Yes, if you care primarily about skimming the surface of things, collecting ideas you can bring up in conversation and being "up to date," books are totally overrated. Content aggregators fill that role much better. But if you actually want to get back into reading as a hobby I would recommend starting with some easy-to-read fiction.
Ask HN: Are books worth it?
331–340 of 407 posts
Re: Ask HN: Are books worth it?
#332Most of the comments offer broad strokes of advice. I'll offer some here with examples but a huge caveat is that I don't usually read full books so take my advice with a pinch of salt. :/ Type I books: Recipes refer to books that teach you "how". They are often must-reads in the topic. Example: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34689843-disciplined-ent... and https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18652777-disciplined…
May I suggest "How to Read a Book"? https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18600043-how-to-read-a-b...
Then you come out with the Greatest Books of the Western Civilization and you have enough reading for a lifetime and more.
Re: Ask HN: Are books worth it?
#333Books are wonderful. There's value in online articles and conversations, but you are likely depriving yourself of a few layers of nuance and enjoyment. No time to start like the present.
Step one: get a library card, and then download the app they provide to access books on your tablets and phone. Then power move find the option to look for "Skip the Line" or equivalent to get a list of books other people are waiting months to read in a queue. Thank me later.
Step two: start listening to audiobooks. You'll start at 1x speed and then gradually move up to 2x, depending on the type of book you're listening to and whether the narrator has an accent. I get through a book every two days by listening during my morning prep, when I'm walking or biking. You will find yourself slowing down to finish chapters in no time. Audiobooks are incredible. There are haters; they are wrong.
I recommend switching up between fiction and non-fiction, otherwise I get exhausted. I like business books (Shoedog by Phil Knight, or The Hard Thing About Hard Things) and books about behavioural psychology; Thinking, Fast and Slow is excellent, so is anything by Malcolm Gladwell. Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker, Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari are both great. Authors like Dan Ariely and the Steves that wrote Freakonomics.
Lots of audiobooks are pleasurable in a special way because they are read by the author. For example, literally every book by David Sedaris is best enjoyed when read by David Sedaris. This is also true of good biographies; Failure Is An Option by H. Jon Benjamin will get you kicked out of a restaurant because you'll be laughing so hard.
Fiction is a really personal realm, but I prefer sci-fi and some fantasy. I read Cryptonomicon in my early 20s and loved it, but listening to it in my early 40s was a transcendant joy. Don't be scared by the runtime - you won't want it to end. Other authors I happen to enjoy very much include David Mitchell (Thousand Autumns or Bone Clocks FTW), Cory Doctorow (Makers, Walkaway), Blake Crouch (Recursion), Daniel Suarez (Influx, Delta-V, Daemon), Robin Sloan (Sourdough, Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore).
Just to wrap up and repeat what has no doubt been said elsewhere in the thread, fiction in particular is the gateway to empathy and imagination. Reading is a muscle; it gets easier and then it gets addictive. There's a reason people keep doing it, unlike yoga. ;)
Re: Ask HN: Are books worth it?
#334> I have thousands of non-fiction (mostly self-improvement) books in my reading list “An honest bookstore would post the following sign above its ‘self-help’ section: ‘For true self-help, please visit our philosophy, literature, history and science sections, find yourself a good book, read it, and think about it.’” — Roger Ebert ( https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/larger-than-life-1996 )
Can you (or someone else) recommend me some great books about philosophy, history and science? I feel like I haven't read many books from these sections and I'd like to start doing that. Thank you!
Yes!
Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
Astrophysics For People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson
bonus round:
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Shoedog by Phil Knight
The Death of Truth by Michiko Kakutani
Re: Ask HN: Are books worth it?
#335Earlier quoted context omitted.
The big time advantage audiobooks have over the printed word is that can listen while doing something visual but relatively mindless (e.g., driving, cleaning, yard work, etc.).
Honestly the more I read I find this attitude to be exactly the opposite of how I feel. When I'm trying to read a book, I need to be immersed in it. I don't want it to be a mindless distraction, because I am putting 100% of my focus into driving, or cleaning, or yard work. Driving perhaps is the one that gets me the most, I can't appreciate fiction at all while driving because I have to keep my imagination in check s…
I had to stop trying to listen to a couple books last year because they were too immersive to be safe driving accompaniments. I specifically seek out mediocre books to make driving bearable (my commute would drive me insane otherwise)
Re: Ask HN: Are books worth it?
