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

Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 333 posts

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#51

Post by sidcool »

I now I am late on reading this one, but Pragmatic Programmer.

Then there was The Kite Runner Also, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintanence Then Becoming a Technical Leader by Gerald

I wish I had read more.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#52

Post by throwaway1892 »

Dowwie wrote: post #40

2 Highlights: - "Legends of the Fall by Jim Harrison - "The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafón These are beautifully written books-- true art. I read intellectually stimulating, non-fiction material every moment of my life. Fiction counterbalances that frenzied information consumption. I also read 2/3 of SevenEves by Neal Stephenson. Although the first 2/3 were good, I can't recommend the book due to the last 1…

Carlos Ruiz Zafón is one of the best author I've ever read.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#53

Post by danohu »

stonecodegump wrote: post #38
q-base wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Deep Work sure is a great book, but I would recommend people with interest in the material just to go directly to Flow by Mihály Csikszentmihalyi. Read them one after the other, first Deep Work and then Flow. IF you are going to read both then I would recommend that order. Reading Flow first, then Deep Work doesn't have much to offer. Those books actually re-fueled my love of programming.

There seem to be two Flow books by the same author : Flow: The Psychology of Happiness Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement With Everyday Life Which one are you recommending?

not the GP, but start with Flow. Flow is the famous, classic one. Finding Flow is a later expansion/restatement -- it's good enough in its own right, but Flow is the lodestone

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#60

Post by amelius »

gedrap wrote: post #26
mullsork wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regarding the first one (Introductory Statistics) what would you say the pre-requisites are? I'm not much of a mathematician, in fact I might even need to brush up on high school math by now, but I've thought about statistics for a while now. Is it approachable or would I have to study up to college level?

It is very approachable. If you know the difference between mean and median then you know enough to study the book. It is written as a textbook for graduate biology students to help with their research, so it doesn't assume much mathematical knowledge. It also contains exercises (with answers) at the end of each chapter, really helps to consolidate the newly acquired knowledge.

Does it start from first principles? E.g., does it explain the central limit theorem in depth?
Post reply on HN