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Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?

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Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?

#311

Post by emodendroket »

Zenbit_UX wrote: post #243
emodendroket wrote: post #220

From a few angles: * I read the Bible out of curiosity and ended up joining a church, so that's pretty consequential. * Moby Dick and Journey to the West were probably the most sheer enjoyment I got out of books * Learning C# 3.0 by Jesse Liberty is extremely dated at this point, and was dated even when I read it, but was the first book that made me "get" many basic OO concepts and taught me a language I've gotten a…

> I read the Bible out of curiosity and ended up joining a church, so that's pretty consequential. Is there a bigger story here? I'm not the type that would find reading the Bible appealing but I can say without a shadow of doubt that if I would, it would not awaken any latent desires for religion.

Not really. The New Testament grabbed me in a way I didn't anticipate.

Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?

#312

Post by matwood »

Musashi - This is the classic Samurai novel. The lessons about life and finding my path shaped me probably more than any book I've ever read.

Extreme Ownership - As I have advanced in my career, it became clear that leadership and communication are the keys to success. EO (and related books by the same author) provides so many varied benefits, but the largest for me was to detach, check my ego, and control my emotions. Thinking in this manner has literally changed every relationship I have for the better.

Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?

#313

Post by jaxOLantern »

sdfin wrote: post #208
Kaibeezy wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read Crime and Punishment last year and found it incredibly disappointing, considering its massive reputation. Simpletons, idiots, caricatures, buffoons and victims performing lots of hand-wringing, posturing, dithering, swooning and assorted drama. Hard to identify with or care about any of them. Call it entertainment, but I prefer Dickens.

I read Crime and Punishment after reading The Brothers Karamazov . I found Crime and Punishment shallow in it's story and characters when compared to The Brothers Karamazov.

Did you read "Crime and Punishment" just after "The Brothers Karamazov"? Or could you have outgrown this type of book?

Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?

#314

Post by lewiscollard »

Steven Pinker's "The Sense of Style" is a fantastic book about effective English writing. It helped codify some stuff I already did out of habit but never really knew why, and taught me plenty of new things too. Recommended for anyone whose job involves technical writing!

Alexander Watson's "Ring of Steel" is World War I seen from the perspective of the Central Powers. OK, it didn't really help me personally or professionally, so I'm not sure it counts. But it was definitely a huge perspective-changer, and so beautifully written too.

Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?

#315

Post by Intermernet »

emodendroket wrote: post #309
Intermernet wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've read 3 different versions of the bible and it converted me from an agnostic to an atheist. I think GP may have been predisposed to religion (or at least to the social aspects of joining a church) as the bible, as interesting as it is, is only as interesting as any other selected and vetted collection of philosophy and story telling. Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism and Islam also have very interesting texts worth rea…

To be fair, few people actually read it in the first place (one big way in which my experience of church was not what I imagined)

Which is actually a pity. The bible is at least as full of pithy quotes and genuinely helpful, thoughtful points to consider as the usual self help books. It's definitely worth a read, but so is a lot of Greek philosophy, poetry, other religious texts and a bunch more. Hence the original question that spawned this whole thread! There is original, thought provoking content being written all the time. This HN post has already given me a few recommendations for finding it, both in fiction and non-fiction.

Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?

#317

Post by emodendroket »

Intermernet wrote: post #315
emodendroket wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, few people actually read it in the first place (one big way in which my experience of church was not what I imagined)

Which is actually a pity. The bible is at least as full of pithy quotes and genuinely helpful, thoughtful points to consider as the usual self help books. It's definitely worth a read, but so is a lot of Greek philosophy, poetry, other religious texts and a bunch more. Hence the original question that spawned this whole thread! There is original, thought provoking content being written all the time. This HN post has…

There are factors working against it, like the length, the popularity of the KJV with its archaic language, long sections of somewhat boring genealogies or religious laws, and so on. But I'd always chuckle at Bart Ehrman's observation that it was very strange how many students he had who said they believed the Bible was the literal, inerrant word of God yet hadn't ever read it -- after all, "wouldn't you want to know what he had to say?"

Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?

#318

Post by tudorw »

kaiwen1 wrote: post #198
w1ntermute wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Re: Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, this critique of the book is worth a read: https://guzey.com/books/why-we-sleep/

What a great critique. I'd like to see a similar treatment of Jason Hickel's "The Divide", which feels both terribly important and very biased and sloppy.

Agreed, I would pay something for a feed of critiques like this, would save me time dodging poorly constructed literature, I like books, they are like the internet but usually a little more refined.

Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?

#319

Post by Intermernet »

emodendroket wrote: post #317
Intermernet wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is actually a pity. The bible is at least as full of pithy quotes and genuinely helpful, thoughtful points to consider as the usual self help books. It's definitely worth a read, but so is a lot of Greek philosophy, poetry, other religious texts and a bunch more. Hence the original question that spawned this whole thread! There is original, thought provoking content being written all the time. This HN post has…

There are factors working against it, like the length, the popularity of the KJV with its archaic language, long sections of somewhat boring genealogies or religious laws, and so on. But I'd always chuckle at Bart Ehrman's observation that it was very strange how many students he had who said they believed the Bible was the literal, inerrant word of God yet hadn't ever read it -- after all, "wouldn't you want to know…

I wonder what the absolute number of living people who have actually read the bible is compared to the number of people who have read Joyce, Tolkien, Tolstoy, even George R R Martin!

There are many texts that are long and arduous, yet they are sometimes worth the effort to read! In many instances the rewards are seemingly unsubstantial but they all provide something that can shape subsequent thoughts in many ways. I suppose it's a matter of priority and interest. Ah well, vive la différence!

Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?

#320

Post by cluboholic »

zwilliamson wrote: post #261

The Three-Body Problem series by Chixin Liu * The Three-Body Problem * The Dark Forest * Death's End Expanded my perception of life, death, love, time and our potential purpose, via some very well written fiction (space opera style). Chixin Liu nailed it!

Went through the whole trilogy this year and it was one of the best book experiences i ever had.

I am now reading Revelation Space.

Do you have any book suggestions like the Three Body Problem? What I liked about it was the attention to detail to science and the fact that it was recently written meaning most of the scientific facts stated in the book are not outdated or disproved.

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