usually don't care about sleep.

Above all, I appreciate his perspective on the importance of sleep for public
health, and how transformative it could be for society. And how bad we're
doing, by not enforcing public education and health policies to counterbalance
the side effects of modern society - blue light, addiction-forming social
media, school classes starting too early and others.

Concrete example:I did a routine physical exam last week, and my (new) doctor
spent 20 minutes asking me questions about my family history and current
behaviors, from food to favorite pastime to overall mental state. Incredibly
comprehensive -- _but not a single word about sleep_. Simply didn't cross her
mind to ask me how many hours on average I sleep per day/week -- despite many
of the symptoms she was interested in assessing can be eventually caused by
poor sleep - weight, mood, performance, memory, etc.

------
sadema
[1] We Are Legion We Are Bob (Bobiverse 1-3) - Just finished this trilogy and
really enjoyed it! It's well paced, has a very likable protagonist and has a
nice sprinkling of programming/CS humor.

[2] Guns, Germs and Steel - Can't believe I waited so long to check this off
my list. Very thorough and well written argument about how geography and
environment shaped the modern world.

[3] Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion - Scientific and
philosophical reasoning for why the self is an illusion. Covers a lot of
ground without getting too heavy: Buddhism, mediation, neuroscience, religion,
and more.

~~~
carrollgt91
I'll second Waking Up - I've been interested in mindfulness meditation for
years, and this book is what finally helped frame it in a way that went down
nicely for me.

I sometimes enjoy the podcast by the same name as well, though the
conversations are more hit or miss.

~~~
sadema
Have you read any other mindfulness or meditation books? Waking Up wanted me
to read more in that area, but I'm not sure what to pick up next.

~~~
oldpond
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind is a good place to start.

~~~
jackstraw14
Yes, pick this one up. The Mind Illuminated is also a good one.

------
jboynyc
I recently read _The Dispossessed_ and _The Lathe of Heaven_ by Ursula K. Le
Guin, and will continue reading her stuff over the summer for sure. It's
really great. (HN discussion about her obituary:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16218439](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16218439))

The other day I started _Pictures of a Gone City_ , a book about the Bay Area
by critical geographer Richard Walker. It was recently discussed here
([https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17473141](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17473141)).
I'm only about fifty pages in, but I can tell this is going to be worthwhile.

I'm also still finishing _Kids These Days: Human Capital and the Making of
Millennials_ by Malcolm Harris. It's a very compelling account of the crises
and pressures confronting today's young adults (among which I can still, just
barely, count myself).

Other books I've got lined up for the summer:

• _The Boy Kings: A Journey Into the Heart of the Social Network_ , by Kate
Losse. This memoir by an early Facebook employee came out a few years ago, and
I finally want to read it.

• _Social Creature_ , by Tara Isabella Burton. Recently published novel that's
been getting rave reviews. It's been described as "a literary novel about
social media."

• _Surveys_ , by Natasha Stagg. A novel about microcelebrity/instafame that
came out in 2016.

PS: LitHub runs a "Rotten Tomatoes for Book Reviews" site at
[https://bookmarks.reviews/](https://bookmarks.reviews/) that I'm finding to
be a useful resource to discover new books coming out. That's how I found out
about the Burton and Stagg books.

~~~
AllegedAlec
> Ursula K. Le Guin

I tried reading her Earthsea series once, but I found her writing style rather
awkward. It all felt rather emotionless and descriptive, with much detail left
out. In fact, now I think about it, it rather reminded me of the writing style
of the Old Testament. Are her other books also like that?

~~~
sdevoid
Her Hainish novels (SF) may be more to your liking, but I think all of her
works are informed by the kind of mysticism that informed her translation of
the _Tao Te Ching_. What made _A Wizard of Earthsea_ dry for you?

~~~
AllegedAlec
Much of it was written in the way of "The wizard went here and this this, and
it was pretty damn cool". It wasn't necessarily dry, but it was so differently
written from the fantasy I normally read I couldn't get used to it on my first
time reading it. It should probably try again at some point, however. The
setting was really cool.

~~~
therealdrag0
It definitely is distinct. Personally I find it refreshing after all the
500-1200pg fantasy I read. There's something poetic about compressing so much
into so little words. I find that it flows nicely. It's more poetic than
dramatic.

------
zachruss92
For a nonfiction book, The Millionaire Next Door was a game changer for how I
though about wealth accumulation. It's the findings of a statistical analysis
of the life and habits of millionaires.

Deep Work had the similar effects on my work habits as the former did on my
finances.

If you're looking for a fun fantasy read, Elantris by Brandon Sanderson is one
of my all-time favorite standalone novels.

~~~
hlfshell
I'm a huge Brandon Sanderson fan, but find that Mistborn is a better entry
point for people these days - though it (and the Cosmere) are among my own
personal my all-time favorite fantasy books, so perhaps I'm biased in that.

~~~
JonasJSchreiber
I agree with this but feel the need to add that the Stormlight Archives is his
best work yet

~~~
ashton314
Wholeheartedly agree that the Stormlight Archive is the best. However, if you
can’t stand cliffhangers, you might have a hard time since the series isn’t
finished yet. The first Mistborn trilogy is complete—I’d start with that if
you want a nice complete series.

------
justinzollars
The China Dream: Great Power Thinking and Strategic Posture in the Post-
American Era

> Liu describes the 21st century relations between the United States and China
> as a “Marathon contest” in which the “Beijing Plan will replace the
> Washington Consensus” so that China would become a “Champion nation”. This
> is a question of who will rule the world in the 21st century. The
> implications are institutions and ideas we fundamentally value as
> Westerners: Our Democratic rules-based world order, Human Rights and The
> United Nations could become uprooted.

The China Dream may scare you.

Liu provides an interesting alternative perspective on American History, The
American psyche and American strategic misconceptions. He also unwittingly
reveals deep insecurities with respect to single party rule and global
perceptions of China.

This was an amazing strategic read and has opened my eyes to a new
perspective.

------
arthurk
Sapiens/Homo Deus - History of Humankind. Also goes into topics of how money
came to be and evolved over time. Homo Deus is the follow up book by the same
author which focuses on humanity’s future.

Shoe Dog - Nike founder Phil Knight shares the story of the company’s early
days.

Chasing the Scream - History and impact of drug criminalisation (War on
Drugs). The author describes the War on Drugs (mostly in US but also describes
other countries like Portugal where the policies on drugs are different)

~~~
nindalf
I loved Sapiens. It has a couple of ideas that help explain so much of our
world - really powerful ideas. Once you know them they seem so obvious and you
feel like you should have thought of that yourself. For example, (spoilers for
human history ahead), our civilations are based on agriculture and very few
hunter gatherers remain. But that doesn't mean that people consciously chose
one over the other. It's just that for various reasons, agriculture is a more
"viral" idea that spread more efficiently than the alternative. Ditto with
monotheistic vs polytheistic religions.

Homo Deus... less so. It rehashes a lot of Sapiens and I found it a bit of a
drag. The introduction is worth reading though. He recounts all the progress
we've made as a species, which would surprise people who think our world is
growing worse by the day.

Chasing the Scream was amazing. Nothing more to be said.

The book I learned the most from was probably The Dictator's Handbook. Again,
a very simple idea - how can we predict a politician/leader's behaviour based
on a simple assumption - they will try their best to stay employed. The
authors manage to explain almost all of how politics works based on this one
single idea. If you're one of those people who likes to try-before-they-buy,
here's a trailer of the book -
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rStL7niR7gs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rStL7niR7gs)

~~~
sah2ed
The Dictator's Handbook is also on my reading list and I really enjoyed the
Kindle sample. In fact, I got to know about the book from a HN recommendation.

It's impressive how so much clearly one may see the world by relearning well-
known concepts using one's intuition, which is how the authors happened upon
the simple but powerful idea behind what really drives political behavior.

------
srom
1) Adults in the room - Yanis Varoufakis (2017)

must read for anyone leaving in, or interested in the politics of the European
Union; the book is a political memoir of Varoufakis' fight against the EU
institutions during his 6 months as finance minister of Greece in early 2015.

The people of Greece had elected the syriza government to put an end to the
incredibly harsh austerity they've been through during the past 5 years. But
the Greek government had agreed to, and was bounded by the terms of the two
bailout programs from the Eurozone & the IMF. Faced with a dilemma,
democracies must compromise. But Democracy has no place in the Eurozone, as
Wolfgang Shäuble, former finance minister of Germany, puts it very clearly
during his first meeting with Varoufakis: "Elections cannot be allowed to
change economic policy".

Three years after the events recounted, this book is still very much relevant,
and anyone wanting to understand EU politics ought to read it.

\--

2) And the Weak Suffer What They Must? - Yanis Varoufakis (2016)

Companion book to the first one, it explained how the Eurozone crisis came to
be by recounting its history from the end of the second world war to today. A
key book to understand the institutions of the European Union, whether or not
you agree with Varoufakis' economic theories. I highly recommend it, as it is
very well written, in plain english, with no economic background required.

------
ashton314
_Anathem_ by Neil Stevenson. Science Fiction. Takes place in a universe very
much like ours. The most noticeable difference is the culture: intellectuals
live inside monastery-like sanctuaries, while religious people live outside.
The story is written from the point of view of one of the intellectuals. Very
rich world building. The book also explores (high-level, slightly fictitious
in some parts) some fascinating areas of quantum mechanics, topology,
communication, diplomacy, and Zen.

~~~
ianmcgowan
The bat, the worm and the fly is still one of the most zen moments ever for
me. Really felt like a smack on the head.

------
freehunter
Wow that link to GeekDad is absolutely toxic. When you visit, it shows a
banner that begs for you to turn off your ad blocker promising that they don't
have malicious or distracting ads... then in the fine print below that, it
says "okay I know we currently have a lot of malicious ads, but that's out of
our control, we promise!"

Seriously, _that 's why people use ad blockers_. If you're running content on
your site that you have no control over, _stop doing that_. If you're serving
malicious ads, at the very least turn off the banner that tells people you're
not serving malicious ads.

------
ryanSrich
Books finished in June:

"How to Change Your Mind" by Michael Pollan. A fascinating look into the world
and science of psychedelic drugs.

"Rendezvous with Rama" by Arthur C. Clarke. One of, if not Clarke's best. It's
short for a sci-fi book and almost impossible not to like.

"The Hydrogen Sonata" By Iain M. Banks. It certainly wasn't my favorite
culture entry, but it's worth a read none the less. If you haven't read the
others in the series I wouldn't suggest starting with it.

