Ask HN: What Are You Reading?

The first is A History of the World in 12 Maps by Jerry Brotton. The main idea of the book is somewhat like a visual variant of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: that our maps shape our perception of the world and, in turn, our place in it. I actually tried going into this book with a skeptical mind. I first took on the premise that you can't say much about world history by just looking at maps; maybe the crudeness of various Mappaemundi make them unsuitable for educated speculation. I am pleased to say that, by the end of the book, my premise has been completely obliterated.

HN Readers might find the final chapter particularly interesting. It reads on Google Maps and demonstrates that even today in an age of satellite imagery, a map can't claim complete objectivity.

(I'd like to note that in a couple of instances, Brotton gets some technical details wrong. There is an especially glaring one in the Google Maps chapter the hunt for which is left as an exercise to the reader. It does not really affect his main arguments and I really enjoyed the book despite these errors that bite at my attention to detail.)

The next one is Library: An Unquiet History by Matthew Battles. This is lighter in content than 12 Maps and deals mostly with obscure figures (in world history) and yet has emerged influential to the modern-day library. The big thing that piqued my interest in this book is the part about Nazi Germany. I know, I know, any discussion can be maneuvered towards Hitler and especially one about censorship. But Battles shows how libraries are, more than anything, social institutions; how even in a bleak time and place such as Nazi-occupied Europe, make-do libraries can support a community.

He also touches on the other side of the coin. We are used to thinking of libraries as benevolent institutions of knowledge but we rarely think of them as ideological apparatuses to curtail knowledge. Highly recommended even for non-bibliophiles. At least, enjoy entertaining stories behind libraries even if you don't get a grand takeaway lesson from it all.

(Edited for formatting.)

Paideia: The Ideals of Greek Culture, vol 1-3, by Werner Jaeger

Diary by Witold Gombrowicz

Computer Science: An Interdisciplinary Approach by Sedgewick

2666 by Roberto Bolaño

The Linux Programming Interface by Michael Kerrisk

Tomie: No Use Escaping by Junji Ito

L’homme aux cercles by Fred Vargas

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

Lab Girl by Hope Jahren

Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces by Arpaci-Dusseau

I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong.

The Weird by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer

The Federalist Papers, ed. by Kesler

The Anti-Federalist Papers, ed. by Ketcham

Doctor Faustus by Thomas Mann, new translation by John Woods

Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine by Alan Lightman

Loren Eiseley in the Library of America Edition

Tu rostro mañana by Javier Marías

The Complete Essays by Michel De Montaigne, translation by Screech

Earning The Rockies by Kaplan

Desperate Remedies by Thomas Hardy

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert

Nature Stories by Jules Renard

Mac y su contratiempo by Enrique Vila-Matas

Olinger Stories by John Updike

Greek Science in Antiquity by Marshall Clagett

At The Existentialist Cafe by Sarah Bakewell

100 Diagrams That Changed The World by Scott Christianson

Heart of Europe: A History of the Holy Roman Empire by Peter Wilson

Alec "The Years Have Pants" by Eddie Campbell

Landmarks by Robert Macfarlane