7 ms·

Ask HN: What books are you reading

28 points by yread 15y ago

What non-programming non-technical books are you folks reading? I'm looking for something interesting to read and I would appreciate your suggestions. To make it fair I'll start: I just finished reading the Omon Ra that pavlov linked to in http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2590980 and Dubliners by James Joyce and I'm currently laughing my way through Mark Twain's Connecticut Yankee in the court of King Arthur. I would very much recommend it - its language is surprisingly modern (people are twittering and lolling and you can hear an occasional jabber) an even the satire is modern (poking fun at the patent office!). Besides the Yankee is an engineer so you can sympathize with him.

hooande 15y ago
"The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World" http://www.amazon.com/Wizard-Menlo-Park-Thomas-Invented/dp/1400047625 http://www.amazon.com/Wizard-Menlo-Park-Thomas-Invented/dp/1.... Highly recommend
ujjvala 15y ago
Atlas Shrugged.
geekzgalore 15y ago
1984
latch 15y ago
Just started Light by M. John Harrison The Takeshi Kovacs novels, by Richard Morgan, are next on my list.
krmmalik 15y ago
I'm currently reading Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin. It talks about how, just like the industrial revolution did away with the local blacksmith, the new marketing revolution is going to do away with the need to interrupt people through Tv/Radio/Advertising etc. He also says that as the way to market a business has and is changing, this also means the way companies organise themselves and run has to fundamentally change too. Its a very interesting read. The second book i am reading is called "Too nice for your own good" by Duke Robinson. It's for people who are either passive/aggressive or not very assertive. I have yet to make a judgment on this one, but it seems ok so far. Apologies if you were looking for some interesting reading in terms of fiction. I havent read fiction in years.
limmeau 15y ago
I'm somewhere in Un Lun Dun by China Mieville right now. I cannot recommend his imaginative writing enough. (Un Lun Dun is a children's book in the same way the Potters are children's books).
Sodaware 15y ago
Currently reading The Power of Full Engagement (after hearing about it on HN). It's not bad, and has already encouraged me to look at my eating & working habits.
givan 15y ago
http://www.amazon.com/Lateral-Thinking-Creativity-Perennial-Library/dp/0060903252 http://www.amazon.com/Lateral-Thinking-Creativity-Perennial-...
ritonlajoie 15y ago
I just bought the latest Fred Vargas, I highly recommend this author.
krat0sprakhar 15y ago
Dot.Con by John Cassidy - How America Lost its Mind and Money In the Internet Era. Highly recommend.
zackattack 15y ago
The Biology of Transcendence not sure if that counts as technical or not ;)
picardo 15y ago
On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins. http://www.onintelligence.org/ http://www.onintelligence.org/
- blcArmadillo 15y ago
  Good book.
- Tekhne 15y ago
  I absolutely 2nd this suggestion! It was really fascinating. There were some dry parts, but mostly I couldn't stop reading (actually, I did the audiobook).
givan 15y ago
http://www.amazon.com/Bonos-Thinking-Course-Revised/dp/0816031789/ref=pd_sim_b_5 http://www.amazon.com/Bonos-Thinking-Course-Revised/dp/08160...
alonswartz 15y ago
I keep a list of books I've read and highly recommend here [1]. Almost all of them include the first chapter free (via kindle for web). [1] http://www.alonswartz.org/books/ http://www.alonswartz.org/books/
wccrawford 15y ago
I just finished reading the Hunger Games trilogy. In less than a week. It was really good.
kaeluka 15y ago
Just now I'm reading something I wanted to read for a long time: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The next will be Through the Looking Glass, same author. Amongst the last few books I read, I recommend Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, Marlen Haushofer - The Wall (although this will be too kafkaesque for some), Fahrenheit 451. I do love Jules Verne as well. Atlas Shrugged should be known to anyone around here, I guess.. Relating to Atlas Shrugged: Nietzsche - Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Both books were very influential to me when I was younger.
scrrr 15y ago
I've just started reading "Vagabonding" by R. Potts. http://www.vagabonding.net/ http://www.vagabonding.net/ So far quite nice.
arethuza 15y ago
I've just started listening again to the unabridged Audible version of Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle - I couldn't get into the book form but the audio book version is great. Last few Kindle books I've read were: See No Evil by Bob Baer, the experiences of a CIA case officer in the Middle East (which influenced the movie Syriana). Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis, about the Big Swinging Dicks of Wall Street. Decline and Fall by Chris Mullin, the diaries of one of the more decent members of the former Labour Government here in the UK.
dogriffiths 15y ago
For The Love of Physics - Walter Lewin.
fbnt 15y ago
Nothing To Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
haffi112 15y ago
I'm currently reading Gödel, Escher, Bach an eternal golden braid. I definitely recommend it.
tomfluff 15y ago
The Religion War - Scott Adams Really great read though recommend reading God's Debris first for better understanding of the characters
sokolski 15y ago
Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
jbogan 15y ago
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
eswat 15y ago
The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson and Linchpin by Seth Godin. I had started Linchpin first but I’m now focusing on finishing The Primal Blueprint instead. If you like to question Conventional Wisdom and want to take a second look at how modern society has wrongly dictated what we eat, how we work out, etc. then give it a read.
cb372 15y ago
I recently read "Reading the OED" by Ammon Shea. Recommended for word nerds.
niktech 15y ago
The Powerfood Nutrition Plan: The Guy's Guide to Getting Stronger, Leaner, Smarter, Healthier, Better Looking, Better Sex With Food! http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1594862354/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/179-0036826-0648959?ref_=sr_1_1 http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1594862354/ref=redir_mdp_mobil...
