Ask HN: What are some good book recommendations?
Going on vacation soon and I'll have some free time on my hands to read - what are books people recommend? Any topic welcome
Vernor Vinge. Zones of Thought series.
Alastair Reynolds. The Revelation Space series.
I would recommend this list of sci-fi book series. All of the series belong to the space opera genre (though not the pulp fiction kind) with some hard sci-fi elements.
All authors incorporate many computer science and physics concepts and it's quite a rewarding experience to run into computational complexity used as a plot device without any glaring errors.
My first choice would be the Culture series. I've burned through 10 Culture books in one month and stopped only when there were no more books left. So good.
Another good idea is to make yourself read a book that you would never have read at home. While travelling, if you don't have other distractions(internet,music etc) and only a book to keep you occupied (when you are not busy sightseeing) you might actually finish it. I read The Republic in two days on a train-- a book which I wouldn’t have touched otherwise. And I am glad I did :) It made me discover a completely new class of books.
Brett Easton Ellis for fiction. Will Self if you'd like a lesson in vocabulary and uncommon usage.