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The Hacker News Top books of 2023

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Re: The Hacker News Top books of 2023

#21

Post by svat »

More accurately, this could be titled "most frequently mentioned books in replies to 'Ask HN' posts that have 'book' in their title".

(Like "Ask HN: Math books that made you significantly better at math?" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34439828 and "Ask HN: What are the most eye-opening textbooks you have ever read?" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35929112 and "Ask HN: Sci-Fi Book Recommendations" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35052757)

As such, the selection process here will be biased towards the kinds of 'Ask HN' posts that can get voted highly (to be visible, to attract many comments), and within those, these are the most frequently mentioned books.

(Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's always a good idea to pay attention to the selection criteria, as selection effects are everywhere. For example, it would also make sense to exclude such threads, to get a more representative idea of what books HN comments tend to talk about in natural contexts.)

Re: The Hacker News Top books of 2023

#22

Post by sfpotter »

The math books that made the list are ones that always rate highly on these lists, but I think they are uniformly bad choices for people with a more passive or recreational interest in math. A lot of textbook publishers have series for undergraduates which are a better choice. For example, here’s Springer’s: https://www.springer.com/series/3423. For someone who has a college level education in science or engineering, but not a math degree, I think they would have more fun looking through a series and picking a title that seems cool and interesting to them. I honestly just have to wonder how many programmers have unread copies of Principles of Mathematical Analysis sitting on their shelves unread.

Re: The Hacker News Top books of 2023

#26

Post by totallywrong »

mentos wrote: post #25
theusus wrote: post #20

How to win friends... Is an awful book and I'm tired of seeing it.

Why’s that, I found it to be insightful. “15% of one's financial success is due to one's technical knowledge. 85% is due to skill in human engineering”

I somewhat agree in principle, but that hasn't aged well.

Re: The Hacker News Top books of 2023

#28

Post by titanomachy »

sfpotter wrote: post #22

The math books that made the list are ones that always rate highly on these lists, but I think they are uniformly bad choices for people with a more passive or recreational interest in math. A lot of textbook publishers have series for undergraduates which are a better choice. For example, here’s Springer’s: https://www.springer.com/series/3423 . For someone who has a college level education in science or engineering…

Do you think the Princeton Companion is good for an amateur/casual audience? I've been thinking of picking up a copy. I've taken like 8-10 undergrad math courses, but no advanced topics.

Re: The Hacker News Top books of 2023

#29

Post by xwowsersx »

bckygldstn wrote: post #11
tester457 wrote: post #3

A site similar to this I enjoy is Reddit Reads[1]. It displays the top books for most subreddits. A fun way to learn about a niche, hobby or internet culture is seeing what that group reads. [1] https://www.redditreads.com/

Oh hey this is my site, I’m glad you like it!

Very nicely done. Thank you!

Re: The Hacker News Top books of 2023

#30

Post by medler »

theusus wrote: post #20

How to win friends... Is an awful book and I'm tired of seeing it.

Why do you say that? I like it and would recommend it to anyone.

Since I’m asking you to critique it I’ll go ahead and critique it myself, even though I’m overall positive on it. It’s aimed mainly at middle-aged business owners who are used to getting what they want and are, well, assholes. As such, its main message is to be nice and try to see things from the other person’s perspective. That’s good advice for the target audience, but if an already-nice 16-year-old picks it up I fear they run the risk of thinking the advice is “be a doormat,” which is not a good idea. (I read one review by a young woman who said she read the book and became a doormat. Yikes. Don’t do that).

That one pitfall aside, the book is chock full of good advice and imo deserves its place as a highly recommended guide to better people skills.

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