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Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?

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Re: Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?

#21
Favorites read in 2018:

Dreaming in Code by Scott Rosenberg. This book is, so far, the closest I've come to finding a "spiritual successor" to The Soul of a New Machine by Kidder. If you liked The Soul of a New Machine, or if you like watching Halt and Catch Fire, you may well like Dreaming in Code.

Inspired by Marty Cagan. Really solid overview of the essentials of product management.

The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect by Judea Pearl. Judea Pearl is, of course, a giant in the worlds of statistics and AI, and this book distills his work on "causal inference" and lays it all out in a pretty accessible manner. Not a textbook per-se, but not completely non-technical either. Read this if you're interested in how statistical analysis can be used to truly establish cause/effect relationships.

Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal by Ayn Rand. Do you think you hate Capitalism? Do you not understand why so many people love Capitalism? Have you based your opinion of Ayn Rand on second-hand commentary instead of actually reading her works? Then read this book.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?

#22
Tim Harford’s “Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure”¹, an enthralling collection of tales from really diverse projects. I’ll freely admit to only picking it up because I recognised the name from the More or Less² podcast, but it was well worth the read.

1. http://timharford.com/books/adapt/ 2. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qshd

Re: Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?

#28
* Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker

* Masters of Doom, by David Kushner

* What Doesn't Kill Us, by Scott Carney

* Bad Blood, by John Carreyrou

* The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondō

* How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, by Scott Adams

Re: Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?

#29

Favorites read in 2018: Dreaming in Code by Scott Rosenberg. This book is, so far, the closest I've come to finding a "spiritual successor" to The Soul of a New Machine by Kidder. If you liked The Soul of a New Machine , or if you like watching Halt and Catch Fire, you may well like Dreaming in Code . Inspired by Marty Cagan. Really solid overview of the essentials of product management. The Book of Why: The New Scie…

I read a chunk of “Capitalism” on my train commute, and it was really interesting how often a fellow passenger felt the need to start a discussion. I’m not sure if this is a warning or a recommendation… I’m going with recommendation.

[FWIW, UK’s KGX-CBG line.]

Re: Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?

#30

12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson.

> ruthlessly downvoted for ideological reasons I think it's just people here being a bit unclear about whether 12RFL qualifies for the non-fiction part. I mean, to me it's clear that it does, but with Peterson also being the author of "Maps of Meaning", mixups are inevitable.

/s? ;-)
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