4 ms·

How do you decide which books to read?

xur17 7y ago
I'd be curious to hear an answer for this as well. My goal this year is to just read something every day. No minimum amount of time, no specific books, just to read consistently. My current approach is to keep a list of books that others recommend both online (hn, reddit, etc) and in person, and choose a book off the list as I finish each one based on what I'm currently interested in reading.
deniscepko2 7y ago
There goodreads website for you to help. And for me its not easy i often start and stop reading books that i find eventually bad or not interesting. One good approach i think is reading old books which have massive amounts of reviews. I know if you think that tech books get outdated you will be surprised that much of the information is very relevant
rodolphoarruda 7y ago
That's a question of a lifetime because as you change, mature, books "change" as well every time you read them. With that said, many people approach this by choosing the author(s) first or the historical period, and then drilling down to specific titles. Parent mentioned some authors that were relevant to him/her. Don Quixote (book title) is a great book and it had a special meaning to me when I read it for the first time. It was when I was learning Spanish and consulting in Latin America. Quixote is well regarded as a literature masterpiece for the Spanish language and, to me, as a learner, it was like playing the piano while listening to Beethoven as a reference. Well, this was my own experience. You can choose authors/books to build your own experience around them, which I'm sure you will never forget.
bsenftner 7y ago
When I was a kid I was an obsessive reader, and a teacher basically forbid me from reading anything not from the Classic section of the high school library. Before elementary ended, I'd finished reading all the books they had in their Classics. (Understanding them at that age is a whole separate issue, BTW.) But my point being, the Classics are considered "a classic" for very serious reasons, and unless you really cannot get into a writer's voice after effort, each and every "Classic" is worth reading in a major way. I suggest starting with the Nobel Literature winners.
cosmodisk 7y ago
It depends on my goals.If I just want to learn something,I do a little bit research on the subject and what could be good books on it and tgen head to Amazon or local book store for it. If haven't got a concrete goal and just want to explore some random topics,I again hit Amazon and browse random categories,read some literature reviews by critics in newspapers and etc. Also,reading feeds reading. For instance,I was reading some comments on Financial Times and saw someone making a fairly reasonable argument about queuing theory.Not being familiar with it,I googled it, found some very interesting courses and books. Will do a bit of exploration of this topic in near future.
billfruit 7y ago
One particular source for me has been the reading lists of great writers and thinkers (Eg: Tolstoy[0], Gandhi[1] and many more kept extensive reading lists). Generally I think it is a good idea to delve into classics because time is a good judge. [0] https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/09/30/leo-tolstoy-reading-list/ https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/09/30/leo-tolstoy-reading... [1] http://www.gandhi-manibhavan.org/eduresources/bks_read_by_g.htm http://www.gandhi-manibhavan.org/eduresources/bks_read_by_g....
beatgammit 7y ago
I'm not OP, but here's what I do. I keep a list of books I want to read on Goodreads. When a friend mentions a book they liked, I add it on the mobile app. When someone mentions something here or on Reddit, I do the same. I keep adding books without any commitment to actually reading them, and then I review the list whenever I need another book. I use a couple of browser extensions that tell me what's available at my library on Goodreads: - Available Reads - checks which books are available as eBooks or Audiobooks on OverDrive (online service through the library) - Library Extension - checks specific books if they're available at a set of libraries (physical books or eBooks/audiobooks) I like the first because it creates a sortable list on my "to read" shelf, whereas the second is useful if I'm looking at a specific book.
base698 7y ago
Got quite a few from here: http://worrydream.com/#!/Links http://worrydream.com/#!/Links It's the book list from the guy who brought you "Inventing on Principal".
maroonblazer 7y ago
Awards are a great place to start. National Book Awards, Man Booker Prize, Pulitzer, etc.
- habosa 7y ago
  Yeah the Man Booker in particular tends to be a good source to find my favorite novels.
habosa 7y ago
I don't really have a process. About half the books I read I get just from browsing a book store. I love stores that have little notes from the employees recommending certain books. The others I just hear about from friends or online. Once I've read a book by an author and liked it I'll normally try 1-2 more. So that's a main discovery path for me. However I try not to read the same author back-to-back as I like to have variety. I think the key is don't keep a list, just buy the book. In my house I have a stack of 5-10 'queued' books at any time so when I finish one I can immediately start another.

