Ask HN: Which books do you wish you'd read earlier in life?

there is something to be said for finding the right book at the right time.

Dale Carnegie, How to win friends and influence people. The book had opened my mind on how people react to criticism.

Human Relationships, Steve Duck. Relationships are so important in life, and not at all obvious for everyone, yet we are all left to ourselves on them.

^ this. I read Paul Graham's, What You'll Wish You'd Known when I was in high school and it was like "okay great I get it" and only now after reading it again recently has it become "wow, now I feel it."

And for me it seems to boil down to feeling the message rather than knowing it. Someone can tell you to work out and stay in shape, but sometimes it takes hitting a personal low to make a permanent change.

A Short History of Nearly Everything

I read it at ~18 and can easily draw a direct line between it and going into research, but I wish I had read it a few years earlier and became interested in science sooner. Maybe I would've actually done my homework in high school.

It's funny how western (probably American) HNers are mentioning the "how to succeed everywhere" books all over this thread. This is silly, methinks. I would mildly suggest those people to take a bit wider look at where they live and why they consider those books important to be read as early as possible.

For me, I don't regret about not having read anything, I'd rather regret about having read too much and nothing substantial at all at the same time. But regardless of the fact that I've read a ton of bulls*t books and virtually nothing fundamental, I don't see a need to catch up. No haste = no waste. We can live very productive, moral and full lives without reading anything.