[HN Gopher] Ask HN: Books you read in 2023 and recommend for 2024?
___________________________________________________________________
Ask HN: Books you read in 2023 and recommend for 2024?
The year is coming to an end. Time to look back and reflect. What
are the books you've read in 2023? Which books made you change your
mind or you simply enjoyed? And which books would you recommend to
others for 2024?
Author : vanschelven
Score : 87 points
Date : 2023-12-07 13:46 UTC (9 hours ago)
| CharleFKane wrote:
| Deadly Times: The 1910 Bombing of the Los Angeles Times and
| America's Forgotten Decade of Terror, Lew Irwin
|
| River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search
| for the Source of the Nile, Candice Millard
|
| The Fleet That Had To Die, Richard Hough
|
| Trapped Under the Sea: One Engineering Marvel, Five Men, and a
| Disaster Ten Miles Into the Darkness, Neil Swidey
| easternbeast wrote:
| Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew
| Walker
|
| All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
|
| The Three-Body Problem
|
| Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
|
| Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
| baz00 wrote:
| _> Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand_
|
| I'd recommend leaving that one in the bathroom in case you run
| out of toilet paper.
| tayo42 wrote:
| I wish this book wasn't as massive as it is. I'd like to read
| to see why it's so polarizing, I'm just not that interested
| lol
| evgen wrote:
| You are going to catch a lot of downvotes for Atlas Shrugged
| unless it is added with irony. It is truly a bad book written
| by a rather horrible person with dubious morals. I strongly
| recommend anyone who has progressed beyond their angsty
| sophomore year of college to give it a pass; just go read
| Anthem to get a feel for Rand's poorly justified bullshit (and
| to observe a nice example of 'literature' that can do no better
| than straw man antagonists) and save yourself several hundred
| pages of reading.
| peruvian wrote:
| Paul Murray's The Bee Sting - very engrossing novel about a
| family in post-crash Ireland.
| godzillafarts wrote:
| - Ballou, Brendan. Plunder: Private Equity's Plan to Pillage
| America.
|
| - Smil, Vaclav. How the World Really Works: The Science Behind
| How We Got Here and Where We're Going.
|
| - Doucleff, Michaeleen. Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient
| Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy,
| Helpful Little Humans.
| TwoCent wrote:
| Smil's recent "Invention and Innovation" is well worth reading,
| too. Anything by Smil, really, is excellent food for thought
| and deeply informative.
| rmk wrote:
| Are there any Smil books that are suitable for children?
| poetril wrote:
| I mostly read fantasy, but had some personal favorites this year:
|
| The Blacktongue Theif - Christopher Buehlman
|
| Kings of the Wyld * Bloody Rose - Nicholas Eames
|
| Farseer Trilogy - Hobin Hobb
| schultzie wrote:
| Hey I read all those books this year as well, all great books.
|
| I'd add the Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven
| Erickson to that list, if you like a grittier dark fantasy.
| mbb70 wrote:
| Word of warning: only read Malazan if you have 400+ hours
| burning a hole in your lifespan. Those books are good, but
| they are _long_
| thaumasiotes wrote:
| I saw a lot of recommendations for that series and ordered
| the first book, but I wasn't able to get through it.
| There's something about it that makes it very boring to
| read rather than enjoyable.
|
| Something similar happens with Tad Williams.
| 0cf8612b2e1e wrote:
| I am only on book three, but part of my issue is how much
| seemingly deus ex machina occurs. The world is alien,
| deep, and unknowable. At any moment, some previously
| unidentified entity can twist events on their head.
|
| Big baddie about to destroy town? When all hope is lost,
| a powerful, benevolent force sprouts from the ground to
| end the threat.
|
| Science fiction gets "one thing". People are the same,
| but now you can backup your conscience onto a chip. How
| does humanity adapt?
|
| Erickson gets 1000 things that will be revealed the
| moment you think you know where the plot is headed.
