Ask HN: What are the best books you've ever read?

#1

Post by iambateman » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 8:56 PM UTC

Over the last year I have gotten lazy with my evenings…wasting time on Twitter and YouTube.

I’m recommitting to use the hour before bed to read and so I need recommendations…what are the best books you’ve ever read?

It doesn’t matter what it was, just that it made an enduring impact on you.

Thanks!

Re: Ask HN: What are the best books you've ever read?

#2

Post by talldayo » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 8:58 PM UTC

The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings both stand alone as unparalleled fantasy novels. Buy a version with no foreword or footnotes and just, immerse yourself.

Re: Ask HN: What are the best books you've ever read?

#3

Post by iambateman » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 9:02 PM UTC

talldayo wrote: post #2

The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings both stand alone as unparalleled fantasy novels. Buy a version with no foreword or footnotes and just, immerse yourself.

Great recommendation, thanks!

Unfortunately for me, they’re probably my favorite books of all time. :)

Cheers!

Re: Ask HN: What are the best books you've ever read?

#4

Post by taylodl » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 9:37 PM UTC

- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Pirsig)

- Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid (Hofstadter)

- Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness (Penrose)

- Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (Suzuki)

- Demian (Hesse)

- The Stranger (Camus)

- Slaughterhouse-Five (Vonnegut)

- Another Roadside Attraction (Robbins)

I have read many books that have had an impact on me for a time, but these are the books that have had an enduring impact going on now for decades.

And yes, one of these books, Another Roadside Attraction, is unlike the others. You can substitute any Tom Robbins book, or read them all!, but this is the book that started it all for me. Tom Robbins' books taught me to not take life so seriously.

Demian and The Stranger may be fiction, but let's just say their purpose is to get across a philosophical point.

Finally, with regards to Slaughterhouse-Five, you'll just have to read it.

Enjoy!

Re: Ask HN: What are the best books you've ever read?

#5

Post by the-smug-one » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 9:40 PM UTC

These aren't "The best" or whatever, but they're very good:

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Summer_Book

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoner_(novel)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_on_a_winter%27s_night_a_tra...

- I'm currently reading Pyotr Kropotkin's autobiography, it's interesting.

Re: Ask HN: What are the best books you've ever read?

#6

Post by z303 » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 9:41 PM UTC

A Canticle for Leibowitz

I ended up staying up all night reading most of the book

Re: Ask HN: What are the best books you've ever read?

#7

Post by dcminter » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 9:41 PM UTC

"Best" is always too hard - here are a handful that I love.

Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susannah Clarke

The Crow Road - Iain Banks

Equal Rites - Terry Pratchett

Three Men in a Boat - Jerome K. Jerome

A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson

Black Holes & Time Warps - Kip Thorne

The Inventions of Daedalus - David E H Jones

The Cuckoo's Egg - Cliff Stoll

I hope one or two of those float your boat!

Re: Ask HN: What are the best books you've ever read?

#8

Post by montgomery_r » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 9:45 PM UTC

For the value of ‘best’ that includes (a) had a deep and long lasting impact on how I think about the world and (b) I consider beautiful pieces of writing in their own right, here are some in no particular order: The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman Naming and Necessity, Saul Kripke Tractatus LogicoPhilosophicus, Ludwig Wittgenstein (These you might want to approach via a gentle introduction if you did not study Philosophy to degree level) The Rediscovery of the Mind, John R Searle Darkness at Noon, Arthur Koestler The Glass Bead Game, Hermann Hesse A Handful of Dust, Evelyn Waugh Diaries, Samuel Pepys Falling Off the Map, Pico Iyer A Time of Gifts, Patrick Leigh Fermor The Lonely Sea and the Sky, Francis Chichester The Way We Live Now, Anthony Trollope Bevis, Richard Jeffries The Diary of a Nobody, George and Weedon GrossSmith The Inimitable Jeeves, PG Wodehouse

Hitch-22, essaysChristopher Hitchens Collected Essays, William Hazlitt Venice, Martin Gayford

The Ascent of Man, Jacob Bronowski The Fabric of Reality, David Deutsch

Too obvious a list, perhaps, but some gems for all that! Happy reading.

Re: Ask HN: What are the best books you've ever read?

#9

Post by dcminter » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 9:46 PM UTC

dcminter wrote: post #7

"Best" is always too hard - here are a handful that I love. Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susannah Clarke The Crow Road - Iain Banks Equal Rites - Terry Pratchett Three Men in a Boat - Jerome K. Jerome A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson Black Holes & Time Warps - Kip Thorne The Inventions of Daedalus - David E H Jones The Cuckoo's Egg - Cliff Stoll I hope one or two o…

PS my New Year resolution was to "do" more (reading counted) and doom-scroll less. Not 100% on track, but where I managed it I've been much more cheerful for it. I hope you find some nice bedtime reading - I see a lot of other good books being recommended!

Re: Ask HN: What are the best books you've ever read?

#10

Post by WarOnPrivacy » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 9:49 PM UTC

The only book. The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz.