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I took the other route and decided to read 100 books in a year. Did that for 3 years. They were mostly top rated or highly popular or highly recommended non-fic

I took the other route and decided to read 100 books in a year. Did that for 3 years. They were mostly top rated or highly popular or highly recommended non-fiction books of all time, including the one pictured in the article. Most books are highly overrated. They usually take some useful ideas, usually what author perceived was useful to them, and add things to them to make it sound useful to their target readers, which may or may not make sense... enough to fill the length of a book. Are some books life changing? Sure! But some can change how you think to your detriment because the information in books is not optimized to your life situation. So, overall, if you're not reading any, you're not missing out. The problem is you won't believe it until you actually do go ahead and read them. How the books are marketed and sold, it makes you feel that you are missing some vital information that will change your life... you purchase it and think one day you'll read it and conquer all obstacles (or realize that "the obstacle is the way" by reading Ryan Holiday). Well, nothing like that will happen. But again, to actually know that for yourself, you'll have to read them. So, I can explain how I did it. If you are obsessive-compulsive like me and are single without kids and without much of a social life like I was, you may be able to do it too. This is what I did: - Create a goal in Goodreads and obsessively track progress (which page are you in) every time you read a part of the book - If some book is easily distracting, find the audiobook... and listen to the audiobook at high speed while reading the physical or digital copy. If audiobook version doesn't exist, find a drm-free digital copy (Library Genesis is your friend) and let Google Books or PocketBook read it at high speed for you - Buy good quality noise-cancelling headphones and listen to books all the time... commuting, driving, working out, cleaning, cooking, whenever you can do it. - If you get stuck with a book, start another one. Keep doing that. Don't set goals to read specific books. That will halt you. Just move on to the next one. You can always come back and continue. - It's OK to read 3 whole books cover to cover on a Sunday. - It's OK to read at night when you can't sleep. It might help you sleep. I managed to fall sleep in a micro bus in Thailand when I was reading 48 Laws of Power (yes, it is that boring). Again, it's not worth it... but if you feel like you're missing something, do it and find out for yourself.

adflux 6y ago
>- It's OK to read at night when you can't sleep. I do this, but with the same book series. Have read them for what must be 10 times in a row now. They put me to sleep in minutes. I never stare at the ceiling for this single reason. One unfortunate side effect is that if I start reading in a bus or train, I get sleepy now.
fredrikholm 6y ago
Are there any books that stand out (to you personally) as must-reads out of these ~300? I've come to a similar conclusion (Sturgeon's law) consuming CS/SE-books, and want to minimize repeating myself pursuing other non-fiction subjects.
- AntiImperialist 6y ago
  Yes, lots. But again, I think it's a life situation thing. What is extremely revealing and useful for me could be completely redundant or harmful for you. Having said that, I found the following, in no particular order, worth it to have read than not: ================= The Richest Man in Babylon ================= It simplified how I think about personal finance for me. I was irresponsible with my finances. This provided some basic rules of economics and personal finance that have stuck with me. ========================= The Simple Path to Wealth ========================= I read this one only recently but it simplified things even more for me when it comes to investing. I had been doing sort of the same thing but it gave it much more perspective on how simple things can be. ===================================== How I found Freedom in an Unfree World ===================================== I think this one has empowered me to look for things I can control rather than getting stuck up on things I can't. ==================== The Sovereign Individual ==================== I have a different and richer view of politics than I did before I read this book. ============================= A Short History of Nearly Everything ============================= Gives a different perspective of scientists. I think I believed "science" much more before I got to know personal stories of scientists. =============================== Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind =============================== Good read just because it's popular and referenced in other places... and is interesting if you're into "history" of humans. It's fictional (in that, it's his take on what happened) obviously but he makes it look like that is actually what happened. ============================= All books by Nassim Nicholas Taleb ============================= He has the same kind of hatred of the academics that I do, which I think I resonate with. And the ideas are interesting. ========================================= Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy ========================================= Simplified (sometimes oversimplified) economics which is a good read for American conservative view on economics. ========================== Propaganda by Edward Bernays ========================== This was written when the meaning of propaganda was changing to something nefarious (previously, it has a positive neutral or positive meaning to it, in that it meant "propagation of information" - implied to be for public good). Edward Bernays is the father of what is now known as Public Relations. Related to the same book: * http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html (this one is among the most shared links on HN) * Tim Wu's books: The Master Switch and The Attention Merchants ========================= The Complete Guide to Fasting ========================= Even though I met people who were fasting, I needed to read this before I would start doing it myself so that I felt I understood what I was getting into. ===================== High Output Management ===================== I was a follower of "management is unnecessary" meme which pervades the dev community. This gives a first principle view of what's happening in management. =============================================================== The Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (and the newer edition of the same) =============================================================== It's just an insider view on international organizations. I had second hand knowledge of how corrupt these organizations are... but it is just one more confirmation. Do I think the author is biased? Yes. It's only his view and I'm sure other people many have a more positive outlook and intentions in these organizations... but at least I'm familiar with this one. =========================================================== Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat =========================================================== Again, it's one view of how food science works, and it confirms my personal experience with information I get from science, whether on the internet or from the doctors (who basically say the same thing that ends up in WebMD). These are not all of them but it covers a lot of them that I consider have enriched me in one way or other.

