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

Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 206 posts

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023

#91

Post by sukunrt »

1. The art of doing science and engineering by Richard Hamming. This might be the best engineering book I've ever read. Hamming's breadth and depth are fascinating. His back of the envelope calculations are crazy accurate and early accounts of computing hilarious(real programmers write machine code). There is a great account of his discovery of error correcting codes and a great account of his failure to discover FFT. All in all it's a wonderful book on how to think about things in science and engineering.

2. The open society and its enemies by Karl Popper. This is a great book on open society and liberal democracy. Broadly the book is a critic of historicist theories of Plato and Marx. There is also good philosophy on essentialism and the futility of getting closer to the truth by defining things more precisely.

3. Printing Press as an agent of change by Elizabeth Eisenstein. This account of the impact of the printing press on Europe is very long but worth it. The parts on the scientific revolution are particularly good.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023

#92

Post by pugio »

psithurism wrote: post #40

Sociology: - The Coddling of the American Mind - The Tao of Pooh - Guns, Germs, and Steel - Weapons of the Weak Religious: - Guru Granth Sahib - Bible (King James Version) - Q’uran - The Book of Mormon - Tipitaka Fantasy: - Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw - The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan - The Way of Kings series by Brandon Sanderson - Mistborn also by Brandon Sanderson - Red Rising by Pierce Brown - The Lican…

I've read and loved most of the fantasy you mentioned, except for saga of The forgotten warrior. This makes me an excellent target for that last recommendation, thank you!

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023

#93

Post by gbro3n »

ad-astra wrote: post #84

If you’re into Science Fiction: (Note: I listed to these all via the Audible audiobooks, they were all very well narrated and I’d highly recommend listening this way.) #1: The Children of Time series by Adrian Tchaikovsky. This is amazingly fascinating from beginning to end, if you like speculative evolution zenofiction space operas, you’re in for a real treat. I feel like these books were written for me. I went the…

Am 90 pct through Project Hail Mary and agree this book is brilliant. If you're technically / sci-fi inclined you'll love this. The author ties together a great story with scientific knowledge which must have taken significant research. Children of Time is my next audio book coincidentally.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023

#94

Post by joyeuse6701 »

1. Breathe - James Nestor I was a lifelong nighttime mouth breather due to a very dry winter climate growing up in Chicago, clogged up my sinuses. The book inspired me to look into solutions for this problem and now wake up with considerably less brain fog than I did before.

2. War and Peace / Anna Karenina - I wanted some sort of insight into Russian Imperialism and was surprised by how much my father was like some of the characters (his grandfather was a 'count'). I thought his personality was just a quirk of his since he was unlike anyone I knew growing up. He fit the Tolstoyan characterization of a noble like a glove, warts and all.

3. History of the Peloponnesian War - So many of the conflicts today are exemplified in the ancient Greek world and the relationships between the city states as described in the book. Hard to believe (I don't believe) that Thucydides could remember these lengthy speeches given by emissaries in various scenarios, but what is written is nonetheless riveting. It's great context for my current read, Plato's Republic, which was heavily influenced by the Athenian (democracy's) defeat against the Spartan oligarchy.

4. Come As You Are - Emily Nagoski

Shedding light on different sexual perspectives and experiences for something that is usually kept deep in the dark.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023

#95

Post by fiftyacorn »

London Calling: A Countercultural History of London since 1945 - Barry Miles

This is a few years old but I found it at a library. As the title says its a walkthru of London and British culture from 1945 covering artists, and musicians during this period

Barry Miles was at the centre of this culture running the indica bookshop - so knows a lot of the people

The one thing that sticks out is his discussion whether counter culture exists or can exist in the internet age because everything that happens now is filmed and on social media so quick it finds an audience or is drowned out.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023

#96

Post by specialist »

jsenn wrote: post #68

* Three Body Problem. I've heard of it many times, but never read it. Picked it up a month or two ago, read the whole thing in a few sessions, one of my favourite sci-fi books ever. Will read the next book in the series. * Immune: A Journey into the Mysterious System that Keeps You Alive. Best pop-sci book I've read in a while. Strikes the right balance between including pertinent information without being overwhelmi…

After reading Seeing Like a State and Utopia of Rules, I'm keen to learn more about "bureaucracy". My hunch is the battlelines and dogma wrt making the world "legible" (measureable, manageable) and "bullshit jobs" (make work, no value add) are overdue for an update.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023

#98

Post by jebarker »

nicbou wrote: post #25
jebarker wrote: post #12

Early last year I read The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. I found it deeply affecting. The quality of the writing is incredible and I enjoyed the structure which alternates progressing the main story and vignettes of life around the main characters. But mostly I was shocked to realize how little has changed in ~90 years in terms of worker exploitation and the ability to fall through the cracks in the USA.

This is one of the rare books I consider required reading for everyone

Yep, I have recommended it to many people this year and I rarely recommend books. It really has the ability to change perspectives for the better.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023

#99

Post by wsetchell »

Conquistador: Hernan Cortes by Levy - How Cortes conquered the Aztecs with 400 men and 16 horses.

Judgement in Managerial Decision Making by Bazerman - Things which bias your thinking and how to avoid them.

My Life and Work by Henry Ford - How Henry Ford thinks. Stories about engineering and building a company.

Homage to Catalonia by Orwell - The famous author's experience in the Spanish civil war which colored much of his work.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023

#100

Post by Pietertje »

psithurism wrote: post #40

Sociology: - The Coddling of the American Mind - The Tao of Pooh - Guns, Germs, and Steel - Weapons of the Weak Religious: - Guru Granth Sahib - Bible (King James Version) - Q’uran - The Book of Mormon - Tipitaka Fantasy: - Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw - The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan - The Way of Kings series by Brandon Sanderson - Mistborn also by Brandon Sanderson - Red Rising by Pierce Brown - The Lican…

How did you like the Wheel of Time? The size of the saga scares me a bit...
Post reply on HN