I'd be curious to hear an answer for this as well. My goal this year is to just read something every day. No minimum amount of time, no specific books, just to read consistently. My current approach is to keep a list of books that others recommend both online (hn, reddit, etc) and in person, and choose a book off the list as I finish each one based on what I'm currently interested in reading.

deniscepko2 7y ago

There goodreads website for you to help. And for me its not easy i often start and stop reading books that i find eventually bad or not interesting. One good approach i think is reading old books which have massive amounts of reviews. I know if you think that tech books get outdated you will be surprised that much of the information is very relevant

rodolphoarruda 7y ago

That's a question of a lifetime because as you change, mature, books "change" as well every time you read them. With that said, many people approach this by choosing the author(s) first or the historical period, and then drilling down to specific titles. Parent mentioned some authors that were relevant to him/her. Don Quixote (book title) is a great book and it had a special meaning to me when I read it for the first time. It was when I was learning Spanish and consulting in Latin America. Quixote is well regarded as a literature masterpiece for the Spanish language and, to me, as a learner, it was like playing the piano while listening to Beethoven as a reference. Well, this was my own experience. You can choose authors/books to build your own experience around them, which I'm sure you will never forget.

bsenftner 7y ago

When I was a kid I was an obsessive reader, and a teacher basically forbid me from reading anything not from the Classic section of the high school library. Before elementary ended, I'd finished reading all the books they had in their Classics. (Understanding them at that age is a whole separate issue, BTW.) But my point being, the Classics are considered "a classic" for very serious reasons, and unless you really cannot get into a writer's voice after effort, each and every "Classic" is worth reading in a major way. I suggest starting with the Nobel Literature winners.

cosmodisk 7y ago

It depends on my goals.If I just want to learn something,I do a little bit research on the subject and what could be good books on it and tgen head to Amazon or local book store for it. If haven't got a concrete goal and just want to explore some random topics,I again hit Amazon and browse random categories,read some literature reviews by critics in newspapers and etc. Also,reading feeds reading. For instance,I was reading some comments on Financial Times and saw someone making a fairly reasonable argument about queuing theory.Not being familiar with it,I googled it, found some very interesting courses and books. Will do a bit of exploration of this topic in near future.

billfruit 7y ago

One particular source for me has been the reading lists of great writers and thinkers (Eg: Tolstoy[0], Gandhi[1] and many more kept extensive reading lists). Generally I think it is a good idea to delve into classics because time is a good judge. [0] https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/09/30/leo-tolstoy-reading-list/ https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/09/30/leo-tolstoy-reading... [1] http://www.gandhi-manibhavan.org/eduresources/bks_read_by_g.htm http://www.gandhi-manibhavan.org/eduresources/bks_read_by_g....

beatgammit 7y ago

I'm not OP, but here's what I do. I keep a list of books I want to read on Goodreads. When a friend mentions a book they liked, I add it on the mobile app. When someone mentions something here or on Reddit, I do the same. I keep adding books without any commitment to actually reading them, and then I review the list whenever I need another book. I use a couple of browser extensions that tell me what's available at my library on Goodreads: - Available Reads - checks which books are available as eBooks or Audiobooks on OverDrive (online service through the library) - Library Extension - checks specific books if they're available at a set of libraries (physical books or eBooks/audiobooks) I like the first because it creates a sortable list on my "to read" shelf, whereas the second is useful if I'm looking at a specific book.

base698 7y ago

Got quite a few from here: http://worrydream.com/#!/Links http://worrydream.com/#!/Links It's the book list from the guy who brought you "Inventing on Principal".

maroonblazer 7y ago

Awards are a great place to start. National Book Awards, Man Booker Prize, Pulitzer, etc.

habosa 7y ago
Yeah the Man Booker in particular tends to be a good source to find my favorite novels.

habosa 7y ago

I don't really have a process. About half the books I read I get just from browsing a book store. I love stores that have little notes from the employees recommending certain books. The others I just hear about from friends or online. Once I've read a book by an author and liked it I'll normally try 1-2 more. So that's a main discovery path for me. However I try not to read the same author back-to-back as I like to have variety. I think the key is don't keep a list, just buy the book. In my house I have a stack of 5-10 'queued' books at any time so when I finish one I can immediately start another.