What books would you recommend reading? Why? | Hacker News Reader

What books would you recommend reading? Why?

37 pointsaswanson89 comments

1) Musashi's Book of Five Rings 2) Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People 3) Machaivelli's The Prince 4) Sun-Tzu's The Art of War 5) Hayakawa's Language in Thought and Action 6) Steven Johnson's Emergence 7) Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel 8) Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything 9) Mark Buchanan's Nexus 10) C. S. Lewis's The Problem of Pain

Taken together, these books cover just about everything there is to know about the sciences, about human history, human nature and how to understand and communicate effectively with other people. Only one other book besides these needs to be studied/read: The Bible.

Brilliant. Double up-vote (if I could) on Musashi's Book of Five Rings.

Guns Germs and Steel is possibly one of the most fascinating books I've read in years. No wonder it won a Pulitzer.

Also I have to add a Carl Sagan book. "Varieties of Scientific Experience" is fantastic. "pale blue dot", as well.

Favorite computer book: Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs - ISBN 0-07-000484-6 - Whether you actually like Scheme is beside the point. I got this book for an intro class into functional programming, and we only used sections one and two... but I enjoyed it so much I went through the rest of it on my own during Christmas break. Was probably the greatest experience I have had programming since first groking OO.

Favorite non-computer book: Ender's Game - ISBN 0-812-55070-6 - I have probably read this about 10 times. All the other books in the series are good too, but it really stands apart from the rest.

As an aside, the Economist is probably the best (IMHO) news source out there, as it actually goes in depth as to the causes of events, rather than just listing them with pretty explosions. It's also delightfully devoid of sensationalist stories normally found on TV News or Newspapers. Added bonus: you get a nice discount if you subscribe as a student. Not sure I could recommend it highly enough.

I would concur with Xichekolas with respect to both Ender's Game and the Economist. Also, The Next Fifty Years: Science in the First Half of the Twenty-first Century (Paperback) is excellent.

I think "Speaker For The Dead" which is the second book in the Ender Series is better than the Ender book itself. The first 10 pages which is the authors introduction is the best introduction to a book I have ever read.

Thanks. Someone recommended the second book to me before - I mistakenly read "Ender's Shadow" and was mildly disappointed. Will be sure to pick up "Speaker" on your suggestion.

Couldn't resist:

http://xkcd.com/304/

Yeah, the alt text on that comic made my day...

I don't think it's quite right to say that SftD is the second book in the series. Rather, Ender's Game is the common prequel to two trilogies that begin with SftD and Ender's Shadow.

"...the Economist is probably the best (IMHO) news source out there..."

I'm also always impressed by how evenly they cover the globe. There are sections for Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas, etc. of roughly equal weight. And features often cover the economic impact of an event around the world, not just a specific country or region. A great way to get a feel for what's really happening outside your little part of the planet.

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. It is arguably the most useful book I've ever read, albeit with the most embarassing title.

As inklesspen mentioned, Elements of Style is a must.

Code Complete and the Mythical Man Month by Fred Brooks. Timeless coding wisdom.

For a laugh, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, or Hitchhiker's Guide.

Body Language, Julius Fast. Kitschy but fascinating insights into body language.

Fabric of the Cosmos, Brian Greene. Brian is a fluke of nature--a physicist who can explain things realy well!

Anything by Phillip K. Dick. Sci-fi stories that make you think.

Oh, one more: A Clockwork Orange. The book is much better than the movie. It's nicer if you haven't already seen the movie and got Stanley Kubrick's acid-trip biasing your perceptions..

All excellent suggestions. Altho I am unfamiliar w/ Body Language I will check it out. Just working through the Carnegie book now.

Also, I believe Code Complete is by Steve McConnnell.

Oh sorry, didn't mean to imply Brooks wrote Code Complete. I just accidentally left the author out of the sentence...

In fiction:

Bridge of Birds, by Barry Hughart. Easily some of the best storytelling I've ever read. 1/3 comedy, 2/3 adventure, in an ancient China that never was. http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0345321383/

Homer's epics. I prefer the translation by W.H.D. Rouse, which you can find at http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0451527372/ and http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0451527364/

Heading even further back in time, I love this rendition of Gilgamesh: http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0618275649/ Even in 2000 BCE they thought the world was ancient.

