Ask HN: Best books you read in 2012 • Hacker News Board

pathdependent wrote: post #40

stiff wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found this the worst book from those three, time after time he describes an idea that sounds somewhat interesting and then every single concrete example he gives seems completely wrong, the more so the more real-world experience I have in a topic he describes. For example he goes on and on about how "random tinkering" beats science when it comes to engineering - I would love to see an engineer that would agree with…

I like Taleb's books. His ideas are far from novel -- especially to people who work with complex systems -- but his books are engaging. When I read them, I rarely find that I'm impressed by anything he said, yet I'm _always_ inspired to explore some tangent, which I think is very valuable. However, you have to take him with a grain of salt. The arrogance is a bit much.

> The arrogance is a bit much.

I read the first book. The arrogance was a bit much, especially in a book where he's talking about the importance of randomness. But, like you, I did go off an explore about a lot of what he said. So it's a fun exercise.

There are a few great books which are too repetitive. "Black Swan" is one; he could have got all of that into a book a quarter the size and not lost much important. Another one is "Reckoning with Risk" by Gerd Giggerenzer - he takes many chapters to say people don't understand percentages, and you should really use "X people out of 10,000" when explaining risk to people.

Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in 2012

#44

Post by the_economist » Tue, Dec 25, 2012, 6:56 PM UTC

I reread The Road Less Traveled this year.

The first 150 pages are particularly great.

Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in 2012

#45

Post by abecedarius » Tue, Dec 25, 2012, 7:10 PM UTC

andrewcooke wrote: post #23

abecedarius wrote: post #17

Favorite novel, I think: Orthogonal by Greg Egan. First couple books in a trilogy are out. If you liked Egan in the 90s but mostly lost interest this millennium, like me, then take a look.

more technical again? good. but has he learnt to portray real people and emotions yet? i guess i will try it anyway...

Yes to more technical, no to people, alas. Despite which, the conflicts and resolutions were pretty good. But the science fiction is brilliant.

(Incandescence also had some neat ideas, and I don't regret reading it -- it showed a reasonable way much of general relativity could be discovered before newtonian physics; but the people stuff irritated me. There was eventually an in-story explanation for the implausible characters, but it wasn't enough.)

Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in 2012

#46

Post by dudurocha » Tue, Dec 25, 2012, 7:11 PM UTC

judofyr wrote: post #42

I'm going to repost my collection of Hacker News threads that contain book recommendations: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4185504 — Hacker News stories which contains plenty of book recommendations (sorted by points, labeled by topic): Science Fiction: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2978027 Computer Science: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3595599 General: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1752139 De…

Maybe you could put the 'best of' in your list!

Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in 2012

#47

Post by rdl » Tue, Dec 25, 2012, 7:11 PM UTC

jmilloy wrote: post #39

rdl wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm only about 1/6th of the way through (listening in the car). I did have some disagreement on the specific examples, but they seemed to just be badly chosen examples (since he only really understands finance and some liberal arts, not engineering). So he's a bad writer, but not in a way which directly detracts from his philosophical argument. (and yes, the evolution parts sounded whacko too, but I think he was quot…

Why would you include examples if they aren't necessary to understand the argument, or arguments that aren't required to make your point? That sounds confusing and tedious.

Because he likes to hear himself talk (well, read his own words) and show off superficial tangential knowledge (or fairly deep tangential knowledge about some humanities things, especially classics and lebanese culture).

It's kind of grating, but works for an audiobook in the car, where I might lose a few seconds due to temporary attention increase on the road. He'll reliably spend 3-4 minutes saying the same thing with minor variations when 20 seconds would do.

Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in 2012

#48

Post by antirez » Tue, Dec 25, 2012, 7:12 PM UTC

dspguide.com it's old (BASIC examples...) but it is very good IMHO compared to other similar books.

Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in 2012

#49

Post by idiamin » Tue, Dec 25, 2012, 7:12 PM UTC

"Mastery" by Robert Greene. "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli. "Gomorrah" by Roberto Saviano.

Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in 2012

#50

Post by napoleond » Tue, Dec 25, 2012, 7:15 PM UTC

These are the ones I remember, but not necessarily for being the best.

Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson. I thought it was interesting; an honest attempt at cataloguing the life of a fascinating and complex person.

How To Win Friends And Influence People - Dale Carnegie. I'd skimmed through it in high school, and decided it was full of obvious/cheesy platitudes, but was somehow convinced to take another look this year and I'm very glad I did. It is mostly full of very basic "don't be an ass" advice, but I needed it.

Never Eat Alone - Keith Ferrazzi. I'm not sure what to think of this one. It's pretty low on actionable advice, but it did help me (together with HTWFAIF, above) reframe the way I approach interpersonal relationships.

The Cat's Table - Michael Ondaatje. I haven't finished this one yet, but it's part of a recent concerted effort to read more fiction. I've always loved Ondaatje's work, and this latest novel is no different.

Freakonomics - Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner. I just started reading this last night, and I'm already 100 pages in. It's an addicting read, and is already causing me to re-evaluate the incentive systems that are everywhere.

Napoleon Bonaparte - Alan Schom. I've been reading this one slowly for a while (it's a hefty book). It's a very well written account of Napoleon's entire life story--highly recommended.

Crossing the Chasm - Geoffrey Moore. Just started this one last night as well (Christmas presents!) and so far it seems like it will live up to the hype.

The Education of Millionaires - Michael Ellsberg. This one, I can't recommend. As always, though, YMMV :)