Alexander Hamilton, by Ron Chernow. The story of America's greatest loser
Ask HN: Which books you have read till now that were worth investing time in?
51–60 of 211 posts
Re: Ask HN: Which books you have read till now that were worth investing time in?
#52“There is no virtue which is final; all are initial. The virtues of society are vices of the saint. The terror of reform is the discovery that we must cast away our virtues, or what we have always esteemed such, into the same pit that has consumed our grosser vices.
"Forgive his crimes, forgive his virtues too, Those smaller faults, half converts to the right." “ https://emersoncentral.com/texts/essays-first-series/circles...
Re: Ask HN: Which books you have read till now that were worth investing time in?
#53Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.
It changed how I look at the world, and our place in it. The sequels are equally as good and I've read them all many times.
Re: Ask HN: Which books you have read till now that were worth investing time in?
#541. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind 2. The Selfish Gene 3. Podcast: Kings of Kings https://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-56-kings-of-kings... Each one of these were worth every minute of read/listen. Edit to add: The world around us feels like it was created as we see it today. But these books and the podcast, combined, show us how we got here, where we are today. Wars, long periods of peace, pandemics, evo…
I would take a lot of the unevidenced narrative in 'Sapiens' with a huge pinch of salt.
Both the book and the author have been criticized, rightly in my opinion, the former for elevating the theories of a very specific and ideological branch of anthropology to facts, and the latter for being a grifter who does not know much about anthropology.
Re: Ask HN: Which books you have read till now that were worth investing time in?
#55- So Good They Can't Ignore You. Even though kinda 'self-help'-ish and repetitive at times, it played a role in shaping the way that I think about my career. - The Daily Stoic. A collection of snippets from stoic philosophers, tied with examples from modern living, it was a good and lightweight introduction to philosophy.
I have started reading the Daily Stoic, but I often find the commentaries underwhelming (obvious, predictable, not adding much insight).
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Re: Ask HN: Which books you have read till now that were worth investing time in?
#56If I were to choose three fiction, those would make the cut. Fiction: The Invincible by Stanislaw Lem - It shed light on me in regards to microelectronics, swarm intelligence. Nothing ever eased my learning curve more for genetic algorithms like this short novel! It is also a good read in general. It also taught me that the difference in scientific vs force vs emotional approach to unknown. Would recommend as a sprin…
Did you also like the rest of the books? It got pretty deep into religious nutcase territory eventually. I didn't actually know all the religious controversy around the series before I read the books, so I got to experience that solid increase of "wtf??" moments as the trilogy progressed. The first book is pretty darn good though, won't argue that!
Of the Ender series books, I've read the whole quintet - Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, Children of the Mind, Ender in Exile.
I've enjoyed all five of them, although the quality drops which each of the instance. Speaker for the Dead is worth the time for sure, the other three I'm not entirely convinced. Speaker won a Hugo award in 1987.
Of Card's novels, the Shadow Saga, is a pretty good read thou. I've enjoyed it more than the Ender's one. It is set in the same universe, and focuses on Bean - another child from the Battle School. It drifts towards political fiction.
Re: Ask HN: Which books you have read till now that were worth investing time in?
#57- So Good They Can't Ignore You. Even though kinda 'self-help'-ish and repetitive at times, it played a role in shaping the way that I think about my career. - The Daily Stoic. A collection of snippets from stoic philosophers, tied with examples from modern living, it was a good and lightweight introduction to philosophy.
I have started reading the Daily Stoic, but I often find the commentaries underwhelming (obvious, predictable, not adding much insight).
I'd have to agree. I personally found that the book's structure with the themed chapters doesn't lend itself to a continuous reading; but going in small chunks as the authors intended, the commentaries felt a tad better.
Re: Ask HN: Which books you have read till now that were worth investing time in?
#58I have maintained a list of such books and articles here: https://www.mnsh.me/blog/favourite-books-and-articles
Re: Ask HN: Which books you have read till now that were worth investing time in?
#59Never split the difference was helpful in thinking about conflict negotiation
Re: Ask HN: Which books you have read till now that were worth investing time in?
#601. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind 2. The Selfish Gene 3. Podcast: Kings of Kings https://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-56-kings-of-kings... Each one of these were worth every minute of read/listen. Edit to add: The world around us feels like it was created as we see it today. But these books and the podcast, combined, show us how we got here, where we are today. Wars, long periods of peace, pandemics, evo…
I would take a lot of the unevidenced narrative in 'Sapiens' with a huge pinch of salt. Both the book and the author have been criticized, rightly in my opinion, the former for elevating the theories of a very specific and ideological branch of anthropology to facts, and the latter for being a grifter who does not know much about anthropology.
Every now and then, one hits odd statements in Sapiens that make one wonder about the rest. He writes as if he does not know the difference between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution; he suggests that in the 1860 presidential election a majority of Americans voted for abolition, etc.