Ask HN: Books you read in 2016? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#271

Post by mdn0420 » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 9:29 PM UTC

FajitaNachos wrote: post #226

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…

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 loved Way of Kings. Definitely recommend reading the second book in the series as well, 'Words of Radiance'

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#272

Post by Uhhrrr » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 9:41 PM UTC

wyldfire wrote: post #169

I read pretty much just fiction: "Daemon", "Dark Matter", "Brave New World", "Armada", "Oryx and Crake" (in progress). They're all pretty great, I heard about several of these on HN. "Armada" was a nice simple story very much along the lines of "Ready Player One." "Daemon" was surprising -- an interesting 'what if' regarding the evolution of AI.

I'm 4/5 through Oryx and Crake and it's one of the best SF books I've read in recent years.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#273

Post by skadamou » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 9:43 PM UTC

bcbrown wrote: post #229

skadamou wrote: post #159

For my birthday this year some friends got me The Dictator’s Handbook by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Marx’s Capital Illustrated by David Smith. I’ve always been at least tangentially interested in political/economic theory and these two books offered an easily accessible new perspective on their respective subjects I hadn’t gotten before. The Dictator’s Handbook I found to be particularly insightful.

Have you heard of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man? It's somewhat similar.

I have not but I will certainly check it out. Thank you for the suggestion

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#274

Post by josht » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 9:46 PM UTC

Managing Oneself - Peter Drucker (recommended--quick read)

The Martian - Andy Weir (slightly more entertaining than the movie)

The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results - Gary Keller (great for improving ones focus on the task at hand while having the big picture in mind)

Not Fade Away - Laurence Shames (note to self: it's never too late to appreciate all we have and have had. recommended)

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration - Ed Catmull (excellent stories and a unique POV on Jobs)

Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose - Tony Hsieh (a bit higher level than I had hoped for, but still worth a read)

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It - Michael Gerber (recommended)

How To Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia (meh, I could take it or leave it)

Tribal Leadership - Dave Logan (applicable tactics and strategies to achieving happiness-- recommended by Tony Hsieh via 'Delivering Happiness'. Highly recommended)

Crossing the Chasm - Geoffrey Moore (solid concept, however this was a dry read... for me)

The Obstacle Is The Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumphs - Ryan Holiday (recommended)

The War of Art - Steven Pressfield (a great way to cure procrastination)

Peopleware - Tom DeMarco (not for me)

So Good They Can't Ignore You - Cal Newport (IMHO this book would have been better as a blog post)

The Lean Startup - Eric Ries (recommended)

As a Man Thinketh - James Allen (quick read, highly recommended)

The Effective Executive - Peter Drucker (terrific book chalked full of wisdom. recommended)

The Magic of Thinking Big - David Schwartz (recommended)

Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us - Seth Godin (recommended)

Psycho-Cybernetics: A New Way to Get More Living Out of Life - Maxwell Maltz (first published in 1960, this incredible book has been, hands down, the most impactful book I read all year. This book helped me finally weed out pervasive negative though patterns and much, much more. Highly recommended if you're open to it)

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#275

Post by neic » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 9:46 PM UTC

My favorite books of 2016 was, and I can recommend all of them:

Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky

The Martian by Andy Weir

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

Honorable mention from 2015: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. I have just started Homo Deus and my first impression is that is is a worthy sequel.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#276

Post by Arubis » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 9:51 PM UTC

thisisforyou wrote: post #161

guiambros wrote: post #149

Last year I gave myself a Zuckerberg-style goal to read a book every two weeks. It started well, but some months were harder than others (usually when the book wasn't very good, so I would switch to podcasts for a few weeks, before getting back on track). Here's an unordered list of the best: [BUSINESS / SELF-IMPROVEMENT] - " Work Rules! " - about Google's culture and values - " Search Inside Yourself " - about mindf…

How far did you get into 'Infinite Jest'. Did you break pg. 200? In my expeirance there seems to be this energy hump at pg. ~200, but if you can push past that it is smooth sailing till the end. (and absolutely worth it)

In particular, I remember it was the description of Hal's father effectively ending his tennis career on the court that made it impossible for me _not_ to finish--around p170 or 180.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#277

Post by Arubis » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 10:05 PM UTC

Necessarily an incomplete list, because I haven't kept close track. 2016 was busy and much of what I read was programming language related, which I will exclude here.

In no particular order...

Cixin Liu -- The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest. Good read, as you'll see on everyone else's list.

Neal Stephenson -- Seveneves. Really good but arguably his weakest in some time; I wish the first three-quarters of the book were shorter and the final quarter a book in and of itself.

Cal Newport -- So Good They Can't Ignore You. I found this longer than necessary but an excellent kick in the pants.

