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Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?

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131–140 of 335 posts

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

#131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Long story short, I am an entrepreneur who sold a company and am transitioning into maximizing my engineering knowledge before diving back into entrepreneurship. I've spent a considerable amount of time studying top performers and learned how to manage stress levels effectively. I do exercise, meditation, yoga, stretching, forest bathing, mindfulness, journaling, and other activities that battle against burnout. I am…

You sound like a Tim. Are you a Tim?

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

#132

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…

>Principles - Ray Dalio

I'm confused by the praise for this book. I couldn't finish it. No real insight or anything technical, just fluff (Dreams + Reality + Determination = Success!).

I'm with Josh Wolfe [1]; I think Bridgewater is going to be exposed as one of the random, large hedge funds that got lucky for a spell, but is not any better than an index fund, ex-fees.

https://twitter.com/wolfejosh/status/1082470723233476608

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

#133

I hilariously overestimate the number of books I can get through when I make these lists, but my current list for 2020 is as follows: Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution Book of Proof Designing Data-Intensive Applications: The Big Ideas Behind Reliable, Scalable, and Maintainable Systems Seeing Like a State: How Certa…

The description of Caro's books as "Harry Potter for adults" is accurate. Highly accessible, no preparation necessary

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

#134

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.

First two thirds are engaging, though he over simplifies rather too much to fit everything neatly into the either-or, but I learnt of much I did not know. Despite his efforts over preceding pages to remain neutral, the later parts become infuriating. He can't help guiding you to Borlaugianism (wizard's tech as adversary to nature) as the preferred correct solution. I felt rather let down in the end and wonder about how balanced the preceding actually was.

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

#136
post #126

Leisure Stuff: Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga Of Oklahoma City, It's Chaotic Founding... by Sam Anderson Midnight In Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham Dune by Frank Herbert The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu (tried it this year and stopped, want to give it another go) Stories of Your Life and Others - Ted Chiang (just finished Exhalation and I think it's great) An Ursula K. Le Guin novel, have not picked one out yet A…

If you haven’t read it already, I highly suggest Sam Smith’s “The Jordan Rules”. It’s really fascinating to see the tension that’s present behind-the-scenes even on a team that is super successful on the court.

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

#137
post #126

Leisure Stuff: Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga Of Oklahoma City, It's Chaotic Founding... by Sam Anderson Midnight In Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham Dune by Frank Herbert The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu (tried it this year and stopped, want to give it another go) Stories of Your Life and Others - Ted Chiang (just finished Exhalation and I think it's great) An Ursula K. Le Guin novel, have not picked one out yet A…

For Ursula, I would strongly suggest Left Hand of Darkness. Try to read it without looking into it too much.

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

#138
post #75

I'm hoping to tackle this list in 2020, I've been wanting to read Caro's LBJ series for a while now. ===== Robert Caro - Lyndon B. Johnson series & The Power Broker S.C Gwynne - Empire of the Summer Moon Nassim Nicholas Taleb - Black Swan & Antifragile Graham Hancock - America Before Jared Diamond - Guns, Germs and Steel Safi Bahcall - Loonshots

Start with Guns, Germs and Steel ;)

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

#139

The Dune movie isn't due until December 2020, but I figured I'd get started with Dune the book, which has been sitting on my bookshelf for a while. Maybe if I enjoy it I will get my hands on the rest of the Dune series.

The first book is great but the sequels are awful. So yeah

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

#140
post #74

The Body - Bill Bryson Seven Brief Lessons on Physics - Rovelli, Carlo Thinking, Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment - Robert Wright Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind - Yuval Noah Harari

Can highly recommend Thinking, Fast and Slow and Why Buddhism is True (listened to both as audio books).

I have not read the others, but the 5+ books I read by Bill Bryson have been awesome, putting The Body on my year's list - thanks ;)

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