"Children of Time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It took me a bit to get into this
book, but once I did, I really enjoyed it. If you're into long timelines and
human existential crisis this is your book.

As far as July goes, I'm digging into "Matterhorn" by Karl Marlantes and "The
Origins of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind" by Julian
Jaynes.

~~~
sizzzzlerz
Rama is a great read and shows off Clarke's skill in merging science and
fiction into a believable narrative. Its been years since I last read it but I
still can remember the anticipation I felt, waiting for the story to explain
things.

------
Cyphase
Here's Jeff Atwood's 'Recommended Reading for Developers':
[https://blog.codinghorror.com/recommended-reading-for-
develo...](https://blog.codinghorror.com/recommended-reading-for-developers/)

From the header:

> This list was last updated in March 2015.

> Why are updates to my reading list so rare? Because computers change a lot
> in 10 years, but people don't.

> To make better software, you need to understand how people work, and that is
> what the books I recommend tend to focus on.

~~~
sridca
Took quite a bit of scroll to see someone recommending programming related
books. HN culture has changed a lot indeed. :-P

------
galeforcewinds
William Gibson's Neuromancer continues to hold up well both for adults and
teens. Worth a read or re-read.

Travel books can be a good fit for the summer, and Keri Smith's Wander Society
is a fun pick.

I also like to make a random pick or two that I'd never normally choose for
myself. My next random pick may be off this thread...

Z

------
DanielBMarkham
I cycle from business to pulp fiction to classics to non-fiction to
biographies.

Right now I'm doing classics. I find that taking a month or two each year and
reading classics I may have overlooked makes all the other books I read that
much better. (It also gives them a higher bar to reach!)

This month it's The Count of Monte Cristo and The Brothers Karamazov. I'm
having a blast. I can't believe it's taken me this long to get to these.

~~~
charlchi
If you enjoy The Brothers Karamazov I couldn't recommend one of Dostoevsky's
other books enough: Notes from the underground. IMO a must read for any
intellectual that has ever struggled with anything from self-deprecating
thoughts to superiority complexes.

------
ddsaso
Not quite a book but definitely a long essay.

"A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" by David Foster Wallace.

Great read on consumerism, escapism, and the funny things that people seem to
do on cruise ships.

Also just started keeping a public kanban board of my book backlog and
wondering if others do something similar? I'd be curious to know how others
organize their book lists and peaking through to find new things to read.
[https://github.com/davidsantoso/books/projects/1](https://github.com/davidsantoso/books/projects/1)

~~~
anant90
The public kanban board is an excellent idea! I'll probably set up one for
myself this weekend.

~~~
geephroh
+1 - thanks, ddsaso! Worth digging into the thread just for this.

~~~
ddsaso
Glad to hear it! Feel free to open a new issue if there happens to be a book
you think I might find interesting based on the books I already have listed.
Or if you start your own book list kanban board I'd be interested to see it.

------
mbid
_Lost in Math_ by Sabine Hossenfelder, which was published just a few months
ago. It deals with how foundational theoretical physics has been led astray by
aesthetic ideals, i.e. "lost in Math", because of the lack of new empirical
data during the last decades.

I read it because I see some parallels to programming/verification language
design, where research is usually justified aesthetically because empirical
data is hard to come by. It appears doubtful that the book will help you
career-wise if you're an academic stuck in a field with similar problems, but
it is consolidating to know you're not alone.

------
ar-nelson
I'm really enjoying Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy. I started listening
to the audiobook version on my commute to work.

It's a fantasy series with an incredibly detailed, logical, well-thought-out
magic system and world history.

~~~
spapas82
I didn't like at all the first of the series (Mistborn); never got into the
other ones. It had some fresh ideas however the story was way too childish (in
my humble opinion). Here's my review on that book
[https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2031838874?book_show_a...](https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2031838874?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1)

------
ericdykstra
First, I'll recommend _Discrimination and Disparaties_ by Thomas Sowell,
another fantastic work from Sowell put out this year that builds on some ideas
from previous essays. It's short, but the arguments are concise, empirical,
and convincing.

And 3 books that have most recently made it into my "must-reread" category.

 _The Righteous Mind_ by Jonathan Haidt

 _Antifragile_ by Nassim Taleb

 _Thinking, Fast and Slow_ by Daniel Kahneman

~~~
adora
I grew up on Thomas Sowell. Extremely articulate economist. I've now come to
disagree with probably one-third of what he writes but all of his works are
really good frameworks of how to think.

~~~
ericdykstra
I wouldn't want to read someone I agreed with 100% ;)

I really like Sowell's writing style and willingness to tackle issues in a
straightforward way that others skirt around. I still have many of his past
writings to get to, as I only recently started reading him, to my own
detriment.

We're blessed to have nearly 50 years of his writing and that he's still at it
at 88.

~~~
swah
> he's still at it at 88.

Actually IIRC he retired ;)

Something I didn't even knew writers did...

------
kovrik
'Malazan: Book of the Fallen' by Steven Erikson (that is actually 10 huge
books).

I've only read 2 books and a half so far and it is brilliant!

I'm not a big fan of fantasy books (prefer hard sci-fi), but Malazan just blew
my mind. One of the best things I've ever read.

Not an easy read though, be prepared!

~~~
spapas82
I tried reading the 1st one of the series (Gardens of the Moon) not once but
twice. Both times I was quickly bored and did not make it past page 50. The
book (at least in its first pages) is filled with boring descriptions and
uninteresting events.

I've heard good things about it (along with that it won't be an easy read as
you say) however I don't want to torture myself reading boring stuff for like
1000 pages until something interesting happens.

There are much better books to read and too little time.

Actually, that's more or less a rule I try to follow: If the book can't hook
me after some pages and I keep feeling bored and not interesting I just put it
away. Other books that I have started but found way too boring to keep reading
them:

(* please don't downvote me for this. I know that some of these books are
considered classics and many of you won't like this but remember that this is
just my personal opinion; I tend to get border easily *)

\- The orphan master's son \- The man in the high castle \- Metro 2033 \-
Neuromancer \- Catch 22 \- Digital Fortress (this wasn't so boring but I hated
the smart-ass characters)

~~~
jatsign
You may want to try the audiobook version of Gardens of the Moon. I've been
listening to it and have quite enjoyed it, but can definitely see how reading
the book might be a bit of a slog. There's a lot of posturing going on,
talking about how powerful so many characters are, that it remind me a bit of
dragonball z.

------
cirgue
‘Simulacrum and simulation’, ‘understanding media’, and ‘society of the
spectacle’ right now. My focus this summer is on everything ever written about
media and society. I am currently looking for works on social trends in
response to radio and television.

~~~
treme
Mcluhan's work would be right up your alley then.

Medium is the Massage; Gutenberg Galaxy would be my top 2 recommendation given
what you wrote.

~~~
r4ltman
McLuhan in the 70s is the most relevant today: specifically:

Take Today: the executive as drop out with Barry Nevitt

From Cliché to Archetype with Wilfred Watson

and finally,

Culture is Our Business, the last book he did solo [the one with WWIII being a
'guerrilla information war']

Also, if you're feeling philanthropic: I'm screening McLuhan's origin story at
the Park in the place where he began University in Winnipeg.

At the very least watch the trailer and bask in the prescience of McLuhan
yelling Fake News in 1969

[http://gofundme.com/mcluhan-movie](http://gofundme.com/mcluhan-movie)

------
wazoox
Here is a quick list of the last great books I've read which are available in
English (some 'Ive read in other languages):

\- _History of Western Philosophy_ , by Bertrand Russell : This is a wonderful
book. Read it.

\- _Why the West rules -- for now_ , Ian Morris : How geography drives
history. really deep and thought-provoking.

\- _the Strange Defeat_ , Marc Bloch : A gripping, living narration of the
French armies collapse in 1940, from the inside (Marc Bloch was an officer).
With a very deep analysis of the long maturing reasons for this defeat.

\- _Histories of Alexander the Great_ , Quintus Curtius Rufus : The title says
it all. Very elegant Latin prose.

\- _The Golden Ass_ , Apuleius : A funny story and an immortal classic.

\- _The Blitzkrieg Legend: The 1940 Campaign in the West_ , Karl-Heinz Frieser
: For true military history geeks :)

I notice that these are either classics, or history. Well, so be it :)

------
msadowski
Can anyone recommend some book about Africa? I would like to gain some
insights about life there, ideally fact based, maybe some history? Doesn't
need to be the whole continent as well, would love to start with any
particular country.

This year I decided to read at least one book a month the ones I found most
inspiring were: * Factfulness - how we can misinterpret the data and how most
of us have a wrong idea about the state of the world * Let my people go
surfing - growing a business organically, doing the last harm and taking care
of your people. This book inspired me to start my own business and follow some
of the ideas presented in this book. * When breath becomes air - memories of a
neurosurgeon battling cancer. Very insightful and important read about dying.
In a way it's a heavy book, I cried multiple times when reading it.

~~~
csomar
The north, the central and the south are very different. Like different
climate, ethnics, religions, languages, and economies.

Africa is also the center of the Arab world (Cairo + 2/3 of the arab world
population is there) although the popular belief is that the middle east is.

What are you looking exactly for? I'm from the north so I can answer some
questions about that part.

~~~
msadowski
I know my question was very broad. It's hard to pin point to what I'm exactly
looking for. The best way I can describe it is "fighting my own ignorance". I
realized I know very little about the world and decided it's time to change
it.

Sorry for being so vague, I don't have any starting point, except the books
others recommended. I'll start digging and see where it gets me!

~~~
csomar
If you have the budget, book a flight to Cairo, Morocco and Tunis. They are
dirt cheap, relatively safe and you can get by with little English. You'll see
that despite they are 3 North Africa Arabic countries, they are wildly
different.

If you like the beaches, they offer lots of options (for Egypt go to Sharm
ElSheikh. I have yet to do a better scuba diving).

Also I don't read books about countries. I visit them. People and especially
authors are biased and also perceptions are _very_ relative. A shitty country
for someone is a home for another one.

------
timwaagh
War and Peace by Tolstoy. it is far from 'recent' but i read it only this
year. it is particularly interesting because it is not overly intellectual in
nature yet still written around the time it portrays.

Robin Hobbs latest Fitz and the Fool trilogy are also great books i read this
year. as are all her works really.

~~~
JonasJSchreiber
Both are great. I was hoping for another sprawling historical fiction by
Tolstoy with Anna Karenina but was treated to a sort of Russian psychological
drama in the same vein as Dostoyevsky.

