Ask HN: What book are you reading? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What book are you reading?

22 pointspibefision28 comments

Years ago, I discovered many great books to read here in HN. I wonder if asking this question again, some new books or interesting lectures can pop up. TKS!

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"Start Small, Stay Small" by Rob Walling. Discusses how to get a one-person business going for the least possible cost & time. http://goo.gl/ztkc3t

"web2py Complete Reference Manual, 6th Edition Prerelease", by far my favorite Python framework and being used for my new startup--see above! http://goo.gl/2kdl6O

"Field of Prey", John Sandford, a well-written thriller. http://goo.gl/F8QCoe

The (mis)Behavior of Markets, A Fractal View on Risk, Ruin, and Reward by Benoit B. Mandelbrot and Richard L. Hudson.

You may enjoy this book if you are interested in Financial Markets, have some knowledge of Efficient Market Theory, and aware of existence of Fractal Geometry.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Misbehavior-Markets-Financial-Turb...

Just started The Power of Full Engagement by Tony Schwartz and Jim Loehr. I believe it was recommended here a while ago. Starts off a bit weak, spending too much time almost trying to sell you the book it feels like, rather than getting down to what it's actually all about - you know the type, like those "motivational" videos that spend an hour talking about how great it works and how many people have changed their life without ever actually saying what the ___ "it" is. But it's not as bad as those, and I'm hopeful that as it gets into the real content it will be useful, since their general framework makes a lot of sense. (The key tenant being to focus on managing energy rather than time.)

I'm also eagerly awaiting the next Patrick Rothfuss Kingkiller Chronicle book. (Despite the low-fantasy sounding name, the series is excellent. I think it's probably the only fantasy series I would strongly recommend people pick up despite the fact that it's not finished yet.)

I'm also eagerly awaiting the next Patrick Rothfuss Kingkiller Chronicle book.

You and me both... I'm champing at the bit for this book to come out. I haven't been this annoyed waiting for a book since the wait for book four of Stephen King's Dark Tower series to come out.

I'm also waiting for the 3rd Kingkiller book. In the meantime I have to satisfy myself with reading a short story about Bast (with a Kvothe cameo) in GRR Martin's Rogues Anthology.

I'm also eagerly awaiting the next Patrick Rothfuss Kingkiller Chronicle book

Me too. The first two were great. Looking forward to the next book in the Mistborn series from Sanderson too.

A Canticle for Leibowitz

> In the depths of the Utah desert, long after the Flame Deluge has scoured the earth clean, a monk of the Order of Saint Leibowitz has made a miraculous discovery: holy relics from the life of the great saint himself, including the blessed blueprint, the sacred shopping list, and the hallowed shrine of the Fallout Shelter. In a terrifying age of darkness and decay, these artifacts could be the keys to mankind's salvation. But as the mystery at the core of this groundbreaking novel unfolds, it is the search itself—for meaning, for truth, for love—that offers hope for humanity's rebirth from the ashes.

http://www.amazon.com/Canticle-Leibowitz-Walter-Miller-Jr/dp...

Love and Math - Edward Frenkel

A very powerful book, both for its insights into incredible symmetries across all fields of mathematics (touching on QM and fields), and for the appeal to a positive and engaging attitude towards an incredibly rich fabric of math everywhere in the world

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Godel Escher Bach - Douglas Hoffstadter

Using isomorphisms between genetics, programming, and math to understand why it doesn't make sense to fully formalize a system, and that logic itself always breaks when you attempt to be rigid, by the very nature of its logical contsruction. Also a VERY readable book, complete with anecdotal fantasy stories about animals.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/233649.The_Great_Hunt

Book two of the wheel of time.

Have never read them before...it is a lot of books.

One thing to be aware of with that series is that the pace and.. quality take a serious dip around books 6 to 9. If you find yourself getting bored or bogged down at that point, it's worth skimming, reading synopses, whatever, to keep with it, then pick it back up around book 10. Or just be aware that it gets better again. (Although the first few books were still the strongest IMO, except for possibly some of the Sanderson stuff. Here's a guide: http://jasonrpeters.com/2012/12/11/the-complete-guide-to-rer...

I am already finding it a bit slow/boring. If 6 to 9 are that bad then I might end up quiting on it.

Get through book 3 before you give up. The dip in 6-9 isnt great but its not awful. The series builds slowly, if you really arent into it by book 3, when most of the story lines have really accelerated, then you can decide

I just finished Right ho Jeeves by PG wodehouse[1].

I am reading essays in the art of writing by RL stevenson.[2]

I want to read an adventure story next. Moby dick[3] seems to be one of the most popular ones on gutenberg so it will probably be my next choice.

[1]http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10554

[2]http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/492

[3]http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2701

Hilary Mantel's "Wolf Hall" and "Bring Up the Bodies" - historical fiction. Brilliantly imagined life of Thomas Cromwell - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cromwell,_1st_Earl_of_Es...

Flash Boys by Michael Lewis So far so good, it gets a little complicated at times when he's trying to describe the different problems in the stock market (I don't have prior stock market knowledge). All in all, I'm enjoying this book very much and have less than 100 pages left to go.

Human Universals by Donald Brown. Identifies the traits common to all humans, all societies and cultures.

http://www.amazon.com/Human-Universals-Donald-Brown/dp/00700...

Fiction: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

Non-Fiction / Science: Our Mathematical Universe by Max Tegmark

Non-Fiction / Business: Predictable Revenue by Aaron Ross

Non-Fiction / Programming / Tech: OSGI in Action by Richard Hall, Karl Pauls, Stuart McCulloch, and David Savage

Zero History by William Gibson. Half way through.

Pattern Recognition, the first of the trilogy, was my favorite.

Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut. It's a collection of his short stories, often funny, sometimes touching, and always insightful.

Just started reading Founders at Work -- http://www.foundersatwork.com/

Just finished "Eloquent Ruby"

I usually re-read chapters of Crockford's "Javascript: The Good Parts" until I find another book to get into.

Founders at Work (http://www.foundersatwork.com/)

Fooled by Randomness - Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Intuition Pumps And Other Tools for Thinking by Daniel Dennett

Seven Concurrency Models in Seven weeks - Paul Butcher

Neal Stephenson - "REAMDE"

and "Clojure Programming"

Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott

iOS Programming: BNR

Foundation series by Asimov

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