Ask HN: What Are You Reading?

Bartleby y compañía by Enrique Vila-Matas, on why writers give up or why they may be reluctant to write. It’s a mixture of fiction and biography, hard to tell which but fun searching for authors who may not exist.

Las Constelaciones Oscuras by Pola Oloixarac. I think many in HN would like her work, this novel in particular.

El Ejército Iluminado by David Toscana.

Primavera con una esquina rota by Mario Benedetti

La Casa Verde by Mario Varga Llosa

Mythos by Stephen Fry - an irreverent take on Greek mythology which is fun and entertaining.

Recommend. Addict turned neuroscientist who doesn't hold back, so a good mix of gritty details—

> After I got sober, it took me a little over a year to go a single day without wishing for a drink, but it was more than nine years before my craving to get high abated.

—and science.

Before that: "Educated: A Memoir" (Tara Westover)

Recommend. A good break from typical non-fiction books: easy to read, sometimes thrilling, and emotional.

Before that: "The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America" (Margaret Pugh O'Mara)

Don't recommend. I really wanted to like this book, and I believe some of the themes are important and aren't often discussed. E.g., the support the Valley received from politicians, the lobby groups, the size of military spending back in the day…

It's possible my expectations were in the wrong place—I wanted to be inspired like with "The Idea Factory" (Jon Gertner), "The Soul of a New Machine" (Tracy Kidder), "Dealers of Lightning" (Michael A Hiltzik), etc.