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Five Books: The best books on everything
- activitypea 3y agoI've been looking for something like this, hopefully other users can weigh in if the curation is any good.
- bombcar 3y agoBased on my limited perusal of areas I have some familiarity with, I'd say they're pretty good. Could I bicker? Yes. But it would be in "these aren't quite the top five but they're in my top ten" type as opposed to "why are you recommending Mein Kampf as a cookbook".
- krick 3y agoIs recommending "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins as a "best book on Quantum Theory" good enough for your taste? Anyway, any list of "The best books on X, recommended by Some Noname" almost by definition is not going to be very reliable, so that's all I can say. Just another bullshit website to earn commission via Amazon referral links by recommending random bullshit to innocent victims. I recon it might have been more useful if it was entirely generated by ChatGPT.
- is_true 3y agoI think that usually the best books about a topic are textbooks, and by the look of it this site doesn't suggest many
- lcuff 3y agoAs a generalization I have to disagree, at least in America for high-school subjects. I looked at both the math and biology texts from recent years. The math texts were written by people who didn't understand math, and the biology text was so focussed on the No Child Left Behind Act requirements that it was rubbish. (Also look for Richard Feynmann's experience reviewing textbooks). Undoubtedly there are good textbooks out there, but they are just as much in need of review and recommendation as non-textbooks.
- is_true 3y agoI'm from America but not from the US, so that probably makes a big difference
- driscoll42 3y agoReviewing some of the books on computer science, there's an English writing book recommended for "Computer Science for Data Scientists", "Thinking Fast and Thinking Slow" for Artificial Intelligence, for Naval History (20th Century) it's two WWI books, one inter war period, one WWII and then one on the British Submarines since then... not a good overall history, and for Ancient Rome "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" which has important significance for understanding the evolution of the study of Roman history, but is not a good source anymore. In short, this seems to be taking some famous books related to a field without actually selection the five "best" ones.
- anguswithgusto 3y agoCuration is solid. Depends on who they pick as the subject matter expert, but for example, their Shakespeare biography recommendations are themselves from one of the best living Shakespeare biographers. [1] I find "Five Books" picks better than Amazon recommendations, and faster than Google/Reddit searches. Example: search "wine book" on Amazon and it's all wine textbooks and pretty-but-vapid coffee table books. Meanwhile, Five Books will suggests Kermit Lynch's fantastic cult classic wine memoir [2]. [1] https://fivebooks.com/best-books/shakespeare-biography-james-shapiro/ https://fivebooks.com/best-books/shakespeare-biography-james... [2] https://fivebooks.com/best-books/randall-grahm-wine/ https://fivebooks.com/best-books/randall-grahm-wine/
- Blackstrat 3y agoPersonally, I think Amazon’s recommendation quality has declined precipitously over the last year or so. I find the way they do the recommendations page now to be totally worthless. Often, more than half the books recommended are different formats of books I’ve already purchased from them. The old format, by genre etc., was much more usable. Goodreads does a better job, but it’s far from perfect, e.g., mystery recommendations under science, etc. In reality, I frequently get better recommendations by searching books on Hacker News.
- autarch 3y agoI looked through the sci-fi and fantasy sections and there were some odd choices. For example, Jeff Vandermeer's Annihilation was recommended as a "climate change novel" book. It's hard for me to see how this makes any sense. Other weird suggestions: * Ender's Game under Best Apocalyptic Fiction * Parable of the Talents under Best Sci Fi Books on Space Settlement - this is real stretch since the book takes place entirely on Earth, though it does feature a religion that focuses on spreading humanity to other planets.