------
freddie_mercury
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh -- "a novel about a young
woman's efforts to duck the ills of the world by embarking on an extended
hibernation with the help of one of the worst psychiatrists"

Treating People Well: The Extraordinary Power of Civility at Work and in Life
by Lea Berman and Jeremy Bernard -- "A guide to personal and professional
empowerment through civility and social skills"

A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing by Eimear McBride -- "a shocking and intimate
insight into the thoughts, feelings and chaotic sexuality of a vulnerable and
isolated protagonist"

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee -- "Pachinko follows one Korean family through the
generations, beginning in early 1900s Korea with Sunja, the prized daughter of
a poor yet proud family, whose unplanned pregnancy threatens to shame them
all"

~~~
omosubi
+1 for pachinko. Incredible book with excellent writing. As someone who reads
a lot of books by wealthy white American men this was a refreshing change of
pace.

~~~
kazinator
A book about a Korean family saga is named after Japanese gambling machines?
Bizarre.

~~~
freddie_mercury
Bizarre as in "couldn't be bothered to google a summary to see that is about a
Korean family in Japan"?

~~~
mercutio2
And, further, it’s frequently considered low class to be associated with
Pachinko in Japanese culture, so it’s very common for Pachinko parlor owners
to be Korean-Japanese.

------
balladeer
\- The Great Indian Novel by Shashi Tharoor

\- The Mirror of Beauty by Shamsur Rahman Faruqi (I am reading it in
Hindi/Urdu[0]. Anyone who loves historical fiction should check this out)

\- Safe Area Goražde: The War in Eastern Bosnia, 1992-1995 (received it as a
birthday gift; my first graphic novel and I am loving it)

\- Shoes of the Dead by Kota Neelima

\- Everybody Loves a Good Drought by P. Sainath (one of the best non-fiction
works I have read)

\- and some Manto, Pratchett, and John Le Carré.

I have been reading three of the books among these forever and I intend finish
them. I am again starting to spend time reading that I had basically allocated
to Internet and just doing nothing.

[0] [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26021373-kai-chaand-
the-...](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26021373-kai-chaand-the-sar-e-
aasman)

------
adamch
1: Diaspora (Greg Egan). Brilliant sci-fi where computer science concepts like
cellular automata, computation complexity etc are major plot points. Starts
with a highly detailed explanation of AI personality creation. Super geeky and
a brilliant plot.

2: High Performance Browser Networking. Really explained a lot of modern
networking. I was already familiar with the basics of the OSI stack, but this
explained a lot of newer ideas, optimizations, and HTTP2. Really comprehensive
guide to how the internet works.

3: The Shock Doctrine (Naomi Klein): A history of how the CIA has shot down
democratic regimes to enforce small-government-free-market policy in
developing countries when these policies are rejected in polls. Explains a lot
of the crises in Latin America and Russia.

~~~
steamer25
> the CIA has shot down democratic regimes to enforce small-government-free-
> market policy in developing countries when these policies are rejected in
> polls

I haven't read the book but from another perspective it sounds like the CIA
shot down democratic regimes in developing countries to enforce policies
favorable towards U.S.-based internationally big, militarily market-
intervening government that were rejected in the local polls. I wouldn't be
surprised if there were extra-governmental industrial interests that benefited
as well.

------
siddboots
I've been reading a lot of JM Coetzee. Most recently The Life and Times of
Michael K, and The Childhood of Jesus.

He seems to have an incredible knack for both the unsettling, and the
compassionate. It's close to the most thought provoking fiction I've ever
read.

------
finolex1
Ficciones by Borges.

A real classic, each story is intriguing and some center on incredibly
creative ideas.

------
salimmadjd
The Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad.

Joseph Conrad was 50 to 100 years ahead of his time. His story of European
exploitation of Africa and the underlying racism that empowered that still,
sadly has many parallels to our world.

It's a novella so it's quick read, with beautiful pros. Interestingly enough,
English was not Conrad's native language. But you couldn't tell that from his
prose.

The movie, Apocalypse Now was loosely based and inspired by this this book
with some dialogues completely copied over.

There is an audiobook version of it on iTunes [0] by Ralph Cosham. His
narrative voice is so soothing that I listen to it sometime to fall asleep
when I'm unable to turn off my brain.

[0] [https://itunes.apple.com/us/audiobook/heart-of-darkness-
unab...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/audiobook/heart-of-darkness-
unabridged/id320469353)

The Blind Owl, Sadegh Hedayat and translated by D.P. Costello is a great read
if you're into Kafka.

I read the book both in original language, Farsi and its translation in
English. The translation is excellent.

Hedayat translated the work of Kafka in Farsi. Which might explain some
resemblance between Blind Owl and some of Kafka's writings. Ultimately and
tragically he committed suicide in his Paris apartment.

Sohrab Sepehri, Iranian poet is still largely under-discovered in US. There is
a recent translation that seems to have done justice to his poetry [1]. A
decade ago, I foolishly partnered with a colleague and a poet to translate
some of his poems. I translated one poem, it was the most stressful thing I
ever did and something, I will never try again [2].

[1] [https://www.amazon.com/Oasis-Now-Selected-Translations-
Selec...](https://www.amazon.com/Oasis-Now-Selected-Translations-
Selection/dp/1938160223)

[2] [http://www.caveat-
lector.org/1601/html/1601_poetry_sepehri1....](http://www.caveat-
lector.org/1601/html/1601_poetry_sepehri1.htm)

------
ProfDreamer
"The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage" by
Clifford Stoll is my all time favorite for vacation reading.

~~~
larntz
I read this book about 20 years ago when I was in high school. It was one of
my favorite books at the time. I think I read it 3 times during my high school
years. It was a great read at the time.

I haven't read it recently but anyone that lived experienced technology of the
80s/90s or wants a realistic feel for what it was like should read this.

It's a great story about how a guy from Berkley (I think) tracked down a
hacker. I don't remember the specifics but it was very War Games-esque but
based in reality.

~~~
ProfDreamer
Same for me. I first read this during high school in the early 90s and read it
several times again in the following years.

There's also a movie about the story which is worth watching:
[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0308449/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0308449/)
You can easily find it (and quite a few talks and interviews by/with Clifford
Stoll about the subject of the book) on Youtube if you search for "Cuckoo's
Egg".

------
liamcardenas
I don't plan too far ahead, but I am going to finish the absolutely
fascinating book A Natural History of Human Morality by Michael Tomasello.
This is an exceptionally well researched book, full of citations, presenting a
theory of how humans developed their sense of morality, from an evolutionary
perspective.

I does so by contrasting our behavior with that of the great apes so that we
can determine the characteristics of our common ancestor and then build a
scenario for how we could have gone from there to here.

I'm about half-way through right now and I highly recommend it

------
carrollgt91
The Power of Vulnerability, by Brené Brown.

Given the amount of imposter syndrome, internalized shame, and unhealthy
posturing that I've seen in the startup space, it seems especially relevant
for folks here. This really changed my relationship towards vulnerability as a
leader.

Also, it's quite entertaining. She's very charming in her delivery, and she
does a good job exemplifying her findings in the presentation of the book.

It's actually an audio seminar, as opposed to a written book, but I think it's
delivered far more effectively that way.

~~~
fanclocker
She wrote a book on the subject too: Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be
Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead

I assume you would be interested.

~~~
larntz
I really enjoyed Daring Greatly. I would recommend this also.

I feel I was able to apply a lot of it to my day to day family life.

------
nobrains
Ready Player One.

Read it before seeing the movie.

If you were born in late 70s or 80s, you will enjoy the references.

~~~
ohmatt
I also really enjoyed this book, despite being born in 89. But, at the same
time, it felt like the book was just him writing out lists of references, and
just saying what was happening. The author is not the best "writer". That
being said, the book is good, and ridiculously addicting to read. I read the
whole thing over two days and couldn't put it down.

------
ohmatt
"The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" by Tom Wolfe (RIP). One of my all time
favorite book, one of my all time favorite authors.

"The World According to Garp" by John Irving. Again, one of my favorite
authors, one of his best books, but I really recommend almost all of his
books.

"Starship Troopers" by Robert A. Heinlein. Just read this a couple weeks ago,
highly recommended.

"A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson. Just another of my favorite authors, I
recommend any of his books if you like travel books. Very witty and well
written stuff. A Walk in the Woods is probably his best known book about his
attempt to thru-hike the AT.

"Story of Your Life and Others" \- Ted Chiang. Really really good sci-fi short
stories. Some great stuff. The movie Arrival is based on the title short
story, Story of Your Life.

Honorable Mentions (from things I've read in the past year): "Meddling Kids"
by Edgar Cantero "The Island of Dr. Moreau" by H.G. Wells "Furiously Happy" by
Jenny Lawson

I could keep listing books, but this is probably already excessive.

~~~
ohmatt
How could I forget "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer. Another amazing author,
great book.

I also realize none of these are really HN-related content. I just assumed you
were looking for any type of books, and this are some of my recent favorite
leisure books.

------
krtkush
Read a lot of books from Indian Authors or books about India -

1\. Delhi: A novel

2\. The modern architecture of New Delhi

3\. Train to Pakistan

4\. Maximum City: Bombay Lost & Found

5\. City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi

Currently reading -

1\. Bauhas

2\. Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb (Though, I think I should read
Making of the Atomic Bomb first)

------
amarant
The Culture series by Iain M. Banks. Cannot be recommended enough! it's
brilliance is unoverstatable.

I'm still a bit hyped about these books ;)

~~~
Jedd
I discovered these books (and the author) entirely by accident - at an
airport, back in 2009 - I think it was Matter. Was hooked, and then read the
entire series (inasmuch as they're a series) over the next twelve months.

Banks was an author with a truly singular style. He is sorely missed.

------
jamesbui
Recently finished the Red Rising trilogy and would recommend to anybody who
likes fantasy. Not as well developed as Brandon Sanderson's works but
definitely a trilogy to follow if you've caught up with Sanderson's works and
want something to scratch that fantasy itch while you're waiting for the next
book of his many series.

------
ram_rar
1\. The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday Its all about stoic philosophy and
teachings by Epictetus

2\. Examined Lives from Socrates to Nietzsche by James Miller Biographies of,
some of the most famous philosophers.

3\. The Soul of a new machine by Tracy Kidder its about 2 competing computer
design teams juggling between engineering quality and time to market.

------
andersthue
The Anatomy of Peace, from the arbinger institute.

It tells a story about Lou who is fighting to keep his business alive and
keeping his son out of jail, as Lou learns how to be more humane and create
less conflict, so does the reader.

It is the book that has had the biggest impact on me and my business.

