Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?

#81

Post by Pandabob » Mon, Dec 16, 2019, 2:16 PM UTC

My plan is to read about the french revolution and as such I was thinking about reading the books recommended by Five Books[1]:

1. Ancien Regime and the Revolution by Alexis de Tocqueville

2. Interpreting the French Revolution by François Furet

3. Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution by Simon Schama

4. Twelve Who Ruled: The Year of the Terror in the French Revolution by R. R. Palmer

5. New Regime: Transformations of the French Civic Order, 1789-1820s by Woloch Isser

Just ordered the first one!

[1]: https://fivebooks.com/best-books/french-revolution-lynn-hunt...

Re: Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?

#82

Post by ewhizrd » Mon, Dec 16, 2019, 2:16 PM UTC

psv1 wrote: post #60

bemmu wrote: post #43

To start the year off, my casual just-before-sleep reading will be "Ender's Shadow", which is a story that isn't a prequel or a sequel to "Ender's Game", but a story parallel to it. "What We Cannot Know", which is an exploration of all the topics that we might never be able to know, such as how to predict the weather, is the universe infinite etc. "Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder", because it's dauntingly…

> "Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder", because it's dauntingly long and I'm feeling masochistic. The length on its own isn't that big of a problem. But if you want a simple idea which can be explained thoroughly in a couple of pages to be stretched out for hundreds pages in the most unbearably condescending and arrogant tone that you can imagine... then Antifragile will fit in great with your masochistic in…

True that it's a simple idea. But the length of the book is worth it for the breadth it covers(economics, health, politics, etc), the implications of the idea would be otherwise hard to explore by self.

Re: Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?

#83

Post by jlavine » Mon, Dec 16, 2019, 2:17 PM UTC

klohto wrote: post #19

I’d like to finally read something by Jason Fung. I have been trying fasting on and off for about 6 months and I can see results, but I have not bothered to check the theory behind it at all. If anybody would like to recommend some books on nutrition, body aging and general health regarding food, bring it!

Jason Fung explains his theory of type 2 diabetes / metabolic disorder, and how it is addressed by fasting, in detail in episode #59 of Peter Attia's "The Drive" podcast [1].

The review of Fung's "The Obesity Code" on Red Pen Reviews [2] details some serious flaws in the scientific claims in the book related to calories, insulin, and fasting, and their relation to obesity and fat loss.

Relating to nutrition/health/longevity, they aren't books, but I've found the podcasts, blogs, YouTube videos, and even tweets by Rhonda Patrick (FoundMyFitness), Peter Attia (The Drive), Stephan Guyenet, and Chris Masterjohn quite enlightening.

[1] https://peterattiamd.com/jasonfung/ [2] https://www.redpenreviews.org/reviews/the-obesity-code-unloc...

Re: Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?

#84

Post by ronyfadel » Mon, Dec 16, 2019, 2:18 PM UTC

douglaswlance wrote: post #73

My top priority books: Software Requirements - Karl Wiegers Programming TypeScript - Boris Cherny Associate Cloud Engineer Study - Dan Sullivan Design Patterns - Gang of Four Refactoring - Kent Beck, Martin Fowler Programming Pearls - Jon Bentley Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture - Martin Fowler The Pragmatic Programmer - David Thomas, Andrew Hunt CSS: The Definitive Guide - Eric A. Meyer, Estelle Weyl…

Sounds like you’re diving head first into web development? Or taking it to the next level?

Careful not to burn yourself out, that is a long list of technical books, that have nothing to do with the books you’ve read and enjoyed in the past that are from other genres.

Re: Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?

#85

Post by chance_state » Mon, Dec 16, 2019, 2:20 PM UTC

Pandabob wrote: post #81

My plan is to read about the french revolution and as such I was thinking about reading the books recommended by Five Books[1]: 1. Ancien Regime and the Revolution by Alexis de Tocqueville 2. Interpreting the French Revolution by François Furet 3. Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution by Simon Schama 4. Twelve Who Ruled: The Year of the Terror in the French Revolution by R. R. Palmer 5. New Regime: Transform…

That's a great list. What made you interested in the subject?

Re: Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?

#86

Post by 0kl » Mon, Dec 16, 2019, 2:22 PM UTC

criddell wrote: post #70

0kl wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Re Aurelius: preview a couple different translations if you can - I have found there to be significant differences. If you have the time/inclination and haven’t already I’d also suggest reading Epictetus and Seneca first. NB: My favorite of all the available Aurelius translations so far is Martin Hammond (Penguin Classics)

Is Hammond's your favorite because it's the best read or because it's the most faithful to the source material?

Best read for me - most powerful and readable imo. I’m sure there is a better academic/true-to-source read. I’ve read about 4 different translations and Hammond always stick with me - possibly because I read it first.

Thank you - in the future I will clarify.

Re: Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?

#87

Post by ewhizrd » Mon, Dec 16, 2019, 2:22 PM UTC

Economics in One Lesson - Henry Hazlitt Black Swan - Nassim Nicholas Taleb The Bitcoin Standard - Saifedean Ammous Freedom from the known - Jiddu Krishnamurti

Re: Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?

#88

Post by tonyedgecombe » Mon, Dec 16, 2019, 2:23 PM UTC

The Wizard and the Prophet by Charles Mann, it covers two different approaches to the environmental problems we face. Whether we can use technology to extract ourselves from these problems or restraint and a simpler life.

After that I'll probably read Walden again.

Re: Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?

#89

Post by pgeezy » Mon, Dec 16, 2019, 2:23 PM UTC

kidintech wrote: post #23

My compiled list for 2020, as suggested by friends I respect and HN: General ==== - Master & Margarita (w reader's guide) - Why we sleep - The righteous mind: why good people are divided by politics and religion - The wisdom of insecurity - The denial of death - The three body problem (friend's advice: slow burn, stick with it) - The dubliners - The devils (Dostoyevski) - The name of the rose - Enten-Oller (Kierkegaa…

Each of the books in the three body trilogy started a bit slow for me, but the payoff was worth it. Opens up into a pageturner about 1/3 of the way in.

Re: Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?

#90

Post by john-radio » Mon, Dec 16, 2019, 2:24 PM UTC

"And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie

"The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula Le Guin

"This Is How You Lose The Time War" by Amal El-Mohtar

"Priestdaddy" by Patricia Lockwood

"Black Leopard, Red Wolf" by Marlon James

"Consider Phlebas," and maybe the rest of The Culture series of novels, by Iain Banks