szcukg 15y ago
Game of Thrones....One helluva of a book
lylejohnson 15y ago
House of Leaves, by Mark Z. Danielewski. Not sure that I can recommend it, but it's very different from anything else I've read.
- squidsoup 15y ago
  Make take on it was that it was a very evocative and unsettling story, marred by too much 'post-modern' noodling.
noelsequeira 15y ago
Interesting aside: I'm pretty sure your intention was jest, but lolling isn't as modern a word as the internet generation would have you believe (and has an entirely different meaning). From the etymology of loll (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=loll http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=loll): mid-14c., lollen "to lounge idly, hang loosely," perhaps related to M.Du. lollen "to doze, mumble," or somehow imitative of rocking or swinging. Specifically of the tongue from 1610s.
- yread 15y ago
  yes, thank you. I understood more or less what it meant but I have never seen it before and considered it an interesting contrast
schrototo 15y ago
The Instructions by Adam Levin. Best book I've read since Infinite Jest (by David Foster Wallace, of course, also highly recommended). The characters, the story, the language, my god the language... It's all utterly fantastic. The last 300 pages had me so thoroughly gripped, I read them in one sitting.
OoTheNigerian 15y ago
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared M. Diamond (courtesy of a HN recommendation on this kind of thread) In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives by Steven Levy (courtesy PG's tweet and retweets of that tweet). I am now loving my kindle because I can switch between books easily without the accompanying load
webgambit 15y ago
Audiobook: I just finished Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. I highly recommend it if you're into fantasy type novels. It has a unique magic system and is very well written. I've been off and on with War and Peace for a while. Kind of dry so far. Kindle: The Law by Frederic Bastiat, extremely good book describing the fundamental purpose of law and government. Dead Tree: Essence of Discrete Mathematics by Neville Dean, seems to be pretty good book, just haven't devoted enough time to reading it.
smallegan 15y ago
The Practicing Mind "Bringing Discipline and Focus Into Your Life" by Thomas Sterner http://www.amazon.com/dp/0977657205 http://www.amazon.com/dp/0977657205
dmc 15y ago
Currently reading Little Brother by Cory Doctorow - an OK book - and keeping Starting Strength by my side as a reference. Starting Strength is a great introduction to weightlifting and getting stronger, I highly recommend it.
dablya 15y ago
Yet another example of a thread where seeing votes would be useful...
benlang 15y ago
The Thank You Economy. I have a few extra ones, let me know if you'd like one for free.
tokenadult 15y ago
I just finished reading the entire Harry Potter series of novels for the first time, as my third son was reading it for the second time. My daughter will finish the series soon. I also read selected parts of The Good Book: A Humanist Bible http://www.amazon.com/Good-Book-Humanist-Bible/dp/0802717373/ http://www.amazon.com/Good-Book-Humanist-Bible/dp/0802717373... before I had to return it to the library yesterday. I especially like the section "Proverbs," which I read in full. I was able to find the section that quotes Confucius and Mencius extensively just before I returned the book. It's an interesting concept, but some parts of The Good Book: A Humanist Bible are extremely dull reading. I am likely to read Quotology http://www.amazon.com/Quotology-Stages-Willis-Goth-Regier/dp/0803217528/ http://www.amazon.com/Quotology-Stages-Willis-Goth-Regier/dp... next, to learn more about how quotations are traced after being misattributed, a subject I own another book about. I agree with the OP that A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is well worth reading.
Illgetthere 15y ago
Game of Thrones
sjs382 15y ago
Currently: FreeDarko Presents: The Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History http://www.amazon.com/FreeDarko-Presents-Undisputed-Basketball-History/dp/1608190838 http://www.amazon.com/FreeDarko-Presents-Undisputed-Basketba...
wushupork 15y ago
Here are some business books I've read or am reading http://www.shelfluv.com/pek.pongpaet/business http://www.shelfluv.com/pek.pongpaet/business I also read books on design - here's a few I like: http://www.shelfluv.com/pek.pongpaet/design http://www.shelfluv.com/pek.pongpaet/design One of my favorite books of course is Founders at Work. I also find books about entrepreneurs very inspiring - like anything from Richard Branson. Ted Turner's book and Howard Schultz are also good.
flomincucci 15y ago
Just finished reading The Loser by Thomas Bernhard. Cruel, repetitive, ironic... effing brilliant. It's about three pianists - one of them it's Glenn Gould, and how meeting him ruined the life of the other two. Currently reading High Fidelity by Nick Hornby. I can't be objetive about him, I simple love it. (The movie is great, also)
1reza 15y ago
The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Toddward 15y ago
Crazy - I was just about to ask this same question. My New Years resolution for this year was to read two books a month. I just finished reading "In the Plex" by Steven Levy and I'm starting Stephen Hawking's "A Briefer History of Time." It should take me no time to blow through the latter, so I'm looking for suggestions as for what to read next.
d2_nyc 15y ago
The Cosmic Game: Explorations of the Frontiers of Human Consciousness http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0791438767 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0791438767
kirpekar 15y ago
Cutting for Stone -- Abraham Verghese
imjonathanlee 15y ago
Currently reading: The girl who kicked the hornet's nest Top Favorites: Count of Monte Cristo, The three musketeers, Sherlock Homes and the Hound of Baskersville, Atlas Shrugged, The Client
mdzkhan 15y ago
Currently reading "The Influencing Machine" by Brooke Gladstone. http://amzn.to/kpozga http://amzn.to/kpozga
gennaria 15y ago
The Passage by Justin Cronin
starter 15y ago
The Bible: Ecclesiastes - For Humans Starting From Scratch by Wes Moss - For Entrepreneurs