- dvsfish 3y agoI wondered about Annihilation too. I mean... I guess the climate did change, but it didn't seem like that had anything to do with anthropomorphic climate change, which is surely the implied idea of the category
- my_city 3y ago[dead]
- nindalf 3y agoThe Economist does something similar with their Economist Reads column. Their topics are more esoteric though. The best books to understand - The Scottish Independence Movement - https://www.economist.com/the-economist-reads/2023/05/02/what-to-read-about-the-scottish-independence-movement https://www.economist.com/the-economist-reads/2023/05/02/wha... - Poker - https://www.economist.com/the-economist-reads/2023/04/16/what-to-read-to-understand-poker-the-finest-game-ever-invented https://www.economist.com/the-economist-reads/2023/04/16/wha... - Florida - https://www.economist.com/the-economist-reads/2023/04/16/what-to-read-to-understand-poker-the-finest-game-ever-invented https://www.economist.com/the-economist-reads/2023/04/16/wha... - Investing - https://www.economist.com/the-economist-reads/2023/04/26/five-books-on-the-best-approaches-to-being-an-investor https://www.economist.com/the-economist-reads/2023/04/26/fiv... - Books you’re forbidden from reading - https://www.economist.com/the-economist-reads/2023/02/24/seven-books-you-are-forbidden-from-reading https://www.economist.com/the-economist-reads/2023/02/24/sev...
- engineer_22 3y agoForbidden books on Economist: https://archive.is/ntK0a https://archive.is/ntK0a
- rocauc 3y ago- Florida link - https://www.economist.com/the-economist-reads/2023/03/24/what-to-read-about-the-sunshine-state https://www.economist.com/the-economist-reads/2023/03/24/wha... (noticed you accidentally linked to the Poker list twice and went looking)
- harry8 3y agoThe economist writers are like chatGPT of journalism. It all sounds fine and you think it's great right up to the point it's on a topic you know /anything/ at all about. Suddenly every single time, just on the topics you know just something of it has no depth, no understanding and has no idea what facts it just made up. The writers are clearly intelligent and literary it's just they genuinely don't care to understand the subject of their writing. Try it for yourself. Pick anything you know a bit about then read the economist on it. It's a partial crib sheet at best. I pick investing above and think that list is shallow. Any takers for Florida, poker, Scottish independence, banned books?
- leto_ii 3y agoI find this to be simplistic pop intelectual nonsense. This is not how to learn anything. It's way more meaningful to understand and pursue your own actual interests than to humble brag by ticking the "correct" readings. Not to mention that talking about the best anything is basically meaningless, except for very tightly constrained achievements (e.g. we can talk about the best sprinter, but who's the best philosopher? or the best mathematician?)
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- latexr 3y agoI’m having a hard time parsing your complaint. > This is not how to learn anything. You don’t learn anything by reading books? So if you have an interest in astronomy you don’t learn by reading books on astronomy? How do you learn, then? Must one go study to become an astronomer as the first step? Won’t you have to read a book on it at some point? > It's way more meaningful to understand and pursue your own actual interests What does this mean in practice, and how does it invalidate reading? Can’t you understand and pursue an interest in philosophy by reading philosophy books? > than to humble brag by ticking the "correct" readings. Who’s talking about humble bragging? Wether you brag or not it’s up to you, I don’t see anything on the website encouraging you to do so. > Not to mention that talking about the best anything is basically meaningless, except for very tightly constrained achievements The website is very upfront about how it works: > We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview. Seems like a good way to begin exploring. If you’re interested in a subject the website points you to someone they consider to be knowledgeable of the field, that person has recommendations to get your started, and they explain why they picked each one. Maybe I missed something about the reason you oppose the website, but on the face of it I don’t see what’s so wrong as to justify such vehement disapproval.
- nathansherburn 3y ago> Maybe I missed something about the reason you oppose the website... It sounds like you took the primary criticism in the parent comment to be about reading in general. I took it to mean that the best way to learn say economics is not to read one of "the top 5 recommended books on economics" but rather start by googling a specific aspect or question about economics that interests you and then following the thread. Granted, reading one of the top 5 books may be a great entry point for many people but I think there's also a false promise of knowledge offered by sites like this.
