Ask HN: Great nontech book that you read recently? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Great nontech book that you read recently?

#21

Post by monroepe » Mon, Sep 14, 2015, 6:47 PM UTC

partisan wrote: post #11

Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke.

I just bought that book and will be starting it tomorrow. I am finishing up The Eye of the World - Robert Jordan today. My wife loved it (she reads a lot faster than me).

Re: Ask HN: Great nontech book that you read recently?

#22

Post by atmosx » Mon, Sep 14, 2015, 6:55 PM UTC

Brothers Karamazov by FD

Re: Ask HN: Great nontech book that you read recently?

#23

Post by atmosx » Mon, Sep 14, 2015, 6:56 PM UTC

icpmacdo wrote: post #15

I'm going through the audiobook of Cryptonomicon, its my first Neal Stephenson book and I am quite enjoying it.

Did you reach the point of the masturbation function (turns from linear to exponential)? Cryptonomicon is amazing :-)

Re: Ask HN: Great nontech book that you read recently?

#24

Post by planet_carter » Mon, Sep 14, 2015, 7:28 PM UTC

"Arcadia" by Tom Stoppard. It's an incredible play which explores some of the foundational concepts of Chaos Theory as literary themes. I'm not a huge fiction reader, but this one gets me every time I read it. The ending is really beautiful.

Re: Ask HN: Great nontech book that you read recently?

#25

Post by Jemaclus » Mon, Sep 14, 2015, 7:33 PM UTC

Just recently finished "Seveneves" by Neal Stephenson. It's sci-fi, but fantastic.

For non-sci-fi, my favorite fantasy book I've read recently was "The Lies of Locke Lamora" (and its sequels) by Scott Lynch. Another is "Dirty Jobs" by Christopher Moore, a bit on the Pratchett-inspired side of things.

I also recently finished Felicia Day's memoir, "You're Never Weird on the Internet," which I highly recommend.

Re: Ask HN: Great nontech book that you read recently?

#26

Post by partisan » Mon, Sep 14, 2015, 8:08 PM UTC

monroepe wrote: post #21

partisan wrote: post #11

Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke.

I just bought that book and will be starting it tomorrow. I am finishing up The Eye of the World - Robert Jordan today. My wife loved it (she reads a lot faster than me).

I read through the first three books of the Wheel of Time, but couldn't make it further. I may try again at some point. Did you also love Eye of the World?

Re: Ask HN: Great nontech book that you read recently?

#27

Post by darrelld » Mon, Sep 14, 2015, 8:40 PM UTC

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Excellent storytelling, humour and slice of life human drama. It's just amazing how Junot Diaz tells of the tragedy of one family and the fukú curse that haunts them over generations.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Brief-Wondrous-Life-Oscar/dp/15944...