Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 294 posts

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

#51

Post by rcconf »

The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing.

Learning about the financial system really changed my perspective on how to deal with money in the long term. It has had immediate effects on my life.

I learned about taxation in detail, opened an account on a discount brokerage, changed saving patterns, and have made a portfolio for the next 10 years.

I have a spreadsheet of how much I can spend and componentize my bank cards. One is for bills, another for spending, and the rest are investing accounts. When I get a paycheque, I put how much I need for bills directly into the bill account, the allocated amount for investing in investment accounts, and the rest in my spending account. I know exactly how much I can spend at restaurants and I don't need to do any mental math.

I really feel like learning this at age 22 was life changing and I will be thanking my self in the future.

"Invest early and often" - Jack Bogle

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

#52

Post by epaga »

For me it was "What's Best Next" by Matt Perman.

Refreshing take on productivity, very similar to Getting Things Done and co., however this time tackled from a distinctly Christian perspective, so it may not be for everyone. I enjoyed how he laid a foundation of motivation before he gave a bunch of practical thoughts on how to structure tasks, goals, and so on.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

#53

Post by alphaBetaGamma »

Stoner, by John Williams

The story of an average, not very successful literary professor, told with great humanity and tenderness. This does not seem much of a story line, yet I believe this book is so good it will still be read in one hundred years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoner_%28novel%29

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

#54

Post by kabdib »

fogus wrote: post #37

I was a voracious reader of programming books prior to reading Stewart Brand's "How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built." However, it was this book that made me (finally) realize that some of the best programming books are not about programming at all. As a result I've cut back drastically on my "language-specific" programming books[1] and have sought programming-relevant books instead. [1]: And I've ma…

Armstrong's book on Erlang (2007) is a great read, so you're missing that. (Erlang itself I haven't really used much, but I like some of the concepts).

Alexandrescu's Modern C++ Design (2001) is a real eye-opener (though I wouldn't use most of the stuff from the latter half of book in real production).

Herb Sutter's books on Exception C++ (1999) are must-reads if you intend to use exceptions. at. all. [Whereupon, these books will convince you not to use exceptions in C++ :-) ]

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

#55

Post by bdaw11 »

hackerboos wrote: post #46
bdaw11 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Starting Strength - because this time I actually started lifting instead of just reading it :) For me it's High-Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer Way. Frankly I don't care about strength, and am focusing instead on bodybuilding. I used to spend a lot of hours in the gym not really knowing what I'm doing (no plan, no goals). After this book I now have a good plan and clear, predictable goals.

Starting strength is better for natural strength training. Mike Mentzer is well known to have abused steroids to get his physique which is something I wouldn't be willing to do.

Which 1970s bodybuilder isn't? Besides, he perfected his programme on his clients, not himself. Anyway, it works perfectly well for me, I couldn't be more satisfied with my progress and thus have no reason to change my plan. I'm glad SS works for you.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

#56

Post by Evgeny »

For the mind:

http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Good-Life-Ancient-Stoic/dp/01953...

A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy - William B. Irvine

Not only a description of the Stoic philosophy, which is, unfortunately, not very well known today, but also a great practical guide to a variety of techniques that can be included into daily activities easily, and will increase happiness.

For the body:

http://www.amazon.com/Overcoming-Gravity-Systematic-Gymnasti...

Overcoming Gravity: A Systematic Approach to Gymnastics and Bodyweight Strength - Steven Low

As I'm growing older (turned 40 last year), I'm no longer inclined to exercise with very heavy weights and was looking into replacing most of the barbell/dumbell exercises in my routine with bodyweight exercise. The book is a great encyclopedia of exercise that can be performed without or with minimal equipment. There are progressions, advice on creating routines, on injury prevention and management and a lot more. There is also a subreddit for those who follow the book http://www.reddit.com/r/overcominggravity

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

#57

Post by a-saleh »

Dungeon World rulebook - http://www.dungeon-world.com/ and Vornheim city kit - http://www.lotfp.com/RPG/products/vornheim

Mostly because I always wanted to run a pen&paper rpg, even though I am fairly busy, and this provided a rule-light enough framework to just do that. Especially Vornheim, that shows how to do randomize world building in under a minute :-)

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

#59

Post by mathattack »

I didn't have any life changers, but I throughly enjoyed The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Horowitz. I've been turned off by the soft and cuddly management book industry because it only focuses on the bright side. Real work is hard and dirty, and Horowitz captured it.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

#60

Post by russnewcomer »

Simply Jesus by N.T. Wright. A great historical look at Jesus and 1st Century Judaism.

Walking with God through Pain and Suffering by Timothy Keller. Made me stop and think a lot about how I interact with family and friends that have gone through struggles.

Coders at Work by Peter Seibel. I enjoy learning from the experienced, and Coders At Work is a fantastic walk through the recent history of computing, as told by those who walked through it. I wish there were a true coding focused sequel.

Post reply on HN