|
| All that being said, it is interesting, layered, and a
| wild ride.
| TheAceOfHearts wrote:
| Farseer Trilogy should really come with a disclaimer to not
| read if you're depressed or going through a difficult time. The
| author is very skilled, but that series was analogous to being
| kicked repeatedly in the balls, given how much the main
| character goes through.
| tmshu1 wrote:
| Psychology of Money, Morgan Housel
|
| Let Your Life Speak, Parker Palmer
|
| The Beginning of Infinity, David Deutsch
|
| A Philosophy of Software Design, John Ousterhout
| godzillafarts wrote:
| You might already be aware, but Morgan Housel has recently
| released a new book titled "Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never
| Changes."
| malshe wrote:
| Chip War by Chris Miller. This is a well researched book on the
| chip war between the US and China
|
| Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. I loved this book because I
| learned so many new things about sleep. It also made me more
| disciplined about my sleeping habits.
|
| Kilo by Toby Muse. The book is about cocaine trade in Colombia.
| It is eye-opening and generated intense negative emotions at
| times.
|
| Tracers in the Dark by Andy Greenberg. I love to read about
| cybersecurity, hackers, etc. so this book was an amazing read.
|
| I read many more books which I loved but keeping this list short.
| Many of these books were mentioned in the comments on HN!
|
| Edit: fixed the spelling of Colombia
| mparnisari wrote:
| > Kilo by Toby Muse. The book is about cocaine trade in
| Columbia
|
| You mean Colombia?
| malshe wrote:
| Haha yes, Colombia. That's an embarrassing mistake!
| pesfandiar wrote:
| It's a common mistake, especially here in British
| "Columbia". They're the English and Spanish spelling of the
| same thing (a reference to the New World).
| misiti3780 wrote:
| Truman: https://www.amazon.com/Truman-David-
| McCullough/dp/1442387807
|
| Grant: https://www.amazon.com/Grant/dp/178854160X
|
| The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt: https://www.amazon.com/Theodore-
| Roosevelt-Modern-Library-Pap...
| browningstreet wrote:
| The Future is Degrowth: A Guide to a World Beyond Capitalism
|
| Novelist as a Vocation by Murakami
|
| The Milky Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy by Moiya McTier
| DeathArrow wrote:
| The Brothers Karamazov, FM Dostevsky
|
| Political Religions, Eric Voegelin
|
| The Warden, Anthony Trollope
|
| The Mystery of the Grail, Julius Evola
| TheAceOfHearts wrote:
| Vita Nostra because it has an interesting magic system. Piranesi
| because it also has a weird magic system.
|
| I didn't read it this past year, but the first one that came to
| mind was Tigana. That book was rather weird for me, because the
| process of reading it wasn't very enjoyable, but after finishing
| I loved it.
|
| If anyone has suggestions for fantasy or sci-fi books with weird
| or non-standard magic systems I'd love to hear em. I've already
| read most of the big names like Sanderson.
| rordaz wrote:
| Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity - Peter Attia
| troupe wrote:
| Some of the books I've read this year that I'd recommend:
|
| The Divine Comedy by Dante - It is hard to underestimate how much
| it has influenced our culture.
|
| A Distant Mirror - The history of the 14th century, but engaging
| like a novel.
|
| Name of the Rose - Mystery novel set in Medieval times.
|
| On Lisp by Paul Graham - http://www.paulgraham.com/onlisp.html
|
| Seasoned Schemer - Kind of an interactive book that teaches
| computer science concepts in an interactive paper based way.
| Probably best to start with the Little Schemer first.
| shanusmagnus wrote:
| Curious -- people love those Little Schemer books. I've read
| SICP back in the day and loved that. I'd be interested in more
| of your impressions about LS/SS, if you care to share.
| troupe wrote:
| SICP is a textbook. The Little Schemer is a tutorial. You sit
| down with a pen, paper, and the book. Then you cover the
| answer column in the book, read the question / prompt and try
| to write an answer on your paper. You compare your results
| with the books suggested answer and work your way through it
| question by question.