- UweSchmidt 3y agoI would love to see a small, maybe opinionated list of science books, each, in one volume, giving a full overview of the field in an approachable way, like: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Science_of_Life https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Science_of_Life but of course state-of-the-art. It would be a nice collection and a chance to at least get a general overview over all of science, and discover just how patchy my knowledge really is :)
- abecedarius 3y agoSome of the Foo: A Very Short Introduction books are worth reading. Not on average to me, though I'm picky.
- TedDoesntTalk 3y agoFor sci-fi, they recommend the Arthur Clark award books. The first 2022 title I clicked is summarized like this on Amazon: “Part sci-fi, fantasy, and Afro-futurism but not squarely one or the other, A River Called Time…” What is “Afro-futurism”?
- krapp 3y agoAfrofuturism is a cultural aesthetic, philosophy of science, and history that explores the intersection of the African diaspora culture with science and technology. It addresses themes and concerns of the African diaspora through technoculture and speculative fiction, encompassing a range of media and artists with a shared interest in envisioning black futures that stem from Afro-diasporic experiences. While Afrofuturism is most commonly associated with science fiction, it can also encompass other speculative genres such as fantasy, alternate history, and magic realism. The term was coined by Mark Dery, an American Cultural critic in 1993 and explored in the late 1990s through conversations led by Alondra Nelson. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrofuturism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrofuturism - https://www.essence.com/entertainment/a-beginners-guide-afrofuturism/ https://www.essence.com/entertainment/a-beginners-guide-afro... - https://www.blerd.com/what-is-afrofuturism-why-is-it-important/ https://www.blerd.com/what-is-afrofuturism-why-is-it-importa...
- pavlov 3y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrofuturism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrofuturism The 2018 Marvel movie “Black Panther” is probably the most mainstream work under this umbrella.
- teh_klev 3y agoAfro-futurism isn't a new thing. It's represented by musical oeuvres such as Sun Ra (Space is the place) to writings, oddly as a white author, by Alastair Reynolds in the "Poseidon's Children Universe" (where elephants make it into space). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrofuturism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrofuturism
- WoodenChair 3y agoThis is very similar to Shepherd: https://shepherd.com https://shepherd.com
- sophiestephanie 3y agoShepherd copied Five Books...
- my_city 3y ago[dead]
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- rcarr 3y agoThe D&D reading lists look pretty good for fantasy: https://www.dicegeeks.com/dnd-recommended-reading/ https://www.dicegeeks.com/dnd-recommended-reading/
- ofalkaed 3y agoWhen ever I am getting into a new topic I try to start with OUP's Very Short Introduction series [0]. They generally do not give good understanding but they orient you in the field and provide extensive bibliographies along with the knowledge required to navigate that bibliography and select the sources which will give you the information you desire instead of what someone else thinks you want. Failing that I just go down to the library and talk to the librarian. 0: https://global.oup.com/academic/content/series/v/very-short-introductions-vsi/?cc=us&lang=en& https://global.oup.com/academic/content/series/v/very-short-...
- budafish 3y agoThank you for this. I had no idea this series existed! It's exactly the level of info I want when picking up a new topic! And bonus is my local library stocks many of them!
- ofalkaed 3y agoThey are an invaluable resource just don't get too caught up in trying to understand everything they present, they are introductions and about giving you the tools needed to pursue the study of the field, not about giving you a full education. They only take a night or two to read and the bibliographies are within the scope of the introduction they provide, they don't load you down with books that are beyond the knowledge of the sort who would be reading such a book.
- riemannzeta 3y agoWould be more interesting/useful to see a meta-list ranking the books that come up more than once in recommendations, sorted from most frequent to least frequent.
- anguswithgusto 3y agoThis + one that mined book blurbs
- yboris 3y agoI love that you can see by author. My favorite, Peter Singer is on so many lists: https://fivebooks.com/people/peter-singer/ https://fivebooks.com/people/peter-singer/
- ibitto 3y ago> The best books on Artificial Intelligence, recommended by ChatGPT Hm...
