Comment by alawrence | Hacker News Reader

Comment by alawrence | Hacker News Reader

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The War of Art - Steven Pressfield (unsure how I felt about this one, but it's short so worth a read)

Deep Work - Cal Newport (recommended)

Stumbling on Happiness - Daniel Gilbert (recommended)

Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals - Heidi Grant-Halvorson (lots of great stuff in here, highly recommended)

The Autobiography of Malcolm X - Alex Haley (I really like biographies and Malcolm X was a pretty interesting person. recommended)

Making It in Real Estate: Starting Out as a Developer - John McNellis (meh)

Ready Player One - Ernest Cline (I'm not big on sci-fi, so this book surprised me with how good it was. recommended)

Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl (I'm not sure how much I got out of it, but worth it just for learning about Frankl's unique experiences and perspectives. recommended)

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future (meh)

Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture - David Kushner (One of those books that makes you want to lock yourself in a room and program for hours. Carmack's dedication and intellect is especially awe-inspiring. recommended)

+1 (+2?) for Deep Work and Ready Player One. Read both this year, and both are excellent. Also really liked The Martian.

I also read Ready Player One this year and thought it was excellent. Since then I've been searching for more books that pull me in like that one did. Way of Kings is pretty good so far.

I tried to read it a couple of years ago and was unimpressed by the long lists of 'references' to 80's pop culture. I only made it about half way through before I abandoned it. Is it worth going back to finish it if I didn't enjoy the first half?

It's worth finishing I think — I enjoyed it, but that's not much to go on — but it is definitely the type of book that should remain unique in your collection. The eighties pop reference angle is interesting for those of us who had parts of their childhood in the eighties, but it is not something you would want to see repeated in a second or third book. A gimmick that works well once.

Reminds me of House of Leaves (Danielewski), which employs typography and layered (fictional) authors in a very compelling and unique manner. I can't imagine ever reading another book like that though (although I know I'll enjoy rereading it in the future). Any copy-cat would seem like cheap clone compared to the original.

There's less of it in the second half, but really at this point I'd just say wait for the movie to come out, which will likely do a better job of telling the story anyway (I say that mainly because I was thinking the entire time "I hate this guy's writing style, but this would probably make a fun movie").

I also found them a bit annoying but yes, it's worth going back to it.

I loved Way of Kings. Definitely recommend reading the second book in the series as well, 'Words of Radiance'

something similar would be "Off to be a Wizard" - would absolutely recommend it

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