28 points by yread 15y ago

hooande 15y ago

"The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World" http://www.amazon.com/Wizard-Menlo-Park-Thomas-Invented/dp/1400047625 http://www.amazon.com/Wizard-Menlo-Park-Thomas-Invented/dp/1.... Highly recommend

ujjvala 15y ago

Atlas Shrugged.

geekzgalore 15y ago

1984

latch 15y ago

Just started Light by M. John Harrison The Takeshi Kovacs novels, by Richard Morgan, are next on my list.

krmmalik 15y ago

I'm currently reading Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin. It talks about how, just like the industrial revolution did away with the local blacksmith, the new marketing revolution is going to do away with the need to interrupt people through Tv/Radio/Advertising etc. He also says that as the way to market a business has and is changing, this also means the way companies organise themselves and run has to fundamentally change too. Its a very interesting read. The second book i am reading is called "Too nice for your own good" by Duke Robinson. It's for people who are either passive/aggressive or not very assertive. I have yet to make a judgment on this one, but it seems ok so far. Apologies if you were looking for some interesting reading in terms of fiction. I havent read fiction in years.

limmeau 15y ago

I'm somewhere in Un Lun Dun by China Mieville right now. I cannot recommend his imaginative writing enough. (Un Lun Dun is a children's book in the same way the Potters are children's books).

