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Ask HN: Best book you read in 2011

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Re: Ask HN: Best book you read in 2011

#172
post #14

I'd like to mention two books because I can't decide which is greatest (they're very different): - The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (often quoted here, and rightly so; it's short and really really great) - How to Live, or A life of Montaigne by Sarah Bakewell (a fantastic take on Montaigne's essays by a contemporary scholar with a refreshing take on everything).

A shorter version of the Checklist Manifesto originally appeared in the New Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/12/10/071210fa_fact_...

Re: Ask HN: Best book you read in 2011

#173
Rework. Also, "The Long Run" by Matt Long. Mr. Long wrote a book about his experience as a NYC firefighter who, a few days after qualifying for the Boston marathon, got run over by a bus while riding his bike and literally got split in half up to his chest. Almost two years later, he ran the New York City marathon and went on to do the ironman. Insanely great story and the book is a good read. His story was inspiring to never give up.

Re: Ask HN: Best book you read in 2011

#174
post #13

Best books I read in 2011: * "Salonica, City of Ghosts" by M.Mazower. Tells the history of Thessaloniki, informative, entertaining, at times nostalgic. * "The Cauchy-Schwarz Master Class" by J.M.Steele. A guided tour of mathematical inequalities. Very entertaining and readable (for a math book) and extremely well written. * "Indiscrete Thoughts" by G-C.Rota. Irreverent anecdotes about mathematicians. * "Black Swan" b…

Black Swan and Fooled by Randomness are both great reads from N.N. Taleb. Imho both are must reads.

I'm reading Fooled by Randomness and really like it. The Black Swan I couldn't finish because it kind of rambled. Not sure if he had a better editor for Fooled by Randomness or what.

Re: Ask HN: Best book you read in 2011

#176
Man's Search For Meaning by Victor Frankel.

It was recommended by several friends, and I finally got around to reading it. Helped, along with Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance to work through my personal thought process. Highly recommended.

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