The second most impactful book is “Crucial Conversations”

------
dima586
Sci-fi: Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. I found it fantastic though the end goes
a little bit too fast and with too little detail as compared to the beginning.

~~~
spapas82
It was an excellent book until the point you mention (the 2nd part which was
about 3/4 into the book). My recommendation? Read the 1st part and skip the
2nd one.

------
aestetix
I suppose I could give _my_ summer reading list:

The History of the Peloponessian War - Thucydides.

On book 3 right now, it's some of the most profound political strategy and
philosophy I've ever read. It really helps if you read Herodotus' Histories
before hand, to give context on the Persian War, and how what we now call
Greece ended up in this mess. It's extremely illustrative, and if you've read
it, the rise of populism after 70 years of American hegemony should be
absolutely no surprise (it looks a _lot_ like Athens).

The Gulag Archipelago - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Another book that is very important today, as socialism/communism is on the
rise in parts of the western world. It's an exploration of what happens when
social trust breaks down in a society, as it did after the Bolshevik
Revolution. Is the US at that point? No. Does it have the potential to get
there, with a few elections of more radical types and further breakdown of the
social fabric? Absolutely.

------
ArtWomb
Taleb's Technical Incerto. Imminently readable and accessible probability
theory. His postulates concerning fat tail vs normal distributions can readily
be translated into quick and dirty computer simulations. Thereby demonstrating
such hidden insights as "black swans are not more frequent in fat tails, but
merely more consequential"!

Other than recent technical papers, I am pretty much trying to eschew anything
published in the last century until it passes the test of time. I get more out
of a casual perusal of Aeschylus' Persians via Wikisource on my phone while
sitting under a tree. Than I do from all the Ray Dalio Principles and Yuval
Harari Homo Deus style tomes that are currently in vogue right now ;)

~~~
rb808
People probably recognize the individual books rather than the Incerto
collection.
[http://www.fooledbyrandomness.com/](http://www.fooledbyrandomness.com/)

Skin in the game is the latest, it is on my reading list. Taleb is an arrogant
*hole, but I love following him on Twitter and reading his books. A genuinely
great opinions.

------
ahansen
Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, is an incredible look into the benefits of
getting good amounts of sleep. Everything he talks about is also backed up by
his own research.

It has convinced me to improve my sleeping habits, and I've been feeling much
better because of it.

Highly recommended!

~~~
Moncefmd
Is there any good insight on how to improve the quality of said sleep? Or is
the amount of sleep the determinant factor of it?

~~~
markdog12
There is, but this is a good summary:
[https://medlineplus.gov/magazine/issues/summer15/articles/su...](https://medlineplus.gov/magazine/issues/summer15/articles/summer15pg22.html)

~~~
sah2ed
Your link does a good job of highlighting most of the important things needed
to fall asleep everyday like clockwork, but is light on the rituals of
resolving the anxiety of not falling asleep after lying in bed for 30 mins.

Anyway, thanks for the link.

------
sizzzzlerz
Soul of a New Machine, Tracy Kidder

Chasing New Horizons, Alan Stern, David Grinspoon

Look for something to read from my library, I stumbled across Kidder's book.
Reading it again brought back my memories as a new engineer during the same
time frame as takes place in the book. Its a wonderful story of how a small
group of people can come together and make something magical, putting their
heart and soul into the efforts.

New Horizons tells the story of the spacecraft launched to attempt science on
the solar systems most remote planet and how a group of people, scientists,
engineers, managers, made it happen with a number of political mishaps and
technical issues along the way.

------
TaylorAlexander
Not a book but if you’re ML curious, I enjoyed reading the World Models paper.
It was the first ML paper I read all the way through, and I found it
approachable but still technically informative. I later learned the author has
been in the AI game for decades, which explains his clear explanations and
comfort with the material.

PDF link at this page:
[https://arxiv.org/abs/1803.10122](https://arxiv.org/abs/1803.10122)

The interactive web page explains what you’d be reading about:
[https://worldmodels.github.io/](https://worldmodels.github.io/)

------
axplusb
Judea Pearl's The Book of Why.

Basically Pearl argues that classical statistics completely ignored the
concept of causality so far and introduces a complete framework to bring
causal inference into statistical/data analysis. The framework is based on
graphs and asks for causal hypotheses (like econometricians would do with
instrumental variables) and allows to compute/quantify causal effects.

Anyone working with data should probably read this book. The fact that Pearl
brought in a professional math/science writer as co-author is a huge boost to
the main ideas accessibility and make for a nice albeit deep summer read.

------
lhh
“Never Split the Difference” - fascinating read on negotiation. Author is a
former FBI hostage negotiator and his stories were themselves worth the read,
but it’s full of good advice on negotiation generally as well.

------
ryanatallah
The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss

~~~
alexgmcm
I'm still waiting for the final book!

~~~
mindcrime
We all are... _sigh_. That and the final book in the "Christopher Snow" series
by Dean Koontz.

------
novalis78
The Bitcoin Standard, by Seifedean Ammous (just published). Incredibly
fascinating journey through the history of money, past present and an outlook
with digital currencies in mind.

~~~
minikomi
A good companion book might be : The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion
and the Dark Side of Cute

It has a lot of insight on how bubbles can grow -- and pop.

------
arethuza
I recently, by accident, read two books that worked really well together:

 _One Summer: America, 1927_ by Bill Bryson

 _The Plot Against America_ by Philip Roth

The Bill Bryson book is, I think, a work of subtle genius - he makes stuff
that I would normally have no interest in absolutely fascinating (e.g.
baseball).

It was purely accidental that I read these in the order I did and so close
together - but the extensive descriptions of the adventures of Lindbergh and
other aviators did provide a great background for the Roth novel.

------
TripleH
A classic which appears so frequently in HN comments that I decided to find
the time to read it. It was really worth it.

"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig

~~~
rpeden
If you enjoyed it, you might like the sequel _Lila_ as well.

I think I may have even liked Lila a bit more than Zen.

------
shry4ns
The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham is an all time classic and I loved
reading the book

------
Uhhrrr
A couple people recommended Red Plenty on one of these threads, and I took the
recommendation and agree, it's great. Earnest Soviet economists try to solve
the Russian economy with mathematical models running on computers. The story
is told in a series of anecdotes, kind of similar to Kim Stanley Robinson's
Red Mars.

There are diversions along the way about Soviet cars, the probability of
getting lung cancer from any given cigarette, academic freedom, etc.

------
arenaninja
Here's my reading list so far:

1\. Principles of Likability: Skills for a Memorable First Impression,
Captivating Presence, and Instant Friendships

By Patrick King. I struggle with soft skills so I found it insightful without
being shallow

2\. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

By Stephen R. Covey. I think this predates the previous book, and it's not a
"read once then forget" type of book; it's about continuous self-improvement.
I got a lot from it, didn't enjoy the religious/spiritual overtones but I will
come back to this one

3\. The Algorithm Design Manual

By Steven S Skiena. I'm halfway through; I found the first chapter dense but
the rest are very approachable (go figure). I don't have a CS degree so it
helps to see problems classified into "this or that problem can be approached
with X algo"; some of this stuff I've worked through already but now I have a
name for a lot of these things. Definitely highly recommend this if like me
you don't have a CS education and occasionally wonder what the gap is between
you and CS graduates (IMO not much unless they __really __grok graphs). I wish
I had read it the second year of my career, but better late than never

------
q-base
Mindset by Carol Dweck. I felt like I knew the entire argument beforehand so
had put of reading it. But I really, really liked it. If you have kids or work
with people I would highly recommend it!

Pitch Anything by Oren Claff. The best book I have ever read on the psychology
of selling. Especially person-to-person negotiations. Each time I recommend it
I always think I need to read it again because I thoroughly enjoyed it.

------
christianbryant
I spend most of my days reading technical journals and books, so I like to
take a break once in a while and read more general writing. The two below are
the only books I pledged to finish this Summer.

1) _Challenging Sociality: An Anthropology of Robots, Autism, and Attachment_
by Kathleen Richardson

From the Introduction: This book explores the development of humanoid robots
for helping children with autism develop social skills based on fieldwork in
the UK and the USA. Robotic scientists propose that robots can therapeutically
help children with autism because there is a “special” affinity between them
and mechanical things.

2) _Wandering Towards a Goal: How Can Mindless Mathematical Laws Give Rise to
Aims and Intention?_ Edited by Anthony Aguirre, Brendan Foster, Zeeya Merali

From the Introduction: This collection of prize-winning essays addresses the
controversial question of how meaning and goals can emerge in a physical world
governed by mathematical laws. What are the prerequisites for a system to have
goals? What makes a physical process into a signal? Does eliminating the
homunculus solve the problem?

------
aeroplane
"Memories of a Theoretical Physicist", by Joseph Polchinski: 2017

Having only two bodies of knowledge, myself and physics, I decided to write an
autobiography about my development as a theoretical physicist... But it is
somewhat unique, a blow-by-blow history of where I started and where I got to.

[https://arxiv.org/abs/1708.09093](https://arxiv.org/abs/1708.09093)

A parting gift of sorts from a leader in modern physics who passed away
prematurely due to cancer. A true Summer Read as the author takes you on a
ride from a smart kid in California, to Caltech, to working within an academic
environment that allowed him to contribute in fundamental ways to
understanding physical reality. My takeaways: [1] calculus is actually useful,
[2] telling the truth and being transparent are invaluable assets, [3]
discoveries are hard won.

Clearly written towards advanced physics types but meant for a wider audience
to give a backstage peek into the working life of scientists who push the
boundaries of physics.

------
mapcars
>apreciate suggestions from similarly minded people

What about differently minded people? Hint: they can show you much more
because they are different ;)

------
voska
1) _Factfulness: Ten Reasons We 're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are
Better Than You Think_ by Hans Rosling.

This book really changed my perception of the world and how I look at market
dynamics. It's also a Bill Gates must read.

2) _High Growth Handbook_ by Elad Gil

This is supposed to be released next week and looks really good. Some of our
investors have been raving about it online.

------
jeanmichelx
I'm currently reading "Dark Continent - Europe's Twentieth Century" by Mark
Mazower, and I found it thoroughly interesting.

It highlights that democracy was absolutely not a clear path for Europe, and
why fascism worked.

I had no idea how much of the welfare state (government housing, children
benefits, etc) had fascist and imperialist roots.

Recommended read, it's thought-provoking.

------
fao_
The Origin of Capitalism -- Ellen Meiksins Wood

. Basically, a brief but compelling argument that claims that not only is
capitalism _not inevitable_ , but just like every system before it it was held
in place initially only by force and power, rather than being a natural
development of the human species.

Why I've Stopped Talking (To White People) About Race

. A ridiculously easy book to read given the topic, the author has a gift for
writing that makes effortless reading. The first section contains a rough
history of the civil rights movement in British politics, beginning at world
war two and the forgotten legions of foreign soldiers that fought for us. It
is shocking, and the catalogued stories of brutality by the state is utterly
horrifying, but it is important to read about. It is something that is almost
always instinctively and repeatedly brushed under the carpet due to the sheer
uncomfortableness of it all. And we cannot afford this any longer.

Carceral Capitalism

. A number of essays on modern capitalism. One of them is how the
incarceration system in America is used as an abhorrent form of profit for the
muncipalities, another is about the effects of profiling and just how
statistically incorrect it is. There are others I haven't got to yet. It's
incredibly lucid, and extremely well sourced, but difficult to read because of
just how horrible it all is (It quotes from a law journal the example of one
man who, having stolen a single can of beer, as a condition of his bail gets
fitted with an ankle monitor he has to pay for (Despite house arrest not being
part of his bail), the ankle monitor has a monthly charge and a late fee, that
ends up driving him into poverty and causing him to donate blood to assuage
his debts. Except after a certain point he can't donate blood because he
cannot afford to eat enough, to produce enough blood to sell. So (iirc) he
ends up in prison for debt instead).

The Silk Roads

. Sick and tired of a european-centric view of history that brushes the rest
of the world under the carpet? Well, no longer do you have to endure that.
With wonderfully (and indeed, sometimes painfully) dense writing, Peter
Frankopan takes you on a whislestop tour of the Persians, the Greeks, the
Chinese, etc. All of it revolving around one of the most important single
trade routes in all of human history.

------
avar
I highly recommend the recently published book Radical Markets[1] which I read
after listening to an interview with one of the authors on Econtalk[2]. From
that summary:

> Weyl urges a radical transformation of land and housing markets using a new
> federal real estate tax based on self-assessment. Owners would be required
> to sell their houses at the self-assessed price.

That's just the first part of the book, it has similar suggestions for
election law, how monopolies fueled by index funds can be addressed etc.

I don't know how workable all these ideas are in practice, but I found it to
be a fresh look at some societal issues.

1\. [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36515770-radical-
markets](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36515770-radical-markets)

2\. [http://www.econtalk.org/glen-weyl-on-radical-
markets/](http://www.econtalk.org/glen-weyl-on-radical-markets/)

------
joddystreet
Bhagvad Gita (as it is) - A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Not just a
spiritual book, more like the guiding principles that anyone, starting
something new, could use.

The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation - Jon
Gertner

Bell Labs, the RnD wing of AT&T-was the best laboratory for new ideas in the
world. The book tells a story about the life and work of a small group of
brilliant people - Mervin Kelly, Bill Shockley, Claude Shannon, John Pierce,
and Bill Baker.

Peak - Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool You must have heard this a 1000 times -
"you can do this", the book is about - "yes, and this is how"

The master algorithm - Pedro Domingos Book details out the philosophies of
various schools of thought in AI - deep learning, bayesian, genetic, reasoning
- in a very simple language.

What technology wants - Kevin Kelly Technology is a living organism and there
are patterns to the technology evolution, not unlike the organic evolution.

------
zilchers
1\. Measure What Matters - John Doers book about OKR’s is awesome, best
business book since Lean Startup

2\. Bad Blood - Just started it and it reads like John Grisham

3\. The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaur - Narrative about dinosaurs, I’m excited

4\. Cork Dork - Great book about wine and Sommeliers

5\. Waterloo: The History of Four Days - Everyone talks about Napolean’s
defeat, but I honestly know nothing about it.

