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YC’s 2018 Summer Reading List
11–20 of 101 posts
Re: YC’s 2018 Summer Reading List
#12“This is water” has to be one of my favorite short essays/speeches of all time. If you haven’t read it/seen it before so yourself a favor and go through it, it doesn’t take very long. Seriously wish I could get these ideas into everyone’s head.
That was excellent, thank you for the recommendation.
To save others a trip to the search engine: http://www.metastatic.org/text/This%20is%20Water.pdf
Re: YC’s 2018 Summer Reading List
#13Happy to see some great books recommended there. Specifically, let me call out: The Three Body problem. The Lathe of Heaven. And while I haven't read Parable of the Sower yet, everything I've read of Octavia Butler has ranged from really good to some of my favorite books ever, so I'm sure it's a good one. One anti-recommendation (kind of): I recently read Finite and Infinite Games, after many (many) recommendations f…
The three body problem:
I found this book fascinating how the cultural revolution was weaved in to the story. It really highlighted my ignorance of recent Chinese history, and many times found myself turning to Wikipedia to learn more of the specific events mentioned. The English translation also includes several lengthy footnotes and see-also's when historical characters or events are mentioned, as I'm sure many western readers are less familiar with the details of the events and historical characters.
Without giving away anything, I also found the Egyptian scene truly awesome.
Re: YC’s 2018 Summer Reading List
#14To offer some alternatives here are three books which I believe are relevant given these challenging times:
* Enlightenment Now (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35696171-enlightenment-n...): Offers a defense that our current institutions have delivered the goods and should be defended. The left doesn't need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. We should continue improving the system we've got -- especially urgent today as they're under seige.
* Your Money or Your Life (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/78428.Your_Money_or_Your...): Philosophy masquerading as personal finance. Challenges the reader to ask "What is enough?" and honestly evaluate whether they are living an integrated life that is consistent with their values. Lays out one way to help answer these questions and course correct as necessary.
* Stand Up! (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35989237-stand-up): A hand book and call to action to answer the "knock at the door" and step up to address "a world on fire". Especially useful for those interested in or actively leading volunteers.
If, like me, you're upset about the current state of affairs and unsure where to go from here I recommend the above as a small tonic and, hopefully, stepping stone.
Re: YC’s 2018 Summer Reading List
#15“This is water” has to be one of my favorite short essays/speeches of all time. If you haven’t read it/seen it before so yourself a favor and go through it, it doesn’t take very long. Seriously wish I could get these ideas into everyone’s head.
I'm really glad you took the time to highlight this speech as worth my time. It's short enough to be a "quick" read and deep enough that I'll be chewing on the message for some time.
Re: YC’s 2018 Summer Reading List
#16I saw someone mention it in a HN comment before, but I'd like to restate it here since it is definitely one of those perspective-altering books: "Why We Sleep" by Matthew Walker. The author is a professor and prolific researcher of the effects of sleep on the human body, and goes into nearly every nook and cranny of what sleep does for the human body. He has scared me off of my usual practice of sleeping 6 hours or l…
Walker also covered many of the ideas in the book on Joe Rogan's podcast - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwaWilO_Pig
Re: YC’s 2018 Summer Reading List
#17“This is water” has to be one of my favorite short essays/speeches of all time. If you haven’t read it/seen it before so yourself a favor and go through it, it doesn’t take very long. Seriously wish I could get these ideas into everyone’s head.
Not everyone is ready for a philosophical smack in the head. I'm glad it was preserved beyond the commencement speech, because I can't imagine sitting there listening to this on graduation day and taking much away from it besides "don't forget to think." This is the kind of stuff that you have to find at the right time in your life.
Re: YC’s 2018 Summer Reading List
#18Happy to see some great books recommended there. Specifically, let me call out: The Three Body problem. The Lathe of Heaven. And while I haven't read Parable of the Sower yet, everything I've read of Octavia Butler has ranged from really good to some of my favorite books ever, so I'm sure it's a good one. One anti-recommendation (kind of): I recently read Finite and Infinite Games, after many (many) recommendations f…
I loved Octavia Butler's Kindred. More than the science fiction, its cultural importance cannot be emphasized enough.
Agree.
But question - when you say cultural importance, do you mean in terms of what it talks about? Or was the book itself important culturally? (I'm not sure how well-known the book itself was, I've always gotten the impression that Octavia Butler is a less-known SF author).
Re: YC’s 2018 Summer Reading List
#19“This is water” has to be one of my favorite short essays/speeches of all time. If you haven’t read it/seen it before so yourself a favor and go through it, it doesn’t take very long. Seriously wish I could get these ideas into everyone’s head.
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Re: YC’s 2018 Summer Reading List
#20Looks like a missing word in this blurb.
“Science have already proven we can grow all kinds of animal protein in labs. This book is the founding story of a revolution that will how we eat and the planet forever.” – Gustaf Alstromer
I believe it should be This book is the founding story of a revolution that will change how we eat and the planet forever.”