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

Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

381–390 of 651 posts

Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?

#381

Post by DocTomoe »

ppsreejith wrote: post #317
cavejay wrote: post #141

Unsong by Scott Alexander A delightful, completed serial that tells an alternate story of the world since 1968, when Apollo 8 crashed into the crystal fabric of the sky and fundamentally broke the machinery of the universe. Now science no longer works, the old ways have power and sometimes people go to bed on Monday to wake up on Wednesday. I loved the way the fiction intertwined with reality.

This book is so underrated! One of my favourite parts is when overworked archangel Uriel loses his shit when trying to load New Zealand from a backup. Relevant quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/8050527-please-asked-the-gi... “Please?” asked the girl. “I AM BUSY. I AM TRYING TO FIX CONTINENTAL DRIFT.” “I…didn’t know it was broken.” Uriel’s face became more animated, his speech faster. “IT HAS BEEN BROKEN FOR FIV…

Given the topic Uriel talks about here, this is awfully relatable.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?

#382

Post by wiredfool »

the__alchemist wrote: post #152
OnionBlender wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it worth the effort? I've picked up snow crash a few times in the past 20 years and found it a hard read. I really want to enjoy it but I find it hard to swallow. I suppose it has been hard because it doesn't take itself seriously. My sci-fi reading history has been: - several William Gibson novels between 1995-2008 - Most of the ender's game series and home coming from 80's to 2008. - Between 2008 and 2018 I read…

Snow Crash is (I think?) his most digestible one! Shortest, at least.

Zodiac is really fun(?!) and quick.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?

#383

Post by wiredfool »

Published in 2021 -- 'Perhaps the Stars' The last installment of the Terra Ignota series by Ada Palmer.

It's SF. But written in a conversation with Enlightenment era philosophy and plenty of bits of mythology. Lots of exploration of what could be and what should be, and the interplay of politics and war and ambition and murder.

(A note though, if the style and language of the first chapter put you off, then ... You're not going to like the rest of it)

I went into the last book with two questions:

  * Who is on Who's side?
  * Who _is_ Mycroft Canner?
There were definitely some answers there. Perhaps more answers than there were questions.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?

#384

Post by say_it_as_it_is »

cushychicken wrote: post #17

The Dispossessed , by Ursula K. Le Guin. It identified so many of the "edges" of society and how I think about and interact with the world, on a daily basis. Without a doubt one of the best books I've ever read. Maybe even the best. The only other book that came close this year was Robert Sapolsky's A Primate's Memoir .

The Dispossessed was not enjoyable to read, so I stopped after about 30 pages.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?

#386

Post by bigoldie »

How to Build a Car by Adrian Newey:

The worlds foremost designer in Formula One, Adrian Newey OBE is arguably one of Britains greatest engineers and this is his fascinating, powerful memoir. How to Build a Car explores the story of Adrians unrivalled 35-year career in Formula One through the prism of the cars he has designed, the drivers he has worked alongside and the races in which hes been involved. A true engineering genius, even in adolescence Adrians thoughts naturally emerged in shape and form - he began sketching his own car designs at the age of 12 and took a welding course in his school summer holidays. From his early career in IndyCar racing and on to his unparalleled success in Formula One, we learn in comprehensive, engaging and highly entertaining detail how a car actually works. Adrian has designed for the likes of Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill, David Coulthard, Mika Hakkinen, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, always with a shark-like purity of purpose: to make the car go faster. And while his career has been marked by unbelievable triumphs, there have also been deep tragedies; most notably Ayrton Sennas death during his time at Williams in 1994. Beautifully illustrated with never-before-seen drawings, How to Build a Car encapsulates, through Adrians remarkable life story, precisely what makes Formula One so thrilling - its potential for the total synchronicity of man and machine, the perfect combination of style, efficiency and speed.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?

#387

Post by [deleted] »

_1100 wrote: post #129
icosahedron wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I hope it continues to live up to the hype you've heard. I had a hard letdown, but I hope that doesn't happen for you.

I tried to read Cryptonomicon as a first introduction to Stephenson. Kept waiting for the good parts, and actually just stopped reading halfway through out of sheer boredom. A few years later and I read Seveneves. Absolutely fall in love, and read Anathem right after. Loved it too. To this day I still don’t understand why the first book felt so boring and the others didn’t. To make it worse, when you go looking for a…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?

#389

Post by Wildgoose »

gibspaulding wrote: post #160

I just finished this one so it might just be fresh in my memory, but I really enjoyed Kiril Yeskov's "The Last Ringbearer". It's a sequel/retelling of Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" written from the Mordorian perspective and based on the premise that LOTR is "a history written by the victors". It has a completely different feel than Tolkien's writing, and sort of stuffs something resembling Cold War politics into Midd…

I read this a few years back and even as a die-hard Tolkien fan I also thought it was brilliantly done.

Recommended!

Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?

#390

Post by beermonster »

sdrabing wrote: post #21

Blood Meridian (or The Evening Redness in the West) by Cormac McCarthy. Quickly became my favorite book after reading it a second time. I've never read a book with more effective language.

I too read this (after putting it off for some time). It could be a bit hard going at times, but definitely worth it.

I went out and bought The Road but for some reason or another haven't yet started it (have watched the film though).

Post reply on HN