~~~
anant90
I disagree with you on "Measure What Matters" book. I was really looking
forward to reading John Doerr's book, and I stuck along with it longer than
usual, but had to ultimately abandon it before hitting the 100-page mark. It
seems that just reading GV's blog post[1] on OKR's will teach you as much as
reading the whole book.

In addition, the book is one content chapter, followed by a few success
stories chapters written by founders themselves. These chapters are written in
a very uninspired tone (almost as if they wanted to write something and get it
done for JD, not because they wanted to share their story) and barely inspire
you or bring in any new insights over the meatier content chapters.

This is not a criticism of the OKR system — arguably it's one of the best goal
setting systems out there. But does it need a whole book to understand? I
think not. It just seems to be a vastly missed opportunity to me. John Doerr
is pretty much a legend in the valley, and maybe my expectations were sky high
hoping for a book on the same level as High Output Management or Hard Things
About Hard Things.

[1]: [https://library.gv.com/how-google-sets-goals-
okrs-a1f69b0b72...](https://library.gv.com/how-google-sets-goals-
okrs-a1f69b0b72c7)

------
r3n
Not new books, just something I'm currently reading.

\- Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy

This book teach you about depression and how you can apply cognitive therapy
techniques to help you. I'm in the second part of the book and already learn
some valuable information. It seems like HN recommend this book as well [1].

\- Common Sense on Mutual Funds

One of the classic investment books from John C. Bogle. In this book he talks
about what he think is the better way to invest in mutual funds and why.

This is one of the reading assignment form another short book I'm reading
called "If You Can" [2], which recommended by Bogleheads.

[1] [http://ramiro.org/vis/hn-most-linked-books/](http://ramiro.org/vis/hn-
most-linked-books/) [2]
[https://www.etf.com/docs/IfYouCan.pdf](https://www.etf.com/docs/IfYouCan.pdf)

------
carapace
Christopher Alexander's main works: Pattern Language et. al. and the Nature of
Order

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Pattern_Language#Other_title...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Pattern_Language#Other_titles_in_the_series)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nature_of_Order](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nature_of_Order)

"Permaculture – A Designer's Manual" _Applied ecology_ for long-term
(megayear) stability.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture)

"Introduction to Cybernetics" Ashby

[http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/ASHBBOOK.html](http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/ASHBBOOK.html)
(PDF available)

------
henrik_w
I recently read "Dreaming the Beatles: The Love Story of One Band and the
Whole World" by Rob Sheffield (after reading a review of it by Tyler
Cowen[1]).

I was not a big Beatles fan when I read it (but I'm a bit more of a fan now),
but I found the book very interesting, especially on the impact they had.

Other good ones I've read recently:

Agent Zigzag by Ben Macintyre - the true story of a British double agent
during WWII. Like someone said - it wouldn't have worked if it was fiction,
because it is too unbelievable.

Nomad by Alan Partridge - hilarious spoof in documentary style - similar to
the humor in The Office.

[1]
[https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2017/05/dr...](https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2017/05/dreaming-
the-beatles.html)

------
latexr
1\. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, by Scott McCloud

A comic about comics, but I don’t think you have to enjoy the medium to get
something out of the book. If you enjoy exploring subjects to their core, give
it a shot.

2\. The Sculptor, by Scott McCloud

The latest fiction graphic novel by the person who wrote a seminal book on
comics. No surprise it does a lot of things right.

3\. S-Town, by Brian Reed

Technically a podcast, but it was released all at once and is a contained
story that lasts for seven hours. I’d say a fairer assessment would be to call
it a well produced non-fiction audiobook, which is what you’d expect from the
producers of Serial and This American Life. When I recommend it I always tell
people to give it until the end of the second episode before deciding if
they’ll stick with it.

4\. Mindhunter, by John Douglas

Enjoyed the Netflix show? There’s a good chance you’ll enjoy this.

~~~
carapace
I gotta second "Understanding Comics", it's incredible! McCloud is a under-
recognized genius and _comics are a profound medium_! I found a copy on the
sidewalk. I'm halfway through it now and he's blown my mind four or five times
already. Don't be too proud to read a comic about comics: it will change the
way you think, not just about comics but about thinking itself!

It was published in '93\. I just looked and I couldn't find the exact quote,
but at one point he says something like, "even if you don't read comics, they
will be influencing popular art and entertainment" and I thought, "Didn't a
comicbook-based movie just gross two billion dollars?"

------
wellpast
Brett Easton Ellis recommended Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, so I read
it, just finished it -- devoured it, really -- and fully agree w/ his
assessment [1].

[1] I just finished reading The House of Mirth, which I had tried reading as
an eighteen- year-old college boy and just didn’t get. Now at fifty-four, it’s
crushing. Absolutely crushing. And the writing is just stupendous. I also love
Age of Innocence and The Custom of the County. Just going to Edith Wharton
every morning was fantastic and blew away any television or movie that I could
find online. [https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/bret-easton-
ellis-...](https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/bret-easton-ellis-future-
fiction-olah/)

------
madrafi
\- Neromancer \- 1984 \- The Bitcoin Standard \- The Conquest of Happiness
(Bertrand Russel) \- The Book of Why

------
calebm
"Hardboiled Wonderland and The End of the World" (by Haruki Murakami). I love
every book I've read by Haruki Murakami, but I think this may be my favorite.
I suspect that, for a work of literary surrealist/magical realism fiction, it
will appeal to the HN crowd.

~~~
geephroh
You might also try some Abe Kobo, who had a heavy influence on Murakami's
writing. His 1970 "Inter Ice Age 4" is a really interesting sci-fi-ish novel
involving global warming, supercomputers, and genetic engineering.

------
DanBC
More children's books:

 _Hello Ruby. Adventures in coding_
[https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1250065003/](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1250065003/)
(But I might spend mroe time with a Scratch book).

 _Nine Open Arms_
[https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1743315856](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1743315856)

 _My Little Book of Big Freedoms_
[https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1780555067](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1780555067)

 _The Lost Words_
[https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0241253586](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0241253586)

All of those are perhaps a bit "worthy", and we read a load of other books.
We're going to make our way through anything published by Little Gems. These
are small, short, books with a clear font and nice illustration. I think these
are great for reluctant or new readers. Here's one example, but they have a
load: _Mr Birdnest and the House Next Door_ (lovely illustration by Hannah
Shaw) [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Birdsnest-House-Next-Door-
Little/dp...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Birdsnest-House-Next-Door-
Little/dp/1781125759)

And things like _The London Eye Mystery_ (which may be a bit too old for my
child, we'll see how it goes) [https://www.amazon.co.uk/London-Eye-Mystery-
Siobhan-Dowd/dp/...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/London-Eye-Mystery-Siobhan-
Dowd/dp/0141376554)

We're still reading a few heavily illustrated books. I love Kate Hindley's
work, so I'm buying _The Knight Who Said No!_
[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Knight-Who-Said-
No/dp/1788002083](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Knight-Who-Said-No/dp/1788002083)

------
elvinyung
Lots of entrepreneurial suggestions here already, so I'm going do something
different by suggesting more humanities-focused books/papers that could help
round out our understanding of the state of things:

* _Status Update_ by Alice Marwick - an ethnography of the SF tech scene in the mid-late 2000s, a very detailed examination of the status structures in Silicon Valley and how we were changed by the rise of social media.

