The title implies this is a list of books that YC somehow institutionally recommends (like their "how to pitch" articles). When I first looked at it that way it

The title implies this is a list of books that YC somehow institutionally recommends (like their "how to pitch" articles). When I first looked at it that way it seemed strangely uneven in terms of quality. When I realized this was actually "some personal recommendations from our staff and partners" it became a perfectly reasonable collection :)