Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 144 posts

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

#81

Post by garganzol »

amorphous wrote: post #76
garganzol wrote: post #62

"Don't Make Me Think" by Steve Krug, Second Edition The book changed the course of my life. It allowed me to build a sustainable business, that at some point became my full-time job. The magic of that book comes from the fact that it allows you to gradually develop a compassion. For your customers, prospects and all other living beings in this world. Having that compassion embedded, you start to see a lot of subtle t…

Would you recommend reading it even if not particularly interested in web usability?

Absolutely. The product I've made is not even web-based. Treat web usability just as an example; you can extrapolate the results to much wider areas of life.

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

#82

Post by BoiledCabbage »

monksy wrote: post #53
slip_shoe wrote: post #10

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 su…

Western civilization is based on merit and it is based on being very competitive. (It's true in your mates, your social standing, your financial situation, etc) That's the reason for the improvement books.

> Western civilization is based on merit

This is one of the larger falsehoods I've read in a while.

It's based on money, connections, favors, historical precedent and power. And it's not the only one.

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

#83

Post by queeerkopf »

Ask HN Threads with similiar topics/recommendations:

* Books you wish you had read earlier? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14477851

* What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15155833

* Books on specific topics that have applied to many areas of your life? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14477851

* Books with a high signal to noise ratio? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10027102

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

#84

Post by dahx4Eev »

neya wrote: post #5

Right off the bat, here you go: 1. The 7 habits of highly successful people (Stephen Covey) 2. The Miracle Morning (Hal Elrod) 3. Business Model Generation (Aelxander Osterwalder) 4. The Art Of War (Sun Tzu) 5. The E-myth, why most businesses don't work and what to do about it (Michel Gerber) 6. Made In Japan (Founder of Sony, Akio Morita) 7. How to win friends and influence people (Dale Carnegie) Probably I missed a…

Is it relevant to read Made In Japan now? And, what're the key takeaways?

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

#85

Post by jrs235 »

The one I'm about to finish: The Principles of Product Development Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Development [1]

Wish I had read this years ago! I think every developer can benefit greatly from understanding these principles. Plus if they were more widely known and adopted it would be easier to get other managers to go along with them.

[1] http://amzn.to/2GL17hs (affiliate link)

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

#87

Post by notacoward »

numbsafari wrote: post #23

I wish I hadn’t ever read Ayn Rand’s books. They were a waste of time and a distraction for too many years. I’ll say this though, I’m glad I grew up and I’m glad that when I got to the end of the Fountainhead I had already figured out what was wrong with her. If not for that, I wouldn’t have recovered.

I agree, and further suggest Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations as a book people should read early on. Anyone familiar with subsequent developments in economics will find things to disagree with, but it's important to know what he actually said instead of the self-justifying caricature presented by Rand and her ilk. If you go on to read Theory of Moral Sentiments the contrast becomes even more clear.

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

#88

Post by petagonoral »

jrs235 wrote: post #85

The one I'm about to finish: The Principles of Product Development Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Development [1] Wish I had read this years ago! I think every developer can benefit greatly from understanding these principles. Plus if they were more widely known and adopted it would be easier to get other managers to go along with them. [1] http://amzn.to/2GL17hs (affiliate link)

I would give your post a lot more respect if it wasn't an affiliate link.

non affiliate link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1935401009

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

#89

Post by fdw »

singularity2001 wrote: post #73
alok-g wrote: post #4

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.

I wish I could live more by the insights of this book. also given its content the real title should be "How to win friends and manipulate people."

While it is certainly true on some level, I think Carnegie chose not to use "manipulate" for a reason: It's not so much about getting them to do what you want, but to see the issue from all sides and choose a path that is beneficial to you both. He also repeatedly stresses honesty ("honest appreciation"). So even if there is some amount of manipulation, it's still mainly about seeing everybody as a person and working together.

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

#90

Post by AlexAmee »

alok-g wrote: post #4

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.

From my standpoint, this is one of the most overrated books of all times.

I stopped reading it somewhere in the middle because it did not tell me anything new at all.

I understand we are all different and have our strengths and weaknesses, what is totally obvious to you is probably a new concept to me.

Post reply on HN