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The Best Books I Read in 2015
11–20 of 157 posts
Re: The Best Books I Read in 2015
#12I'm always sad that lists like this from tech people never contain any fiction. I have often seen the sentiment that everything you read should have some kind of educational value or it's just a waste of time. Does Bill Gates not read fiction? Perhaps he understands that he would be looked down on if he were to include some in his list.
They surely contain fiction, just the authors' don't admit it :-)
-from a fellow fiction lover
Re: The Best Books I Read in 2015
#13Did anyone read the books he recommended last year? Were they worthwhile?
Re: The Best Books I Read in 2015
#14Cheatsheet, without the affiliate links (another commenter posted these with affiliate links then deleted it after being called out):
The Road to Character, David Brooks - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081299325X
Thing Explainer, Randall Munroe - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0544668251
Being Nixon: A Man Divided, Evan Thomas - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812995368
Sustainable Materials With Both Eyes Open, Julian Allwood - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/190686005X
Eradication: Ridding the World of Diseases Forever?, Nancy Leys Stepan - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801450586
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345472322
Honorable Mention:
The Vital Question: Energy, Evolution, and the Origins of Complex Life, Nick Lane - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393088812
Re: The Best Books I Read in 2015
#15[deleted]
I have nothing against affiliate links, but you should try to add value rather than just copy Gates' list, and you really should declare their use explicitly rather than implicitly via a link shortener. [Update: Rather than delete your post, you could have added your impressions of the books (or recommended better ones) and merely mentioned the use of affiliate links.]
[deleted]
Re: The Best Books I Read in 2015
#16I'm always sad that lists like this from tech people never contain any fiction. I have often seen the sentiment that everything you read should have some kind of educational value or it's just a waste of time. Does Bill Gates not read fiction? Perhaps he understands that he would be looked down on if he were to include some in his list.
If you look through past years, you'll see that Gates does indeed read and even occasionally recommend works of fiction.
Re: The Best Books I Read in 2015
#17[deleted]
I have nothing against affiliate links, but you should try to add value rather than just copy Gates' list, and you really should declare their use explicitly rather than implicitly via a link shortener. [Update: Rather than delete your post, you could have added your impressions of the books (or recommended better ones) and merely mentioned the use of affiliate links.]
Fair enough, an experiment.
Re: The Best Books I Read in 2015
#18Anyone who refers to David Brooks as "the insightful New York Times columnist" has lost me as a reader. I can't remember the last time he had an original, or even accurate, thought.
http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/i-dont-think-david-brooks-i...
Here are two good books:
* The Korean War: A History - Little known fact: The US took the wrong side in the Korean War by putting the former officers of the Japanese imperial army in power in Seoul. It committed countless atrocities to achieve its stalemate, including fire-bombing half the country (Germany redux) and using napalm on whole villages, a foreshadowing of Vietnam.
* Old School - A novel by Tobias Wolff. If you're tired of tired prose, try Wolff. He cares about sentences.
Re: The Best Books I Read in 2015
#19Did anyone read the books he recommended last year? Were they worthwhile?
I went through his list last year and selected two books that got my attention.
The first is a book about the rise of the shipping container. Really informative and clearly describes the design process behind a technique we've always taken for granted. It's a historical account mainly, starting from the idea all the way to modern day shipping.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Box-Shipping-Container-Smaller/dp/...
The second, which I read through the first few chapters of, describes the origins of the steam engine, but it was a bit bland for my tastes.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Most-Powerful-Idea-World/dp/022672...
Both are interesting books to be frank so I'd recommend at least checking them out.
Re: The Best Books I Read in 2015
#20Here are some other lists of 'Best books of 2015': Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-books-2015 Amazon http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=13108091011 The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/entertainment/best-b... The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/books/review/100-notable-b... The Economist http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21679439-best-b...
I haven't read it, but interesting that "Fates and Furies: A Novel" a 3.5 star novel on Amazon makes the top 20 list. Is this purely a function of sales, not ratings?