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Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?

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Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?

#261

Post by mrich »

Dumblydorr wrote: post #120

Team of Rivals - Doris Kearns Goodwin. Lincoln's cabinet was filled with representatives of the different wings of northern and border state politics, all of whom became key figures in the fight against the CSA. Very lovely book about Lincoln's genius as a master of men and of personalities, of being downright kind and truly listening to the people.

I did enjoy this tome too :) It's amazing how many well-researched and detailed biographies of US presidents are out there. The Rise of Theodor Roosevelt is another one, only managed to read the first book. What I find interesting is how the men behind the scenes have wielded much of the power even back then.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?

#262

Post by KerryJones »

nerbert wrote: post #15

I read the foundation series by Asimov. Its title of the best sci-fi series of all times isn’t a hyperbole.

I read the first and was incredibly unimpressed. Does it get better? I love the premise, love many other sci-fi authors & series, I thought this was going to be an obviously good one.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?

#265

Post by Rebelgecko »

fernly wrote: post #218

Fantasy/adult romance: _His Secret Illuminations_ and _His Sacred Incantations_ by Scarlett Gale. Charming characters, original take on magic, dragons and evil sorcerers; but also sex. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BD5FKDT

It's a bit outside of what I regularly read, but I semi-accidentally read a romance novel called Paladin's Grace. You may or may not dig it, not sure how it stacks up against others in the genre but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?

#266

Post by KerryJones »

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (father of behavioral psychology) was incredibly impactful.

A few notable runner ups: - The Oxygen Advantage by Patrick Mckeown (as fitness enthusiast this was a giant gap in my knowledge

- Principles by Ray Dalio (this is incredible and I need to go through it again)

- Richer, Wiser, Happier by William Green (best book on investing I've read in quite a while)

Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?

#267

Post by tayo42 »

jhardy54 wrote: post #248
tayo42 wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Were you worried about a bad trip? I feel like people need to start talking about bad trips in a more helpful and realistic way. The info I got about put me off to tripping for years. I avoided them until my late 20s, wish i did them sooner. I think bad trips are mostly just people who mix psychedelics with other drugs (weed is common) and freak out or aren't used to introspection (so is this really bad then?) or u…

> I think bad trips are mostly just people who mix psychedelics with other drugs (weed is common) and freak out or aren't used to introspection (so is this really bad then?) or use irresponsibly. Respectfully: this is dangerous speculation. You can have a bad trip even if you do everything right, and it’s an important risk that we should highlight rather than minimize. I believe that many psychedelic experiences are…

Your post is basically my problem with how people talk about bad trips. You made the term "bad trip" ambiguous, scary and sound random. You're saying something might happen but no one can tell you what. Yeah that's horrifying, what is this horrible thing, Ill let my imagination run wild.

But if you can be clear about the risks and how to avoid them I think you'll come out fine. I don't think if psychedelics were playing some game of russian roulette like you suggest they would actually be useful in therapy.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?

#268

Post by emodendroket »

Looking back at the books I read, I read a lot I'm pretty lukewarm on. But a few that stuck out:

* Chronicles of My Life by Donald Keene. If you ever read much Japanese literature in translation (at least before a particular era) you'll recognize the name, and Keene's life was fascinating. Breezy, fun read.

* The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. I was skeptical, and had unfavorable views of this book based on impressions I'd formed by reading reviews, but once I read it and gave it a try... she was totally right about nearly everything she wrote and it literally was "life-changing." I got rid of a ton of detritus and ultimately going through the process of purging my things gave me the boldness to accept a job offer on the other side of the country and take off. The process also drastically changed my shopping habits -- I simply buy much less than I used to, not out of a conscious desire to be "minimalist," but out of recognition that I don't necessarily really want things all that much (though thinking about how much trouble it was to throw things away doesn't hurt).

* California: A History by Kevin Starr. About all you could ask for from a one-volume history... nice little primer to my new home state.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?

#269

Post by tkgally »

Life in London, or the day and night scenes of Jerry Hawthorn, Esq., and his elegant friend Corinthian Tom in their rambles and sprees through the Metropolis by Pierce Egan.

I read this book for the second time this year, the two hundredth anniversary of its publication. It was a bestseller in the nineteenth century and led to many spinoffs, but nobody seems to read it anymore. A scan of an 1869 reprint is at [1]. The Wikipedia article is at [2].

I don’t know if this is a good book—the characters and plotting are thin, and the obsolete slang and topical humor make it difficult to read—but there seems to be a premodern masterpiece of postmodernism lurking in its self-referentiality and its dense, rambling prose. Even the footnotes have footnotes [3].

[1] https://archive.org/details/tomjerrylifeinlo00egan/page/n9/m...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_in_London_(novel)

[3] https://archive.org/details/tomjerrylifeinlo00egan/page/64/m...

Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?

#270

Post by emodendroket »

not-my-account wrote: post #96

An old one, but I read "The Brothers Karamazov" by Dostoevsky. I was expecting it to be dense and difficult to read, but I found it incredibly engaging - easily the best book that I have read, ever.

I think my favorite was Crime and Punishment. Dostoevsky is very good; I think the biggest challenge is just getting used to Russian names, which is exacerbated by the typically large number of characters. But if you're willing to brave that, I don't think I outright disliked anything of his I read.
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