Ask HN: Great books you read in 2009?

Anathem, by Neal Stephenson

Consider Phlebas, by Iain M. Banks

Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins

Business Stripped Bare, by Richard Branson

Programming Collective Intelligence, by Toby Segaran

Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig

I am not trying to compete or brag but I read 22 books last year and just finished my first book this year (75% read before 1st Jan): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/578454/Screen%20shot%202010-01-01%20...

I am a slow reader and I do have quite a bit more free time than most people (I work from home). I read very slowly but I have patience to read over long period. This year I hope to read around 30 books, if things goes according to plan.

I used to be a serious reader, but last 10 years or so (before 2009) I was completely out of touch with books (besides academic reading). Thanks to this women (http://www.readallday.org/) I got inspired to read again.

I read a lot in high school and college. After that, I continued to think of myself as reading a lot, but the reality slowly diverged from the self-image. A few years ago, I noticed the gap and decided to fix it. I realized that while I absolutely loved reading, and never needed to convince myself to read, the time I had to devote to it just kinda slipped through the cracks here and there.

What fixed it for me was promising myself I'd try to read at least 40 pages a day. The number itself isn't very important, but it roughly translates to one book a week. Books can be thicker and thinner of course; I don't consciously try to finish one every week, but I do consciously try to read 40 pages a day - and more than that is even better. It seemed like a tacky thing to do at first; if I love reading, would I really need to try and force myself to? But the point of the resolution is not to force yourself, it's to keep reading in the list of desired activities as you go through the day. It works to keep the thought closer to the foreground, as a kind of a mental hack. The other part of this "method", and it's absolutely essential, is not to "punish" yourself by assigning yourself the double dose if you fail to read at all one day. Keeping an account of "debts" this way is too forced and quickly leads to abandoning the whole idea. If I read just a little or not at all one day, for whatever reason, I just try to read 40 pages the next day.

Results: I read about 50 books in 2008 (didn't keep tabs). In 2009, I got a Sony Reader in May and switched to reading books mostly on the device. I read a bit over 80 books in 2009, and will probably read about a hundred this year. The time to do is mostly the time I would waste here and there on the net relatively meaninglessly (like checking my email, Google Reader, HN and reddit twice as often or something; with reading many books, I'm still able to do all that, and write a high-traffic blog, and work full-time). I also try to find little chunks of time here and there: I read in a cafe, in the lavatory, sometimes at lunch. I carry my ebook reader with me nearly all the time, and if someone's late to a meeting at work and everybody's waiting, I read for a few minutes; and so on.

TL;DR: Nah, just read it all :)

Great books i read in 2009

-The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort - hilarious

-Inside Steve's Brain

-Paypal Wars - old book but still very informative and relevant

-Viral Loop by Adam L. Penenberg

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin.

- Captivating and well researched. This book not only captures the life of a genius, but also exposes the politics and propaganda of WWII, the Cold War and nuclear proliferation (which were conveniently omitted from my government-set high school curriculum), as well as raising issue of morality and the ethical responsibilities of scientists. Interested in start-ups? They don't come bigger than the Manhattan Project. Most of the guys in Los Alamos at the time were in their 20s.

Two books by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and For The Good of the Cause.

- Both are brilliant. Solzenitsyn's language is powerful and descriptive yet simple and concise. Since reading his books, I consciously look at the entropy of other writers.

Ambedkar and Buddhism by Sangarakshita

- An interesting account of the life of a great man, who's philosophy should be read by anyone who hails from the Indian sub-continent.

A Fraction of The Whole by Steve Toltz.

- A book lover's book, Toltz's novel made me laugh out loud at numerous times. A fun read, made better by the fact that he's Aussie.