Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes. Probably the best expose about the vileness of politicians and command ladder climbers within the service as they related to Vietnam.
Ask HN: What were the best books you read this year?
31–40 of 156 posts
Re: Ask HN: What were the best books you read this year?
#32We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor Very entertaining sci-fi. I tore through it a a couple of days.
Expeditionary force series by Craig Alanson is good if you want more fun sci-fi.
Re: Ask HN: What were the best books you read this year?
#33Reentry by Eric Berger. It came out in October. It's a follow up to his book Liftoff from 2021. Great books for space nerds. Makes me really admire what Space X has accomplished while also eliminating any desire I had to work for them.
Liftoff is already on my list, actually! Thought I'd read that one first before deciding whether to get Reentry.
Re: Ask HN: What were the best books you read this year?
#34On top of my list of best books this year is The Golden Road by William Dalrymple
Re: Ask HN: What were the best books you read this year?
#35Shogun, after having watched the show. I also read the other books in Clavell's series, I thought Tai Pan and Gai Jin were interesting but not as much as Shogun. Gai Jin in particular felt like it had lots of filler.
Re: Ask HN: What were the best books you read this year?
#36Creative Way of Being, Rick Rubin
Re: Ask HN: What were the best books you read this year?
#37Haven't read it yet as it comes out in a week but it will be Wind of truth, book 5 in stormlight archive series.
Re: Ask HN: What were the best books you read this year?
#38Read a lot this year — a lot more than most years. A few highlights:
The making of the atomic bomb by Richard Rhodes was probably the best of the bunch. I read it because I see some parallels between the discovery of atomic power and the search for AGI, and wanted an insight on the ethics and decision making of the time. It didn't disappoint.
The dawn of everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow was a solid read and retelling of how civilization began and evolved.
The message by Ta-Nehisi Coates, I read in two sittings — it was that impactful. A reminder of how the oppressed becomes the oppressor again and again. "As it happens, you can See the world but never see the people in it"
Other highlights: The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt; re-read Thinking in Systems by Daniella Meadows; re-read Wherever You Go There You Are by Jon Kabat Zinn; The light eaters by Zoe Schlanger; I don't want to talk about it, by Terrence Real.
Re: Ask HN: What were the best books you read this year?
#39I finally read Nabokov's Pale Fire. It is far and away the best book I have ever read. I think about it multiple times a week unprompted and I'm sad because I am certain that I will never find another book like it.
Read a few years ago and agree with this assessment. A genuine work of genius, and probably in my top five books of all time.
Re: Ask HN: What were the best books you read this year?
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's just a first one, there are more books in Bobiverse series.
There are 5 Bobiverse books, all of which are marvelously read by Ray Porter on audiobook if you listen in the car on long, long drives like I do. The 5th book is an "audiobook only" release until January 2025 (I think) called, "NOT TILL WE ARE LOST". And the Bobiverse series has recently been optioned to Universal! http://dennisetaylor.org/status-of-things/
The last one was a bit off.