Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?

#151

Post by atipmt » Fri, Jul 13, 2018, 8:57 AM UTC

rayalez wrote: post #123

Here are the best books I've read over the last few months: - Lost and Founder - the founder of Moz shares his advice and experience from building a 40M/year company. I found the things he says about building a startup extremely insightful and practically useful. Reading it feels like having a dinner with a friend who shares with you the things he has learned in a very honest, down to earth way. Highly recommend it.…

"Rationality from AI to Zombies" - I loved that book! It took me quite a bit to read it all, even though it is written in a colloquial style (might be due to length or me just wanting to digest what I've just read). Changed my perspective on quite a lot too, mainly how to approach information that causes cognitive dissonance. I wanted to read some of it again for some time, so I thank you for pointing out that there is an audio version now!

Re: Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?

#152

Post by stochastic_monk » Fri, Jul 13, 2018, 8:59 AM UTC

As for me —-

0: Jorge Luis Borges, Labyrinths

Anyone interested in information theory, intelligence (artificial or otherwise), many-worlds interpretations of quantum mechanics, metafiction, the nature of art, or even probabilistic sequence modeling should read Borges’ short stories. I couldn’t recommend it highly enough.

1: Hero With A Thousand Faces

A classic book collating world mythologies and psychoanalytical thought to investigate an individual’s core struggle for meaning and purpose. I find that it has informed my appreciation of literature, film, music. More importantly, it helped me understand how I want to live my life and from whence I now choose to derive my personal senses of direction and meaning.

2: Samuel Beckett, Malone Dies

An obtuse, rambling, depressing novel without a sense of momentum or even plot. The narrator or narrators are unreliable, prone to aporetics, and capricious. Beyond its stark exterior, the prose is, at times, achingly beautiful, the narrator is relatable in his uncertainty and frailty, and the dual struggle for meaning and accepting the absolute absence thereof is invigorating. It’s book two of a trilogy, but these postmodern novels are enjoyable on their own, and the rare, tenuous grasp on plot or direction makes reading them in sequence seem to be more a suggestion on how to experience them than a strict ordering.

I’ve also been reading The Double (Dostoevsky), but I haven’t progressed far enough to make an informed recommendation.

Re: Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?

#153

Post by shoo » Fri, Jul 13, 2018, 9:00 AM UTC

Hilary Mantel - "Wolf Hall" & "Bring Up The Bodies".

Excellent fiction. You're worth it.

Re: Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?

#154

Post by Insanity » Fri, Jul 13, 2018, 9:00 AM UTC

Some books that I recently read and enjoyed:

Non-fiction a) Sapiens (Yuval Noah Harari) b) Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon (Kim Zetter) c) Hackers: Heroes of the computer revolution (Steven Levy) d) Masters of Doom (David Kushner)

Fiction: e) The Death of Ivan Ilyich (Leo Tolstoy) f) Ready Player One (Ernest Cline)

Re: Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?

#155

Post by MrsPeaches » Fri, Jul 13, 2018, 9:01 AM UTC

Ideas: A history by Peter Watson is absolutely fantastic.

Gives a comprehensive account of the ideas and technologies that have shaped humanity "from fire to Freud".

Re: Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?

#156

Post by henrik_w » Fri, Jul 13, 2018, 9:03 AM UTC

I recently read "Dreaming the Beatles: The Love Story of One Band and the Whole World" by Rob Sheffield (after reading a review of it by Tyler Cowen[1]).

I was not a big Beatles fan when I read it (but I'm a bit more of a fan now), but I found the book very interesting, especially on the impact they had.

Other good ones I've read recently:

Agent Zigzag by Ben Macintyre - the true story of a British double agent during WWII. Like someone said - it wouldn't have worked if it was fiction, because it is too unbelievable.

Nomad by Alan Partridge - hilarious spoof in documentary style - similar to the humor in The Office.

[1] https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2017/05/dr...

Re: Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?

#157

Post by andersthue » Fri, Jul 13, 2018, 9:04 AM UTC

The Anatomy of Peace, from the arbinger institute.

It tells a story about Lou who is fighting to keep his business alive and keeping his son out of jail, as Lou learns how to be more humane and create less conflict, so does the reader.

It is the book that has had the biggest impact on me and my business.

The second most impactful book is “Crucial Conversations”

Re: Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?

#158

Post by Stronico » Fri, Jul 13, 2018, 9:06 AM UTC

1. You Can't Win by Jack Black - autobiography of a late 19th century safecracker and general criminal - long enough ago for everything to be different, but the differences are still recognizable

2. Stalin - the Kremlin Mountaineer - a great, and short biography of Joseph Stalin - one of the rare books that could have been longer

3. Stars Beneath Us: Finding God in the Evolving Cosmos by Paul Wallace - an astrophysicist looks at the book of Job and reveals it as the big picture view.

4. The True Believer by Eric Hoffer - the all time classic of the study of mass movements. Full of aphorisms too.

Re: Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?

#159

Post by tikkabhuna » Fri, Jul 13, 2018, 9:06 AM UTC

Black Box Thinking: The Surprising Truth About Success by Matthew Syed.

It looks at anecdotes and stats around different industries and people and their approach to failure and learning from it. Goes on a bit about incremental gains and how those who are successful are so because of many little things, rather than a few big ones.

Re: Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?

#160

Post by sdevoid » Fri, Jul 13, 2018, 9:08 AM UTC

AllegedAlec wrote: post #144

jboynyc wrote: post #132

I recently read The Dispossessed and The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin, and will continue reading her stuff over the summer for sure. It's really great. (HN discussion about her obituary: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16218439 ) The other day I started Pictures of a Gone City , a book about the Bay Area by critical geographer Richard Walker. It was recently discussed here ( https://news.ycombinator.com/…

> Ursula K. Le Guin I tried reading her Earthsea series once, but I found her writing style rather awkward. It all felt rather emotionless and descriptive, with much detail left out. In fact, now I think about it, it rather reminded me of the writing style of the Old Testament. Are her other books also like that?

Her Hainish novels (SF) may be more to your liking, but I think all of her works are informed by the kind of mysticism that informed her translation of the Tao Te Ching. What made A Wizard of Earthsea dry for you?