Marcus Aurelius -- Meditations. Feels like a good "life reference" rather than a straight-through read.

Roald Dahl -- Boy, Going Solo. These were fun when I first went through them years ago, and they still _are_ fun, but the lens through which I view live has become one increasingly allergic to entitlement, and boy, if you want entitlement, look to the Brits at the end of the imperialist era.

Ed Catmull -- Creativity, Inc. Read this for work. Enjoyable but ehh.

Peter Tompkins -- The Secret Life of Plants (unfinished). I tried but couldn't get past the rampant bad science.

Steve Martin -- Born Standing Up. This was a fun profile of a comic that I appreciate; if you're already a fan it's worthwhile, otherwise skip it.

Derek Sivers -- Anything You Want. You can blow through this in a day and you should.

Worth highlighting, my most influential read this year:

Tara Brach -- Radical Acceptance. I loved this. No: I _needed_ this. Rather than the many philosophy-influenced books you'll find in this thread that are really business books with new buzzwords, this is just about loving yourself and building on that to live life fully. This will not (at least directly) help you build a startup. This will (directly) help you build important relationships.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#278

Post by cicero » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 10:06 PM UTC

A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller (recommended SF classic)

The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis (an old favorite, recommended)

The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco (some interesting parts, but overall a disappointment)

Theology and Sanity - Frank Sheed (recommended; a very written description of the Catholic faith; weaknesses are it's long and it's aimed to a mid 20th c. audience)

Christianity for Modern Pagans: Pascal's Pensees - Peter Kreeft (recommended; a good exposition of Blaise Pascal's thought)

Catholicism: A journey to the heart of the faith - Robert Barron (recommended; a good explanation of Catholicism for the common person)

His Master's Voice - Stanislaw Lem (recommended; very intellectual look at the problem of first contact)

The Industries of the Future - Alec Ross (the robotics chapter is best; other parts are more light-weight; easy read)

Clouds of Witnesses - Dorothy Sayers (not my favorite Sayers mystery, but enjoyable)

A Study in Scarlet - Arthur Conan Doyle (recommended)

Why Gender Matters - Leonard Sax (recommended; most of the book is based on good science, but he does go out on a limb a time or two.)

Old School - Tobias Wolff (recommended; a world before widespread TV where high school boys actually got excited about literature)

Infinite Space, Infinite God - Karina and Robert Fabian editors (story quality varies; I enjoyed some of them)

The Sign of Four - Arthur Conan Doyle (recommended)

On Stranger Tides - Tim Powers (recommended; I love Powers, but Anubis Gates and Last Call are better. Still, if you like pirates you should like this)

The Art of Worldly Wisdom - Baltasar Gracian (interesting)

Aquinas at Prayer: the Bible, Mysticism, and Poetry - Paul Murray (recommended; this shows a different side of Thomas Aquinas)

Aristotle for Everybody: Difficult Thought Made Easy - Mortimer Adler (recommended; I almost think this should be required reading)

The Pilgrim's Regress - C.S. Lewis (I enjoyed it, but the ideas Lewis argues against are somewhat dated.)

Edit for formatting

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#279

Post by paublyrne » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 10:11 PM UTC

akuji1993 wrote: post #63

H4CK3RM4N wrote: post #50

I've been reading through the Discworld series and I've really liked the commentary on various social structures throughout.

Had some downtime last week and started the "first three books" edition I got over a year ago. Very nice read, already ordered two more that sounded very compelling. The wit and humour is absolutely terrific.

The first three are him finding his feet, and his voice. They really start to become excellent with the fourth novel, Mort. Hopefully you ordered that one!

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#280

Post by Fnoord » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 10:22 PM UTC

Data and Goliath - Bruce Schneier (very good, preaching to the choir in my case though)

Dune - Frank Herbert (been waiting more than 20 years to read this. If you haven't seen the movie from 2001 highly recommended, else not)

The Psychopath Code - Pieter Hintjens (psychology book, highly recommended, allowed me to understand a whole lot more of the "toxicity" in society)

Python for Informatics - Charles Severance (too easy for crowd here, and for me, but quite good for newbie programmers. Note: Python 2.x; not 3.x!)

Ghost in the Wires - Kevin Mitnick and William L. Simon (good humor, great suspense, likeable main character)

Kingpin - Kevin Poulsen (a less likeable main character but nevertheless suspenseful)

And a bunch of cookbooks which I won't bother you with, I didn't fully complete any of them either.

I'm very happy that all the books I read were a hit, but did not read nearly as many as I wanted to. To restate, I can recommend all of the above. But they're not all new from 2016 (if that was the intention I apologise).