Sodaware 15y ago

Currently reading The Power of Full Engagement (after hearing about it on HN). It's not bad, and has already encouraged me to look at my eating & working habits.

givan 15y ago

http://www.amazon.com/Lateral-Thinking-Creativity-Perennial-Library/dp/0060903252 http://www.amazon.com/Lateral-Thinking-Creativity-Perennial-...

ritonlajoie 15y ago

I just bought the latest Fred Vargas, I highly recommend this author.

krat0sprakhar 15y ago

Dot.Con by John Cassidy - How America Lost its Mind and Money In the Internet Era. Highly recommend.

zackattack 15y ago

The Biology of Transcendence not sure if that counts as technical or not ;)

picardo 15y ago

On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins. http://www.onintelligence.org/ http://www.onintelligence.org/

blcArmadillo 15y ago
Good book.
Tekhne 15y ago
I absolutely 2nd this suggestion! It was really fascinating. There were some dry parts, but mostly I couldn't stop reading (actually, I did the audiobook).

givan 15y ago

http://www.amazon.com/Bonos-Thinking-Course-Revised/dp/0816031789/ref=pd_sim_b_5 http://www.amazon.com/Bonos-Thinking-Course-Revised/dp/08160...

alonswartz 15y ago

I keep a list of books I've read and highly recommend here [1]. Almost all of them include the first chapter free (via kindle for web). [1] http://www.alonswartz.org/books/ http://www.alonswartz.org/books/

wccrawford 15y ago

I just finished reading the Hunger Games trilogy. In less than a week. It was really good.

kaeluka 15y ago

Just now I'm reading something I wanted to read for a long time: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The next will be Through the Looking Glass, same author. Amongst the last few books I read, I recommend Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, Marlen Haushofer - The Wall (although this will be too kafkaesque for some), Fahrenheit 451. I do love Jules Verne as well. Atlas Shrugged should be known to anyone around here, I guess.. Relating to Atlas Shrugged: Nietzsche - Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Both books were very influential to me when I was younger.

scrrr 15y ago

I've just started reading "Vagabonding" by R. Potts. http://www.vagabonding.net/ http://www.vagabonding.net/ So far quite nice.

arethuza 15y ago

I've just started listening again to the unabridged Audible version of Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle - I couldn't get into the book form but the audio book version is great. Last few Kindle books I've read were: See No Evil by Bob Baer, the experiences of a CIA case officer in the Middle East (which influenced the movie Syriana). Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis, about the Big Swinging Dicks of Wall Street. Decline and Fall by Chris Mullin, the diaries of one of the more decent members of the former Labour Government here in the UK.

dogriffiths 15y ago

For The Love of Physics - Walter Lewin.

fbnt 15y ago

Nothing To Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

haffi112 15y ago

I'm currently reading Gödel, Escher, Bach an eternal golden braid. I definitely recommend it.

tomfluff 15y ago

The Religion War - Scott Adams Really great read though recommend reading God's Debris first for better understanding of the characters

sokolski 15y ago

Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad

jbogan 15y ago

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.

eswat 15y ago

The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson and Linchpin by Seth Godin. I had started Linchpin first but I’m now focusing on finishing The Primal Blueprint instead. If you like to question Conventional Wisdom and want to take a second look at how modern society has wrongly dictated what we eat, how we work out, etc. then give it a read.

cb372 15y ago

I recently read "Reading the OED" by Ammon Shea. Recommended for word nerds.

niktech 15y ago

The Powerfood Nutrition Plan: The Guy's Guide to Getting Stronger, Leaner, Smarter, Healthier, Better Looking, Better Sex With Food! http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1594862354/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/179-0036826-0648959?ref_=sr_1_1 http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1594862354/ref=redir_mdp_mobil...

szcukg 15y ago

Game of Thrones....One helluva of a book

lylejohnson 15y ago

House of Leaves, by Mark Z. Danielewski. Not sure that I can recommend it, but it's very different from anything else I've read.

squidsoup 15y ago
Make take on it was that it was a very evocative and unsettling story, marred by too much 'post-modern' noodling.

noelsequeira 15y ago

Interesting aside: I'm pretty sure your intention was jest, but lolling isn't as modern a word as the internet generation would have you believe (and has an entirely different meaning). From the etymology of loll (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=loll http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=loll): mid-14c., lollen "to lounge idly, hang loosely," perhaps related to M.Du. lollen "to doze, mumble," or somehow imitative of rocking or swinging. Specifically of the tongue from 1610s.

yread 15y ago
yes, thank you. I understood more or less what it meant but I have never seen it before and considered it an interesting contrast

schrototo 15y ago

The Instructions by Adam Levin. Best book I've read since Infinite Jest (by David Foster Wallace, of course, also highly recommended). The characters, the story, the language, my god the language... It's all utterly fantastic. The last 300 pages had me so thoroughly gripped, I read them in one sitting.

