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Good Books for a Lousy Year

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Re: Good Books for a Lousy Year

#61

Post by Brajeshwar »

happy_path wrote: post #3

When I see this kind of lists I always think of getting some of these books and reading them. However, I feel like reading books that have no relationship with my job (software engineer) is a waste. Do any feel the same? Is this a harmful mindset and should stop worrying about "wasting" my free time?

I suggest reading the book -- How To Be A Programmer[0, 1] and see how you want to move ahead with more books.

0. https://braydie.gitbooks.io/how-to-be-a-programmer/content/e... (Free to read, Community Edition)

1. https://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Programmer-Robert-Read-ebook/d...

Re: Good Books for a Lousy Year

#62

Post by _tik_ »

I like this kind book list. My only complains is most book list is too US centric. I cannot appreciate some of the items in the list. Is there any good book list that is more for international audience?

Re: Good Books for a Lousy Year

#63

Post by rramadass »

rob74 wrote: post #25
happy_path wrote: post #3

When I see this kind of lists I always think of getting some of these books and reading them. However, I feel like reading books that have no relationship with my job (software engineer) is a waste. Do any feel the same? Is this a harmful mindset and should stop worrying about "wasting" my free time?

There's an (apparently untranslatable) word in German for people who are only interested in amassing knowledge in their own domain and totally ignorant of anything else: "Fachidiot" (see also https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/327748/is-there-... ) - it's not really a flattering term. So, in my book, expanding your horizons is a good thing. Of course, Sherlock Holmes would disapprove ( https://news.ycombinat…

>Of course, Sherlock Holmes would disapprove

Ah, No! As a lifelong Sherlockian/Holmesian i cannot allow you to cast my hero in a unflattering light :-) That was Holmes being flippant. Over the timeline of the stories, it turns out that Holmes is actually very well and widely read and has a large personal library into which he often dips for some long forgotten fact which has suddenly become relevant to his current case.

Re: Good Books for a Lousy Year

#64

Post by redelbee »

apples_oranges wrote: post #15

I have read "Range" and was underwhelmed. I feel like the idea in it can be summarised in a 5-15 minute blog post. I also think that this year was probably not lousy for many people, me included, and I'm a bit tired of giving 2020 negative adjectives.

I also read Range and I too was a bit underwhelmed. I took it as a sign that I’ve read too much in this area already as much of the book was familiar. It would probably be a good introduction for those who haven’t read about the topic before.

I keep telling people that 2020 is our chance to both address the lousy situation many are in, and to recognize what is truly important in our lives. The fact that many people did in fact have a very lousy year and you did not also falls into that category. Why do you think your year was not lousy, and what can we learn from it?

Re: Good Books for a Lousy Year

#65

Post by [deleted] »

mhh__ wrote: post #52
russellbeattie wrote: post #2

I've read The Spy and the Traitor, and it was quite good. I had just come off a binge of spy novels written by John LeCarre and it was amazing to read the same exact sort of craziness, but in a real life situation. I would actually recommend doing something similar, as the fiction definitely help set the mental stage for the history. That said, Roger Federer is a generalist?!? Why, because he has trouble beating Rafa…

Read Spycatcher by Peter Wright. It's an opinionated tale of someone actually doing the business of catching spies. Even better for the HN crowd, the author was an engineer so there's some tidbits about just how advanced spook technology was even in the 50s and 60s (i.e. using acoustics to lift encryption keys through embassy walls as they were being typed)

[deleted]

Re: Good Books for a Lousy Year

#66

Post by loughnane »

apples_oranges wrote: post #15

I have read "Range" and was underwhelmed. I feel like the idea in it can be summarised in a 5-15 minute blog post. I also think that this year was probably not lousy for many people, me included, and I'm a bit tired of giving 2020 negative adjectives.

Agreed. I think many books, even that have an interesting idea, take their main idea and slice it up into too many pieces and then add enough anecdotes per piece to really stretch it out.

Poor value for my reading hour.

Re: Good Books for a Lousy Year

#67

Post by minkeymaniac »

happy_path wrote: post #3

When I see this kind of lists I always think of getting some of these books and reading them. However, I feel like reading books that have no relationship with my job (software engineer) is a waste. Do any feel the same? Is this a harmful mindset and should stop worrying about "wasting" my free time?

In that case read the book "Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World" from that list first. You will notice that the people that came up with solutions came from a total different discipline, while the people in that field were stuck

Re: Good Books for a Lousy Year

#68

Post by rv-de »

happy_path wrote: post #3

When I see this kind of lists I always think of getting some of these books and reading them. However, I feel like reading books that have no relationship with my job (software engineer) is a waste. Do any feel the same? Is this a harmful mindset and should stop worrying about "wasting" my free time?

Well, one could at least argue that reading a book that has no relationship to you in any way might be a waste. But narrowing this down to only your work - yeah, that's a harmful mindset for sure. You are not just your work ...

Re: Good Books for a Lousy Year

#69

Post by gpanders »

Brajeshwar wrote: post #48
rorykoehler wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you share a little about how you read a book? Do you do it cover to cover or do you skim it and then read the sections you find especially compelling?

I don't have strict rules, methods, or patterns. However, I follow common themes such as skimming (or speed-reading) boring/mundane sections, change books and come back later, read multiple books at a time. Personally, I feel something missing if I totally skip something, so I tend to or try to finish what I read. I was known to be that kid who read Newspapers top to bottom of all pages, so that is that. My tricks; -…

> Personally, I feel something missing if I totally skip something, so I tend to or try to finish what I read. I was known to be that kid who read Newspapers top to bottom of all pages, so that is that.

I am the same way. This makes it very hard for me to skim books or even sections of books because it feels like I’m “cheating” and not really finishing the book properly. This also makes it hard for me to quit books halfway, even if I don’t enjoy it.

I know that both of these things (skimming and knowing when to quit early) are vital skills for readers, but my completionism borders on obsessive.

Re: Good Books for a Lousy Year

#70

Post by rv-de »

apples_oranges wrote: post #15

I have read "Range" and was underwhelmed. I feel like the idea in it can be summarised in a 5-15 minute blog post. I also think that this year was probably not lousy for many people, me included, and I'm a bit tired of giving 2020 negative adjectives.

That's the problem with most books. Stretched out like a Netflix production.
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