Somewhat related… I’m seeing way too many non-fiction books with titles like:
“BLAH — The New Science of FOO. And how to really BAR your BAZ”
(Fill in your variations if BLAH FOO BAR BAZ)
And I instinctively do not want to read them :)
Ask HN: What are some of the best books you have read in 2022?
251–260 of 282 posts
Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best books you have read in 2022?
#252Probably some of my favorites this year have been the Greek mythology audiobooks written and narrated by Stephen Fry. I could listen to Stephen read the phone book, but he also does an incredible job giving you a narrative primer of all the Greek myths and makes both historical and contemporary observations of how these myths influenced and were influenced.
I listened to Mythos last year and really enjoyed it, didn’t realise he’d done others. I’ll have to check them out. Thanks!
Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best books you have read in 2022?
#253This year I discovered the Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman, currently five books. I read them with my son and we also had the audiobooks, which are really the best audiobooks I’ve encountered because of the voice acting.
At first I found the concept of the series so outlandish that I really couldn’t imagine what to expect, but it turned out that the series is incredibly complex and has a lot of interesting twists and character development. Big recommendation from me.
Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best books you have read in 2022?
#254Blindsight by Peter Watts. It was mentioned here several times, so I bowed to peer pressure and pirated it like a child of the 1990s Internet that I am. It's definitely imaginative . I do love a good unique universe that is distinct from everything else. It's not a space opera in the traditional sense. It explores notions that likely no other author has, such as the Chinese Room thought experiment. The spaceship capt…
I couldn't tell whether you were joking about pirating it, but for others who might be interested, the author has made it available for free download from his website [1]. I love Blindsight as well, and I think I like the other book in the series, Echopraxia (not available for free download though) even more. Both books contain lengthy bibliographies citing various scientific papers the author has drawn ideas from, a…
I loved Blindsight. But thought Echo was I where close as good.
Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best books you have read in 2022?
#255I went on a kick of reading "competency porn" (think Project Hail Mary/The Martian but not necessarily solving engineering problems). On top of PHM, I read Sixteen Ways to Defend A Walled City (great dark satire despite the shit ending) and The Goblin Emperor (more on the social engineering side of things, so better characterization than something like The Martian)
The Goblin Emperor is incredible. I read it when it came out and I can't believe how little I see it mentioned.
“Incredible” feels like a stretch. I think “cozy” is the most distinctive description for me.
Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best books you have read in 2022?
#256I haven't read a single book in 2022. Somehow, over the years, I've lost the habit of reading.
No shame in that, I say. I've completely lost any interest in reading fiction, because it's almost always a letdown. Good ideas with poor writing. Good writing with poor endings. The disappointments go on and on, and that's hours wasted. I've tried my friends' suggestions, best-of lists... the stories are consistently lame, except for the handful of masterpieces like Dune. On the other hand, I'll gladly curl up with…
I get what you’re saying. But I still read because it’s such a habit and part of my identity or something lol. There were some years I was hitting 50-75 books (and not small ones! GoT and godel Escher Bach etc) but now I’m down to a more sustainable pace of around 20 a year, and I’m pretty liberal about quitting books. If I’m getting a sense that it’s a 3/5 book then I just quit and move on. But even then I feel like I’m having an unquenched thirst for an absolute banger like Dune and Enders game. I’ve been thinking about doing a full year of just rereading books I loved like that from decades ago.
Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best books you have read in 2022?
#2571. Like every year "The daily stoic" 2. "The twilight zone" by Werner Herzog 3. "Thinking fast and slow" 4. "Hang the red lantern" 5. Currently reading "Menschliches allzu menschliches" by Nietzsche
I feel like Thinkign fast and slow is one of those books on everyone's shelf that people like to show but nobody reads it due to its difficulty and readability. How did you like it?
Not parent, but I liked it a lot. But I wonder if by now the ideas have permeated thinking-person culture enough that it’s not worth it.
Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best books you have read in 2022?
#258Salvation Sequence by Peter G Hamilton A realistic alien invasion hard scifi trilogy set during different periods of time in our future. "Read" in audiobook format, narrated by John Lee who is also great.
Any enzyme bonded concrete in that one? ;) or how does it compare to Pandora’s Star?
Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best books you have read in 2022?
#259I listened to The Expanse and First Law audiobooks and can highly recommend both of them. Stories are great, narrators are even better.
First law is great. Love his usage of little sayings that each character repeats. “A body floating by the docks”
Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best books you have read in 2022?
#260“Becoming Your Own Banker” by Nelson Nash was the most practically applicable book I read. The concept was totally foreign to me. I’m still thinking it through many months later, but am about to take my first concrete action / test run of the idea of “infinite banking” as a result of reading it.
Is that the whole life insurance thing?
I think it’s a bit of a “trick”. I had a friend who was really into it and I just spent a little time reading about it from the proponents and tried to work it out in my head and it didn’t compute for me and my friend couldn’t answer my questions satisfactorily. I think if you read some skeptics you’ll find that it’s not a terrible idea at best and generally a meh strategy if you are realistic about numbers and a lot of the rhetoric is in fact too good to be true.