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Ask HN: Best books you've read in 2019?

• sturge95 7y ago
  Couldn't recommend this enough; https://www.amazon.co.uk/We-Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse/dp/1680680587/ref=sr_1_1?crid=26IN35LIYPLFS&keywords=bobiverse&qid=1573549072&sprefix=bobiverse%2Caps%2C223&sr=8-1 https://www.amazon.co.uk/We-Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse/dp/1680...
• ljsocal 7y ago
  Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
  • m0ck 7y ago
    I will add his other books, Homo Deus and 21 Lessons for 21st century (reading now)
• mortivore 7y ago
  In no particular order the best ones I've read this year(so far) are: Children of the Nameless by Brandon Sanderson Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor by Anthony Everitt King Rat by James Clavell 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created by Charles C. Mann Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship by Robert C. Martin The Elric Saga Part 1 by Michael Moorcock
• mrfusion 7y ago
  I just discovered the farseer trilogies and the trilogies after them. Really great reading. I can only describe it as a mix of game of thrones, Harry Potter, white fang, and Thomas the engine.
  • partisan 7y ago
    Didn't see that last one coming.
• neuroticfish 7y ago
  The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien I'm a little embarrassed to say it's the only book I've had the motivation to finish this year. It's a fantastic book though, and during the age of the "war on facts" it's quite relevant.
• Antoninus 7y ago
  Refactoring 2nd Edition Stormlight Archive
• ltmi600 7y ago
  Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch
• JSeymourATL 7y ago
  Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb > https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37570546-maybe-you-should-talk-to-someone https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37570546-maybe-you-shoul...
• BlameKaneda 7y ago
  "Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?" by Roz Chast comes to mind. It's a humorous albeit poignant look at her parents aging. Mine are nearing that stage, yet there were multiple instances where it felt she was describing my own parents to a T. > https://www.amazon.com/Cant-Talk-about-Something-Pleasant/dp/1632861011 https://www.amazon.com/Cant-Talk-about-Something-Pleasant/dp...
• jugjug 7y ago
  - Antifragile by Nassim Taleb - Finite and Infinite Games by James P. Carse. - The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin
• genericbrandx 7y ago
  Influence: The Power of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini It was interesting to learn why certain techniques work.
• omosubi 7y ago
  - antifragile, Nassim Nicholas Taleb (the guy is smart, but insufferable) - a short history of nearly everything, Bill Bryson - working: researching, interviewing, writing by Robert Caro (I love just about everything he puts out)
• vinhnglx 7y ago
  - Pragmatic Programmer 2nd edition - Permanent Record
• w4tson 7y ago
  I’ve “read” 19 books this year (thanks Audible) These were my faves: “Wolf hall” by Hilary Mantell “The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins “Never Split the difference” by Chris Voss “How to talk so kids will listen” by Joanna Faber & Julie King
• NeedMoreTea 7y ago
  Mindfuck, Cambridge Analytica and the Plot to Break America - Christopher Wylie. It went so much deeper than what I learned from the media, and he explores the how (not too technically, as it's for a general audience) far more than I expected. Very glad I read it, and it's an easy read. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke 18th century alternative history about two rivals restoring supernatural magic to the country, causing chaos, helping out in the wars with the French, and mostly hating each other. Very enjoyable, if rather silly read. Merchants of Doubt - Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway. If age hadn't brought enough cynism to my worldview, this tops it up nicely. Probably one of the most important books I've read. How some ex scientists, PR agencies and think tanks made a nice career selling doubt as a service to every dodgy industry going. Doubt and uncertainty on every important issue of the last 50 years. Tobacco and health, acid rain, fire retardants and climate heating among others. The same people giving the anti-science spin on multiple issues across decades, cropping up in papers and TV again and again. Command and Control - Eric Schlosser The misadventures, multiple accidents and cock-ups and safety - well lack of - surrounding nuclear weapons. After reading this you'll have no idea how one didn't go off over home or allied soil.