* _Postscript on the Societies of Control_ by Deleuze - short, insightful, somewhat prescient paper on the evolution of "control" mechanisms in postindustrial, capitalist societies.

* _Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?_ by Mark Fisher - a very compelling analysis of the neoliberal postmodern condition, and how the cultural milieu has changed since the fall of the Soviet Union, and free-market capitalism became the only extant economic system in the world.

* _Death and Life of Great American Cities_ by Jane Jacobs - this probably needs no introduction; it was an extremely transformative treatise on urban form, vitality, diversity, and completely overturned the urban planning field when it was originally published. I think everyone who plans on living in a city should read this book.

* _Hollow City_ by Rebecca Solnit - an ethnography of the gentrification and bohemian displacement in San Francisco during the dot-com boom of the 1990s. She doesn't just blame "the techies" for the gentrification, but rather uses the gentrification as a lens to examine the culture around urbanism has changed in the recent decades.

~~~
oscarpas
On the same note I’d recommend _Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American
City_ by Matthew Desmond.

Written in research driven prose, it details the relationships between a
handfull of landlords and tenants in some of the poorest neighborhoods of
Milwaukee.

~~~
elvinyung
Thanks for the recommend! I just read the excerpt in the New Yorker [1]. Geez,
this is some heartbreaking stuff, a an even more sobering account of the
neoliberalization of urbanism than Solnit's book.

[1] [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/02/08/forced-
out](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/02/08/forced-out)

------
a_d
I have a sort of meta-question, Specifically about non-fiction work: if one
gets the central idea contained in the book (say, from a blog or Podcasts or
YouTube video of author explaining the ideas) - Is it still useful to read the
entire book?

If a book is fundamentally about “ideas” — aren’t there more efficient ways
available _today_ (that were not pre-internet) to learn those ideas more
quickly?

As an example: There is a Dave Rubin podcast where Jordan Peterson lays out
the 12 Rules of Life very clearly and concisely. If one knows the rules and
understands them, is it still necessary/important to read the book?

I wonder, just how much “reading the entire non-fiction book” is increasingly
now an archaic way to ingest new ideas?

~~~
plahteenlahti
I think this depends how you value your time, and how you feel about reading.
I personally feel that the point of reading is not simply about understanding
the fundamental ideas those books are about. More important is to do something
you enjoy, and if you don't enjoy reading that much, going with the more
efficient way is most likely the better way to go.

~~~
jeffreyrogers
I also find that reading gives you time to reflect on the author's points and
see where you agree or disagree, which helps you clarify your own
understanding.

------
TheAceOfHearts
The most recent book I read was Rework, by Json Fried & David Heinemeier
Hansson. I think hackers might be most interested in it.

A few months back I also read 12 Rules for Life, and I really enjoyed it, even
if I didn't feel like all the rules applied to me yet.

------
natrik
_The Remains of the Day_ by Kazuo Ishiguro

Amazing short fictional novel by a Nobel Prize winning author.

------
jjcm
If you're into sci-fi, the Bobiverse trilogy was an absolute pleasure to read.
Kinda a silly name, but really tickled me in a similar way that The Martian
did. Good mix of entertainment plus some more heady things to leave you
thinking.

------
ritchiea
I'm going to recommend some fiction.

Man v. Nature by Diane Cook is an amazing read, filled with Kafkaesque,
conceptual short stories that all also have real portraits of humanity when
faced with extreme circumstances. It's my favorite thing I've read in years.

Other fiction I would recommend:

\- Remainder by Tom McCarthy, a novel that dives deep into a weird cognitive
question. I first read it about 8 years ago and it changed my idea of what a
novel could be.

\- Where'd you go Bernadette? by Maria Semple. The funniest book I've ever
read. By a writer from the TV series Arrested Development. Satire of the
intellectual & tech wealth Seattle world, but also much more than that.

------
pimmen
0: Ray Dalio, _Principles_

I'm halfway through it right now, I like it a lot. It's good for helping me
reflect on how I learn through my experience and how I best form habits.

1: Daniel Yergin, _The Quest_

I loved _The Prize_ and will follow it up with Yergin's other book on energy.

2: Thomas S. Mullaney, _The Chinese Typewriter: A History_

I love tech history and in this case I go into it with all these prejudices
about how awful it must be for Chinese people to use modern keyboards, without
any real knowledge about it. I will keep an open mind and see how culture and
tech clashed and what solutions were spawned from this conflict.

------
aloukissas
I'm reading (well, listening on Audible) "Born a crime" by Trevor Noah (he
does the narration). Fantastic story of growing up as a mixed-race child in
apartheid and very entertaining narration.

------
MarkingTime
Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America by James and
Deborah Fallows. An excellent look in to the demographic shifts of 'fly-over'
country, America. While so much of the focus of tech is on how we can change
the world and find customers in heavily urbanized and developed parts of the
country - the customers who could stand to benefit the most from innovation
are oft overlooked. The book also serves as a great reminder that rural or
non-seaboard cities aren't necessarily 'backwaters'.

------
S_Bear
In the Distance by Hernan Diaz

Swedish peasant teen finds himself seperated from his brother and on a boat to
California in the 1840s. Reads like an odd mix of Louis L'Amour and Gabriel
Garcia Marquez. I usually don't read fiction, but I found this to be
completely gripping.

40 Chances by Howard Buffett

Warren Buffett's son, a farmer in Illinois, describes the difficulties in
feeding the world and America's somewhat backwards approach to helping the
third world get self-sufficient. As someone in a very rural area, learning
more about the economics of farming is fascinating.

------
hotsauceror
“Seven Pillars of Wisdom” by T. E. Lawrence

“The Wars of the Roses” by Alison Weir

Re-reading “A Soldier of the Great War” by Mark Helprin

Also, do yourself a favor and pick up the Aubrey / Maturin series by Patrick
O’Brian. You will not regret it.

------
glorithm
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, by Mark Manson

[https://www.amazon.ca/Subtle-Art-Not-Giving-
Counterintuitive...](https://www.amazon.ca/Subtle-Art-Not-Giving-
Counterintuitive/dp/0062641549/)

Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity, by Kim Scott

[https://www.amazon.ca/Radical-Candor-Kick-Ass-Without-
Humani...](https://www.amazon.ca/Radical-Candor-Kick-Ass-Without-Humanity-
ebook/dp/B01KTIEFEE)

~~~
mavilia
The Subtle Art is a great book that helps put things into perspective. At
times you will open it to a chapter randomly, but it still has some
application to a part of your life that you may be struggling with. I like to
keep the audio book around so that I can have little reminders daily because
of course the concepts are useless without application.

------
kevas
For me...

1\. Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets by John Murphy

2\. Options as a Strategic Investment by Lawrence G. McMillan

3\. [just finished] The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right By Atul
Gawande

4\. [finished last week] Dealers of Lightning by Michael A. Hiltzik

5\. [currently working on] Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-
Oriented Software By GOF

6\. [currently working on] Dan Appleman's Visual Basic Programmer's Guide to
the Win32 API by Dan Appleman

7\. [next on the list] Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed
by Ben Rich, Leo Janos

------
ian0
I started reading this year after a gap of perhaps 10. Sci-fi. Couldn't be
happier. Strong recommendations:

\- Anathem, Neal Stephenson (already on my second read)

\- Accelerando, Charles Stross

\- Glasshouse, Charles Stross

~~~
Jedd
Heh. I sometimes read these contemporary ask-hn's and realise I'm way outside
of the loop, but can agree with this short list. In recent years have read-
and-thoroughly-enjoyed Neal Stephenson's Seveneves, Cixin Liu's The Three Body
Problem, and Charles Stross' Accelerando - and only later realised they're
basically all about the end (in different ways) of the world.

I'm two thirds of the way through Ramez Naam's Nexus trilogy ... and am now
starting to think I have a literary fetish.

------
carusooneliner
1) _Education of a Value Investor by Guy Spier_

Autobiography of a guy who won an auction to have lunch with Warren Buffett
for $600k and ended up becoming a successful, contrarian value investor. Fun
read for contrarians out there.

2) _Napoleon 's Buttons by Penny Le Couteur, Jay Burreson_

A look at world culture and historical events through the lens of chemistry.

3) _Becoming Leonardo: An Exploded View of the Life of Leonardo da Vinci by
Mike Lankford_

A quirky and entertaining biography of Da Vinci.

~~~
alexgmcm
_Napoleon 's Buttons_ is good - the way the book is divided up keeps it
interesting too.

------
jsingleton
I actually wrote a couple of blog posts about some of my favourite books for
summer reading recently.

[https://unop.uk/6-non-technical-book-recommendations/](https://unop.uk/6-non-
technical-book-recommendations/)

[https://unop.uk/3-more-non-technical-book-
recommendations/](https://unop.uk/3-more-non-technical-book-recommendations/)

------
shpx
_438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea_ by Jonathan
Franklin

In 2012 a Mexican fisherman got caught in a storm. His panga's (7 meter long
motorboat) motor failed less than 30 km away from shore. He survived being
adrift on the ocean for 438 days.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Salvador_Alvarenga](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Salvador_Alvarenga)

------
ajhurliman
-Godel, Escher, Bach / There was an article on here a short while back writing about how they didn't like the book. I figured if the book was important enough that it was noteworthy when someone wrote that they DIDN'T like it, I should check it out.

-Salt, fat, acid heat / A no-nonsense approach to cooking that's made me feel a lot more confident in the kitchen

-It's your ship / Required reading for a PM class

------
drited
It's an audiobook but if you're interested in Chinese history I thought The
Fall and Rise of China was fascinating. It is available on audible.

------
orsenthil
I read Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond. It will go down as the one of
the best books I have read in my life. I have written the review for that book
here - [http://xtoinfinity.com/posts/2018/05/04/book-review-guns-
ger...](http://xtoinfinity.com/posts/2018/05/04/book-review-guns-germs-and-
steel.html)

------
dosy
Why the West Still Rules - For Now, Ian Morris

Grand unified theory of history, focusing on the cyclic patterns of challenge
that societies face as they push against hard ceiling of development using
their existing methods, and have to innovate to break through, or spiral
downward into a dark ages. Guided by an exploration of the question "Why the
West has global dominance but the East does not -- for now"

------
adora
“Dealers of Lightning” by Michael Hiltzik - on Xerox PARC and its highly
inventive cast of characters

“Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl - on choosing your own attitude

“Dreamland” by Sam Quinones - on America’s opioid epidemic

“Technics and Civilization” by Lewis Mumford - on technological progress (and
machines) from the perspective of someone in the 1930s

“The Color of Law” by Richard Rothstein - on the myth of de facto segregation
(vs de jure segregation)

------
Tepix
Of all the books I read this year, I liked "Five billion years of solitude" by
Lee Billings the most:

[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17707637-five-billion-
ye...](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17707637-five-billion-years-of-
solitude)

It's mostly about the Exoplanet boom in astronomy. It also has a lot of
philosophical aspects.

------
JonasJSchreiber
Highly recommend James Clavell's Asian Saga starting with Shogun. Also
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson might be one of my favorites

------
erikbye
Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun. A four-part science fantasy novel
included in the Fantasy Masterworks series. Quote from The Guardian: "science
fiction's Ulysses?"

I can also recommend J.G. Ballard. A well-known and venerated writer, but who
seems under-read, especially in the U.S. I generally like his short stories
and a few of his novels.

------
nagVenkat
I feel like I am an official promoter for this book on HN but I most certainly
am not. The book, Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer is one of the
most interesting books I had read. I read many books after that but nothing
left me with same sense of joy and knowledge and hope. Please consider taking
a look at the book. It is amazing.

