Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?

#281

Post by cirgue » Fri, Jul 13, 2018, 2:09 PM UTC

treme wrote: post #67

cirgue wrote: post #22

‘Simulacrum and simulation’, ‘understanding media’, and ‘society of the spectacle’ right now. My focus this summer is on everything ever written about media and society. I am currently looking for works on social trends in response to radio and television.

Mcluhan's work would be right up your alley then. Medium is the Massage; Gutenberg Galaxy would be my top 2 recommendation given what you wrote.

> Medium is the Massage

I initially thought that was a typo. For others reading this: it's not, it was a collage-style collaboration between Mcluhan and graphic designer Quentin Fiore. That's really cool, I will have to check it out.

Re: Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?

#282

Post by freehunter » Fri, Jul 13, 2018, 2:09 PM UTC

Wow that link to GeekDad is absolutely toxic. When you visit, it shows a banner that begs for you to turn off your ad blocker promising that they don't have malicious or distracting ads... then in the fine print below that, it says "okay I know we currently have a lot of malicious ads, but that's out of our control, we promise!"

Seriously, that's why people use ad blockers. If you're running content on your site that you have no control over, stop doing that. If you're serving malicious ads, at the very least turn off the banner that tells people you're not serving malicious ads.

Re: Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?

#283

Post by jeffreyrogers » Fri, Jul 13, 2018, 2:14 PM UTC

oxymoron wrote: post #228

msadowski wrote: post #60

Can anyone recommend some book about Africa? I would like to gain some insights about life there, ideally fact based, maybe some history? Doesn't need to be the whole continent as well, would love to start with any particular country. This year I decided to read at least one book a month the ones I found most inspiring were: * Factfulness - how we can misinterpret the data and how most of us have a wrong idea about t…

_The Fate of Africa_ is a comprehensive post-colonial history of the whole continent which does a great job with identifying overarching developments and spinning them into a narrative. It’s also very readable. I thoroghly recommend it.

I'll second this. This is probably the best thing to read if you're interested in Africa in general rather than a specific region or country. It shows you how entrenched many of the problems in Africa are.

Re: Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?

#284

Post by latexr » Fri, Jul 13, 2018, 2:17 PM UTC

1. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, by Scott McCloud

A comic about comics, but I don’t think you have to enjoy the medium to get something out of the book. If you enjoy exploring subjects to their core, give it a shot.

2. The Sculptor, by Scott McCloud

The latest fiction graphic novel by the person who wrote a seminal book on comics. No surprise it does a lot of things right.

3. S-Town, by Brian Reed

Technically a podcast, but it was released all at once and is a contained story that lasts for seven hours. I’d say a fairer assessment would be to call it a well produced non-fiction audiobook, which is what you’d expect from the producers of Serial and This American Life. When I recommend it I always tell people to give it until the end of the second episode before deciding if they’ll stick with it.

4. Mindhunter, by John Douglas

Enjoyed the Netflix show? There’s a good chance you’ll enjoy this.

Re: Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?

#285

Post by freehunter » Fri, Jul 13, 2018, 2:25 PM UTC

txcwpalpha wrote: post #76

saryant wrote: post #42

1) Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation by Edward Chancellor Everything from the tulip craze to the dotcom boom. 2) If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look On My Face? by Alan Alda Alan Alda of MASH fame teaches you how to build more empathy and improve your communication skills. 3) Bad Blood by James Carreyou Theranos. Enough said. 4) Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in…

I can't second the recommendation of Bad Blood enough. I couldn't put it down. Every chapter I thought "surely I've reached the bottom of the rabbit hole now. It CANT get any crazier than this", but then it always did. Aside from being a really enthralling and interesting story about one of SV's darling unicorns, it was also really eye opening into the absurdity of the amount of money that gets thrown around willy-ni…

Does anyone have a recommendation on a good book around the DotCom era? I was too young and too far removed from the tech world at the time to know much about it, and I've had a hard time finding anything that could transport me back to that era. What were the offices like, what was everyone doing, what languages/tooling were they using, what was the feel? There are plenty of books I see recommended that talk about SV today but what was it like 20 years ago?

Re: Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?

#286

Post by erikbye » Fri, Jul 13, 2018, 2:30 PM UTC

Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun. A four-part science fantasy novel included in the Fantasy Masterworks series. Quote from The Guardian: "science fiction's Ulysses?"

I can also recommend J.G. Ballard. A well-known and venerated writer, but who seems under-read, especially in the U.S. I generally like his short stories and a few of his novels.

Re: Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?

#287

Post by jackstraw14 » Fri, Jul 13, 2018, 2:37 PM UTC

oldpond wrote: post #258

sadema wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you read any other mindfulness or meditation books? Waking Up wanted me to read more in that area, but I'm not sure what to pick up next.

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind is a good place to start.

Yes, pick this one up. The Mind Illuminated is also a good one.

Re: Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?

#288

Post by misiti3780 » Fri, Jul 13, 2018, 2:37 PM UTC

Here are some excellent books I have read in the past few weeks

1) How to change your mind 2) Bad Blood 3) Kitchen Confidential 4) I am a strange loop 5) The good mothers (about the ndrangheta) 6) Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

Re: Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?

#289

Post by misiti3780 » Fri, Jul 13, 2018, 2:40 PM UTC

paraschopra wrote: post #35

- The Origin of Wealth. Fantastic book on the new field of complexity / evolutionary economics - The Language Instinct. How mind creates language. - The Elephant in the Brain. I’ve posted notes here https://invertedpassion.com/notes-from-the-elephant-in-the-b... - Existential Cafe. History of existential thought. Excellent book. - 12 rules of life. Highly opiniated but well argued book on how to live life - Skin in t…

i love taleb but i thought skin in the game was the most disappointing of all of this books.

Re: Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?

#290

Post by dosy » Fri, Jul 13, 2018, 2:40 PM UTC

Why the West Still Rules - For Now, Ian Morris

Grand unified theory of history, focusing on the cyclic patterns of challenge that societies face as they push against hard ceiling of development using their existing methods, and have to innovate to break through, or spiral downward into a dark ages. Guided by an exploration of the question "Why the West has global dominance but the East does not -- for now"