Ask HN: What should I read next? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What should I read next?

#41

Post by xmonkee » Wed, Jan 25, 2023, 9:24 PM UTC

cainxinth wrote: post #9

The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. Recently got around to finally reading it. I know Snow Crash is considered his best sci-fi novel (and it’s amazing, too), but I think I liked this one even better. Snow Crash is funny and weird and action packed, but its light-hearted tone diffuses the tension. The Diamond Age, by contrast, had a lot of hair-raising moments and characters I was really invested in.

I always thought Cryptonomicon would be the go-to stephenson recommendation for nerds, but I guess it reads very dated now.

Re: Ask HN: What should I read next?

#42

Post by wry_discontent » Wed, Jan 25, 2023, 9:24 PM UTC

warrenm wrote: post #30

Stealth of Nations Nudge Thinking Fast and Slow Without Remorse Cuckoo's Egg The Intellectual Lives of Children Why Johnny Still Can't Read or Write or Understand Math Technopoly Amusing Ourselves to Death Leviathan (Dolin)

Second Amusing Ourselves to Death. Fantastic book, especially when paired with Inventing Reality or Manufacturing Consent.

Re: Ask HN: What should I read next?

#43

Post by wobbly_bush » Wed, Jan 25, 2023, 9:24 PM UTC

If you are open to fiction - I came across an entire genre called LitRPG which is combination of RPG-game style elements in the form of a book. It is mostly written by young gamers so the writing quality is pretty basic but various authors explore different gaming-related creative elements very well. Couple of books to start with in this genre are "Defiance of the fall" and "Dungeon Crawler Carl". The latter is even better as an audiobook vs regular book.

Re: Ask HN: What should I read next?

#44

Post by vlod » Wed, Jan 25, 2023, 9:27 PM UTC

kipple wrote: post #36

vlod wrote: post #33

After numerous attempts at getting through Snow Crash (pretty good), finally finished it last night. Next is Blindsight by Peter Watt [0], which looks interesting. [0] https://smile.amazon.com/Blindsight-Peter-Watts/dp/125023748...

Hah! I came here to recommend Blindsight. "vampires in space" sounded silly, but it was unexpectedly intelligent and creative — some real mind-opening perspectives on consciousness. Meanwhile, I've read every Neal Stephenson & William Gibson book multiple times... anyone have suggestions for other authors to read, before I just loop again?

I found "Blindsight" via this [0] video. I'm planning to read "The Dispossessed" by Ursula K. LeGuin" after that (also from that video). Might be worth checking out for some ideas.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP0XnfC1jVM

Re: Ask HN: What should I read next?

#45

Post by credit_guy » Wed, Jan 25, 2023, 9:28 PM UTC

Here's two books that will change the way you understand the non-Western world.

1. Coup d'Etat A Practical Handbook. I know, you never intend to organize a coup, why would you need a practical handbook? Well, coups or attempted coups are surprisingly frequent. Wikipedia has a list [1] of 60 attempted coups worldwide since 2010, a stunning 18 of which (30%) were successful.

2. The Dictator's Handbook. Yet another handbook. I think these titles, with their weird attempt of humor, are quite unfortunate. It's a shame. The content is great, but I wonder how many people don't buy the book because they feel insulted by the idea that they'd ever need a handbook to be a dictator. I know I felt that way. Well, don't take that title as an insult, just ignore it. The majority of the countries worldwide are led by dictators. It's quite important to understand how they think. This way it's easier to understand what's going on in the world.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_coups_and_coup_attempt...

Re: Ask HN: What should I read next?

#46

Post by TylerLives » Wed, Jan 25, 2023, 9:37 PM UTC

The Ancient City - Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges

If you're interested in what life in ancient Greece / Rome was like. The author does a very good job at not going into too much detail and boring the reader, while still telling you all the important events and changes that took place.

Re: Ask HN: What should I read next?

#47

Post by sn9 » Wed, Jan 25, 2023, 9:54 PM UTC

xmonkee wrote: post #41

cainxinth wrote: post #9

The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. Recently got around to finally reading it. I know Snow Crash is considered his best sci-fi novel (and it’s amazing, too), but I think I liked this one even better. Snow Crash is funny and weird and action packed, but its light-hearted tone diffuses the tension. The Diamond Age, by contrast, had a lot of hair-raising moments and characters I was really invested in.

I always thought Cryptonomicon would be the go-to stephenson recommendation for nerds, but I guess it reads very dated now.

It's still great.

I think Stephenson's one of those authors where it's worth going through his work in order of publication starting with Snow Crash.

Re: Ask HN: What should I read next?

#48

Post by ZeroGravitas » Wed, Jan 25, 2023, 11:47 PM UTC

kipple wrote: post #36

vlod wrote: post #33

After numerous attempts at getting through Snow Crash (pretty good), finally finished it last night. Next is Blindsight by Peter Watt [0], which looks interesting. [0] https://smile.amazon.com/Blindsight-Peter-Watts/dp/125023748...

Hah! I came here to recommend Blindsight. "vampires in space" sounded silly, but it was unexpectedly intelligent and creative — some real mind-opening perspectives on consciousness. Meanwhile, I've read every Neal Stephenson & William Gibson book multiple times... anyone have suggestions for other authors to read, before I just loop again?

I've never seen anyone else make the comparison but I always felt Umberto Eco books were in a similar niche to Neal Stephenson. With long asides into esoteric details and real history.

Re: Ask HN: What should I read next?

#49

Post by deepspace » Wed, Jan 25, 2023, 11:52 PM UTC

xmonkee wrote: post #38

vlod wrote: post #33

After numerous attempts at getting through Snow Crash (pretty good), finally finished it last night. Next is Blindsight by Peter Watt [0], which looks interesting. [0] https://smile.amazon.com/Blindsight-Peter-Watts/dp/125023748...

Blindsight is amazing, if a little scary

More than a little scary. To me, it was scarier than most horror novels. But brilliant writing, and very thought provoking.

Re: Ask HN: What should I read next?

#50

Post by johnthedebs » Thu, Jan 26, 2023, 3:51 AM UTC

w0m wrote: post #24

sandreas wrote: post #15

Fantasy: Patrick Rothfuss - Kingkiller Chronicles Naomi Novik - Scholomance Michael J. Sullivan - Riyria Ilona Andrews - many books Caution: Be aware that the last book of the Kingkiller Chronicles "the doors of stone" is not out yet and may never happen[1], so although it is one of the greatest fantasy books of all time (in my opinion), it's kind of unsatisfying after part 2 :-) [1]: https://www.reddit.com/r/books/c…

Re: Kingkiller Chronicles I'll second it probably the best Fantasy I've read. The sequal is still solid. <3 Pat but I wouldn't expect the series to be finished at this point.

Adding my vote here too. I recently finished listening to the audiobooks for the fourth time. I don't read (listen to) a crazy amount of fiction, but probably much more than most people, and this series is far and away the best I have read.

I'm not holding out hope for a third book, but what a nice surprise it would be.