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Ask HN: What nonfiction books do you keep rereading?

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Re: Ask HN: What nonfiction books do you keep rereading?

#111

Post by xucian »

jasiek-net wrote: post #15
DarrenDev wrote: post #5

- Zero to One, Peter Thiel Always makes me feel that I’m not ambitious enough. And that too many smart people are in the wrong industry (finance). - The Dip, Seth Godin Don’t give up. Unless you’re in a cul-de-sac. - Obviously Awesome, April Dunford Your competitor is often not who you think it is.

Same here - Zero to one - really inspiring book! And Lean startup - far too ambitious for me at the moment, but I learned a lot from it. 4 hour work week - I would say it’s more like a fiction book, but still fun to read. 7 habits of highly effective people - it’s saved my life in high school, I knew some parts of it by heart.

yep, funny how I wanted to post these exact 3 books (should grab the 4th one soon), I've bought them all at once, perhaps we've read the same blog post that recommended them?

Re: Ask HN: What nonfiction books do you keep rereading?

#112

Post by xucian »

Zero to one

The lean startup

The 4-hour workweek

The subtle art of not giving a f*ck

--

What I've found out, biographies are the best thing for me because I always want to know what happens next, but I also learn invaluable lessons from the biographee (just googled this term now and it exists!), so it's a nice mix of story and self-help

Re: Ask HN: What nonfiction books do you keep rereading?

#115

Post by jjice »

Jimmc414 wrote: post #8

Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It - Chris Voss Clear actionable direction on how to negotiate.

The ROI on this book is incredible. To be fair, it's easy to get ROI on a $10 book, but I ended up with an extra $40k-ish on a salary negotiations over the years because of some of the details in there. You just need one or two to hit. The hyper specific number idea surprisingly worked for being a pretty goofy concept to me at first.

Re: Ask HN: What nonfiction books do you keep rereading?

#117

Post by notdonspaulding »

I don't tend to reread many books in general. C.S. Lewis and Tolkien's fictional series are probably the only exceptions. However, I do frequently reread books from the Bible, typically the English Standard Version. And yes, I would make the claim that all of these are non-fictional books/letters.

- Jonah: for its description of God's desire to have compassion on a group of people who don't know him, by leaving Jonah with no other option than telling those people about Him.

- Ecclesiastes: For "The Teacher's" many vignettes about how life is a quickly-dissipating vapor, and his pointing to ways to find satisfaction in it.

- Mark: Mark tells the story of Jesus' life and ministry in a no-nonsense, get-to-the-point kind of way.

- Romans: Paul gives a treatise on: the main problem of mankind, the inability of men to live up to any standard of behavior, the source of any confidence that anyone can have that God might be pleased with them, the way the Christian church relates to the people of Israel, and how to live in unity with people with whom you have disagreements.

- 1 John: John never got over the fact that he was loved by Jesus, and this letter is his recapitulation of that same love toward others.

[Jonah]: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jonah%201&versi...

[Ecclesiastes]: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes+1&...

[Mark]: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+1&version=...

[Romans]: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+1&versio...

[1 John]: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+1&versio...

Re: Ask HN: What nonfiction books do you keep rereading?

#119

Post by interglossa »

jjice wrote: post #116

Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez is a personal favorite. I re-read every year or so to make sure I'm thinking about my real personal goals. It also makes me trim the fat from my personal budget again each time I read.

I used it to prepare for retirement. The investment in T-bills is not the sole strategy they proposed but the basic ideas are solid.

Re: Ask HN: What nonfiction books do you keep rereading?

#120

Post by FumblingBear »

NoGravitas wrote: post #108

The Conspiracy Against the Human Race by Thomas Ligotti: a good introduction to radical pessimism. If you get into it, it's a good idea to move on to Eugene Thacker, whose writing is deeper and less polemical. Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 1972 by Hunter S. Thompson: gives a better understanding of the political contexts that led to our current politics. Somehow, we keep re-living this election over and ove…

I've read and adored a lot of Thomas Ligotti's fictional works—I think this comment will finally push me to read The Conspiracy Against the Human Race. Thanks for sharing some additional reading to consider too.

At least from what I've read from Ligotti, he has such a hauntingly poetic way to touch on the horrors of the mundane.

Thanks for sharing :)

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