Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade? • Hacker News Board

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

#371

Post by sr3d » Mon, Dec 30, 2019, 4:58 AM UTC

croo wrote: post #292

akavel wrote: post #50

Not sure if decade, as I don't have good memory for such stuff (sorry!), but certainly at least for last year, the following book that had a really huge impact on me: Gai-Jin by James Clavell It showed me how different cultures can have very different "codes", how they can see others as "barbarians" purely based on that; more specifically, helped me look more critically on (part of) European culture and history throu…

Shogun by James Clavell is another great book with the same side effect.

I read Shogun and Tai-Pan as recommendations from my dad and I thoroughly enjoyed both.

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

#372

Post by cdr6934 » Mon, Dec 30, 2019, 6:17 AM UTC

Here are my favorites for the decade:

Never Split the Difference - https://amzn.to/2sAfLGj

Bad Blood - https://amzn.to/2F4IW71

The Alchemist - https://amzn.to/356NRyV

The Hard Thing About Hard Things - https://amzn.to/39mLs6t

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

#373

Post by thunga » Mon, Dec 30, 2019, 6:26 AM UTC

thunga wrote: post #177

Decision Making : Decisive Management & Leadership : High Output Management, Presence Based Leadership, Leaders Guide to Story Telling & Dare to Lead

Personal Development : Power of Full Engagement

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

#374

Post by laurentl » Mon, Dec 30, 2019, 7:09 AM UTC

mke wrote: post #146

ronyfadel wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m finishing the Four Hour Work Week.. this book just reads like a “get rich quick”/scammy collection of snippets. It’s conflicting at times (“money isn’t the end-all be-all” v/s “how I made 10k$ a month sipping piña coladas”). The only useful takeaway was not to waste your life 1) wasting time and 2) working, which is fair.. but the message is wrapped with so much ego I ended just being annoyed through most of the…

The title and intro is unabashedly “get rich quick” fodder. But hidden inside, one can find practical applications of Pareto principles to work and life choices, in ways that made me question how I approach everything . Better books have followed in this zeitgeist. This one found me first.

> Better books have followed in this zeitgeist

Any suggestions?

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

#375

Post by cordaciu » Mon, Dec 30, 2019, 9:04 AM UTC

1.The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

2.Looking for Alaska

3.Blindness

4.Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival

5.The Martian

6.Never Let Me Go

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

#376

Post by _conquistador » Mon, Dec 30, 2019, 9:39 AM UTC

theatraine wrote: post #260

Some great books have already been mentioned but those which were the most personally influential which haven't yet been mentioned: - Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger - Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance - Bad Blood by John Carreyrou - Kochland by Christopher Leonard - Masters of Doom by David Kushner I read a lot of "business consultant" books and began to be annoyed with them since many…

I've read all of these except Kochland (just ordered it now) and complete agree. You have great taste! Check out American Kingpin by Nick Bilton for a read somewhat similar to Bad Blood.

Do you have any other recommendations?

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

#377

Post by supersrdjan » Mon, Dec 30, 2019, 9:49 AM UTC

palerdot wrote: post #281

loosetypes wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Completely agree for the Count of Monte Cristo, but wanted to add that I had a similar experience more recently with Shogun (James Clavell) which I found equally inescapably immersive.

Thanks for the suggestion. Adding 'Shogun' to my reading list

If you are adding Shogun then surely you also must add Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa. A sprawling epic loosely based on history, with real historical people as characters

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

#378

Post by unknown_apostle » Mon, Dec 30, 2019, 10:55 AM UTC

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…

Quite amazing, happy to hear you have found Jesus! Did you read the Bible without any help? It's such a complex set of texts, all from very different ages, from very different people. Couldn't imagine myself getting the most out of it without help.

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

#379

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Dec 30, 2019, 11:24 AM UTC

loosetypes wrote: post #255

palerdot wrote: post #227

The Count of Monte Cristo - This is one breathtaking epic. I have been putting off reading this novel for quite some time and occasionally see this name popping up in HN too, but never gave a serious thought for giving it a go. Was I wrong! This is an epic in its true sense, and you will feel a sense of amazement as you progress through the novel. I'm quite a reader, and I have not experienced such amazement when rea…

Completely agree for the Count of Monte Cristo, but wanted to add that I had a similar experience more recently with Shogun (James Clavell) which I found equally inescapably immersive.

[deleted]

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

#380

Post by elproxy » Mon, Dec 30, 2019, 12:18 PM UTC

I feel Oil, Power and War by Matthieu Auzanneau would deserve more publicity. (Edit: italicized)