Can kindle tell me when I finished books? I read a few (say 10-12) but I can't remember which ones were this year and which ones were last for the Nov-Mar time frame.
Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?
91–100 of 357 posts
Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?
#92Overall I read a mix of some sci-fi, business type books, and a little Clancy mixed in. 1. Fear - Bob Woodward (did not actually get too far before dropping it) 2. Radical Candor - Kim Malone Scott (interesting) 3. Black & Decker Complete Guide to Wiring (VERY helpful during my home renovation, did most of my electrical) 4. Pitch Perfect - Bill McGowan (helpful for communication) 5. Quantum Thief/Fractal Price/Causal…
> Three Body Problem - Ken Liu
This isn't entirely wrong, but it's written by Liu Cixin in Chinese originally. Ken Liu is the translator. I haven't read it yet, but I'm looking foward to it. Stories in "Paper Menagerie" convinced me that he could skillfully deliver different kinds of stories in different voices - and good translators need that.
Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?
#93We Are Legion (We Are Bob) was my flat-out favorite series this year. I'm positive that a lot of HN users would love it. The Punch Escrow by Tal Klein was also a favorite of this year.
Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?
#94Lots of dystopian and alternate world sci-fi (most recently read first): 1) The Handmaid’s Tale 2) Off to be the Wizard 3) The Three-Body Problem 4) Good Omens 5) We Are Legion (We Are Bob) 6) American Gods 7) Ready Player One I really enjoyed all of these, though the Neil Gaiman books are rather long-winded. Ready Player One in particular is something I’d recommend to any geek or 80s movies and music fan. I found my…
Upvoting the whole Three Body Problem trilogy -- it's an awesome sci-fi!
Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?
#95Reamde - Neal Stephenson - Really enjoyed this one, though I’m a sucker for Neal Stephenson books.
Nexus (1, 2 and 3) - Ramez Naam - Great scifi exploring human -> cyborg transformations across the world. An OS for the mind had me very excited and scared for the future of computing.
The City & the city - China Miéville - A weird sci fi based that I had no idea what to expect going into it. Enjoyed it, but not as much as some of the others.
The Righteous Mind: Why Good people are Divided by Politics and Religion - Jonathan Haidt - Great read for this current climate. Allowed me to understand those around me better and to improve relations with family members who are far over on the right side of the political spectrum better.
Robert Oppenheimer - Ray Monk - Enjoyed it, but it was quite long. Oppenheimer was an interesting person who didn’t actually make many direct contributions to the world of physics, but was extremely well read and knew everyone in the industry. And you know, lead development of the atomic bomb.
The Phoenix Project - Gene Kim - Great CI/CD book disguised as a novel, inspired me to push heavily for an improved build/release pipeline at work.
Alexander Hamilton - Ron Chernow - Yes, the book the play is based on, but it goes into such great detail of the life of an incredible person. It’s hard to fathom what the United States would become without Hamilton.
It Doesn’t have to be Crazy at work - Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson - Great, short read about why our corporate/entrepreneur culture is just crap. All this hustle, burnout, and destructive ideas are unnecessary and don’t really bring much improvements.
Hitler - Ian Kershaw - Really great biography into the rise and fall of Hitler and the third Reich. It’s horrifying for all the reasons you know, but also with how much is rhyming with the world right now.
Team of Rivals: The political genius of Abraham Lincoln - Doris Kearns Goodwin - Great biography into Lincoln and his cabinet. He was truly a unique president who was able to convert people who hated him into his biggest admirers.
Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?
#96The Obstacle is the Way (somewhat encouraging) The Art of Empathy (very interesting) The Three Body Problem (good) The Startup Way (decent) The Politics of Bitcoin (short but interesting) Why We Sleep (very much worth it) The Last Arrow (mixed feelings) The Prize (boring but informative) Superhuman by Habit (OK, not much new) The Circle of Profit (straight to the point) Thinking in Systems (couldn't finish it) Radica…
Three Body Problem is great -- consider reading the rest of the trilogy -- it gets wilder!
Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?
#97Overall I read a mix of some sci-fi, business type books, and a little Clancy mixed in. 1. Fear - Bob Woodward (did not actually get too far before dropping it) 2. Radical Candor - Kim Malone Scott (interesting) 3. Black & Decker Complete Guide to Wiring (VERY helpful during my home renovation, did most of my electrical) 4. Pitch Perfect - Bill McGowan (helpful for communication) 5. Quantum Thief/Fractal Price/Causal…
> Three Body Problem - Ken Liu This isn't entirely wrong, but it's written by Liu Cixin in Chinese originally. Ken Liu is the translator. I haven't read it yet, but I'm looking foward to it. Stories in "Paper Menagerie" convinced me that he could skillfully deliver different kinds of stories in different voices - and good translators need that.
whoops, thanks for that. I want to make sure I get that correct! I am happy to see that series on this thread a few times though, it is great!
Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?
#98This year I read "Clean Coder" by Robert Martin and "The Software Craftsman: Professionalism, Pragmatism, Pride" by Sandro Mancuso.
They were both excellent and I recommend them to any programmer who wants to improve his or her Engineering professionalism and craft. Don't be a "coder," be a professional Software Engineer. Take pride in your work, do your best work possible, and stand up to insane, unrealistic management.
Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?
#99Why Nations Fail (amazing!) Chimpanzee Politics (interesting) Corporate Confidential (paranoid, but worth a read) Developer Hegemony (red pill for developers!!!) Bargaining For Advantage (reasonable) Tempo: Timing, Tactics and Strategy in Narrative-Driven Decision Making (abstract as hell but rewarding) Thinking Fast and Slow (loved it) The Elephant In The Brain (seriously underrated) The Brain That Changes Itself (i…
Could you give more details on 'Thinking In Systems'? There are a lot of books with similar or the same title.
Re: Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?
#100Click Here to Kill Everyone by Bruce Schneier
I wish it had a better title / cover because the interior of the book basically covers how bad things are right now and how we ended up with so much cyber-insecurity in the world. I read many other books and other things in 2018 that were great, but this one is a real wakeup call to our industry.