|
| So it is kind of a way of create a Socratic dialog with a
| book. I found it to be a great way to engage with the
| material in a way that promotes understanding in a hands on
| way, but without putting a computer in the way. When you are
| writing your answers you have to be more intentional than
| just, "well lets see if this works."
| coldpie wrote:
| I randomly stumbled on the Proxima & Ultima duology by Stephen
| Baxter and they shot up to the top echelon of my favorite books
| list. Near-future sci-fi, interstellar travel, alternate
| histories, alien cultures, non-human cognition. Just wonderful
| stuff to randomly pick off the library shelf because they had a
| cool sounding name. I actually read the 2nd book first by
| accident, and thought it worked pretty well in retrospect.
|
| I also liked Eon by Greg Bear (RIP), for actually quite similar
| reasons.
| wabbledwillow wrote:
| The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson
| DyslexicAtheist wrote:
| literally anything by Bryson
| DyslexicAtheist wrote:
| The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon
|
| edit: lol downvotes?
| _chimmy_chonga_ wrote:
| Legends and Lattes is probably my favorite book i've read this
| year
|
| Set in the DnD universe a adventure retires and sets up a coffee
| shop in a large city. Except no one knows what coffee is, and her
| past follows her there.
|
| This is a quick read at around 200 pages, so if you read massive
| fantasy tomes like I do you'll knock this one out really quickly.
| Where it shines though is its world building and the sense of
| community you get from the characters as you make your way
| through the story. I've been recommending it to my friends and
| they have all loved it just as much as I did.
| sciuromorpha_ wrote:
| Love this book. It's not set in any of the D&D universes as far
| as I'm aware, though it is very clearly influenced by the
| fantasy trappings of D&D
| bhdlr wrote:
| If you liked legends and lattes, check out the Cradle series by
| will wight. Travis Baldtree narrates the audiobooks!
| rossdavidh wrote:
| End Times: Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political
| Disintegration by Peter Turchin. Instead of just bemoaning the
| current state of politics, Turchin uses a data-informed
| comparison to previous, similar cycles to see where we're headed.
|
| What if? 2 by Randall Munroe. The physics, biology, and chemistry
| textbook we should have had in high school.
|
| Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist by Frans de
| Waal. Primatologist with half a century of experience analyzes
| current gender identity debates from the viewpoint of someone who
| knows about more than one primate species (not just humans).
| zwieback wrote:
| "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" by Gabrielle Zevin,
| fantastic writing, touching and insightful
|
| "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" by Thomas Hardy. I'm huge Hardy fan
| but hadn't read his masterpiece until this year
| HenryBemis wrote:
| Halftime: Moving from Success... (this makes sense if you around
| 40 or over 40)(I read it a few years back and then again this
| year as a self-follow-up)
|
| Thou Shall Prosper: Ten Commandments for Making Money (it's NOT
| about making money - I found it more useful on "adding value"
| more than "making money - it changed my perspective on 'how to
| work, how to operate, how to see things, how to see/seek/grab
| opportunities' but ultimately how to add value - _and_ get paid
| handsomely for it)(ok it is about making money, but as a result,
| not as a driver) (if you ignore the "too much Judaism" bits, it
| is a great book)(I read it a few years back and then again this
| year as a self-follow-up)
|
| If you are a parent, Meg Meeker's - Strong Fathers, Strong
| Daughters - Strong Mothers, Strong Sons (if you ignore the "too
| much Christianity" bits, these are great books) I found them to
| be super useful manuals/cheatsheets to building strong loving and
| trusting relationships with my kid(s). I used it with/for my
| daughter and our relationship moved from a cold _father-daughter-
| we-don 't-understand-each-other_ to a thriving friendly loving
| respecting listening relationship where she ASKS to actually
| spend time with me. I cannot recommend it enough to any parent
| that asks me for books(again.. ignoring the "too much
| Christianity" bits)
|
| (Disclaimer: I don't want to proselytize anyone to either/or/both
| Judaism, Christianity or any other religion.)(it's just that I
| found the _Prosper_ and _Strong_ books so useful..)