Lady of Mazes by Karl Schroeder has one of the best treatments of post-singularity life (and what makes life in general worth living) that I've ever read: http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0765350785/

Nonfiction: The Mythical Man-Month. A little dated (it's directed at mainframe developers and their managers) but still relevant.

The Elements of Style (Strunk and White). Learn to write clearly -- it's valuable no matter what you do.

Programming Erlang: Software for a Concurrent World. Easily the best programming text I've read in the last year, and it's sold me on Erlang.

Among all books since the printing press? Can you be more specific?

Actually, I take that back. I do know some great ones that you ought to read no matter what your situation.

The Little Schemer http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/matthias/BTLS/

Master and Commander http://books.google.com/books?id=rx_yw5iMtnIC&dq=&pg...

Lord of the Rings (you can find this one yourself)

and probably a lot more, but I've got to run. Good luck!

I second the master and commander series. I read all 21. Amazing.

Afghan history Books, both incredible:

http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-Afghanistan-Invasion-Septem...

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Game-Struggle-Central-Kodansha/d...

Why: While the Master and Commander Series are historical fictions they teach you A LOT about the Napoleonic Wars, The British Empire and the British Navy.

The Afghan books are also incredible adventures that happen to be entirely true. I like books that teach me history in a fun way.

Yeah, I third the Master and Commander series. Besides extraordinary historical detail, his characters show a deep understanding of the human personality (at least to a socially inept geek).

That being said, I'm only on my second one so far.

Here are three books that I have loved reading

1. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

I know its been mentioned already, but truly this is a book worth mentioning twice. For the introverted or the arugmentative type and for anyone else, this book hits alot critical and sometimes overlooked human traits that everyone should be aware of in their daily interactions with other people.

A few quotes by Carnegie. Avoid arguments "you can't win an argument, because if you win it you lose it, and if you lose...well you lose it."

"few people think of themselves as bad people" -means regardless of how they look,dress or talk, most people are appproachable with a smile and a "hi".

"people will always strive to justify themselves".

All three of these quotes are connected.

2. The Innovators Solution - Christensen and Raynor

If you've ever heard the quote "First they ignore you,... then they fight you, then you win." by Gandhi. This book puts it in perspective in relation to how small companies over take large companies.

3.The 48 Laws of Power _ Robert Greene. Go Go read if you haven't yet. This is a great book! It pullls lessons which you can learn from various types of people throughout history from painters,generals to presidents.

My favorite was Law 28: "Enter action with boldness". Be bold in your ideas, be bold in how your carry yourself in life.

I know I said three 3, but Seth Godin still deserves some mention with All marketers are liars. Which simply I take to mean for us here is if your developing a startup, make sure it has a good...no a great story to tell.

Hubbard's "A Message to Garcia" (written in 1899) is a must-read. It's available online here: http://www.birdsnest.com/garcia.htm

My AI professor made us read it for his class - no one else in the class seemed to like it, so you might not either.

My other two staples are

Paul Arden's books. ("It's Not How Good You Are, Its How Good You Want to Be: The World's Best Selling Book", and "Whatever You Think, Think the Opposite")

They're short reads, with huge print. Very simple, and to the point. They don't really say anything new / earth shaking - but it's a nicely packaged dose of one part inspiration, one part ambition, and one part a kick in the pants to do stuff. Anytime I'm in a lull, I re-read them both. They're also handy to give to nay-saying family, "friends" and colleagues.

If I haven't gifted you with this personal tri-force, you're probably not my friend.

Can I be your friend?

being my friend doesn't guarantee you get the presents... but i'm always open to meeting new people.

Anything by Richard Feynman. I recently read 'Perfectly reasonable deviations from the beaten path' and really enjoyed it. It gave good insight into how Feynman lived his life (eg, asking not to be a member of the National Academy of Sciences), and how he treated others. I think the most beneficial thing I learned from this was how he let 'unimportant' things slide to make time for his life's work.

It's pretty tragic how little most people understand about basic economics. Not just with respect to how societies function, but basic concepts like incentives and the law of supply and demand. Oh, and of course No Free Lunch.

So in that spirit, here are a couple of economics books that I quite seriously believe everyone should be forced to read.

Economics in One Lesson, by Hazlitt

Free to Choose: A Personal Statement, by Milton and Rose Friedman

Freakonomics, by Levitt and Dubner (this book is just so damn fun to read)

and for the hackers: The God of the Machine, by Paterson (Think engineering principles as applied to economics, history and politics. Probably one of the most interesting books I've read in my entire life, even if I don't entirely agree with the thesis.)

