Ask YC (and PG): What books do you have on your bookshelf? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask YC (and PG): What books do you have on your bookshelf?

#11

Post by bokonist » Wed, Jul 09, 2008, 2:44 AM UTC

ctkrohn wrote: post #3

This summer I've read/am reading/am planning to read: * The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York (Robert Caro) * Options Volatility & Pricing: Advanced Trading Strategies and Techniques (Sheldon Natenberg) * Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 (Edwin Burrows & Mike Wallace) * Egil's Saga (anonymous) * Invisible Cities (Italo Calvino) If you have any interest in the history of New York City at al…

The Power Broker is awesome. One of the finest books for understanding the 20th century. It's also fascinating to note that today we blame car culture on oil companies and selfish consumers. Turns out that the one of the people most responsible for creating America's car dependent culture was a progressive named Robert Moses ( with a lot of help from the NY Times).

BTW, another great book on urban themes is City: Urbanism and its End, by Doug Rae.

Re: Ask YC (and PG): What books do you have on your bookshelf?

#12

Post by bokonist » Wed, Jul 09, 2008, 2:56 AM UTC

The Triumph of Conservatism by Gabriel Kolko - the book for understanding the rise of corporate serfdom

The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig - will make you nostalgic for the days of monarchy

World on Fire by Amy Chua - the single best book for understanding globalization that I have read. The antidote to Tom Friedman.

America's Great Depression by Murray Rothbard - very different from the story you get in school. Is he right?

Two favorite tech books are Inside Intuit and The Manager Pool

Re: Ask YC (and PG): What books do you have on your bookshelf?

#13

Post by bayareaguy » Wed, Jul 09, 2008, 2:57 AM UTC

mattmaroon wrote: post #10

First person to say "The Long Tail" gets expelled.

See ya later Matt :-)

Re: Ask YC (and PG): What books do you have on your bookshelf?

#14

Post by kylec » Wed, Jul 09, 2008, 3:03 AM UTC

I thought about posting this here after a relative success asking the question on Reddit:

http://www.reddit.com/info/6mikl/comments/

but it looks like you've beaten me to it!

I did create a listing of the most popular books mentioned on the comment thread, if you're interested. The following were mentioned by 4 or more people:

14 The C Programming Language

11 Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs

8 Introduction to Algorithms

7 Compilers: Principles, Techniques and Tools

6 Programming Erlang

5 The Mythical Man-Month

5 The Pragmatic Programmer

5 Applied Cryptography

4 Beautiful Code

4 The Little Schemer

4 Programming Perl

more here: http://www.reddit.com/info/6mikl/comments/c04abpy

Re: Ask YC (and PG): What books do you have on your bookshelf?

#15

Post by andr » Wed, Jul 09, 2008, 3:39 AM UTC

I've been coding for quite a few years, but it was Godel's Proof that got me into the theoretical parts of computer science (even though it's a logic book). Strongly recommended. Godel, Escher, and Bach is the usual book to read after Godel's Proof.

Universal Principles of Design - great when you need some UI inspiration.

Re: Ask YC (and PG): What books do you have on your bookshelf?

#16

Post by jrockway » Wed, Jul 09, 2008, 3:53 AM UTC

AMOP was a good read.

Re: Ask YC (and PG): What books do you have on your bookshelf?

#17

Post by pjackson » Wed, Jul 09, 2008, 4:15 AM UTC

I recently read Simple Heuristics That Make Us Smart by Gerd Gigerenzer, Peter M. Todd, and the ABC Research Group and The Nothing That Is: A Natural History Of Zero by Robert Kaplan.

Both were great reads and left me energized. Neither had much to do with technology or startups. But I felt more prepared and motivated to solve problems after I read them.

Re: Ask YC (and PG): What books do you have on your bookshelf?

#18

Post by pjackson » Wed, Jul 09, 2008, 4:17 AM UTC

Wow. I forgot to mention Code Complete by Steve McConnell. Don't miss it.

Re: Ask YC (and PG): What books do you have on your bookshelf?

#19

Post by mullr » Wed, Jul 09, 2008, 4:19 AM UTC

breck wrote: post #9

-Black Swan & Fooled by Randomness -The C Programming Language -The Non-Designers Design Book -How to Read a Book -Never Eat Alone -Art of War -Bill Bryson's a History of Everything(~)

The Non-Designer's design book has helped me 1 of every 5 days in the past month. I also recommend it.

Re: Ask YC (and PG): What books do you have on your bookshelf?

#20

Post by doubleplus » Wed, Jul 09, 2008, 4:58 AM UTC

Alex3917 wrote: post #7

yan wrote: post #2

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=135185

Books I wish I had on my bookshelf: Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us (Seth Godin, Oct. 21st) Outliers: Why Some People Succeed and Some Don't (Malcolm Gladwell, Nov. 18th) Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition (Guy Kawasaki, Oct. 30th) If you're the kind of person who lines up at bookstores to get the newest non-fiction books the day they come out then it's g…

I just like books with post-colonic explanatory subtitles, but it looks like I'll be taken care of as well.

Yes, I made that word up.