| sinistersnare wrote:
| - Everyday Utopia by Kristen Ghodsee
|
| - The Persuaders by Anand Giridharadas
|
| - No Bosses by Michael Albert
|
| Everyday Utopia was certainly a beautiful read, it is ultimately
| a book about hope and how we should be experimenting more in our
| world. The Persuaders had some really good insights into
| contemporary political persuasion tactics. No Bosses is very
| provocative in its argument for a change in the fundemantal
| division of labor in our age.
|
| Also I would recommend the "Monk & Robot" series by Becky
| Chambers. It takes place in a solar-punk style world that is more
| character driven and less conflict driven.
| a_c wrote:
| How Will You Measure Your Life by Clayton Christensen
|
| https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13425570-how-will-you-me...
|
| I always feel uneasy with the notion of work-life balance. At the
| same time I always want more time and attention with my family.
| Family is part of life, work is part of life, everything you do
| is part of life. Why the two often appear to be opposing each
| other? The book offers much counsel on family, parenting and
| profession. Many of the business examples appeared in the book
| Innovation Dilemma and a talk at google
| https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rHdS_4GsKmg
| aestetix wrote:
| I'm only halfway through it, but The Rise and Fall of the Third
| Reich by William Shirer. Absolutely fascinating insight into the
| political machinations of Nazi Germany.
| Semaphor wrote:
| I re-read the 10 doorstopper long "Malazan Book of the Fallen"
| high fantasy series by Steven Erikson and enjoyed it just as much
| as I did originally, slightly over a decade ago. Still my
| favorite series of all time. This took up a pretty big chunk of
| the year, so most other books were rather light urban fantasy
| novels.
|
| But one other mini-series stood out (potentially going to be a
| trilogy, but both #1 & #2 can stand alone).
|
| Teixcalaan #1 & #2, "A Memory Called Empire" and "A Desolation
| Called Peace" by Arkady Martine for being very different feeling
| sci-fi books that are not your typical western-centric fare.
| Highlights are the language, and that the story feels both very
| small and contained, and also all-encompassing, at the same time.
| vanilla_nut wrote:
| A good reminder that I need to finish my Malazan readthrough!
| The universe is incredibly deep, the characters are incredibly
| rich, but I do wish Erikson would let us get a little bit
| comfier in the shoes of each character for longer stretches of
| time. I sailed through House of Chains so quickly because I
| didn't have perspective whiplash, but I find it difficult to
| keep all of the characters in my head during some sections --
| battles in particular are a real challenge for me in the
| Malazan series.
|
| Highly recommend the series, but a warning: if you find
| yourself bouncing off book one, don't bother with the rest of
| the series. I find that the later books are slightly better
| written and slightly better structured, but the core writing
| style issues are still there (notably, perspective whiplash and
| a magic system that is so complex that it sometimes feels like
| deux ex machina).
| bodantogat wrote:
| I read Malazan for the first time this year after putting it
| off for decades. Loved it and will likely read it again
| dallas wrote:
| I've got the whole Malazan series sitting in a box ready to
| read... alas, I'm pretty bushed by the time I have a moment to
| read and I'm sharing those precious moments before sleep with
| D&D prep too. I think I'll be saving it for some future date.
| moss2 wrote:
| _Differently Morphous_ by Yahtzee Croshaw. It 's cute detective
| novel set in a fantasy version of modern-day London. It includes
| a ministry of magic (legally distinct from Harry Potter),
| Lovecraftian cosmic horror, a hive mind of slime monsters seeking
| asylum in England, and an outstanding cast of wacky characters. A
| very light and cosy read, highly recommended.