Is freakonomics pretty credible? It seemed intriguing, but also smelt a bit of marketing obvious ideas when I flipped through it in the store.

I think several of the stories in it have been debunked. I remember at least reading that the story about the drug dealer turned out to be a hoax - unknown to the authors of the book, but I was disappointed to not at least find a statement regarding the issue on their homepage.

Freakonomics is a great book because it introduces fundamental principles of economics on intuitive grounds. So you're not talking about incentives with respect to society or some other abstract entity, but with respect to specific cases. Plus, as I mentioned above, it's an extremely fun read. Very well written and the ideas presented are definitely compelling. I'd recommend to go as far as to read the original research papers that the book is based on. Especially the abortion-crime one.

Yes, I also enjoyed reading it. I think their blog is also good.

There is definitely some of that. After all the book is targeted towards a popular audience. But that being said there are a couple of remarkably original ideas.

For example, going from least to most intersting:

1. Statistically speaking a child is much more likely to drown in a swimming pool than be killed by a gun (of course, corrected for socioeconomic status and all the standard stuff.) Yet we see countless campaigns against gun violence with the argument that x number of kids get killed due to guns, and none for "swimming pool safety" or a host of other things that are far more likely to kill you.

2. There is a study of a daycare center where a problem they were dealing with was parents picking up kids late. So the daycare instituted fines. The result was more parents picking up their kids late. Why? because after conducting interviews they found that the guilt associated with being late was more of a motivator than the small fine. Having paid the fine, the parents no longer felt as bad about being late. That's a very conterintuitive result if you ask me.

3. The famous abortion-crime link. The idea being that the legalization of abortion in the 70s is what caused the massive decrease in violent crime in the 90s. Very convincingly argued. And certainly presents a better theory than The Tipping Point.

Anyway. There's more where that came from.

"Having paid the fine, the parents no longer felt as bad about being late."

It became paid babysitting.

[Right Wing] Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt is primarily a 1940's take on the 1840's essay What is Seen and What is Not Seen by Frederic Bastiat. You can read the original here: http://www.econlib.org/library/Bastiat/basEss1.html

Economics in One Lesson is not right wing, it's libertarian. Today, right wing means big government and religion.

GEB (Godel Escher Bach : An Eternal Golden Braid )

Read it because no matter who you are, what you know, and even whether or not you've read it before it will make you think critically and you will learn something.

It was a fun read, on the other hand, couldn't it be condensed down to five lines or so? OK, or maybe two pages? It seems to just put forward lots of variations of the same theme, which might be more confusing than clarifying in the end.

Most novels can be condensed, yet, it'd suck to read the condensed version. I'd say the same of GEB.

Sure. Most complex ideas can be simplified into succinct, formal mathematical statements, but that doesn't mean I would prefer reading the formalisms in place of prose.

Also, try to narrow it down into 5 lines. I'd be curious what you come up with.

GEB slowly builds up an analogy that likens inanimate molecules to meaningless symbols, and further likens selves (or "I"'s or "souls" if you prefer -- whatever it is that distinguishes animate from inanimate matter) to certain special swirly, twisty, vortex-like, and meaningful patterns that arise only in particular types of systems of meaningless symbols. It is these strange, twisty patterns that the book spends so much time on, because they are little known, little appreciated, counterintuitive, and quite filled with mystery. And for reasons that should not be too difficult to fathom, I call such strange, loopy patterns "strange loops" throughout the book, although in later chapters, I also use the phrase "tangled hierarchies" to describe basically the same idea.

-- Douglas R. Hofstadter

It's been a while that I read it, but I think

"this sentence is a lie"

sums it up nicely? Isn't the whole book about driving home the point that there are unprovable statements in mathematics?

Being a programmer, you've probably felt the appeal of Platonism, so I'd recommend a couple of his dialogues: Phaedrus, Symposium, and the Republic (in order of length, short to long, since they are pretty dense). I'd also recommend reading the Republic last, so you can get over the misconceptions you were probably taught in high school.

Allan Bloom's Closing of the American Mind is also very enlightening for a) understanding the goals of the enlightenment, and b) understanding the current state of our culture.

Plato is crap: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=57000

I like this quote:

"To this day, most philosophers suffer from Plato's disease: the assumption that reality fundamentally consists of abstract essences best described by words or geometry. (In truth, reality is largely a probabilistic affair best described by statistics.)"

