For nonfiction I think about Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets and The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood by David Simon (and Ed Burns for The Corner) a lot. They are very funny and very sad and really changed how I see the world. So I cheated, two books.
Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?
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Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?
#32Nonfiction: "The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable" by Taleb has had the biggest influence on me.
Fiction: I dunno but maybe "Anathem" by Neal Stephenson.
Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?
#33The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. When you are young, it is a remarkable book to read.
This book is one I re-read religiously, but the first time was as a young adult and I agree with you, remarkable. It seems to have a correcting effect on my psyche when I stray too far into anxiety and burnout.
Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?
#34One of the previous posts mentioned that it changes for them frequently, and I'm pretty much the same way. But for right now:
Fiction: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Non-Fiction: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?
#35"The book of joy" by the Dalai Lama and Desmund Tutu (they were lifelong friends)
Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?
#36Non-fiction: The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors by James Hornfischer. US Navy destroyers, escort carriers and destroyer escorts face off against Japanese cruisers and battleships. The Japanese had many times the firepower of the US, yet incredibly brave US sailors and airmen attacked anyway. Incredible story of courage under terrible conditions and odds. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Stand_of_the_Tin_Can_... and https://www.amazon.com/Last-Stand-Tin-Sailors-Extraordinary/...
Fiction:
Project Hail Mary is very enjoyable, don't read spoilers and you'll enjoy it even more. https://www.amazon.com/Project-Hail-Mary-Andy-Weir/dp/059313...
The Discworld City Watch series of books, starting with "Guards! Guards!" The characters are hilarious, there's so much humour yet still enough space for meaningful prose. Terry Pratchett was taken from us too soon. https://www.amazon.com/Guards-Discworld-Terry-Pratchett/dp/0...
Edited to add: non-fiction "Most Secret War" by Dr R V Jones. Funny, easily digestible short chapters, wonderful account of the author's work in WW2. "(the author's) appointment to the Intelligence Section of Britain's Air Ministry in 1939 led to some of the most astonishing scientific and technological breakthroughs of the Second World War." https://www.amazon.com/Most-Secret-Penguin-World-Collection/...
Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?
#37Anything from Sagan: Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God could convert the Pope to agnosticism. Stephen Ray Gould: Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin: will both challenge every preconceived notion you've had, link seemingly impossibly unrelated phenomenon together using similar models and patterns, and leave with a much more intuitive understanding about co…
Sagan’s Demon Haunted World was probably the reason I ended up going into the sciences!
Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?
#38To each their own. Mine likely 3 body problems: dark forest book
Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?
#39Breakfast of Champions by Vonnegut.
Like others could change any day you ask. Social commentary is probably at the top followed by well researched recent historical works.
Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?
#40Dungeon Crawler Carl (series)
Sinusoidal Circuit Analysis