| kylecazar wrote:
| Undermajordomo Minor -- Patrick deWitt
|
| This was a very entertaining novel, if you like them dark, funny
| and smart. I imagine (like me) there are a lot of non-fiction
| readers in this thread, I deliberately picked this to read as a
| break from the usual. Loved it and will read another book of his
| next.
| rightlane wrote:
| The Apology by Plato. Short but insightful.
|
| Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. If you like LitRPG this
| series is just so good.
|
| Paul's "Works of the Law" in the Perspective of Second-Century
| Reception by Matthew J. Thomas. If you are a theology nerd this
| is just exceedingly interesting.
| velavar wrote:
| This was the year I got my attention under enough control to be
| able to read voraciously again like I used to in my childhood :)
|
| * I'll always bring up The Three-body problem because I re-read
| it every year
|
| * Piranesi because of it's fantastical story-telling
|
| * The Covenant of Water - because it's a fantastic medical drama
| and a sweeping story spanning generations
|
| * Victory City - Salamn Rushdie's latest novel which is
| surprisingly readable
|
| * The Enchanted Forest/Kaikeyi/Palace of Illusions - because they
| cover the major Indian epics from the lens of the women
| characters (think Circe with an Indian background)
|
| * Trust - The same story told from different viewpoints with a
| setting in the early NY financial world, which makes it extra
| interesting
|
| I notice that I do tend to favour books with an Indian background
| because of my nostalgia for it as I live in a foreign land. Maybe
| I'll branch out more next year!
| tobbe2064 wrote:
| What is it that draws you so much to the threebody problem? I
| honestly thought it was pretty much crap, but maybe i am
| missing something.
| velavar wrote:
| That's okay, different people can like different things :)
|
| As for myself, I liked reading about some bits of Chinese
| history that I was not very familiar with, and it also
| provides a really good foundation for the reason behind the
| lead character's far-reaching actions. I also do think the
| best parts of the story do come later in books 2 and 3 - I
| like the larger-than-life ideas and the imperfect characters.
| tobbe2064 wrote:
| I did like the tid its about Chinese history as well, and
| the ending quote about whos winning was very memorable:)
| artimaeis wrote:
| "Immune: A Journey Into the Mysterious System That Keeps You
| Alive" by Philipp Dettmer
|
| I never really clicked with biology in school - but learning
| about systems is always fun. A bit of a pop-sci read on the
| subject that's very approachable. Most chapters are <10 pages.
| Dettmer manages to distill information very effectively though,
| he paints a fascinating picture of the complicated machinations
| of the human immune system.
| rmk wrote:
| This is a phenomenal book. Fascinating information for the
| layperson (and young children also) about the immune system!
| thicknavyrain wrote:
| The Identity Trap by Yascha Mounk, a mostly even handed, sensible
| and necessary read for right now.
| tobbe2064 wrote:
| A deepness in the sky, really nice story about aliens, spiders,
| culture. Both light, enjoyable, dark and thoughtprovoking
| tsujamin wrote:
| A pair of books I'd recommend for 2024, which I didn't get the
| chance to reread this year, would be:
|
| - The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Gaiman), which is beautiful
| in a way I can't quite describe
|
| - Century Rain (Reynolds), which is best described as a hard
| boiled 1930's noir hard science fiction novel.
|
| Books I read this year which I really enjoyed:'
|
| - Exploding The Phone (Lapsley): Super engrossing description of
| the phone phreak scene almost from its start to its end
|
| - Hyperion and sequels (Simmons): Probably one of my favourite
| science fiction series now, and I've already felt the need to go
| back and re-read passages from it. Also really enjoy how each
| part of the series (Hyperion, then Fall of Hyperion, then the
| Endymion books) re-invent the style and the story.
