Ask HN: What are you reading Feb 2024

#1

Post by andher » Sun, Feb 04, 2024, 9:17 AM UTC

Always found some interesting reads like this. Looking to add to my tbr to hit my yearly goal.

I just finished the three body problem, found it fantastic. I'm most of the way through 'The will of the many', and I'm finding it amazing - one of the best fantasies I've read in a while.

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading Feb 2024

#2

Post by Verath » Sun, Feb 04, 2024, 10:12 AM UTC

I'm currently reading Nation by Terry Pratchett. I have previously read all of the Discworld novels and thoroughly enjoyed them. Then last year I read the Terry Pratchett biography (also worth a read, IMO!), where it is mentioned that Terry himself thought Nation was probably his best book. Had to give it a read after that! So far it's pretty good, but I do miss the characters from the Discworld universe to be honest.

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading Feb 2024

#3

Post by ochronus » Sun, Feb 04, 2024, 10:15 AM UTC

The Anatomy of Peace: How to Resolve the Heart of Conflict

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading Feb 2024

#4

Post by hubraumhugo » Sun, Feb 04, 2024, 10:21 AM UTC

- Firepower: How Weapons Shaped Warfare

Excellent history of firearms and war tactics from around 1300 to the present day

- One Giant Leap: The Impossible Mission That Flew Us to the Moon

How can 400k people collaborate to achieve something so big? Fascinating read.

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading Feb 2024

#5

Post by jerpint » Sun, Feb 04, 2024, 10:22 AM UTC

I’m listening to “the creative act - Rick Rubin”, the audiobook is narrated by him and he has such a soothing voice , highly recommended

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading Feb 2024

#6

Post by vidyesh » Sun, Feb 04, 2024, 10:26 AM UTC

The Remembrance of Earth's Past has been on my list for some time now. Will you be finishing that trilogy?

Actively reading:

- Mistborn : Final Empire (~90% finished ding)

- 3rd novella in The Murderbot Diaries

- Dive into Design Patterns

- Fullstack D3 and Data Viz

Passively reading:

- The Design of everyday things (I don't think I will ever finish this book)

- Bhagavad-Gita as it is

- LOTR (mostly a re-read)

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading Feb 2024

#7

Post by abbadadda » Sun, Feb 04, 2024, 10:29 AM UTC

I started listening to "The Unicorn Project" on audiobook. It is not as good as "The Phoenix Project" audiobook, but it does a decent job of describing problems from the software engineer's perspective. The problem is I need a version of these books from Sarah Molton/Steve Master's point of view (a novel about being a product manager or CEO?) to better understand what motivates that side of the org. I have been mired in "The Core Chronic Conflict" for years, paying down tech debt, and turns out changing an org to learn/understand/care about DevOps is Hard.

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading Feb 2024

#8

Post by TheAceOfHearts » Sun, Feb 04, 2024, 10:30 AM UTC

A few days back I finished reading Accelerando by Charles Stross. It's really interested, the premise basically explores what a potential posthuman technologically advanced future could look like.

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading Feb 2024

#9

Post by Brajeshwar » Sun, Feb 04, 2024, 10:33 AM UTC

I usually make a list by the year-end of what I want to read the following year. It tends to shift as the year progresses. Here is my list of tentative books for 2024 (which is subject to change).

https://brajeshwar.com/2024/books/

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading Feb 2024

#10

Post by RyanHamilton » Sun, Feb 04, 2024, 10:41 AM UTC

abbadadda wrote: post #7

I started listening to "The Unicorn Project" on audiobook. It is not as good as "The Phoenix Project" audiobook, but it does a decent job of describing problems from the software engineer's perspective. The problem is I need a version of these books from Sarah Molton/Steve Master's point of view (a novel about being a product manager or CEO?) to better understand what motivates that side of the org. I have been mired…

I agree on your review of both books. Phoenix project was excellent. After years of banging my head trying to change a large org, I'm not sure you can do it head on. I found either you need incentives to change, then the org changes. e.g. Rather than encourage goal X, pay or promote teams that do X and it will happen (subject to some level of faking). Or more usually use the current org structure to affect change. i.e. play their game, then use the parts you can to make change. Trying to change an org head on never worked for me and just caused myself and otehrs great unhappiness :).