Grinding it Out, it’s really Ray Kroc’s autobiography. Very interesting to hear about his life before “founding” McDonalds. Very clearly written and easy to understand.
Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023
51–60 of 206 posts
Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023
#52My best nonfiction read was The 1619 Project. It's a heavy read, but I highly recommend it. The runner up would be Christian Livermore's We Are Not OK. Best fiction read was Tim Winton's Breath or (there's probably some recency bias at play here) Sebastian de Castel's Traitor's Blade. I also read a few comic books. I love the East of West series (at least the first three books).
Wow! Immediately downvoted, on the topic of books?!? I wonder which one triggered such a negative reaction.
I seem to recall a bit of controversy about the 1619 Project when it first came out?
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/03/06/1619-proje...
Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023
#53The Secret Life of Trees. It's exactly what's written on the tin. I have lots of notes and I can't wait to go in the forest to look at trees. If a book opens your eyes to something you used to ignore, it's a good book.
You might also like Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake. It's focused on fungi rather than trees, but has a similar outlook. Overall it's a bit more down to earth and factual (or at least it seems that way to me, having no special knowledge of the subject matter), but no less eye-opening or fun to read.
Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Why cannot romantic stories be nice and uncomplicated Maybe that doesn't make an interesting book?
It's certainly possible to have 'happier' complications though, I think GP has a point. As one might enjoy crime drama, but not gratuitous violence, say.
> I think GP has a point
"I don't know what people find romantic about this nonsense"
It's fine to have different literary preferences than some other people. As you say, "one might enjoy crime drama, but not gratuitous violence". But to question the literary preferences of other people is an entirely different matter.
"I hate this stupid trend."
It's not a trend. Writers have been writing about love triangles and marital infidelity for literally centuries.
Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023
#55Comment and then question. - Scattered (How Attention Deficit Disorder originates and what you can do about it) by Gabor Mate Question: how do folks discover new books to read — Goodeads? Friend recommendations? Book Clubs? Any other sort of niche, online recommendation engine? Podcasts?
I use the shortlists lists from awards I like (Hugo, nebula, locus, also the booker and Pulitzer lists but I tend to enjoy those less ) as well as/especially those for new authors. This also generates a list of authors I like. That gives a sort of web of trust, I enjoy n.k. jemisin, so books she recommends and endorses and has a blurb on is one I'll at least take a look at. And that's true for lots of other authors as well.
I have a local bookstore and browse the new releases and staff recommendations they have, and all together that can usually keep me busy.
Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023
#56Behave - Robert Sapolsky
Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023
#572666 by Roberto Bolano
Yeah, believe the hype. Definitely the most important novel of this century.
The story revolves around the deaths of over 500 women and children in a small border town in Mexico. Absolutely devastating read, It feels like most novels are rather silly in comparison (2666 even pokes fun at literature in general for ignoring the atrocities in Mexico.) 5 stars.
Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023
#58This year I got into a history binge after I finally got around to reading Caro's Master of the Senate this January. It was so good I'm already ready to read it again. I used to be scared of tackling big books because I don't feel strongly committed. But with these I did audiobooks for the first time, while cleaning and driving and cooking and it has made reading big books merely a matter of time. Other than Caro's b…
Another vote for Caro's magisterial biography of LBJ. I read all 4 volumes this year, and cannot praise them highly enough - not just a masterful biography, but an exposition of the country and how it changed, plus penetrating analysis of power and how it is gained and used. Let us hope that Mr Caro finishes the 5th volume in 2023!
I also read Don Quixote this year - Edith Grossman's translation is excellent, capturing the joy of the original, and laugh-out-loud funny in places.
Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023
#592022 was a year full of change for me and I am not looking for change but more of a complement to my life as it is currently. In the process of reading: Parable of a Sower’s Daughter by Octavia Butler Read this year: The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki Sea of Tranquillity by Emily St. John Mandel…
Your 'Read this year' list looks a lot like my 'Want to read next year' list.
Any standouts from the lot?
Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023
#60"The Guns of August" by B. Tuchman because 2022 feels a bit like 1914.