|
| - The Annotated American Gods (Gaiman, Klinger): 1000's of
| footnotes is a great way to revisit the story :)
| vanilla_nut wrote:
| Hyperion was a big surprise for me this year as well. I
| expected it to be good, but the way the first book unfolds a
| larger universe is incredible. I'm not sure I've read science
| fiction that feels quite so... planned, and intentional?
| Especially the way it incorporates Keats' poetry.
|
| Thanks for tipping me off about the Annotated American Gods! I
| read it ages ago, and I've been yearning to get back into
| Gaiman lately. This sounds like a good way to do it.
| tsujamin wrote:
| Not to spoil too much of the rest of the Hyperion Cantos if
| you've not read it, but I found the way each book brought
| into question the "reliability" of previous parts of the
| story super interesting. On the one hand - it can feel like a
| lazy rewriting of history to suit later stories, but I think
| it actually works super well because you pretty much have to
| re-evaluate the entire story multiple times. I came away
| feeling like I'd experienced 3 different, but equally-
| compelling versions of the story by the end!
| soupfordummies wrote:
| >> - Exploding The Phone (Lapsley): Super engrossing
| description of the phone phreak scene almost from its start to
| its end
|
| Haven't heard of this one, sounds right up my alley too!
|
| I need to check out more Gaiman too, I really enjoyed
| Neverwhere
| tsujamin wrote:
| Ocean at the End of the Lane is a great 2nd to read if you
| enjoyed Neverwhere!
|
| I was also listening to Evan Doorbell's telephone tapes [1]
| as I read Exploding the Phone, which was _super_ interesting
| because you can see the events of the book line-up with some
| of the comments Evan and other phreaks make on the tapes
| (like phone company security agents harassing them at their
| schools)
|
| [1]: https://www.evan-doorbell.com/
| plapsley wrote:
| Author of Exploding The Phone here, thanks for the mention and
| glad you enjoyed it! One thing I did that I'm pretty proud of
| is that I put almost all the research documents that I dug up
| (FOIA, newspaper articles, etc.) up on my website, where you
| can dig through them. E.g.:
| http://explodingthephone.com/search.php?q=blue+box&sort=rele...
| (please pardon the lack of https!) And to the other commenter
| about Evan Doorbell's excellent tapes about phone phreaking: I
| was lucky enough to get Evan to narrate the Audible version of
| my book!
| philomath_mn wrote:
| > (Gaiman), which is beautiful in a way I can't quite describe
|
| I feel this way about all the Gaiman I've read. I really didn't
| like some of the plots and finales (looking at you _American
| Gods_) but I still walk away with very warm feelings towards
| the books.
| beretguy wrote:
| Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy by Liu Cixin. Sci-fi.
| YWall39 wrote:
| Illusion of Control, Jon Danielsson
|
| The Last Emperor of Mexico, Edward Shawcross
|
| Super-Infinite, Katherine Rundell
|
| Stasiland, Anna Funder
| NoNotTheDuo wrote:
| Gardens of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates, Memories of Ice, House of
| Chains, Midnight Tides, The Bonehunters, Reaper's Gale, Toll the
| Hounds, Dust of Dreams, and The Crippled God - aka Malazan Book
| of the Fallen - all by Steven Erikson.
|
| Talk about a renewed interest in reading. After getting through
| Gardens of the Moon, I realized that I didn't really know what
| was going on or why these characters were doing what they were
| doing. I found a readalong podcast
| (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ten-very-big-books-
| a-m...), which really helped me put into context the storylines
| throughout the series.
|
| It's the most epic fantasy series out there. The stories are
| based on GURPS games that Erikson and his gaming partner Ian
| Cameron Esslemont ran in the 1980s on archeological digs.
|
| And there are an additional 16 novels, written both by Erikson
| and Esslemont, which continue to flesh out the universe.
|
| I became completely enamored with the books. I couldn't put them
| down. It took me from about February through October to finish
| all 10. There's so much content, and they really shine on a
| readthrough.
| skydhash wrote:
| One of my top series. Alongside it stands Shadows of the Apt
| and The Stormlight Archives.
