7 ms·

Ask HN: What are your favorite books?

• tmaly 10y ago
  I just started reading the Art of Learning https://www.amazon.com/Art-Learning-Journey-Optimal-Performance/dp/0743277465 https://www.amazon.com/Art-Learning-Journey-Optimal-Performa... I finished Linchpin a few weeks back and that was an amazing book https://www.amazon.com/Linchpin-Are-Indispensable-Seth-Godin/dp/1591844096 https://www.amazon.com/Linchpin-Are-Indispensable-Seth-Godin... Will It Fly is a great book I learning a lot of great marketing tricks from https://www.amazon.com/Will-Test-Business-Waste-Money/dp/0997082305 https://www.amazon.com/Will-Test-Business-Waste-Money/dp/099...
  • hmate9 10y ago
    Thank you, I think I will read all 3 of them!
  • samblr 10y ago
    Will it fly has a 5 star rating from 450 odd reviews!!
    • bbcbasic 10y ago
      450 fiverr gigs.
      • tmaly 10y ago
        I doubt that, he has a lot of fans. I have to say, I learned a ton of cool tricks that one would have to spend weeks reading through forums to learn. The part on how to build a market map is worth its weight in gold. I opted for the kindle book, and the audio add on was only $2 which is an amazing price if you have bought other audio add ons.
• deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
• samblr 10y ago
  zero to one
  • hmate9 10y ago
    I've read that. It's worth reading just to get into the mind of Peter Thiel. The "start small and monopolise" is what really stuck with me.
    • liveshops_ 10y ago
      This is what he focuses on in his portion of "how to start a startup" on YouTube. It's cool to watch him talk about it. Great concept.
• selmat 10y ago
  1. https://www.amazon.com/Concepts-Techniques-Models-Computer-Programming/dp/0262220695 https://www.amazon.com/Concepts-Techniques-Models-Computer-P... 2. https://www.amazon.com/Big-Book-Concepts-MIT-Press/dp/0262632993/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468535286&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Big+Book+of+Concepts https://www.amazon.com/Big-Book-Concepts-MIT-Press/dp/026263... 3. https://www.amazon.com/Gödel-Escher-Bach-Eternal-Golden/dp/0465026567/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468535300&sr=8-1&keywords=escher+godel+bach https://www.amazon.com/Gödel-Escher-Bach-Eternal-Golden/dp/0...
  • solipsism 10y ago
    Is it a HN feature that cuts off long URLs unless you click Reply to isolate the comment? Actually even after isolating the comment the URLs are cut off (but not quite as short). Highly annoying. You should edit and put the titles before the links.
    • selmat 10y ago
      Updated as new comment since two hours already elapsed [1] Concepts, Techniques, and Models of Computer Programming (MIT Press) - URL: https://www.amazon.com/Concepts-Techniques-Models-Computer-Programming/dp/0262220695 https://www.amazon.com/Concepts-Techniques-Models-Computer-P... [2] The Big Book of Concepts (MIT Press) - URL: https://www.amazon.com/Big-Book-Concepts-MIT-Press/dp/0262632993/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468535286&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Big+Book+of+Concepts https://www.amazon.com/Big-Book-Concepts-MIT-Press/dp/026263... [3] Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid - URL: https://www.amazon.com/Gödel-Escher-Bach-Eternal-Golden/dp/0465026567/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468535300&sr=8-1&keywords=escher+godel+bach https://www.amazon.com/Gödel-Escher-Bach-Eternal-Golden/dp/0...
• nicostouch 10y ago
  Why Nations Fail - amazing book for understanding why some countries are dirt poor while others are rich. Absolutely phenomenal read.
• ruler88 10y ago
  the hard thing about hard things - Ben is an amazing story teller, very personable, and great lessons
  • liveshops_ 10y ago
    This one has been on my list. I'm starting it next!
  • samblr 10y ago
    This book was good - amazing story teller. Takes through highs and lows of his journey - feels like you are watching him in a boxing ring. Message: Persevere.
• quoraquestions 10y ago
  A)The Annotated Turing - Petzold B)Armchair Universe: An Exploration of Computer Worlds -- A.K. Dewdney The latter had many great ideas which inspired me to do interesting experiments on computers with minimal programming experience, it had a great chapter on recursion which really helped me understand recursion when it had no programming experience. I still go back and read sections of this book. Quite a joy IMHO
• aliencat 10y ago
  How to Win Friends and Influence People - The tips in this book do work magic.
• beachstartup 10y ago
  _barbarians at the gate_ is a good read if you're into that sort of thing (business, banking, law, money)
• throwaway26960 10y ago
  The Inner Game of Tennis Think And Grow Rich - I based my cover letter off of some of the concepts in this book and it has worked remarkably well.
  • skylark 10y ago
    I came here to post The Inner Game of Tennis and was pleasantly surprised to see it in the top comment. The book is only tangentially related to tennis - the real meat of the book is about how to adopt useful mentalities which will help you succeed at a variety of things. It's an extremely easy read and can be finished casually in a few days. A great book which made me question some of my most deeply held beliefs about learning.
  • gardano 10y ago
    Back when I was still a student (of music), I read The Inner Game of Tennis and found it to be incredibly useful! I also recommend it.