• ciaran-ifelse 7y ago
  - Shoedog by Phil Knight - Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe - How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan - Deep Work by Cal Newport
• AGivant 7y ago
  Here is my list (from https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/912138-alex-givant?read_at=2019 https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/912138-alex-givant?rea...): Memoirs: - Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Bourdain, Anthony, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33313.Kitchen_Confidential https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33313.Kitchen_Confidenti... - Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive by Land, Stephanie, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39218350-maid https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39218350-maid - Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook by Bourdain, Anthony, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40409969-medium-raw https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40409969-medium-raw - Confessions of a Tax Collector: One Man's Tour of Duty Inside the IRS by Yancey, Rick, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/196519.Confessions_of_a_Tax_Collector https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/196519.Confessions_of_a_... Politics: - Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Desmond, Matthew, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25852784-evicted https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25852784-evicted - Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America by Leovy, Jill, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13153693-ghettoside https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13153693-ghettoside - American Prison: A Reporter's Undercover Journey into the Business of Punishment by Bauer, Shane, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38561954-american-prison https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38561954-american-prison - Bottle of Lies: The Inside Story of the Generic Drug Boom by Eban, Katherine, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42448266-bottle-of-lies https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42448266-bottle-of-lies - A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America by Miller, T. Christian, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35805861-a-false-report https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35805861-a-false-report - The New Silk Roads by Frankopan, Peter, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40921633-the-new-silk-roads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40921633-the-new-silk-ro... History: - Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-1956 by Applebaum, Anne, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13531848-iron-curtain https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13531848-iron-curtain - The Romanovs: 1613-1918 by Montefiore, Simon Sebag, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26109020-the-romanovs https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26109020-the-romanovs - The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Johnson, Steven, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36086.The_Ghost_Map https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36086.The_Ghost_Map - Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations by Bergman, Ronen, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33598223-rise-and-kill-first https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33598223-rise-and-kill-f... - Madame Fourcade's Secret War: The Daring Young Woman Who Led France's Largest Spy Network Against Hitler by Olson, Lynne, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41739312-madame-fourcade-s-secret-war https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41739312-madame-fourcade... - Argo: How the CIA & Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History by Méndez, Antonio J., https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13588425-argo https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13588425-argo Crime: - Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History by Selby, Scott Andrew, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7071759-flawless https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7071759-flawless - American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road by Bilton, Nick, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31920777-american-kingpin https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31920777-american-kingpi... - Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by Carreyrou, John, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37976541-bad-blood https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37976541-bad-blood - Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World by Wright, Tom, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38743564-billion-dollar-whale https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38743564-billion-dollar-... - The Mastermind: Drugs. Empire. Murder. Betrayal. by Ratliff, Evan, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41181600-the-mastermind https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41181600-the-mastermind Technology: - Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon by Zetter, Kim, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18465875-countdown-to-zero-day https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18465875-countdown-to-ze... - Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World by Thompson, Clive, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40406806-coders https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40406806-coders Fiction: - Vengeful (Villains, #2) by Schwab, V.E., https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26856502-vengeful https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26856502-vengeful - Senlin Ascends (The Books of Babel, #1) by Bancroft, Josiah, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17554595-senlin-ascends https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17554595-senlin-ascends - Arm of the Sphinx (The Books of Babel, #2) by Bancroft, Josiah, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35959733-arm-of-the-sphinx https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35959733-arm-of-the-sphi... - The Hod King (The Books of Babel, #3) by Bancroft, Josiah, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32998292-the-hod-king https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32998292-the-hod-king - Recursion by Crouch, Blake, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42046112-recursion https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42046112-recursion - Foundryside (Founders, #1) by Bennett, Robert Jackson, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37173847-foundryside https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37173847-foundryside - The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past #1) by Liu, Cixin, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20518872-the-three-body-problem https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20518872-the-three-body-... - The Guardians by Grisham, John, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43701061-the-guardians https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43701061-the-guardians