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

> by an AI researcher

EY is an AI researcher the same way Elon Musk is an aeronautical engineer.

Appreciate the breakdown!

Late here. I read tons of fiction, some standounts:

Piranesi - Susanna Clark

This feels like a lightweight version of House of Leaves, which is probably a double complement. It's got gorgeous prose, and a completely ethereal, mysterious feel the whole way. Themes of memory, life and death, reality, mental illness, etc.

Notes From the Burning Age - Claire North

Solarpunk thriller set upon a backdrop of Overstory-like prose that praises and exalts natural beauty. Its a neat concept, though slow and very tense. Some content warnings.

Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno Garcia

A modern approach to gothic horror, where gaslighting is part of the horror, but the character knows that some of the gaslighting isn't gaslighting, it's mysterious things happening. Really tense also.

The Night Watchman - Louise Erdrich

This year's Pulizer, historical fiction based on the Turtle Mountain Native American tribe's attempt to maintain their status as an independent nation in the 1950s, magical realism and a story of community and persistence.

Black Sun - Rebecca Roanhorse

Medium fantasy set in a really neat mixed Native Central/North American setting. The characters are fantastic, and this book was tense enough that I had to put it down because I was worried about two of the characters I really liked.

Middlegame - Seanan McGuire

This was really fantastic sort of situational horror. It very clearly horror, but mostly not gore-y. There's bits of implied stuff, but its mostly just like the horror of controlling the lives of a pair of magical soulmates in cruel ways, and also their journey of discovery of what they are and what they can do (which is also horrifying!). I also felt that this book had perhaps the best use of pre-chapter quotes that I've ever seen in a novel, and it invents a whole fake early 20th century childrens book as part of the worldbuilding. That book, "Over the Woodward Wall" has also been published, although I haven't read it.

I also read tons of Octavia Butler and N.K. Jemisin, and I can't recommend them enough (especially reading Butler and then Jemisin, as their writings are thematically similar, but approach similar topics from different directions). As well as tons of stuff by Anne Leckie, Becky Chambers, and Martha Wells, which are all great if you want space operas.

In my case I mostly listen to audiobooks and take notes. My top 3 favourites based on the amount of notes taken for this year:

Creativity Inc: Fun read about the conception of Pixar Studios and why having a different process amd focus than other studios have led them to create so many award winning films. Ties in to some other books on adapting the process in order to generate better/more creative outcomes that have influenced me.

Immune: With everything going on this year it felt appropriate. Explains to a layperson how your immune system functions and who the main players are. I had to take quite a bit of notes and read up/look at quite a few pictures/train using flashcards in order to make this info stick. I'd highly recommend anyone considering this book to get the physical book rather than the audiobook.

How to avoid a climate disaster: Bill Gates explains the key metrics a layperson should keep in mind when climate policy is discussed. I recommend creating a cheat sheet to remember it better. While it felt informative I dont really like the fact that Bill Gates is the author rather than some climate scientist. I tried to reduce my bias by reading some more climate change related books written by subject experts after this one.

I'm currently learning Spanish and got the original version my first month in. My plan was too ambitious - I didn't get very far on my first try. I look forward to my next one once I'm more proficient.