• liveshops_ 10y ago
  Just finished Grit by Angela Duckworth. Great insights for entrepreneurs/start-upers
• mindfulgeek 10y ago
  The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business Seven Habits of Highly Effective People NonViolent Communication: A Language of Life
• chrisabrams 10y ago
  A Song of Fire and Ice Zennis Wheel of Time Quiet Lord of the Rings Irrational Exuberance
• pklausler 10y ago
  Infinite Jest Ulysses The Selfish Gene The Histories of Herodotus Moby-Dick Gödel, Escher, Bach
  • rolancaster01 10y ago
    Melville "Bartlby the Scrivener" & Ramsey "When We Are No More: how Digital Memory Is Shaping Our Future" Down "Brilliant Beacons: a History of the American Lighthouse" Koestler "Darkness Before Noon" & "The Invisible Writing" & "The Ghost in the Machine" John Gardner - anything really but October light and the sunlight dialogs in particular.
• gregimba 10y ago
  Are Your Lights On?: A Treatise on the Definition of Diverse Problems
• mindcrime 10y ago
  The Four Steps To The Epiphany - Steve Blank Code by Charles Petzold Artificial Life - Steven Levy Time Reborn - Lee Smolin The Singularity is Near - Ray Kurzweil Surfaces and Essences - Douglas Hofstadter How to Measure Anything - Douglas Hubbard -- One of my favorites is How Not to Be Wrong by Jordan Ellenbreg I have that on my list of "to read real soon now". Sounds fascinating.
• fatterego 10y ago
  The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Spafford - https://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Project-DevOps-Helping-Business/dp/0988262592 https://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Project-DevOps-Helping-Busine...
• 0xmohit 10y ago
  Here are a few: Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order by Steven Strogatz Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics by John Derbyshire Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong by Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull
• yma 10y ago
  Creativity, Inc. - Ed Catmull. How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big - Scott Adams Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed - Ben Rich Seven Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey
• deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
• jimmywanger 10y ago
  Try The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. A great book about time dilation and Vietnam. The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi. A book about water rights in the south west that I can think of.
• dome82 10y ago
  - Meditations by Marcus Aurelius - A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by Irvine
• homingbrain 10y ago
  Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. Also, strangely enough (not being a Harry Potter fan), I immensely enjoyed Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality.
• personomas 10y ago
  The Holy Bible :)
  • deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
• e19293001 10y ago
  From my favorite author Anthony J. Dos Reis[0] If you want to learn assembly language, computer architecture and C++ all at the same time: Assembly Language and Computer Architecture Using C++ and Java , Course Technology, 2004 [1] If you want to learn how to write compilers, context free grammars, regular expressions and implement grep: Compiler Construction Using Java, JavaCC, and Yacc, IEEE/Wiley, 2012 [2] If you want to learn functional programming, lambda calculus and LISP: An Introduction to Functional Programming Through Lambda Calculus by Greg Michaelson [3] My programming skills had grown dramatically with this books. I would wholeheartedly recommend the books mentioned above for those who are interested to learn. [0] - http://cs.newpaltz.edu/~dosreist/ http://cs.newpaltz.edu/~dosreist/ [1] - https://www.amazon.com/Assembly-Language-Computer-Architecture-Using/dp/0534405274 https://www.amazon.com/Assembly-Language-Computer-Architectu... [2] - https://www.amazon.com/Compiler-Construction-Using-Java-JavaCC/dp/0470949597 https://www.amazon.com/Compiler-Construction-Using-Java-Java... [3] - https://www.cs.rochester.edu/~brown/173/readings/LCBook.pdf https://www.cs.rochester.edu/~brown/173/readings/LCBook.pdf - https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Functional-Programming-Calculus-Mathematics/dp/0486478831 https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Functional-Programming-C...
• discordance 10y ago
  Alan Kay's reading list: http://www.squeakland.org/resources/books/readingList.jsp http://www.squeakland.org/resources/books/readingList.jsp
• galaktor 10y ago
  The field guide to understanding human error by Sidney Dekker
• tartuffe78 10y ago
  Big science fiction fan 1. Revelation Space 2. Hyperion 3. The Postman 4. The Day of the Triffids 5. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revelation_Space https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revelation_Space [2] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_Cantos https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_Cantos [3] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Postman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Postman [4] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_of_the_Triffids https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_of_the_Triffids [5] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_th...
• impendia 10y ago
  Here is Ellenberg's own list of books he has read in the last few years: https://quomodocumque.wordpress.com/the-booklist/ https://quomodocumque.wordpress.com/the-booklist/
• arnold_palmur 10y ago
  Cosmos by Carl Sagan
• vram22 10y ago
  Some of Edward de Bono's books about lateral thinking. Read some years ago. Concepts in it are not new, but may be unfamiliar to some/you, so mentioning. Lateral thinking can be useful for problem solving when traditional thinking methods don't work, or even if they do. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_de_Bono https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_de_Bono And speaking of "wrong", since you mention a book with that in the name, de Bono has also written a book called "I am Right, You are Wrong", which is about the tendency all of us have to think that we are right and the other party is wrong. Edit: Added his web site: http://www.edwdebono.com/ http://www.edwdebono.com/
• vram22 10y ago
  Robin Sharma's "The Monk who sold his Ferrari" is a good one. So is his "Who Will Cry When You Die?"
• benjyfeen 10y ago
  See also: What are some books about everything? http://qr.ae/8S14dl http://qr.ae/8S14dl The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, Second Edition https://amzn.com/dp/B00OYUO4PY https://amzn.com/dp/B00OYUO4PY I'm told the dead trees version is a must, but it's also massive, so pick your preferred inconvenience. This is like Eno's Oblique Strategies deck in encyclopedia form. Useful in any circumstances where you'd like to gain fresh perspective on a creation. From Amazon : The Art of Game Design presents 100+ sets of questions, or different lenses, for viewing a game’s design, encompassing diverse fields such as psychology, architecture, music, visual design, film, software engineering, theme park design, mathematics, puzzle design, and anthropology...