Ask HN: You've got $300 to fill an empty library. What do you choose?

Some additional context would be helpful

Edited- apologies for the vagueness :) Thank you!

Don't try to buy all your books at once. Purchase them over time as your tastes evolve and you discover what you like.

That said, if you want to start out with a very nice set of "classics" to dive into, consider getting a set of the Harvard Classics. I've got a very nice set that I picked up for a couple hundred. There are several editions. For example, on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Harvard-Classics-1980-Collector...

You might also consider Brittanica's Great Books of the Western World. I don't have a set of these yet, but would like to get one, at some point. Again, there are several editions, but you can pick up an older one within your price range: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Britannica-Great-Books-of-the-Weste...

If you mean _classic_ classics, as in the classical Greek and Latin canon, search eBay for "Loeb Classical Library lot." Those will definitely give you some challenging works to sink your teeth into.

Get a subscription to the Library of America and get great writing by American authors for $30.90 per volume delivered according to whatever schedule you want. The books are very nice small boxed hardcovers. I've got almost 100 now.

If you like things a little flashier and don't mind trade paperbacks, I recommend the Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition trade paperbacks. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/254/penguin-classi...

I read and collect books from the New York Review Books Classics series. It's an amazing series of reprints of mostly 20th Century literature, some that has fallen unjustly into obscurity, and a lot of it in translation.

I also pick up used sets from the Folio Society, for example Orwell's "Reportage" boxed set: https://www.ebay.com/itm/GEORGE-ORWELL-REPORTAGE-5-VOLUMES-I... which is a very nice edition that I love to hold in my hands and read. Watch prices for a while and get a sense for them, save some searches, then jump on one when an exceptional deal pops up.

Your library should reflect your mind and personality as it grows and develops over time!

Math books are very cheap and very information dense. I'm going through Mendelson's "Introduction to Topology" right now. It's very good and cost only $10.

Harmony by Walter Piston (and also "Twenty First Century Harmony," the book it inspired) is IMO one of the better books I've read on western music theory. I got my copy used for $20.

SICP is nice to loan out (and also nice to read, it covers some pretty weird and advanced topics near the ends of the chapters), my girlfriend is going through my copy. ~$20.

A couple Oreily books for whatever you're doing at work ~$120 (although double check, believe it or not there are a couple duds.)

UML distilled by Martin Fowler is very good. ~$20?

The art of electronics is a great book, I personally learned a lot from this kind of weird book titled "Basic Pulse Circuits" I found at a used book store for ~$10.

Then leave the extra $100 for whatever interesting thing you find at good book stores (I've had the best luck in college towns in Appalachian Virginia.)

They only publish US authors, and their books aren't cheap ($30-50), but Library of America [0] has a great collection. Each book is actually a collection of writings, so the value proposition is the high quality binding, paper, and substantial collection in one book with each purchase. They have fiction starting from the colonial days to the recent past, along with a lot of non-fiction content (essays, journalism, political speeches, etc.).

[0] https://loa.org