Ask HN: What are your favorite books of all time, and why?

It's been ~8 years since I read it, but I think "The Sciences of the Artificial" by Herb Simon might make my list. It's about design, engineering, intelligence (artificial or human), and building things.

Amen. AoE, a desk drawer packed with assorted components and a couple of veroboards basically got me through university.

Heck, I even got called to an EE professor's office after a circuit design exam - was told a couple of my answers clearly showed I had spent more time studying AoE than the curriculum. "So - we're going to have to give you a mediocre grade, but no worries, you'll do brilliantly in industry; I'd be happy to write you a recommendation to that effect."

He actually did; it is framed and proudly displayed on my office wall.

Milk, Sulphate, and Alby Starvation by Martin Millar.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Milk-Sulphate-Starvation-Martin-Mil...

This book was given to me by my first girlfriend. She died some time later, and I've found her death hard to deal with.

A few things bring back really strong memories of her - drinking tea and eating buttery pikelets and jam, listening to Ivor Cutler or Tallulah Gosh.

This book (and his others) do that.

The new Guide to Self Sufficiency by John Seymour. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1405345101/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?i...

We used to live in the country side, and I had to chop wood for our family, our neighbours, and my aunt who lived nearby. It's almost meditative. You start with a big pile of logs, and a sharp ax, and you end with more wood on the stack. It's surprising how quickly you can burn wood, especially if you're using it to cook food and heat your home.

Nine Stories

Franny and Zooey

SICP (Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs). Structured very well. Each exercise builds on a concept of the previous exercise, getting increasingly difficult.

1984 by George Orwell. I am told that we're increasingly moving towards a mix of 1984 and Brave New World (I haven't read the latter).