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Comment by broken_symlink | Hacker News Reader

I've been wanting to get in to reading, but my biggest issue is finding something to read that interests me. How did you start finding things?

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Easiest for me to get started (since it was topical and I could convince myself there was value) was to pick the most interesting books from the "most mentioned on HN" lists out there [0].

[0] https://hackernewsbooks.com/top-books-on-hacker-news

Thanks. Didn't know about that. Bookmarking that pronto!

What interests you in other mediums? For example, if you like sci-fi movies, try reading some sci-fi books. Some people look down on shitty genre fiction, but it's great for getting you into the habit of reading. And as you read more and more of those guilt pleasures, you will become interested in trying other genres or more literary works.

Here's Reddit's top 200: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/reddit-top-200. Pick one that sounds interesting.

Those list dumps aren't particularly useful, as you have everything from Calvin & Hobbes and Tolstoy to Freakanomics and King James Bible.

- If you're looking for easy-entry, entertaining contemporary scifi, start with Red Rising, Hyperion, Old Man's War, Children of Time, or We Are Legion - We Are Bob.

- Classic Scifi is harder since some of it has not aged well. Easy-entry here would be I Robot, Moon is a Harsh Mistress, I am Legend, Dune, or Flowers for Algernon.

- Fantasy genre also suffers from repeated/common tropes, but some of the more inventive or engaging ones are Blood Song, Prince of Thorns (dark), The Blade Itself, or Sabriel (Audiobook by Tim Curry).

I would like to add the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy to that list.

1. What are you interested in? 2. Seek out popular books on indicated interest. 3. Choose book and read.

Seriously though, I jumped back into reading by picking a genre I loved, but was very behind on. In my case it was science fiction and started with the rather famous Dune. There have been some books I started and did not like so I stopped. When I find a stack of books for free I try to seek out if anything looks interesting (and check for quality) and grab 1 or 2. Worst case scenario you can just returneth the book from whence it came.

There's always Gnod[0].

Finally getting into reading will be like picking up any other activity. You need to fully commit for a while before it becomes something that you really need to do (rather something you only want to do).

[0] http://www.gnod.com/

When I am at a loss for something to read and I want something that is usually a low-effort but very good read, i throw darts at the Pulitzer for fiction list.

I'm reading Greer's "Less" today, the most recent winner, and it is really pretty great.

If you haven't read Hemingway, "The Old Man and the Sea" is a pretty good starting point.

If you are into post-apocalyptic fiction at all, you need to read McCarthy's "The Road"

(Note, if you want Steinbeck - personally, I liked 'Of Mice and Men' a lot more than "The Grapes of Wrath" but both are good. Just saying I don't always side with the committee)

I mean, we can argue all day about what the best book is, but everything on that list is going to be both very good and usually quite accessible; you will note that Joyce is conspicuously absent, and a few of these are assigned reading in high school.

If you want to read stuff before that (and get free books from gutenberg!) I recommend you check out Mark Twain and Joseph Conrad. Both are excellent. "The end of his tether" is my favorite Conrad. "Roughing it" is my favorite Twain.

Not necessarily great for starting, but document what you read on Goodreads, or some other similar site. It starts to recommend more books based on that (and what other users have said about them), and I've found some real gems that way.

For starting, you could still use Goodreads to possibly find something interesting, or take a recommendation from someone who has similar taste in other things as you.

It’s a little high brow for me rather too often, but have a flick through a London Review Of Books. Don’t subscribe as you’ll feel great shame if you don’t get through them all. Or find some other review process - eg work your way though Booker Prize winners. Most decent papers have a review section too. Once you find your source your sorted for ages as reviews rarely date.

I started reading things that were related to programming but weren't textbooks (i.e. The Pragmatic Programmer and The Mythical Man-Month).

Then I started reading books on skills I wanted to acquire (i.e. Traction for marketing and SPIN Selling for sales).

All of those books lead to recommendations into other books.

Listening to podcasts that recommend books increase the breadth of books I'm reading.

My wife brings home books from the library and I read whatever she reads (i.e. Hillbilly Elegy and The People vs Democracy), and those lead to other nonfiction books I become interested in. And then there are the "classic" novels I interleave from time to time (i.e. Siddhartha and Meditations).

It just starts with maybe a handful of books you are dying to read, try to read for 15 min before bed, and before you know it, you're 50 books into the year!

For literary fiction, literary friends and book reviews. Also, anytime you see a name come up again and again, look into getting a something they have written. I bought Dostoyevsky because I kept seeing him come up (worth it).

Find small/independent presses that do cool things; even independent presses as large as New Directions will have a certain culture you can base opinions off of and figure out if its worth your time. Note that if its an imprint of one of the Big 5 theres no way to know if the book is gonna be worth it based on that.

And read books in translation. By virtue of being translated you already know its worth somebody's time, bad books arent often translated. And often they are hella good.

I loved thethecouple of books by dostoyevsky i have read. They were difficult to get into, but it occurs to me one of the really interesting and pleasant things about reading is attuning yourself to a writers tempo, patterns and word play. It forces you to adjust your own internal voice.

If you have access to a good library, it's a good place to try various types of books to see what you like. Ultimately, what you will be reading a few years later is hard to predict from what you start reading now. However, in the beginning, finding something that "hooks" you is the best bet because it gives you the experience of being absorbed in a book. These are the books with which I have introduced some people to the world of books:

- The Lord of The Rings

- The Hobbit

- Dracula

- The Little Prince

- Animal Farm

- Asterix and Obelix comicbooks

- Siddhartha

For the next time, I'm going to try "Necronmicon" (H. P. Lovecraft!)

(EDIT: Formatting and added "Siddhartha")

The Little Prince is such a short wonderful book. I mean i don't even think its for kids.

Not OP, but for me the biggest boon to my reading has been the kindle for a variety of reasons:

1. If I'm not into a book, I wont force it, I can just jump to a new one.

2. 1-click downloads, if something sounds good I can just send a sample to the kindle. If it really sounds good I'll just buy it.

3. Portability, it's always in my bag and the charge lasts weeks.

I get book recommendations from Hacker News reading lists, podcasts, and friends. Then just download the sample.

I used to walk into the library on my way home and just look at covers and spines until I had 5 or so books that literally looked interesting. I gave each book a chapter of reading before deciding to finish it or not.

Don't judge a book by a cover, but do have some curiosity.

Definitely. I go to the local bookstore once a week to check new releases/acquisitions. I've found it nice to check the cover/title and, if it catches my eye, read more about it or try a chapter. Found some really good stuff I'd've never read otherwise that way. This mostly works for non-fiction, though I've found it great for fantasy novels as well. I usually take a picture then go see if anyone I trust on Goodreads has read it, or if the library has it.

If you insert what you've read at Goodreads it uses algorithms to figure out what you may like. If you add books there on your todo list you'll never run out of material. Or add some programming books.

If you're not a big reader then try the Harry Potter series. Although they are aimed at kids there is a lot of depth in them with the bonus they are easy to read and also quite gripping.

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