~~~
misiti3780
just out of curiosity, how long did i take you to read this book. i have it on
my shelve but am afraid to start because it seems like it will take 2 months
to finish

------
amorphid
Every book in the Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold. It character
driven sci-fi. My non-sci-fi friends introduced me to it, and being a sci-fi
lover myself, I enjoyed it that much more.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorkosigan_Saga](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorkosigan_Saga)

------
koolhead17
Some of my picks from last months reading list:

1\. The undoing project, Michael Lewis

2\. The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde

3\. Missing Microbes, Martin J. Blaser

4\. Socrates' Defence, Plato

------
mns06
I'm 2/3 of the way through _Enlightenment Now_ by Stephen Pinker, having seen
Bill Gates describe it as his new favourite book of all time:
[https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Enlightenment-
Now](https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Enlightenment-Now).

With the daily news cycle full of violence, hatred and despair, the book is an
rationally optimistic (possibilist!) argument that the human condition has
been improving since the days of the Enlightenment - and that the improvement
is driven by reason, science and humanism. Definitely recommended.

~~~
abhiminator
>Enlightenment Now by Stephen Pinker

Just started reading it after having finished another one of Mr. Gates'
favorite -- Factfulness, by Hans Rosling -- which, btw, he's distributing at
no cost to college students in the United States. [0]

Insofar, I could observe _Enlightenment Now_ to be a book that ties the loose
ends of all of Mr. Pinker's previous works -- The Better Angels of our Nature,
The Blank Slate etc. Would definitely recommend checking them out before
starting with this to get an idea of the intellectual depth of the man.

[0] [http://time.com/money/5303143/bill-gates-free-book-
graduates...](http://time.com/money/5303143/bill-gates-free-book-graduates-
factfulness/)

------
Insanity
Some books that I recently read and enjoyed:

Non-fiction a) Sapiens (Yuval Noah Harari) b) Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet
and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon (Kim Zetter) c) Hackers:
Heroes of the computer revolution (Steven Levy) d) Masters of Doom (David
Kushner)

Fiction: e) The Death of Ivan Ilyich (Leo Tolstoy) f) Ready Player One (Ernest
Cline)

------
tikkabhuna
Black Box Thinking: The Surprising Truth About Success by Matthew Syed.

It looks at anecdotes and stats around different industries and people and
their approach to failure and learning from it. Goes on a bit about
incremental gains and how those who are successful are so because of many
little things, rather than a few big ones.

------
Eridrus
I read "The New Jim Crow" yesterday. A lot of it is familiar, but the sheer
scale of how many black men are incarcerated was eye opening. The extent that
we discriminate against released criminals was also eye opening, even if some
of it was things I knew in the back of my mind.

~~~
mindcrime
Absolutely second this. Also, if race and race issues are important to you,
consider _Black Like Me_ [1] by John Howard Griffin. It's a fascinating story
of a white man who spent some time roaming around the Deep South, during the
Civil Rights Era, masquerading as a black man.

[1]:[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Like_Me](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Like_Me)

------
subhajeet2107
I set a goal to read atleast 3 books a month, so this is my July list: \- A
mind at play: halfway through ,good read so far Shanon is a legend \- The
subtle Art of Not Giving a F __K : Refreshingly good \- Measure What Matters :
Using this as a reference for everything now on, good read

~~~
baxtr
How do you accomplish reading three books a month while maintaining a job and
a family (assumption)? I struggle with that and would love to learn some
clever strategies

~~~
wayfarer2s
Audio books help a lot. It makes reading a more passive activity that you can
do while doing other things that are less taxing on the mind. If you have a
long commute and you can knock off quite a few books just going back and forth
to work. My commute is around 30 minutes, which means I can listen to at least
5 hours of audio each week. I also tend to listen to audio books while doing
chores -- tending the yard, cleaning the garage, cleaning the house, buying
groceries, etc.

Most nonfiction books tend to be around 8-9 hours so you can usually finish
one book a week, maybe 2 or 3 if you listen at 1.5x. If it's scientifically
backed with a lot of studies and arguments, then it's closer to 15-18 hours.
Novels are all over the place, from a short 4 hours to epic 50 hours books.
But since it's all passive, it becomes less about finishing because it's easy
reading. You'll finish it eventually.

Audio books are also great in the sense that they save my eyes for things that
I can't listen to passively, like technical or mathematical books.

------
HeadsUpHigh
Fantasy: Northern Lights and the rest of the series. A higly influential book
for me. It might read a bit like a teenager novel but it gets better on the
second and third one.

Tolkien's The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun

Sci-fi: the metro series. Great story telling and world building. I thoroughly
enjoyed it.

------
xzion
The Nexus Trilogy, by Ramez Naam. Rereading it at the moment, my favourite
modern sci-fi series by far.

~~~
dgritsko
Never heard of it and I consider myself a huge sci-fi fan. What would you
compare it to?

------
nickvanhoog
The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein and The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard
Rhodes were both great.

~~~
spkane31
I read The Making of the Atomic Bomb as a junior/seniorin high school and it
took me forever to get through but I enjoyed it so much that I picked it up
again after two years of college. Absolutely fantastic read on both the
technical aspect and the literary composition.

------
marclave
Not published yet but High Growth Handbook [1] looks like a great read.

[1] [https://www.amazon.com/High-Growth-Handbook-Elad-Gil-
ebook/d...](https://www.amazon.com/High-Growth-Handbook-Elad-Gil-
ebook/dp/B07DRPGGQ7/)

------
midhir
If I could recommend one book from what I've read this year it'd be When China
Rules the World by Martin Jaques.

For fiction; Solar Bones by Mike McCormack. One-sentence novel about a man on
the West coast of Ireland shortly before the crash hit. Won the Dublin
Literary Prize.

------
bleigh0
Favourite book I've read this month so far is Flight to Arras, by Antoine de
Saint-Exupéry.

Its a beautifully written book about life, war, death, refugees, politics,
adventure, community religion & humanism (set during WW2 when France was in a
seemingly dire position). Saint-Ex is better known for The Little Prince and
Wind, Sand and Stars, but I think this is my favourite I've read of him.

Teaser: “For love is greater than any wind of words. And man, leaning at his
window under the stars, is once again responsible for the bread of the day to
come, for the slumber of the wife who lies by his side, all fragile and
delicate and contingent. Love is not thinking, but being. As I sat facing
Alias I longed for night, when my thoughts would be of civilization, of the
destiny of man, of the savor of friendship in my native land. For night, so
that I might yearn to serve some overwhelming purpose which at this moment I
cannot define. For night, so that I might perhaps advance a step towards
fixing my unmanageable language. I longed for the night as the poet might do,
the true poet who feels himself inhabited by a thing obscure but powerful, and
who strives to erect images like ramparts round that thing in order to capture
it. To capture it in a snare of images.”

------
snek
The Odyssey translated by Emily Wilson

especially if you've already read it, this translation is fantastic.

------
tramtrist
Before Church and State: A Study of Social Order in the Sacramental Kingdom of
St. Louis IX

------
rgbimbochamp
I read a bunch this year but Pandora's Lab is the most mind-boggling shit one
should read.

My list resides here:
[https://saru.science/readinglist/](https://saru.science/readinglist/)

------
deusofnull
Im about to fully read Mark Fischer's "Capitalist Realism" [0]. It is easier
to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism. After 1989,
capitalism has successfully presented itself as the only realistic political-
economic system - a situation that the bank crisis of 2008, far from ending,
actually compounded. The book analyses the development and principal features
of this capitalist realism as a lived ideological framework. Using examples
from politics, film (Children Of Men, Jason Bourne, Supernanny), fiction (Le
Guin and Kafka), work and education, it argues that capitalist realism colours
all areas of contemporary experience, is anything but realistic and asks how
capitalism and its inconsistencies can be challenged It is a sharp analysis of
the post-ideological malaise that suggests that the economics and politics of
free market neo-liberalism are givens rather than constructions.

[0]
[https://duckduckgo.com/?q=zerobooks+capitalist+realism&t=ffa...](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=zerobooks+capitalist+realism&t=ffab&ia=web)

------
misiti3780
Here are some excellent books I have read in the past few weeks

1) How to change your mind 2) Bad Blood 3) Kitchen Confidential 4) I am a
strange loop 5) The good mothers (about the ndrangheta) 6) Behave: The Biology
of Humans at Our Best and Worst

------
orliesaurus
Artemis by Andy Weir (the author of The Martian) its pretty good to relax
before sleep

------
agigao
Going through:

* Faust - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

* How To Read a Book - Mortimer J. Adler

* Python Machine Learning 2nd Edition - Sebastian Raschka

* Economics 19e - Samuelson/Nordhaus

Next in line:

* The Sleepwalkers - Hermann Broch

* The Will to Power - Friedrich Nietzsche

* Oxford Handbook of Business and Government - David Coen(and other dozens of lecturers)

------
tmaly
I finished Never Split the Difference a month back. Fantastic read.

I am almost finished with Thinking Fast and Slow. I kinda wish I had read it
years back given all the useful insights.

I just bought a copy of the 1961 version of Stranger in a Strange land.

