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Summer Reading List

blog.ycombinator.com

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Re: Summer Reading List

#71

Post by qq66 »

iagooar wrote: post #59
strictnein wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This, so much this. I don't mind a day full of chores or yardwork if I've got a good book to listen to. Especially when you realize that you can listen to a lot of books at 1.5x - 2x speed, with very little loss of comprehension.

> when you realize that you can listen to a lot of books at 1.5x - 2x speed, with very little loss of comprehension. Is it enjoyable, though?

Sure, if you can maintain comprehension. It's a combination of 1) most audiobooks are narrated very slowly so that people have no trouble comprehending them, and 2) audio speedup algorithms have gotten really good.

Re: Summer Reading List

#72

Post by arstin »

iagooar wrote: post #59
strictnein wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This, so much this. I don't mind a day full of chores or yardwork if I've got a good book to listen to. Especially when you realize that you can listen to a lot of books at 1.5x - 2x speed, with very little loss of comprehension.

> when you realize that you can listen to a lot of books at 1.5x - 2x speed, with very little loss of comprehension. Is it enjoyable, though?

Yea it can be. But really depends on both the book and the reader. And what you're trying to get out of it.

Some readers are excruciatingly slow, so 1.25 just makes them sound normal. Other readers speed along, so 1x is like 1.5x on other books.

Some books need to be played at 1x if you're gonna follow the intricacies. Others with neither dense logical argument or thick, nuanced soul, like bestseller nonfictions where you have a sequence of little stories to illustrate "what studies have shown", can profitably be listened to quite fast, especially when also allaying their boringness with a Geometry Wars or Kingdom Rush addiction. (You might say, why read them then? Personally: as an excuse to play Kingdom Rush.)

If I'm not too into a part I'll even go faster than 2x to pick up the gist unto it catches my interest again.

Really, it's just like normal reading. Any displined reader has different speeds depending on the how much time the material is worth (Adler's How to Read a Book gives a nice model).

Re: Summer Reading List

#74

Post by hmmm___food »

ryanjodonnell wrote: post #69

I would add "The Three Body Problem" and following two books in its trilogy to the list. Sci-fi series by Liu Cixin. Won the Hugo award and is recommended by Obama and Zuck. I felt so small after reading that one :)

I believe all of them have won either a Hugo or Nebula.

Re: Summer Reading List

#75

Post by foota »

kilroy123 wrote: post #6

Slightly off topic, but how many books do you all read a month? I have a hard time getting past 1 a month.

I read science fiction and fantasy voraciously. I tend to binge read, but I probably average 4 books a month.

Re: Summer Reading List

#76

Post by ThomPete »

If I may recommend a book that really will make most people change their perspectives it's "The End of Alchemy: Money, Banking, and the Future of the Global Economy"

Rarely have I read a book which made me think about a subject I thought I had a pretty good understanding of completely different. And if that is not enough it's probably one of the few books which doesn't have a moral/ethical agenda but merely seeks to inform about how the crisis happened (and what money really is)

For me it's one now on my list of books about important fundamentals in this world.

https://www.amazon.com/End-Alchemy-Banking-Future-Economy/dp...

Re: Summer Reading List

#77

Post by eliben »

strictnein wrote: post #29
eliben wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Audiobooks are a great way to increase your book intake considerably. "Reading" while washing dishes, other house chores and commuting can easily get you through 2-3 extra books a month (depending on the length of the commute :)

This, so much this. I don't mind a day full of chores or yardwork if I've got a good book to listen to. Especially when you realize that you can listen to a lot of books at 1.5x - 2x speed, with very little loss of comprehension.

> 1.5x - 2x speed

Since I mostly read non-fiction I find 1.5 a bit too fast if I want to really comprehend stuff without hitting replay all the time, so I just hear all books at 1.25 and it works well for me.

Re: Summer Reading List

#79

Post by icebraining »

ashark wrote: post #66
kilroy123 wrote: post #6

Slightly off topic, but how many books do you all read a month? I have a hard time getting past 1 a month.

1) Keep a book open on your work machine (pdf, epub, .txt in a terminal with "less", whatever) and every time you would read HN or FB or Twitter any other time wasting Internet BS, read some of the book instead. DO NOT let yourself do anything else when you want/need a distraction. It has to be the book, or else you keep working. Physical book might work too though it might be a little weird, depending on your work e…

I have to say, that definitively wouldn't work for me. I take breaks when I need to de-focus from the problem and let my mind work on it unattended, so I can't do anything mentally demanding during them.

Re: Summer Reading List

#80

Post by spyhi »

eliben wrote: post #9
kilroy123 wrote: post #6

Slightly off topic, but how many books do you all read a month? I have a hard time getting past 1 a month.

Audiobooks are a great way to increase your book intake considerably. "Reading" while washing dishes, other house chores and commuting can easily get you through 2-3 extra books a month (depending on the length of the commute :)

Especially now that (more often than not) you can attach Audible books to your Kindle books for a fairly trivial price, and whispersync for voice means you can hop back and forth between reading and listening. Now, any time I'm using my eyes and hands, but not my ears and mind, I'm listening to books--increased my reading rate by a lot.
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