Before Plato and Heraclitus, Greeks thought reality was essentially chaotic and impossible to understand. You can see this in their creation myths. Heraclitus originated the idea of the Logos, a pattern underlying everything, and Plato built on this.

I think you mean before Thales.

Search for logos here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraclitus

You stated that before Heraclitus 'Greeks thought reality was essentially chaotic and impossible to understand.' Thales is a counter-example who is earlier than Heraclitus. See the IEP http://www.iep.utm.edu/g/greekphi.htm or Edward Hussey's excellent book.

Assuming a material origin implies reality is orderly and understandable?

Speculating on a causal principle implies that there is causality in the universe. Consequently, order and the possiblity of some degree of understanding are also implied, although the translation from speculation to empirical confirmation is not.

I see. Well, sounds like you know more about the pre-Socratics than I. I was under the impression that it wasn't until Heraclitus that people thought things in our mind, like math, would correspond with external reality.

FYI, Pythagoras also pre-dates Heraclitus.

Huh, I'll have to find out what made Heraclitus' notion of Logos so distinct then.

Founders At Work - Startup advice straight from those who have done it and have been successful.

Usually I will find out what book famous people has read, what are their favorite books, hope that any book which bring influence on them, will bring good influence on me too.. also, as famous n successful people combined with their experience, I'm sure they have better taste on their choice too.

Stephen King's Favorite: This Book Will Save Your Life by A. M. Homes Saturday by Ian McEwan The Mad Cook of Pymatuning: A Novel by Christopher Lehmann-Haupt The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson The Tenderness of Wolves: A Novel by Stef Penney When Will There Be Good News?: A Novel by Kate Atkinson

J.K. Rowling's Favorite: The Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L. Sayers I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith Skellig by David Almond The Woman Who Walked into Doors by Roddy Doyle

Jeffrey Eugenides, author, Pulitzer prize winner "Herzog," by Saul Bellow "Love in a Fallen City," by Eileen Chang "The Lay of the Land," by Richard Ford

Oprah Winfrey's Favorite: White Oleander by Janet Fitch The Color Purple by Alice Walker A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

For complete list visit http://www.famouspal.com

Against the Gods by Peter Bernstein. At worst, a good background education on the history of probabilistic thought. At best, could fundamentally alter your world view.

That book was OK, but the later parts (where he talks about CAPM and so forth) are uninformative to anyone who knows about modern mathematical finance.

If you're looking for pop-math/finance books that could change how you look at the world, I'd recomment Taleb's "Fooled by Randomness" instead. Taleb is smug, but he makes an important point: people are way too eager to see patterns where none exist.

It depends on your age and level of education. Goedel, Escher, Bach was mind-blowing when I was 19. Four years (and some college) later it's a tedious bore.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "Memories of My Melancholy Whores" is pretty great.

Oliver Sacks' "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat" is full of amazing case studies that will help you construct a personal theory of mind.

The Evolution of Cooperation. It puts in formal terms some common sense about interactions among self-interested individuals.

Also pick up a game-theory textbook, which puts those formal terms in even more formal terms. ;-)

My course used Prajit K. Dutta's Strategies and Games: Theory and Practices (http://www.amazon.com/Strategies-Games-Practice-Prajit-Dutta...), which seemed fairly good, though I don't have much to compare it with.

Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger is among my favorites of all time.

The Dark Tower series (Stephen King) is one of the most amazing tales I have ever had the pleasure to become immersed in.

There are plenty more, but the key thing is just to READ. Read everything you can get your hands on.

For fiction, I'm surprised no one has mentioned:

The Dune series by Frank Herbert. Unlike anything else I've read, and one of the most compelling and detailed fictional universes in literature.

The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. Don't confuse it for fantasy - it's brilliant satire. Littered with geeky references and clever wordplay, I actually enjoy it a bit more than the Hitchhiker's Guide books. If you like Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett is a pretty safe bet.

Anything by Stanislaw Lem - clever and funny science fiction. A good match for my weird sense of humour.

All of the above can slightly change the way you see the world.

For non-fiction, another vote for the Mythical Man Month.