#336Online content is often low-quality, highly commercial in nature and very ephemeral. Books, the real kind, when they are good can stay with you for a very long time. A well-written story, be it fiction or non-fiction can have a long lastig impact and even an emotional connection that I have personally never experienced with anything 'online'. If you don't read books, you are missing out. Even only 1 or 2 books a year…
I would like to add something: Some books are written to get sold too. Some books in self-help and business fall into this category, most of them lose money, but a few make it out. Sometimes publishers publish trash when they know it, just because it's a book doesn't mean it's a good one.
Almost all books are written to be sold. Especially the ones that are for sale. Regarding books as somehow less commercial is an odd critique.
Also, what's wrong with being commercial? We all have to work for a living, right? Just because something is sold doesn't mean it's making the world a worse place.
Re: Ask HN: Are books worth it?
#337Yes. Find the top 10 most popular books by century read those. Never read anything where the author is still alive.
At the very least read Ben Franklins autobiography.
Re: Ask HN: Are books worth it?
#338Earlier quoted context omitted.
Look I'm not shitting on high culture. And yes, there's a lot of snake oil out there. (Personally I hate the medallions that are supposed to protect against stray EM! And don't get me started on audiophiles.) > The rest (99% of the self help shelves) is snake oil sold by marketeers to the gullible... You haven't read "99% of the self help shelves" have you?
> You haven't read "99% of the self help shelves" have you? No, but I've fully read over 30 over the years, and skimmed over 100s. Technically speaking, you don't need to "read 99%" you just need to read a decent number, and assume a normal distribution of quality. In fact if you find out that the most celebrated/succesful are already crap, this makes it even easier. And unlike literature, science, or deep non-fictio…
Cheers! Well met.
Here's the thing: those cheesy books of fluffy platitudes help people.
Take Berg's "The Secret". Its exactly the kind of book you're talking about IMO: the "secret" is literally one sentence just sixteen words long. And yet thousands (millions?) of people got something from it.
Who are we to say that's so wrong?
Frankly, it's weird to me that the "self-help" genre seems to attract opprobrium.
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Did you get anything out of any of those books you read? Were any of them any good? I'm just curious.
Re: Ask HN: Are books worth it?
#339Online content is often low-quality, highly commercial in nature and very ephemeral. Books, the real kind, when they are good can stay with you for a very long time. A well-written story, be it fiction or non-fiction can have a long lastig impact and even an emotional connection that I have personally never experienced with anything 'online'. If you don't read books, you are missing out. Even only 1 or 2 books a year…
To elaborate on what @oneplane said, and in response to OP: > I spend most of my day reading online articles/conversations, watching videos, and listening to podcasts [...] I assume that the best part of the best books will surface in daily conversations, YouTube videos, CliffsNotes, podcasts, Reddit posts/comments, blog articles, etc. I even find myself reading the comments and not reading the article most of the ti…
You are comparing average (or worse) internet content to the best books out there. That's basically a straw man argument. The question "Are any books worth it?" is an obvious "yes" and not worth discussion.
I submit that you can find good blogs, podcasts, etc., and find out what their creators are inspired by and consume that content.
I also contend that the whole thing is a false dichotomy. There's no particular reason to just read books or just listen to podcasts. Do both, obviously. Sort by more interesting criteria than the delivery medium.
Re: Ask HN: Are books worth it?
#340I'm almost 50. The last fiction book I read was Frankenstein in 1995. I haven't read a fiction book since then because it feels like a waste of time for me, personally. I do read comic books and watch movies. I have however read a few non-fictional books from Michael Lewis, like Moneyball, Blind Side, Big Short, etc. Less than 5, though. I've read parts of hundreds of computer books for work and for education. Do wha…
So, it's been more than half of your sentient life since you tried reading a book that was written 200 years ago... and you're prepared to write off all of fiction as a waste of time? I am begging you to see if perhaps you might have a better experience today with a more contemporary book that frankly isn't kind of dull.
I urge you to try audiobooks. There still exists a stigma that it's not "real" reading, but that is like discussion of "real" men - absurd. Audiobooks are a joy.
My personal favourite is Cryptonomicon by Neil Stephenson, but heck, Ready Player One, Recursion, Delta-V, Walkaway by Cory Doctorow... just give it a shot.