Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 344 posts

Re: Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?

#111

Post by phaus »

jmcgough wrote: post #78
Insanity wrote: post #17

They weren't written in 2018, but some I enjoyed: * Hackers: Heroes of the computer revolution (Steven Levy) * Masters of DOOM (David Kushner) * The simpsons and their mathematical secrets (Simon Singh) * Countdown to zero day (about stuxnet, by Kim Zetter) * Sapiens: A brief history of human kind (Yuval Noah Harari) * Coders at work (Some interviews, not all, but I enjoyed it. By Peter Seibel)

Masters of DOOM is amaaazing, really made me into a John Carmack fan.

Really? I admired his accomplishments before I even read this book (which is an amazing read), but it kind of makes him seem like a sociopath.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?

#112

Post by japhyr »

The View from Flyover Country

Sarah Kendzior is my favorite political analyst today. She has called so much of what's happened over the past few years long before others, and she cuts right to the heart of what's happening. This book is a collection of essays she published about the changing economy and political scene over the past ~5 years.

https://www.amazon.com/View-Flyover-Country-Dispatches-Forgo...

https://twitter.com/sarahkendzior

Re: Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?

#113

Post by mirceal »

gs7 wrote: post #18

The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman. Fantastic book that makes you realize how poorly designed many things in our lives are.

hah. i actually have this in my list of book I recommended to junior developers. it’s not about software but the way of thinking and approaching the problem will make you a better software developer.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?

#114

Post by weisser »

I read over 40 nonfiction books this year. Here are some favorites.

Life-changing: Why We Sleep

Page-turner: How to Change Your Mind

Most useful: The Consolations of Philosophy

On startups: Troublemakers: Silicon Valley's Coming of Age

Random but amazing: Shadow Divers (true story about deep sea diving - think Into Thin Air)

Re: Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?

#115

Post by rokhayakebe »

weisser wrote: post #114

I read over 40 nonfiction books this year. Here are some favorites. Life-changing: Why We Sleep Page-turner: How to Change Your Mind Most useful: The Consolations of Philosophy On startups: Troublemakers: Silicon Valley's Coming of Age Random but amazing: Shadow Divers (true story about deep sea diving - think Into Thin Air)

How fast and often do you read?

Re: Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?

#116

Post by tpudlik »

WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #90
slyall wrote: post #79

* The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough * Higher: A Historic Race to the Sky and the Making of a City by Neal Bascomb * Caesar’s Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us by Sam Kean * Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari * A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts by Andrew Chaikin * The Actor’s Life: A survival guide by Jenna Fischer * The Inter…

"Sapiens," is extraordinary on how well it summaries the human journey through time from the start. It never gets too technical but it's highly informative. It's 500+ pages yet it's hard to put down because it's so entertaining. I highly recommend it.

This is all true, but I sometimes missed the nuance of less witty but more detail-oriented histories. Harari could seem flippant at times, which mostly amused me when I agreed with him, but left me worried when I didn't. In a book this short on a period so vast, there was no space to steelman anything.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?

#117

Post by jeffFrom18F »

Some I haven't seen mentioned yet:

The Monk of Mokha - Dave Eggers; This seems to have been mostly under the radar but it was immensely entertaining and gives a look inside Yemen that is hard to come by. Probably my favorite book of the year.

Tailspin - Steven Brill; A look at how the split and interaction between business and government became so dysfunctional over the last 50 years. This topic has been covered elsewhere but I thought was done well.

Behemoth - Joshua B. Freeman; A history of (very large) factories.

Live Work Work Work Die - Corey Pein; A very cynical but funny look at life/work in Silicon Valley.

Two Sisters - Asne Seierstad; A story about 2 young Somalian immigrants to Norway who move to Syria to join ISIS.

Also: Bad Blood

Read in 2018 but published earlier: Black Edge - Sheelah Kolhatkar; The Solace of Open Spaces - Gretel Ehrlich; American Cornball - Christopher Miller

Re: Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?

#119

Post by unmole »

phaus wrote: post #111
jmcgough wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Masters of DOOM is amaaazing, really made me into a John Carmack fan.

Really? I admired his accomplishments before I even read this book (which is an amazing read), but it kind of makes him seem like a sociopath.

The book keeps getting recommend on HN presumably by true fans of DOOM. Apart from a few brilliant bits scattered throughout, it was a disappointing read for me.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?

#120

Post by wp381640 »

released this year and great reads:

* Bad Blood - mentioned tons of times

* Billion Dollar Whale - story of the 1MDB scandal

* Black Edge - chronicles insider trading on wall street

* The Billionaire Raj - about India's income inequality and ruling oligarchy

Post reply on HN