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Ask HN: What are you reading Feb 2024

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Re: Ask HN: What are you reading Feb 2024

#42

Post by jascination »

For whatever reason I've suddenly gotten deep into murder mystery books. In the last 3 weeks I've read a bunch of Agatha Christie classics:

- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - And then there were none - Evil under the sun

All brilliant in their own right but the first is a masterpiece. Don't google any of these because spoilers come up, but I've had a lot more fun and been a lot more active reading than I have in years.

Last year I read two books, this year I've read 3 books in January and have thoroughly enjoyed it way more than my usual nights of watching Netflix.

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading Feb 2024

#43

Post by cpursley »

raybb wrote: post #39

I just finished Cory Doctorow's The Lost Cause and wrote a short review [1]. I'm not a huge fiction person so maybe my standards are not so high but I found it quite inspiring and relevant to my current life. Grappling with feelings about climate change and housing shortages and how to use my skills to improve the world but also setting limits and enjoying life. Well... At least those are the things I felt in the boo…

The solution to climate change and housing affordability are one and the same: dense human scale development patterns. In NA it requires a massive mental shift and zoning changes (or the oil to run out, which would force the issue).

A book you might like: “The Geography Of Nowhere”

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/125313

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading Feb 2024

#47

Post by cpursley »

oumua_don17 wrote: post #25

The End of the World Is Just the Beginning. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_the_World_Is_Just_t...

This book is absolute garbage. Zeihan is a geopolitical lightweight and a very uninformed one at that. It’s hard to tell if he was intentionally dishonest in that book or really that uninformed. He is so factually wrong on some points that’s it shocking, like things that are objectively and quantifiable facts.

For much better Geopolitical books, check these out:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52962238-principles-for-...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56696339-the-power-of-ge...

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/16144575

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading Feb 2024

#48

Post by yannis »

zi_ wrote: post #11

"From the soil: Foundations of Chinese Society" by Fei Xiaotong. It is a book (accessible to non-chinese) that helps one understand a population of >1.4 billion in less than 180 pages. Wouldn’t one call this a bargain? https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/134293.From_the_Soil

I am not sure about the bargain part. It is a window in the roots of Chinese society and mainly its relation to rural communities and villages (from a sociology perspective). I would recommend it to anyone trying to understand a society based on its people and not its politicians. Also anyone from a rural small town in the US or any other country, I think will enjoy it.
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