OoTheNigerian 15y ago

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared M. Diamond (courtesy of a HN recommendation on this kind of thread) In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives by Steven Levy (courtesy PG's tweet and retweets of that tweet). I am now loving my kindle because I can switch between books easily without the accompanying load

webgambit 15y ago

Audiobook: I just finished Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. I highly recommend it if you're into fantasy type novels. It has a unique magic system and is very well written. I've been off and on with War and Peace for a while. Kind of dry so far. Kindle: The Law by Frederic Bastiat, extremely good book describing the fundamental purpose of law and government. Dead Tree: Essence of Discrete Mathematics by Neville Dean, seems to be pretty good book, just haven't devoted enough time to reading it.

smallegan 15y ago

The Practicing Mind "Bringing Discipline and Focus Into Your Life" by Thomas Sterner http://www.amazon.com/dp/0977657205 http://www.amazon.com/dp/0977657205

dmc 15y ago

Currently reading Little Brother by Cory Doctorow - an OK book - and keeping Starting Strength by my side as a reference. Starting Strength is a great introduction to weightlifting and getting stronger, I highly recommend it.

dablya 15y ago

Yet another example of a thread where seeing votes would be useful...

benlang 15y ago

The Thank You Economy. I have a few extra ones, let me know if you'd like one for free.

tokenadult 15y ago

I just finished reading the entire Harry Potter series of novels for the first time, as my third son was reading it for the second time. My daughter will finish the series soon. I also read selected parts of The Good Book: A Humanist Bible http://www.amazon.com/Good-Book-Humanist-Bible/dp/0802717373/ http://www.amazon.com/Good-Book-Humanist-Bible/dp/0802717373... before I had to return it to the library yesterday. I especially like the section "Proverbs," which I read in full. I was able to find the section that quotes Confucius and Mencius extensively just before I returned the book. It's an interesting concept, but some parts of The Good Book: A Humanist Bible are extremely dull reading. I am likely to read Quotology http://www.amazon.com/Quotology-Stages-Willis-Goth-Regier/dp/0803217528/ http://www.amazon.com/Quotology-Stages-Willis-Goth-Regier/dp... next, to learn more about how quotations are traced after being misattributed, a subject I own another book about. I agree with the OP that A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is well worth reading.

Illgetthere 15y ago

Game of Thrones

sjs382 15y ago

Currently: FreeDarko Presents: The Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History http://www.amazon.com/FreeDarko-Presents-Undisputed-Basketball-History/dp/1608190838 http://www.amazon.com/FreeDarko-Presents-Undisputed-Basketba...

wushupork 15y ago

Here are some business books I've read or am reading http://www.shelfluv.com/pek.pongpaet/business http://www.shelfluv.com/pek.pongpaet/business I also read books on design - here's a few I like: http://www.shelfluv.com/pek.pongpaet/design http://www.shelfluv.com/pek.pongpaet/design One of my favorite books of course is Founders at Work. I also find books about entrepreneurs very inspiring - like anything from Richard Branson. Ted Turner's book and Howard Schultz are also good.

flomincucci 15y ago

Just finished reading The Loser by Thomas Bernhard. Cruel, repetitive, ironic... effing brilliant. It's about three pianists - one of them it's Glenn Gould, and how meeting him ruined the life of the other two. Currently reading High Fidelity by Nick Hornby. I can't be objetive about him, I simple love it. (The movie is great, also)

1reza 15y ago

The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Toddward 15y ago

Crazy - I was just about to ask this same question. My New Years resolution for this year was to read two books a month. I just finished reading "In the Plex" by Steven Levy and I'm starting Stephen Hawking's "A Briefer History of Time." It should take me no time to blow through the latter, so I'm looking for suggestions as for what to read next.

d2_nyc 15y ago

The Cosmic Game: Explorations of the Frontiers of Human Consciousness http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0791438767 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0791438767

kirpekar 15y ago

Cutting for Stone -- Abraham Verghese

imjonathanlee 15y ago

Currently reading: The girl who kicked the hornet's nest Top Favorites: Count of Monte Cristo, The three musketeers, Sherlock Homes and the Hound of Baskersville, Atlas Shrugged, The Client

mdzkhan 15y ago

Currently reading "The Influencing Machine" by Brooke Gladstone. http://amzn.to/kpozga http://amzn.to/kpozga

gennaria 15y ago

The Passage by Justin Cronin

starter 15y ago

The Bible: Ecclesiastes - For Humans Starting From Scratch by Wes Moss - For Entrepreneurs