| cimm wrote:
| This year, I discovered "The Invincible" by Stanislaw Lem (after
| seeing a video of the game based on the novel).
| Brajeshwar wrote:
| Most of the books I read are influenced by similar threads on HN.
| This year has not been good overall and it impacted my reading. I
| need to finish writing the post
| https://brajeshwar.com/2023/books/
|
| "How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question"
| by Michael Schur is a fun book that opens with a good question,
| "Should I punch my friend in the face for no reason?"
|
| I have been meaning to and this year I finally read The Diary of
| a Young Girl.
|
| For 2024, here are some of the ones from my list (sorry for the
| formatting, copied Markdown from my notes);
|
| - [Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology](
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_War:_The_Fight_for_the_Wo...)
| by [Chris Miller](https://www.christophermiller.net)
|
| - [First Principles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Principl
| es_(book)) by [Thomas E. Ricks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tho
| mas_E._Ricks_(journalist))
|
| - [Greenlights](https://greenlights.com) by [Matthew
| McConaughey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_McConaughey)
|
| - How Asia Works: Success and Failure in the World's Most Dynamic
| Region by Joe Studwell
|
| - [Poor Economics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poor_Economics):
| A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty by
| [Abhijit V.
| Banerjee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abhijit_Banerjee), and
| [Esther Duflo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esther_Duflo)
|
| - Raising An Emotionally Intelligent Child The Heart of Parenting
| by [John Gottman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gottman),
| and Joan DeClaire
|
| - [The Book You Wish Your Parents Had
| Read](https://www.amazon.com/Book-Wish-Your-Parents-
| Read/dp/198487...): (and Your Children Will Be Glad That You Did)
| by [Philippa Perry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippa_Perry)
|
| - [The End Of The World Is Just The Beginning: Mapping The
| Collapse Of Globalization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_
| of_the_World_is_just_t...) by [Peter
| Zeihan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Zeihan)
|
| - [The Tatas: How a Family Built a Business and a
| Nation](https://www.amazon.com/Tatas-Family-Built-Business-
| Nation/dp...) by [Girish
| Kuber](https://mr.wikipedia.org/wiki/giriish_kuber), and English
| translation by Vikrant Pande.
|
| - [Windfall: The Booming Business of Global
| Warming](https://www.amazon.com/Windfall-Booming-Business-Global-
| Warm...) by [McKenzie Funk](https://www.mckenziefunk.com)
|
| - [Dieter Rams: The Complete
| Works](https://www.amazon.com/Dieter-Rams-Complete-Klaus-
| Klemp/dp/1...) by [Klaus
| Klemp](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaus_Klemp)
| thraxil wrote:
| Determined: Life Without Free Will by Robert Sapolsky. He's a
| Stanford biologist/neuroscientist. You may have come across
| lectures from his class on Human Behavioral Biology which is on
| Youtube for free and highly recommended. The book basically lays
| out his argument that our actions are entirely the result of a
| deterministic combination of our genes, chemicals during fetal
| development, epigenetic factors during childhood and adolescence,
| brain trauma, diet, sleep, recent stress exposure, etc. Much of
| it motivated by his work as an expert witness in criminal trials,
| and concluding with his take on the "now what?" question on the
| moral/ethical implications of deciding that we don't really have
| as much (or any) control over our actions as we like to imagine.
| andrei_says_ wrote:
| If you found this perspective impactful I'd like to recommend
| taking a look at the teaching of Advaita ("not-two"), or
| nonduality.
|
| Wayne Liquorman does free weekly satsang via zoom at
| Advaita.org.
|
| A book I recommend is I Am That by Nisargadatta Maharaj - a
| transcript of his Advaita talks and also one of the most
| influential books for 2023 or any other year in my life.
|
| An Advaita pointer (a question to sincerely investigate - which
| investigation brings realization) that has been productive for
| me, has been to observe my choices and see what caused them.
