The Poppy War trilogy is excellent albeit depressing.
Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
61–70 of 651 posts
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#62438 days. A memoir of a Mexican fisherman that spent over a year drifting across the Pacific Ocean. I’m a sucker for a good survival story and finished it in a day.
You've likely already read it at this point, but "Endurance: Shackletons Incredible Voyage" by Lansing is an amazing survival story.
Funny how we both gave disclaimers with our recommendations.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#63“How to change your mind” by Michael Pollen.
I read a lot of books, and this is one that caused a change in my life. The succinct summary is that psychedelics are misunderstood and there is more and more research showing their potential, especially in the treatment of trauma.
I had a difficult childhood. It’s something I still struggle with personal interactions because of this, even after years of therapy. After reading Michael Pollen’s book I thought this might be something that could move the needle on my day-to-day quality of life.
I found a shaman and did an 8 hour blindfolded mushroom trip. Similar to what’s outlined in the book. Previously I’ve never done anything more than weed occasionally.
It had a profound impact on me. The way I describe it is like jumping off a diving board into a deep dark pool, and the pool is you. Then spending hours there.
I don’t know if I’d do it again but I learnt a lot about myself. I won’t proselytize here either, because the research is still early. There’s also risk because you put a lot of trust in someone who’s there with you while you’re high. But I do recommend at least reading the book.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#64Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke. Inventive, well-written, and compelling.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#65No post body was provided.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#66I haven’t finished this yet (only at the start of chapter 6) but The Scientist and Engineer’s Guide to Digital Signal Processing [0] has been excellent so far. DSP is one of the subjects I’ve wanted to learn for years but could never get my head around, mostly (I think) due to bad instructors and very math-heavy explanations. This book is finally demystifying it for me, with explanations that go for intuition over mathematical purity.
The book is even freely available on the author’s site! I wish I’d found this years ago.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#67- Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
- Never Out of Season by Robb Dunn
- The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick
- Alchemy by Rory Sutherland
- Test-Driven Development in Swift by Gio Lodi
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#68“How to change your mind” by Michael Pollen. I read a lot of books, and this is one that caused a change in my life. The succinct summary is that psychedelics are misunderstood and there is more and more research showing their potential, especially in the treatment of trauma. I had a difficult childhood. It’s something I still struggle with personal interactions because of this, even after years of therapy. After rea…
Did the mushroom trip enlighten you? Did it change how you view the world? Were you worried about a bad trip?
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#69The sci-fi novel "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir. Captivating, and a lot of fun.
You might like The Apollo Murders if you enjoyed PHM
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#70Blood Meridian (or The Evening Redness in the West) by Cormac McCarthy. Quickly became my favorite book after reading it a second time. I've never read a book with more effective language.
What do you think happened in the jakes? I'm in the voluntary homosexual encounter hypothesis camp.