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Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

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Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#241

Post by JamesLeonis »

skizm wrote: post #132

I realize this is probably not what you meant when asking for book suggestions on HN, but since you didn't specify: If you're into 2D action / sci-fi / dystopian fiction (or to be honest, if you're into fantasy/sci-fi at all) check out the Red Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown. I went in expecting nothing and almost abandoned half way through the first book as it seemed like a Hunger Games / Divergent rip off (and I did…

I ripped through Red Rising and Golden Sun last month based on a buddy's recommendation. Morning Star is my early Christmas gift. It's an absolute page-turner of a series.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#242

Post by tunap »

wtfishackernews wrote: post #76
cdnsteve wrote: post #57

Are you reading paper books, PDFs on laptops, ebooks on tablets? How do you read?

Audiobooks, this way I can do mindless chores while reading books.

I donned my kneepads and washed my floors by hand two weeks prior while listening to Empires Of Light. Floors never looked better. Now I need another long, drawn out chore(or a roadtrip) to finish as I cannot just sit and listen to audiobooks unless I have a mindless task to keep me physically occupied.

Tesla, Westinghouse, Edison & Morgan. A fascinating bit of history about the people & events that delivered electricity to the world.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/507952.Empires_of_Light

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#243

Post by kingosticks »

demicynic wrote: post #237
FajitaNachos wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also read Ready Player One this year and thought it was excellent. Since then I've been searching for more books that pull me in like that one did. Way of Kings is pretty good so far.

I tried to read it a couple of years ago and was unimpressed by the long lists of 'references' to 80's pop culture. I only made it about half way through before I abandoned it. Is it worth going back to finish it if I didn't enjoy the first half?

I also found them a bit annoying but yes, it's worth going back to it.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#244

Post by Freak_NL »

demicynic wrote: post #237
FajitaNachos wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also read Ready Player One this year and thought it was excellent. Since then I've been searching for more books that pull me in like that one did. Way of Kings is pretty good so far.

I tried to read it a couple of years ago and was unimpressed by the long lists of 'references' to 80's pop culture. I only made it about half way through before I abandoned it. Is it worth going back to finish it if I didn't enjoy the first half?

It's worth finishing I think — I enjoyed it, but that's not much to go on — but it is definitely the type of book that should remain unique in your collection. The eighties pop reference angle is interesting for those of us who had parts of their childhood in the eighties, but it is not something you would want to see repeated in a second or third book. A gimmick that works well once.

Reminds me of House of Leaves (Danielewski), which employs typography and layered (fictional) authors in a very compelling and unique manner. I can't imagine ever reading another book like that though (although I know I'll enjoy rereading it in the future). Any copy-cat would seem like cheap clone compared to the original.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#245

Post by nicholast »

andrewtbham wrote: post #175
magnanimous11 wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I absolutely agree with your recommendation of "A Confederacy of Dunces", but it is definitely not an Autobiography.

confederacy of dunces is one of the funniest books i have read. should have been made into a movie by now.

Yeah it's basically a modern Don Quixote set loose in New Orleans. Very much character driven, lots of fun.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#246

Post by nicholast »

magnanimous11 wrote: post #164
nicholast wrote: post #154

Here are a few I enjoyed in 2016 by genre: Business - Making Things Work by Yaneer Bar-Yam Investing - Charlie Munger The Complete Investor by Tren Griffin Essays - Michel de Montaigne Complete Essays ($.99 on Kindle!) Physics - At Home in the Universe by Stuart Kauffman Software - An Elementary Introduction to the Wolfram Language Current Events - Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom Fiction - The Orphan Master's Son b…

I absolutely agree with your recommendation of "A Confederacy of Dunces", but it is definitely not an Autobiography.

Yes perhaps that part was meant as a joke.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#247

Post by unimpressive »

roninb wrote: post #84

I reread 1984 this year and it gave me trouble sleeping for a few weeks afterward. The writing is so perfectly concise that your mind adds visceral details that fill everything in for you. It makes the environment (political, physical, economic, etc.) and everything Winston goes through so much more real.

You may be interested in Homage To Catalonia, a non-fiction book about some of the real life experiences Orwell went through that inspired him to write 1984. It's available online to boot:

http://www.george-orwell.org/Homage_to_Catalonia/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage_to_catalonia

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#248

Post by henrik_w »

alawrence wrote: post #207

The War of Art - Steven Pressfield (unsure how I felt about this one, but it's short so worth a read) Deep Work - Cal Newport (recommended) Stumbling on Happiness - Daniel Gilbert (recommended) Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals - Heidi Grant-Halvorson (lots of great stuff in here, highly recommended) The Autobiography of Malcolm X - Alex Haley (I really like biographies and Malcolm X was a pretty interesting person…

+1 (+2?) for Deep Work and Ready Player One. Read both this year, and both are excellent. Also really liked The Martian.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#249

Post by kjdal2001 »

gedrap wrote: post #22

- Introductory Statistics with R by Dalgaard, Peter. A solid introduction to stats, don't be scared by R bit in the title - it contains plenty of maths/theory so that knowledge is widely applicable. Brilliant introductory for everyone who wants to do something stats related. It's amazing how much can be done with no fancy deep learning algorithms, just plain simple stats. - Statistics Done Wrong by Alex Reinhart. Ple…

I wasn't a huge fan of The Circle. It did a decent job of presenting the creep of surveillance powers that come along with ever more useful social media features. But it didn't have a coherent argument against them. It was sort of left to the reader to see (or maybe just feel) how dangerous The Circle was getting, because most of the characters themselves didn't. Even the ones who did couldn't explain why.

Maybe I just went into the book expecting an examination of the types of tradeoffs we make when interacting with social media, and instead got a thriller. The Circle works pretty well as a thriller to be honest, its just that there is still room for a more serious novel on its subject matter.

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