Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021? • Hacker News Board

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

#571

Post by michaelbarton » Sat, Dec 25, 2021, 3:26 AM UTC

afpx wrote: post #194

michaelbarton wrote: post #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 rea…

How long has it been since you did it? Have the effects waned?

It’s been around four months since I did it.

It’s hard to describe the effects. It’s unlike taking a medicine. I’ve heard analogies such as pouring concrete into your foundation, or shuffling your mental deck of cards. Neither of those quite describe it.

One concrete effect was that I stopped wearing a smart watch. After the journey I just realized I didn’t want it. I stopped having a need to see notifications immediately.

More abstractly: “revisiting” the worst of my childhood as an adult was moving and full of pent-up grief. I blame myself a lot less for who I ended up becoming as person.

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

#572

Post by alex-korr » Sat, Dec 25, 2021, 3:27 AM UTC

gigantecmedia wrote: post #172

Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Taleb. Changed my life and my perspective on doing business, building company and understanding luck. Such a classic. Also honourable mention: Super Pumped by Mike Isaac. Great read on the legendary Travis' journey.

I loved that book. It's too bad that all other books by him are more or less or a recap of FbR. I still laugh at his portraits of the OTHER brokers.

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

#573

Post by rmk » Sat, Dec 25, 2021, 3:27 AM UTC

The Coral Island, by R M Ballantyne

It was written a long time ago, and I read an abridged version as a kid. I got a copy to give away as a present, but got the unabridged version, which is not suitable for children. I decided to read it myself, and I am halfway through it.

It is going to be the best book I've read this year, because it is pure escapism in many ways, and this year has been strangely sucky despite the arrival of vaccines and a supposed return to normalcy.

Honorable mentions: - Night in the Solomons, Louis Lamour

- Bad Blood, John Carreyrou

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

#574

Post by rmk » Sat, Dec 25, 2021, 3:30 AM UTC

_cfnt wrote: post #373

Prisoners of Geography. It's an insightful book into geopolitics, looking at the present through analysis of the past and the geography that influences it. In much the same way, it discusses the future and what might come next. If you're already engrossed in geopolitics literature you might not learn much, but if not - and you're interested - I recommend it. It gives a level of analysis that news reports don't go any…

It's a pretty good book, and I very much enjoyed reading it. This and the other book by Jared Diamond (Guns, Germs and Steel) together account for a lot of the current state of world affairs.

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

#575

Post by 100k » Sat, Dec 25, 2021, 4:57 AM UTC

emodendroket wrote: post #281

100k wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

She argues that it's inaccurate to call them liberals because the term didn't exist then (at least with the same meaning, "liberality" meant generous) and they wouldn't have any idea what you were talking about. Basically, Anglophones retcon'd a rights-based liberalism in the late 1800s. Personally, I think she takes the argument a bit too far. She credits Constant and de Staël for formalizing liberalism in the after…

But then, does she still acknowledge that they represent some sort of tradition or at least chain of thinking? Maybe it should be called something besides "liberalism" but it seems odd to say that you can't name a school of thought ex post facto. This is perhaps just getting hung up on one part of what seems to be a more substantive corrective than that, though.

She doesn't spend much time on English thinkers. The focus is on French and German thinkers who (she says) codified liberalism. The word was really rare (foreign) in English until well into the 1860s, IIRC. Anyway, it's one of the criticisms of the book e.g. https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/what-they-meant-on-helen... (notably, this critic works for a libertarian think tank).

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

#576

Post by kingcharles » Sat, Dec 25, 2021, 5:03 AM UTC

janvdberg wrote: post #506

mongol wrote: post #435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much time do you read per day? How long time to finish a book? I really should pick up reading more but there is so much that distracts me. This website for example.

I wrote about that last year: https://j11g.com/2020/07/01/how-i-read-52-books-in-a-year/ Long story short: read every day. I notice my average is pretty steady, around 30 pages/day. So if I manage that, I’m good. But the thing is — with a good book — reading 30 pages is a breeze. And I often end up reading more. I also notice if I can’t read at least 30 pages in one sitting I probably don’t like the book very much.