I was going to mention Dune. That series taught me an important lesson: the techniques of mind, and the mind-body interface, are a technology - and we are still in the dark ages. We do not know how to learn, how to teach, how to make best use of our brains to analyze or synthesize. We are generally blind to our own minds and bodies and running nine tenths of the time on autopilot. When individuals get these skills, it's by aptitude or discovery. We haven't systematized them, we haven't made a science of them, we certainly don't teach them in school. There's a lot of room for improvement.

There is the Startup Library, if you did not know about it, on this site: http://ycombinator.com/lib.html

That site sounds a little suspect. I'd definitely avoid it.

For someone who wants to establish a startup company I also recommend all of Clayton Christensen's books on innovation <http://www.claytonchristensen.com/publications.html>. He describes the difference between sustaining and disruptive innovations; if you want to make it big with a startup then you need to be disruptive.

The Origin of Wealth http://www.mckinsey.com/ideas/books/originofwealth/overview....

I thought it was very provocative, i was feeling very bored and reading it awoke my curiosity and eagerness to learn again.

Pratkanis & Aronson: Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion

http://www.amazon.com/Age-Propaganda-Everyday-Abuse-Persuasi...

It helped me to filter politics to save more time for coding.

The Robert Pirsig books are excellent: Zen and the Art of Motercycle maintenance, and its sequal Lila.

Papillion by Charest, amazing inspirational true story. Voltaire's Bastards - John Rolston Saul - Timeless anything by Nietzsche The economist and the New Yorker anything you can get your hands on but with a grain of salt.

The Search by John Battelle. Then, just for fun, Neuromancer.

Forgot the bonus round book: "Lucky or Smart" by Bo Peabody - another VERY short reflection on his founding of Tripod during the tech boom.

Never Eat Alone, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Getting to Yes, The Effective Executive ...and like 40 more, too many to list!

Along a more specific line, what are the best books for understanding the business world?

Fooled By Randomness by Nassim Taleb and Seth Godin's book All Marketers Are Liars have just completely changed the way I think about the business world.

I'm looking forward to getting to The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb.

Look up Peter Drucker if you're having to deal with big institutions. If you're trying to understand web startups, then you probably need to read Gonzo Marketing

Non hacker books: From Good to Great and Built to Last

I second the nomination of "Good to Great" by Jim Collins <http://www.jimcollins.com/lib/books.html>. It's the best general business book I've read. Most popular business books were written by one manager who was successful one time at one company, but often their advice isn't generally applicable. "Good to Great" is actually based on quantitative economic and sociological research across many companies and it shows compelling evidence for how certain factors often lead to success.

Art of the Deal, by Trump

I assume you're asking about books for startup people.

Paul's essays couldn't hurt. I am not a karma whore. ;-)

Mindset, by Carol Dweck. It'll change the way you think about the way you think. Incredibly relevant for justifying your yes-I-can attitude.

The Four-Hour Work Week, by Tim Ferriss. You've never thought about life and how to live it quite the way Tim does.

Tim's a bit of an ass, though. His method is sort of like a Ponzai scheme -- most of it will only work for the first X% of people to adopt it, after which it's no longer sustainable.

What's his method?

Gotta read the book -- totally worth your time.

For a sample: explore http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/. You have to ignore the stock photos. Tim doesn't realize that some of his promotion comes off as get-rich-quick. He is not a huckster -- nor is he promoting any kind of scheme. Just explore his world. Even if you don't do what he suggests (I haven't, so far, as a 44-year-old father and husband), you'll love living vicariously through him.

Get others to do your work for you as much as possible, basically.

I don't know Tim, so maybe he's an ass, maybe he's not.

But I don't think he's suggesting that entire societies live according to his prescription. Obviously that wouldn't work. He's betting that only a small percentage will try his life (and he's probably correct), in which case it'll work just fine.

Example: if 25% of US citizens moved to Rio to enjoy the value of the dollar down there, it'd ruin everything. At least in Rio. Since <%1 of Americans are actually going to try living in Rio for any length of time, Tim's plan will work really well.

I don't know him either; I'm basing that on the perception I got of him from reading the book. And yeah, the plan just doesn't scale.

"Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking." --Albert Einstein

The Fabric of Reality.

Why? Find out for yourself. Read the opening paragraphs here:

http://www.qubit.org/people/david/FabricOfReality/FoRExtract...

Also, I second GEB.

The One Minute Millionaire by Robert Allen and Mark Victor Hansen : it explains you what exactly works if you want to be financially successful - I would strongly recommend it.

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