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Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

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Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#291

Post by scandox »

thisisforyou wrote: post #165
scandox wrote: post #69

This is mine: - Summae Technologiae by Stanislaw Lem - The Futurological Congress by Stanislaw Lem (reread) - Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson - The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson - The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut - Embassytown by China Mieville - The Vegetarian by Han Kang - Perchance to Dream (stories) by Charles Beaumont - Highrise by J.G. Ballard - In a Glass Darkly and Other Stories by Sheridan Le…

How did you like 'New American Stories'?

Well I know very little about contemporary American fiction so it was all pretty new to me.

NoViolet Bulawayo was my favourite. Anthony Doerr, Rebecca Lee and Robert Coover I liked. George Saunders made me laugh though I didn't think the story was exceptional. I remember really not liking Sam Lipsyte but everybody I spoke to said I was being unfair.

I'd never read any Don Delillo and I know I'll have nothing but grief for saying so: I thought it felt like something dust-covered from the 80s to me. Like a story set in a world of filofaxes. And not in a good way.

I didn't feel strongly enough about the rest I guess to comment. So a pretty mixed bag - but you know that's contemporary for you...time hasn't sifted the work, so it is bound to be patchy.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#293

Post by internaut »

pkaler wrote: post #282

Here's my whole list for the year in reverse chronological: - Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance - Tools of Titan by Tim Ferriss - Competing Against Luck by Clayton Christensen - Scrum: A Breathtakingly Brief and Agile Introduction by Chris Sims - Build Better Products by Laura Klein - Capital in the Twenty-first Century by Thomas Picketty - Shoe Dog by Phil Knight - Lean Customer Development by Cindy Alvarez - Impossible t…

You ought to know that Thinking, Fast and Slow has research in it that did not replicate. If you do some googling you'll observe a lot of people had a much more critical second take.

I believe it was the recent rash of replication failures that ferreted this out, so it is worth checking out in case you adopted false premises accidentally.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#294

Post by cgh »

kirubakaran wrote: post #209
cgh wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 1. The Recursive Universe: Cosmic Complexity and the Limits of Scientific Knowledge - Poundstone, William Wonderful, I have never once in my life encountered another person who has read this book. I first read it as a student in the '90s and, like "Godel, Escher, Bach" and "QED", it made such an impact on me. Strangely, just yesterday I found myself recommending it to someone who is currently reading the new John C…

Thanks, I liked it a lot too! Two similar books that I'm currently reading are: • From Eternity to Here - Sean Carroll • The Computational Beauty of Nature - Gray Flake I'd love to hear your thoughts on them if you've read them.

Nope, haven't read these but thanks for mentioning them. I'll have a look for sure.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#295

Post by guiambros »

Arubis wrote: post #276
thisisforyou wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Good tips, thanks! I definitely didn't get that far; more likely pg 100 or so. I was listening on Audible, so I guess that was the problem. Will try reading next time.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#298

Post by yla92 »

I've read about 20 books this year and most of them are fictions. I am a late comer in reading English books. At this stage of period, I still finding joy in reading fictions books than non-fictions. I feel that I should be reading more non-fictions but I can't help.

Some of the books I've read this year and recommend are

1. When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi (Found this book through the author's essay (basically, an abstract from the book) in NY Times. I love it. It is the story about the life of the neurosurgeon who was battling with his cancer.)

2. The Bridge to Brilliance - Nadia Lopez (Found this book from Humans of New York page. It is the story about a school principal trying to open up a school, getting school and other struggles along the way.)

3. The Phoenix Project - I think HN audience would know it. Fun read.

4. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande (This is the book I've been meaning to read but only did it awhile ago. It's beautifully written. It opens up my minds about aging and the struggles that elder people face it. It also reminds me that it is most important that one gets to enjoy life till it ends.)

The other books I read are 5 books of Haruki Murakami. Among them, I really enjoyed Wind Up Bird Chronicle and After Dark a lot.

My Goodreads for "read-2016" (although I am hoping to read a book before end of the year) is at https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/22920556?shelf=read-20....

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#299

Post by n2dasun »

unimpressive wrote: post #250
n2dasun wrote: post #202

Is there a good way (besides commenting) to save posts like these to find later?

Yes. If you click on the unique URL for a post, there is now a 'favorite' button that lets you save them. Though admittedly for public viewing.

Ah. Thanks. Never saw that before.

Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

#300

Post by n2dasun »

pitt1980 wrote: post #210
n2dasun wrote: post #202

Is there a good way (besides commenting) to save posts like these to find later?

if you upvote it, it stays in you upvoted stories list in your profile, I learned the hard way here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11253648 lol, you live, you learn

lol. Nice little gentle nudging there.
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