When I was in jail with (almost) zero distractions I read 100 books a year and 100s of magazines each year.

Since release 5 months ago I have read a total of zero, but I am getting back into it. The real world is distracting.

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

#577

Post by rramadass » Sat, Dec 25, 2021, 5:07 AM UTC

styrmis wrote: post #424

I'm just finishing Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor and I have enjoyed it immensely. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48890486-breath I have previously taken courses in the Wim Hof Method and marvelled at the dramatic increase in energy that it gave me, not to mention an increased ability to be warm when I want to be and to tolerate the cold, something which being a relatively stationary softw…

Maybe i need to give it another go but I couldn't finish this book; found it tiresome due to all the "personal anecdotes/narratives" forming the backdrop for the book. It could also be that i am somewhat well-read on this subject due to my interest in traditional Yoga/Pranayama/Martial Arts and hence felt underwhelmed. What i had hoped to find in the book was a catalog of techniques (based on tradition or modern) from "Western Scientific Research" showing actual measurable results in terms of Human physiological parameters. But whatever was mentioned was never clearly explained with actionable steps. However the webpage for the book's bibliography is a treasure trove of pointers to papers and reading for further research.

Since you are also interested in the same subjects as me, do you have any other specific suggestions for what i am looking for?

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

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Post by Alekhine » Sat, Dec 25, 2021, 5:14 AM UTC

stonecharioteer wrote: post #480

bratwurst3000 wrote: post #439

This years best book is the brothers karamazov. An excellent book with a deeply human and philosophical viewpoint. This is the last bool I read from dostojewski and after crime and punishment his best work. Atm I read „against the day“ from pynchon. Also very excellent and compared to gravitys rainbow sooo easy to read. That could be a good start to the pynchon universe for beginners. Whish you all a good time at the…

I have a deeply personal story about The Brothers Karamazov. I used to frequent a circulating library as a child (I was 8), and I met an old man on the way to it. He lived near the library and was always on his daily walk. I'd read on the road as I walked so he once spoke to me, and we formed a connection. I'd speak to him almost everyday for a few years, and in one of our conversations he asked me to read this book.…

What have you learned from the book?

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

#579

Post by jl2718 » Sat, Dec 25, 2021, 6:41 AM UTC

Oras wrote: post #284

The Little Book of Stoicism by Jonas Salzgeber. I was searching for the meaning of happiness, what makes me happy and how to maintain it. Before reading the book, my mind was wired that programming is my passion (as I've been doing it for 20+ years now). While reading and reflecting, I discovered that DIY is my passion! I love create things and programming was the tool that allowed me to enjoy that satisfaction.

What does that change for you?

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

#580

Post by tappio » Sat, Dec 25, 2021, 7:51 AM UTC

alecst wrote: post #503

tappio wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These books are fun, but should be taken with some skepticism. This particular story with large mammals is a good example. The assumed causality does not hold closer scrutiny. Climate was also changing into something that works better for humans, and into worse for large mammals. There were many things at play. Humans may had or may not have had a role. However, it is very unlikely that humans had a defining role. Go…

I find it hard to believe that it was the climate that killed all the large mammals worldwide in a span of tens of thousands of years. But I'm open to having my mind changed.

It is one of the hypotheses. It seems very likely that there were multiple factors at play in the late pleistoscene extinction. A quick search with that topic will provide you with materials. Hunting is a common hypothesis, but it is impossible to prove the causality, and world is usually not that simple. Also, prehistoric human consumption of plant food has most likely been underestimated, as the plant remain fossils have not been able to remain in such climate. Recent dental calculus has shown that humans and their fellow neanderthals ate more plants than it has been originally estimated.

I don't claim to be an expert, but Harari is an excellent story teller. That narrative fits really well with his story.