adflux 6y ago

>- It's OK to read at night when you can't sleep. I do this, but with the same book series. Have read them for what must be 10 times in a row now. They put me to sleep in minutes. I never stare at the ceiling for this single reason. One unfortunate side effect is that if I start reading in a bus or train, I get sleepy now.

fredrikholm 6y ago

Are there any books that stand out (to you personally) as must-reads out of these ~300? I've come to a similar conclusion (Sturgeon's law) consuming CS/SE-books, and want to minimize repeating myself pursuing other non-fiction subjects.

AntiImperialist 6y ago
Yes, lots. But again, I think it's a life situation thing. What is extremely revealing and useful for me could be completely redundant or harmful for you. Having said that, I found the following, in no particular order, worth it to have read than not: ================= The Richest Man in Babylon ================= It simplified how I think about personal finance for me. I was irresponsible with my finances. This provided some basic rules of economics and personal finance that have stuck with me. ========================= The Simple Path to Wealth ========================= I read this one only recently but it simplified things even more for me when it comes to investing. I had been doing sort of the same thing but it gave it much more perspective on how simple things can be. ===================================== How I found Freedom in an Unfree World ===================================== I think this one has empowered me to look for things I can control rather than getting stuck up on things I can't. ==================== The Sovereign Individual ==================== I have a different and richer view of politics than I did before I read this book. ============================= A Short History of Nearly Everything ============================= Gives a different perspective of scientists. I think I believed "science" much more before I got to know personal stories of scientists. =============================== Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind =============================== Good read just because it's popular and referenced in other places... and is interesting if you're into "history" of humans. It's fictional (in that, it's his take on what happened) obviously but he makes it look like that is actually what happened. ============================= All books by Nassim Nicholas Taleb ============================= He has the same kind of hatred of the academics that I do, which I think I resonate with. And the ideas are interesting. ========================================= Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy ========================================= Simplified (sometimes oversimplified) economics which is a good read for American conservative view on economics. ========================== Propaganda by Edward Bernays ========================== This was written when the meaning of propaganda was changing to something nefarious (previously, it has a positive neutral or positive meaning to it, in that it meant "propagation of information" - implied to be for public good). Edward Bernays is the father of what is now known as Public Relations. Related to the same book: * http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html (this one is among the most shared links on HN) * Tim Wu's books: The Master Switch and The Attention Merchants ========================= The Complete Guide to Fasting ========================= Even though I met people who were fasting, I needed to read this before I would start doing it myself so that I felt I understood what I was getting into. ===================== High Output Management ===================== I was a follower of "management is unnecessary" meme which pervades the dev community. This gives a first principle view of what's happening in management. =============================================================== The Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (and the newer edition of the same) =============================================================== It's just an insider view on international organizations. I had second hand knowledge of how corrupt these organizations are... but it is just one more confirmation. Do I think the author is biased? Yes. It's only his view and I'm sure other people many have a more positive outlook and intentions in these organizations... but at least I'm familiar with this one. =========================================================== Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat =========================================================== Again, it's one view of how food science works, and it confirms my personal experience with information I get from science, whether on the internet or from the doctors (who basically say the same thing that ends up in WebMD). These are not all of them but it covers a lot of them that I consider have enriched me in one way or other.