- deevus 3y agoI was recently recommended the sci-fi space opera "A Fire Upon the Deep" by Vernor Vinge. That was an absolute blast to read. If you're into computer science, you'll really dig it. There is a summary with no spoilers at the start of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5jTNUSIR18 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5jTNUSIR18
- Nihilartikel 3y agoI was recommended the not-really-a-prequel, 'A deepness in the sky' and quite enjoyed that too! Very different plot, with a few connecting elements to the former, but still cracking good sci Fi.
- deevus 3y agoI'm reading through "Deepness" at the moment. I agree it is also very cool!
- comicjk 3y agoI think A Deepness In The Sky is actually better, especially for people on here. The story takes place on spaceships thousands of years in the future, but the characters are still using code based on Unix timestamps, and still complaining about legacy software.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- jvanderbot 3y ago100 percent. I read deepness before fire, and was terribly disappointed by the latter, even though it was a perfectly great book - just didn't measure up.
- deevus 3y agoI think reading Fire before Deepness was a good choice for me personally. I loved absolutely loved the Tines race and the stories of that world.
- AlbertCory 3y agoI can't tell if "Darwin's Dangerous Idea" is in there or not. If not, "The Elegant Universe" would be my suggestion for the one to throw out to make room for it. String theory is not science. Maybe that one could fit somewhere in Religion /s
- jamesgill 3y agoThese are just personal book recommendations with affiliate links. That's fine, but the headline sure is clickbait.
- sophiestephanie 3y agoYes, that's the only way to get people reading 5000 word interviews about the neuroscience of consciousness...
- joshcsimmons 3y agoWhat is unique about this that warrants an HN submission? These are just highly-opinionated lists. A neuroscience category without Jaak Panksepp? Get real.
- mrwnmonm 3y agoIt is like someone posted the link to upset others here.
- wzy 3y agoI love this is just a WordPress website with a custom theme and some plugins.
- sophiestephanie 3y agoYes! Would love to have funds to make it more sophisticated, but that's where we're at.
- kragen 3y agoi struggle to find categories on the front page containing falsifiable assertions where are the best five books on linear algebra, on signal processing, on control theory, on equid phylogeny, on group theory, on energy-efficient architectural design, on civil engineering? they do have https://fivebooks.com/best-books/artificial-intelligence-gpt-3/ https://fivebooks.com/best-books/artificial-intelligence-gpt... to be fair, and all five seem to actually exist, but kahneman is in the list? some of the lists on https://fivebooks.com/category/technology/ https://fivebooks.com/category/technology/ look more promising for example, they do have a list of five books on programming. but it includes 'clean code', by that unqualified blowhard bob martin? the cs for data science list looks possibly okay and their recommendations for philosophy of technology come from... evgeny morozov? are they deliberately trying to get terrible recommendations?
- abecedarius 3y agoThis is a respectable try at a better crowdsourced collection (if you haven't seen it): https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/xg3hXCYQPJkwHyik2/the-best-textbooks-on-every-subject https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/xg3hXCYQPJkwHyik2/the-best-t... To do better I'd want to sort/filter at least semiautomatically by personal taste/judgement -- that could use a UI along the lines of the one I prototyped for a client for image search in the late 2000s, maybe mixed with ideas from Advogato. That's starting to sound like work, to make a new system and get it to be popular enough to accumulate enough data to work with. I wonder if there's an open-data form of something like this five-books site (not this one: https://fivebooks.com/Terms-of-Service/ https://fivebooks.com/Terms-of-Service/)
- cratermoon 3y agoMany of the lists on that side look about as reliable and honest as Amazon reviews.
- cgeier 3y agoI looked for the best book on ants, but was disappointed it didn't offer anything.
- sophiestephanie 3y agoI'm one of the founders of the site. We set it up in 2009 and have kept it going by using affiliate links. The affiliate links cover some of the costs, but not all. We interview people who know about a field (often professors) either via Zoom (now, it used to be Skype or phone) or in person, as my background is in journalism. Feel free to ask questions!