I really enjoyed The Technological Republic by Alexander C. Karp and Nicholas W. Zamiska. It’s sharp, opinionated, and unusually concrete about how state capacity, technology, and institutional competence intersect in practice. Even if you don’t agree with all of it, it’s a book that forces clearer thinking about power, technology, and governance.
Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?
61–70 of 459 posts
Re: Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?
#62Very much enjoyed the Hyperion Cantos series by Dan Simmons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_Cantos
I read the second two books this year and was unfortunately disappointed.
First two were so fun but I think I got hung up on some of the more clumsy stylistic parts of the Endymion books. I guess my “trust” in the author comes from the style and tropes they use, and if I they lose my trust none of the deeper parts resonate. Glad you enjoyed!
Re: Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?
#63I mostly read fiction but I made time for a couple of nonfiction books this year. On the fiction side I really enjoyed "Luminous" and "When We Where Real". - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminous_(novel) - https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/When-We-Were-Real/Dar... On the nonfiction side, I can recommend "Careless People" and "Apple in China". - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Careless_People - https://en.wikipedi…
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Careless People. The unexpected peek into the author's personal childhood and family ethos was really interesting. The look at Facebook from within was a cautionary tale.
I also liked I Am Not Your Enemy by Reality Winner.
Re: Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?
#64My 3 favorites were:
Dungeon Crawler Carl - I laughed, I cried, perfect match for my sense of humor.
The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter - Great read, changed some of my training because of it.
Fall of Giants by Ken Follett (#1 of The Century Trilogy series) - An amazing overview of the 20th century through the eyes of several families accross the globe (fiction).
Re: Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?
#65My goal for the year was 15 books. I've finished 14 so far and should finish #15 in the next couple of days if all goes well. Here's what I've read (it's a mix of fiction and non-fiction) in reverse order by completion date: Nash Falls - David Baldacci Exit Strategy - Lee Child & Andrew Child Perceptrons: An Introduction to Computational Geometry - Marvin Minsky & Seymour Papert We are Legion (We are Bob) - Dennis Ta…
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Re: Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?
#66Technically last year, but less than 365 days ago: * The Mom Test * The SAAS Playbook Actually in this year, the ones I remember the most: * Start Small, Stay Small * From Yao To Mao (more a series of lectures on chinese history) The most recent one I haven't finished yet but was surprised I liked: * Software Engeineering at Google Many more things described ring true or feel desireable, and I recognize too many of t…
I've heard a lot of good things about "The Mom Test". It's the next one I read.
I really enjoyed it and it helped me spot some unhelpful questions even outside startups!
Re: Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?
#67I mostly read non-fiction and technical articles.
My favorite book this year was "Differential Privacy" (2025) by Simson Garfinkel. Differential privacy is a mathematical theory of data privacy sandwiched between cryptography, databases, and ML. This is the first book-length non-technical introduction, and it's well executed.
Here's my full book list for the year: https://bcmullins.github.io/interesting-books-2025/.
Re: Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?
#68Started making side projects as a developer this year and hope to start working on my own products full-time from next year. Two books I found useful for positioning the product: - Obviously Awesome by April Dunford ( https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45166937-obviously-aweso... ) - Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller ( https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/210137279-building-a-sto... )
Tx. I've been building a lot of projects as well. These seem interesting!
Re: Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?
#69Humble Bundle has spoiled me and my ebook library has grown by around a 100 books this year... Tech book recommendations: 'Secure by Design', 'Designing Data-Intensive Applications', 'Building Secure and Reliable Systems' and 'Fundamentals of Software Architecture'. For scifi: 'Murderbot Diaries' and 'The Expanse' - both are just great entertainment
I actually have a large backlog of books I got on HB. Time to go through it
Re: Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?
#70Very much enjoyed the Hyperion Cantos series by Dan Simmons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_Cantos
Me too. It's phenomenal, especially the first book and the pilgrims' stories. Such a moving mix of religious mystics, science fiction and the dreaded AI. The second one builds up the tension and the last 2... are good.