------
jonbaer
War By Other Means (by Robert D. Blackwill and Jennifer M. Harris)
[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EAGEYI8/](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EAGEYI8/)

------
lumannnn
"Ego is the Enemy: The Fight to Master Our Greatest Opponent", by Ryan
Holiday.

I really enjoyed this one and I will read it again. IMHO, it helped me
understand people better and especially myself. It changed a lot of my own
perspectives and opened my eyes in at least 2 areas of my own life.

Behaviour, intentions, humility, self-esteem, focus on right things and don't
let other opinions (about you or your work) mess with your mind.

I read this last year. Since then, many different daily situations reminded me
in some way to topics discussed in the book. I will also gift this book to
others (if I feel someone is open for these kind of topics).

\- Good Reads: [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27036528-ego-is-the-
enem...](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27036528-ego-is-the-enemy)

------
iammiles
I read A Brief History of Time after the death of Stephen Hawking and recently
wrapped up the Three Body Problem. I think they make an excellent combo for
anyone interested in Physics, Sci-Fi, and Computer Science

------
analogtom
The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin.

It is one of the books that is referenced all of the time over the span of my
life. Realized I never thought to actually read it for myself...I recommend
checking it off the list.

------
georgehaake
Southern Reach Trilogy. On the last book. All three very well written.

------
rorykoehler
I'm reading "Energy: A Human History" by Richard Rhodes currently. It is an
engaging read about the last 400 years of energy production, consumption and
technology.

------
MrsPeaches
Ideas: A history by Peter Watson is absolutely fantastic.

Gives a comprehensive account of the ideas and technologies that have shaped
humanity "from fire to Freud".

------
murrayb
There are a lot of really great suggestions here. I would recommend putting
all of them aside and read Deep Work by Cal Newport and then re assess.

------
lancewiggs
Currently reading "Sons of Wichita: How the Koch Brothers Became America's
Most Powerful and Private Dynasty"

Very insightful on a number of levels.

------
spapas82
Let's take a look at the books I've read for 2018:

[https://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/10897132](https://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/10897132)

As you see I mainly read scifi and fantasy; not necesarrily new releases.

From these books, here's a bunch I recommend:

\- Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown: It is really excellent. It may feel
like an ordinary young adult novel, however, especiall after during the 2nd
book (and through the duration of the 3rd one) it really hooks you up with its
story and characters; it feels like a Game Of Thrones in sci-fi; totally
recommended.

\- Every dead thing by John Connoly: An excellent crime/serial killer story.
It has some grotesque descriptions so don't read it if you don't have the
stomach for such things; beyond that it's really good.

\- The Expanse series by James SA Corey: I have read almost everything in this
series. I like it very much; some books are better than the others however I
recommend starting with Leviathan awakes (the 1st one) and if you like the
characters and story continue with the others; if not don't bother.

\- The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. A great fantasy novel; very
interesting story and characters. I liked it very much. The second one (red
seas under red skies) was not as good as the first one though.

\- The power of the Dog by Don Winslow: A great crime/mob/narcotics story
about the drug war in Mexico which is based on real facts and characters. It
is a little long however I read it with great insterest.

And a couple I didn't like:

\- The broker by John Grisham: Probably the worst Grisham novel I've ever
read. Felt more like a travel guide to Italy than a real Grisham novel. I was
very dissapointed by this novel because I've like almost all other Grisham
novels I've read.

\- Time by Stephen Baxter: I'd head good things about this but it is just a
couple of nice scientific ideas. It doesn't have any real plot and feels very
boring after a little.

\- Daemon by Daniel Suarez: This was a mediocre book. The writer must be a
Software/Computer ENgineer and definitely knows his stuff (you can even learn
a couple of things from him); this was the good part. The bad part was that
the plot did not made much sense and the power of the Daemon/AI started to
feel like a Deus ex Machina and became too boring to follow.

\- Winter moon by Dean Koontz: A not very good horror story. I didn't like its
plot at all.

------
r41nbowdash
Refreshing my math with Richard Hamming's "Methods of Mathematics Applied to
Calculus, Probability, and Statistics"

------
analogtom
The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin. I can't believe it took me so long to
read one of the most important books written.

------
kulu2002
Recently got a chance to read - Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval
Noah Harari. Good description of Human history

------
kalimatas
Peter F. Hamilton, "Commonwealth Saga" and "Void Trilogy". Among the best Sci-
Fi I've ever read.

------
louismerlin
Factfulness

I couldn't recommend this book enough.

~~~
TotempaaltJ
Want to second this. Has changed my worldview in very significant ways.

------
shoo
Hilary Mantel - "Wolf Hall" & "Bring Up The Bodies".

Excellent fiction. You're worth it.

~~~
arethuza
I'd strongly recommend her novel about the French Revolution "A Place of
Greater Safety".

------
agumonkey
a talk from Alan Kay copied by someone here mentioned

Geoffrey West : scale
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31670196-scale](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31670196-scale)

Not read it yet but it's on my list

------
Philipp__
For me --

0: Neuromancer, William Gibson

1: The Rust programming Language, Carol Nichols and Steve Klabnik

2: Getting Clojure, Russ Olsen

Interesting times indeed... :)

------
companyhen
I am reading Lost Connections by Johann Hari - interesting look into
depression and anxiety

------
superherointj
Science and Sanity - Alfred Korzybski Steps to An Ecology of Mind - Gregory
Bateson

------
godelmachine
1) The Imagineer’s of War by Sharon Weinberger

2) The Pentagon’s Brain by Annie Jacobson

------
lanestp
1: 12 Rules for life, Jordan Peterson Ignore the controversy, this book will
change your life for the better. Get the audio version Peterson narrates and
it adds an extra dimension.

2: The Obesity Code, Dr Fung Probably the most eloquent and effective
breakdown of how and why obesity comes to be and what to do about it. As a
bonus, it’s really funny!

3:Not Alone, Craig Falconer I picked this up on a whim and enjoyed it more
than any other work of fiction in the past year. It’s a first contact story
that focuses on the media and politics.

4:Measure what matters, John Doer This book has transformed how my team runs.
Anyone in any kind of management role should read this book.

5:Win Bigly, Scott Adams I’m going to be controversial with this one. It’s an
interesting story that provides more practical tools for persuasion than any
book I’ve ever read (and I’ve read every popular book on the topic). If you
want to know how to apply influence read this book.

~~~
sn41
I enjoyed Win Bigly. The part I found intriguing was one where he describes a
three-act-movie structure.

What is the controversy about 12 rules for life? I enjoyed the book, but it
did not move me much. I found it a repetition of viewpoints in other books.

------
stefantheard
I am going to finally read Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain.

------
lurcio
The Revelation of Jesus Christ Perhaps the most 'contested' words put to paper
(in the academic sense of the word, such as "Europe is a contested concept")

------
alexsicart
A Brief History of Everything by Ken Wilber.

------
Stronico
1\. You Can't Win by Jack Black - autobiography of a late 19th century
safecracker and general criminal - long enough ago for everything to be
different, but the differences are still recognizable

2\. Stalin - the Kremlin Mountaineer - a great, and short biography of Joseph
Stalin - one of the rare books that could have been longer

3\. Stars Beneath Us: Finding God in the Evolving Cosmos by Paul Wallace - an
astrophysicist looks at the book of Job and reveals it as the big picture
view.

4\. The True Believer by Eric Hoffer - the all time classic of the study of
mass movements. Full of aphorisms too.

------
ericcumbee
Currently working on “The Drunkard’s Walk”

------
extralego
Capital: A Critique of Political Economy

------
modzu
the divine comedy by dante. some regard it as the greatest work of literature
of all time.

------
catacombs
> for the vacations months

What vacation months?

------
swah
leo trese - the faith explained

thomas merton - comtemplative prayer

eric voegelin - hitler and the germans

------
Dowwie
"Why liberalism failed" by Patrick Deneen (listen to the latest econ talk for
background: [http://www.econtalk.org/patrick-deneen-on-why-liberalism-
fai...](http://www.econtalk.org/patrick-deneen-on-why-liberalism-failed/). )

------
mindcrime
A few recommedations:

1\. _Black Like Me_ \- John Howard Griffin -
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Like_Me](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Like_Me)

2\. _More Matrix and Philosophy_ \- William Irwin (ed) -
[https://www.amazon.com/More-Matrix-Philosophy-Revolutions-
Re...](https://www.amazon.com/More-Matrix-Philosophy-Revolutions-
Reloaded/dp/0812695720)

3\. _Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid_ \- Douglas Hofstadter -
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_Bach](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_Bach)

4\. _The New Jim Crow_ \- Michelle Alexander -
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Jim_Crow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Jim_Crow)

5\. _Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal_ \- Ayn Rand -
[https://www.amazon.com/dp/0451147952/ref=sspa_dk_detail_4?ps...](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0451147952/ref=sspa_dk_detail_4?psc=1)

6\. _The Fountainhead_ \- Ayn Rand -
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fountainhead](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fountainhead)

7\. _The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect_ \- Judea Pearl -
[https://www.amazon.com/Book-Why-Science-Cause-
Effect/dp/0465...](https://www.amazon.com/Book-Why-Science-Cause-
Effect/dp/046509760X)

8\. _The Education of Millionaires_ \- Michael Ellsberg -
[https://www.amazon.com/Education-Millionaires-Everything-
Col...](https://www.amazon.com/Education-Millionaires-Everything-College-
Successful/dp/1591845610)

9\. _The Silent Corner_ , _The Whispering Room_ , and _The Crooked Staircase_
\- Dean Koontz - [http://www.deankoontz.com/book-series/jane-
hawk](http://www.deankoontz.com/book-series/jane-hawk)

10\. _Godel 's Proof_ \- Ernest Nagel & James Newman -
[https://www.amazon.com/G%C3%B6dels-Proof-Ernest-
Nagel/dp/081...](https://www.amazon.com/G%C3%B6dels-Proof-Ernest-
Nagel/dp/0814758371)

11\. _After Dark_ \- Haruki Murakami -
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17803.After_Dark](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17803.After_Dark)

------
oceanbreeze83
Jordan Peterson’s - ‘12 Rules for Life’

I got into this a couple months ago and it’s been absolutely life changing.
Really like this book and most of the content / literature / podcasts he puts
out.

~~~
bernardino
You might like Nat Eliason's summary and notes of the book:
[https://www.nateliason.com/lessons/12-rules-for-life-
jordan-...](https://www.nateliason.com/lessons/12-rules-for-life-jordan-
peterson/).

I read that this morning and it was incredibly intriguing, I'll definitely
have to pick up the book this weekend.

