Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?

#381

Post by ryneandal » Thu, Aug 17, 2023, 3:01 PM UTC

vanderZwan wrote: post #296

I've been slowly going through Divine Proportions: Rational Trigonometry to Universal Geometry , by Norman J. Wildberger. Wildberger is a mathematician, and a finitist. This means that he doesn't believe in infinity in the modern mathematical sense (I'm sure he won't dispute that the integers are unbound, for example). Which means he does not believe that Real numbers are properly defined either, or that limits are r…

Highly recommend his History of Mathematics lectures on YouTube, if you are interested in that sort of thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW8Cy6WrO94&list=PL55C7C8378...

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?

#382

Post by hotnfresh » Thu, Aug 17, 2023, 3:02 PM UTC

hknmtt wrote: post #294

cpursley wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn’t find a single practical take away in the Voss book. The entire thing was him boasting about his “accomplishments”. I’d go as far as saying it was totally useless.

then you must have some learning disability because it was very well written. if i were to explain it to someone, i would say that the main idea was that you have two parties, two houses. you walk into the other party's house and simply let them explain their reasoning to you. you are indirectly confronting them. and by letting them do the talking, they have to back up everything they are saying, which leads to "gotc…

Agree with cpursley. Voss’ “this is a real thing I did and this is how it went!” stories overwhelmed my bullshit-o-meter so badly that I put the book down about 2/3 through. I think I got a paragraph’s worth of actionable information out of the most-of-the-book that I read.

As far as I could tell, the book was an ad for his consulting & training services. Which means that it did its job perfectly, between all the boasting and the nuggets of an idea that are almost, but not quite, useful (“man, this just isn’t working… guess I better pay for some classes!”)

Hard non-recommendation here.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?

#383

Post by benwerd » Thu, Aug 17, 2023, 3:02 PM UTC

Here are some I've read recently that I can highly recommend:

Fiction:

- How High We Go in the Dark, a deeply moving science fiction story about loss - https://bookshop.org/p/books/how-high-we-go-in-the-dark-sequ...

- Severance (no relation to the TV show), which works as a pretty good double bill to the above - https://bookshop.org/p/books/severance-ling-ma/9880874

- Ripe, about the artifice of Silicon Valley and its human cost - https://bookshop.org/p/books/ripe-sarah-rose-etter/18992345

Non-fiction:

- The Jakarta Method, on US foreign policy (really should be required reading for every US citizen) - https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-jakarta-method-washington-s...

- Poverty, by America, which is in some ways a cathartic read about the systemic ways poverty is incentivized (by the author of the deservedly award-winning Evicted) - https://bookshop.org/p/books/poverty-by-america-matthew-desm...

- README.txt: Chelsea Manning's memoir, which is riveting - not just about her story, but also in the little details about the information work she did while she was deployed - https://bookshop.org/p/books/readme-txt-a-memoir-chelsea-man...

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?

#384

Post by doitLP » Thu, Aug 17, 2023, 3:02 PM UTC

What’s Our Problem by Tim Urban of https://waitbutwhy.com fame.

Excellent breakdown of the problem of politics and the increasing polarization of our times. Plus loads of great illustrations and humor besides. Can’t recommend it enough.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?

#385

Post by wombat-man » Thu, Aug 17, 2023, 3:03 PM UTC

_gabe_ wrote: post #354

I’ve also been getting back into fantasy and sci-fi. I’m reading through the Wheel of Time series right now and it’s the best series I’ve ever read. I’m on book 7 and really glad there’s still 7 books left. If you liked Eragon, then you’ll probably love this series. Contrast that to Dune, which I heard so much praise for and was very very disappointed by. The first Dune book was ok, but it just went downhill from the…

Yeah, I tried a couple times to get into Dune, never finished it. I'll just enjoy the movies.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?

#386

Post by ryneandal » Thu, Aug 17, 2023, 3:07 PM UTC

Cannot recommend Piranesi by Susanna Clarke enough. A lovely read and could be devoured in an entire day if you're willing and able.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?

#387

Post by AlecSchueler » Thu, Aug 17, 2023, 3:08 PM UTC

The History of Art without Men by Katy Hessel is a fascinating look back at the development of western art but with a focus on the women whose works either made an impact and were forgotten by art history, or whose work never got the recognition it deserved.

She does a great job at highlighting the social pressures that prevented these women either from achieving long lasting recognition or from reaching the same access to education, tools or simply dissemination as their male counterparts.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?

#388

Post by mptest » Thu, Aug 17, 2023, 3:08 PM UTC

JackMorgan wrote: post #361

Some recent books that really enriched my life: - "Ace: What asexuality reveals about desire, society, and the meaning of sex" by Angela Chen. Really helped me understand my ace friends better. - "Complex PTSD: From surviving to thriving" by Pete Walker. Helped me recover from a lot of trauma that was causing me duress - "The Wizard and the Prophet" by Charles C. Mann. Helped me recover from anxiety disorder caused b…

In a similar vein to the CPTSD rec, I will always tell people Walking your blues away by thom hartman (basically about applying emdr while walking) saved my life. It is a truly wonderful short and easy to read book.Everyone I've recommended it to from different walks of life have all found it fantastic. If you've anything weighing on you, walking your blues away may help. Thank you for your recommendations.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?

#389

Post by hknmtt » Thu, Aug 17, 2023, 3:08 PM UTC

hotnfresh wrote: post #382

hknmtt wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

then you must have some learning disability because it was very well written. if i were to explain it to someone, i would say that the main idea was that you have two parties, two houses. you walk into the other party's house and simply let them explain their reasoning to you. you are indirectly confronting them. and by letting them do the talking, they have to back up everything they are saying, which leads to "gotc…

Agree with cpursley. Voss’ “this is a real thing I did and this is how it went!” stories overwhelmed my bullshit-o-meter so badly that I put the book down about 2/3 through. I think I got a paragraph’s worth of actionable information out of the most-of-the-book that I read. As far as I could tell, the book was an ad for his consulting & training services. Which means that it did its job perfectly, between all the boa…

you missed the forest for the trees then.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?

#390

Post by manicennui » Thu, Aug 17, 2023, 3:10 PM UTC

I'm reading "Ways of Being" by James Bridle. It is about intelligence and specifically animal and plant intelligence. I'm learning a lot of science that I either never knew or was taught incorrectly in high school. Very thought provoking.