I'm starting Hardwiring Happiness. If you've read it, what did you think, and did it impact your life? How so?
Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?
191–200 of 400 posts
Re: Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?
#192Quiet by Susan Cain, great book about introversion and why we have the "Extrovert Ideal". It's really fascinating to see how introverts have their qualities and how Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance - Robert Pirsig: Fantastic book that talks about philosophy in a new way and goes deeper into discovering what's "Quality" and what are the main 2 ways of interacting/reading the world around us. Adam Smith, theor…
Read Zen back in the day. On the surface, it's simplistic but once you gain an understanding of where Pirsig is going, it is amazingly complex. Its definitely not light reading. It takes some real concerted effort but, in the end, it's worth it.
Re: Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?
#193Anna Karenina. It's probably my favorite book, and this is probably read #7 or so.
It's a very observant novel about love and marriage and adultery and divorce in most every permutation, life and death and meaning.
It's different every time I read it and has something to say to readers in any phase of life.
Re: Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?
#194"Politics - Observations and Arguments" by Henrik Hertzberg. Collection of work by Hertzberg, the longtime New Yorker writer. Excellent, succinct writing that illustrates beautifully a rational, progressive political stance.
Re: Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?
#195Sailing to the Reefs by Bernard Moitessier
Re: Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?
#196I like how most people here have a fiction and non-fiction book on the go at the same time. Not just me then :)
Currently reading The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, after finishing East of Eden, which I loved. On the non-fiction front I'm reading Big Data by Kenneth Cukier and Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Both interesting and compelling in their own ways.
Re: Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?
#197Here's my usual list of recommendations, the best books I've read in the past 5 years. Fiction: - Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality If you know nothing about this book you might naturally hesitate to read "Harry Potter fanfiction" and assume that it's dumb/horrbile, but it's not. Just suspend your disbelief and read the first 5-10 chapters. Trust me, it's brilliant, hilarious, and life-changing. - Atlas Shr…
A good friend of mine recommended Atlas Shrugged a while back. I couldn't finish it. I just couldn't swallow the "better than you" venom Dagny spewed everywhere. Maybe I'm missing something
It's been more than 10 years since I read Atlas Shrugged, but what is often interpreted as disdain or arrogance in the characters, I took to be Arete. That is, the characters sought excellence in themselves and appreciated it in others, while holding those who were leeches on their achievements with disdain. I didn't read Atlas Shrugged as disdainful toward the common man (IE: those of us somewhere beneath excellence) but rather a kind of call to pursue perfection and greatness in whatever you might do.
Re: Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?
#198Lila, by Marilynne Robinson, it's in the same league as Gilead. I highly recommend it.
Re: Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?
#199Started Flatland on the train yesterday - lots of fun so far. I'm looking for more Sci-fi if HN can recommend anything! I've been reading a lot of historical non-fiction over the years, but recently finished Snow Crash and the Diamond Age. Love the genre, but don't know much about it.
Not for every reader but Stephenson's Baroque Cycle (Quicksilver, The Confusion, The System of the World) is something between historical fiction and science fiction. Worth a try in your case.
Also, it's hard to go wrong with the yearly Hugo Award winners and nominees. Sometimes they are middle entries in long running series, which is worth checking on Wikipedia if you like to start at Book 1. Usually it is just going to mean the whole series is great.
How about a few great authors who have all won?
Ursula K LeGuin
Lois McMaster Bujold
CJ Cherryh
Connie Willis
Jo WaltonRe: Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?
#200I just read Andy Weir's The Martian in one day -- it was (obviously) fantastic. I highly recommend it.
Best book i've read in a decade