Ask HN: What are some must read books? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What are some must read books?

#121

Post by sleepysysadmin » Tue, Dec 07, 2021, 12:30 PM UTC

cunac wrote: post #107

sleepysysadmin wrote: post #87

Here's my recommendations without any particular order and just books ive read recently and havent sorted into the library. Factfullness by Hans rosling: The world is awesome, stop focusing on some tiny negatives that are being mispresented by the media. Martian, Artemis, and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir: Contemporary top scifi author Starship Troopers by Robert A Heinlein: The movie was awesome, until you read the…

That reminded me The moon is a harsh mistress by Robert A Heinlein

>The moon is a harsh mistress by Robert A Heinlein

That looks good, haven't read it. THANKS!

Re: Ask HN: What are some must read books?

#122

Post by mystickphoenix » Thu, Dec 09, 2021, 5:00 PM UTC

rg111 wrote: post #83

mystickphoenix wrote: post #12

Non-violent Communication - One of my top 5 books easily. Changed how I think about the language we use in everyday communication with other people, and more importantly, the language I use with myself.

Which ones would make your other spots for top-5 or even top-10?

Off the top of my head...

- Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson: it has its flaws but is still a rocket ride through a not-so-farfetched cyberpunk dystopia. I love the tongue-in-cheek nature of it as well "Hiro Protagonist" being the main character :D

- Extreme Ownership - Jocko Willink and Leif Babin: a different take on leadership than I've read previously, once you get through the first couple bits on "we're SEALs and badass" sort of stuff there's some amazingly good leadership qualities on display.

- Every Tool's a Hammer - Adam Savage: As a weekend warrior maker, this book speaks to my soul. It gives my brain permission to make mistakes and learn in a way that few others have.

- Michael Pollan: pretty much anything written by him has wit, intelligence, research, practical experience, etc. Love his writer's voice and most of his audiobooks seem to be read by him, a fun bonus!

Re: Ask HN: What are some must read books?

#123

Post by rg111 » Sat, Dec 11, 2021, 3:36 AM UTC

mystickphoenix wrote: post #122

rg111 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which ones would make your other spots for top-5 or even top-10?

Off the top of my head... - Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson: it has its flaws but is still a rocket ride through a not-so-farfetched cyberpunk dystopia. I love the tongue-in-cheek nature of it as well "Hiro Protagonist" being the main character :D - Extreme Ownership - Jocko Willink and Leif Babin: a different take on leadership than I've read previously, once you get through the first couple bits on "we're SEALs and ba…

Thanks a bunch.

I already have read Cryptonomicon, and I have Seveneves and Snow Crash sitting on my shelf.

I will give the others a try.

Re: Ask HN: What are some must read books?

#124

Post by rg111 » Sat, Dec 11, 2021, 3:37 AM UTC

CalChris wrote: post #120

rg111 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Iliad, Odyssey and first half of the Aeneid. I didn't read the Odyssey, but read both Iliad and Aeneid. I read Iliad first, and then Aeneid. Reading Aeneid right after reading Iliad was a great experience. It felt like I was reading a sequel! It felt right at home.

You might double back and read the Odyssey. The Aeneid is in two halves, the Odysseian first half and the Iliadic second half. Virgil is creating a new creation myth for Rome, different from Romulus and Remus, and he's binding it to the Homeric epics. I like the Odyssey more but I like both.

I will give it a try. Thanks.

Re: Ask HN: What are some must read books?

#125

Post by le-hu » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 3:22 PM UTC

There's only one - Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari - it basically explains the whole world we live in, I've become like 10x human after reading it.

Re: Ask HN: What are some must read books?

#126

Post by rasulkireev » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 3:33 PM UTC

I can't talk from experience, but whenever I think about the best books to read, Mortimer Adler's list of books always comes to my head.

Mortimer Adler is the author of "How to Read a Book", conincedentally, also a good book, he did a lot to promote quality reading in his age.

At the end of the book, he lists greatest books ever written, in his opinion. This list is called "Greatest Books of the Western World". It was even published as a series once. I'm still hunting for this set.

Here is the link to the list -> https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/120742.Mortimer_J_Adler_...

Re: Ask HN: What are some must read books?

#127

Post by topologie » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 4:44 PM UTC

Some of my favorite fiction books:

- Seiobo There Below, by Laszlo Krasznahorkai

- The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas

- Moby Dick, by Herman Melville

- Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy

- Cuentos Completos, by Jorge Luis Borges (or at least the "Labyrinths" compilation)

- A Perfect Vacuum, by Stanislaw Lem (Forewords to Non-Existent Books)

- Imaginary Magnitude, by Stanislaw Lem

- His Master's Voice, by Stanislaw Lem (Along the same lines as Sagan's Contact, but better, way better.)

- Buddha's Little Finger, by Victor Pelevin

Some my favorite "non-fiction" books:

- The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories, edited by Robert Strassler

- The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon

- Antifragile, by Nassim Taleb

- The Black Swan, by Nassim Taleb

- Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, by Douglas Hofstadter

- The Road to Reality, by Roger Penrose

- Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman

Re: Ask HN: What are some must read books?

#128

Post by dodgyb » Sat, Dec 18, 2021, 9:29 AM UTC

Patrick Leigh Fermor recounting walking from Holland to Constantinople in the early 1930's is an enchanting tale. He was in his teens when he started the walk, but only started writing the travelogue when he was in his sixties. He was a fascinating and erudite character. The three books in the series are:

A Time of Gifts, Between the Woods and the Water, The Broken Road (unfinished)