|
| I have been doing this for years and still haven't observed an
| independent force which one may call "free" will.
|
| Wayne's take on "authorship" vs "doership" introduces the
| concept of "false sense of authorship".
|
| https://youtu.be/GXtQXxJU6NY?si=cJVcX4mZZ8tASZui
| DieBruderBauer wrote:
| Sapolsky's cartoonish mis-characterization of Schizophrenia and
| people afflicted with Schizophrenia is a joke and leaves a bad
| taste in my mouth. His widely-cited and (unfortunately) popular
| lecture on YouTube is proof positive that Sapolsky is an
| imposter and isn't truly interested in the rigors of scientific
| reasoning. If you want real cutting-edge Schizophrenia research
| it's best left to those on the front line in hospitals and
| Ivory Towers. Not armchair yahoos like Sapolsky who get a laugh
| off the backs of people suffering. He's done a great disservice
| to those who are afflicted with Schizophrenia. Much better than
| his rambling lecture is a TED talk given by Bethany Yeiser.
| Let's put a human face on Schizophrenia, shouldn't we?
| ferfumarma wrote:
| Can you elaborate on what he gets wrong?
|
| Or is it an insensitive message/delivery?
| allturtles wrote:
| The best thing I read this year was "The Last Lion", a three-
| volume biography of Winston Churchill.
|
| I don't know that I would _recommend_ it to most people, it 's a
| hell of a lot of words to read about one guy: volume 1 alone is
| 850 pages in hardcover, covering 1874-1932. The writer (William
| Manchester) is also very fond of his subject, so those who
| consider Churchill a villain (or even a deeply flawed hero) will
| likely not care for it.
|
| But man, could Manchester write. This is history as literature.
| He's especially good at long, dramatic, paragraphs that build to
| a crescendo over hundreds of words and close with a flourish.
|
| The last volume was finished by another author after Manchester
| died, so it isn't as good.
| werber wrote:
| Down The Drain by Julia Fox, fun memoir of a nyc fashion icon,
| it's a beautiful mess, "I know the influence, I know the impact,
| and I know the vibes, and the girlies love the vibes, and that's
| just what it's about."
|
| How To Murder Your Life by Cat Marnell, recommended by Julia Fox
| in an interview, similar book, if you're interested in fashion,
| publishing or beauty and where it intersects with addiction.
| Super funny, super sharp, super bitchy, reading her 2nd book now
|
| Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black by Cookie
| Mueller, if you like Nan Golden or John Waters you know who
| Cookie is, a really fun and crazy ride, made me wish I was best
| friends with Cookie.
|
| Black Friend by Ziwe Fumudoh, if you like Ziwe, then obvi. An
| interesting mini memoir, has some of the bite of her talk show
| but pulls back the mask and makes you realize how damn brilliant
| she is, really interesting refection of the experience of a 2nd
| generation Nigerian
|
| I Was Better Last Night by Harvey Firestein, a fun look back at
| the alt theater scene in NYC, still listening on audible, he has
| the best voice ever, something that is a must listen
|
| Feeding the Soul (Because it's my business) by Tabitha Brown, if
| you fell in love with Tab's vegan soul during the pandemic like
| me this audio book was like a warm hug from a super nice auntie.
| I don't share a lot of the same beliefs as her, but it was
| interesting look at one person's faith and how it made them the
| person they are
|
| The Fuck Up by Arthur Nersesian, if you ever dreamed of living in
| the East Village in the 1980s this book was great, paints a
| lively picture of NYC at that time
|
| The New Animals by Pip Adams, a kiwi fashion scene slice of life,
| like if Virgina Wolf had written Bret Easton Ellis' Glamorama.
| Some interesting musings on social media and it's place in the
| fashion world
|
| Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis, re-read after 20 years, really
| appreciated the non stop references, if you want to live in the
| late 90s fashion world for a bit it's a great book
|
| I Am Not Ashamed by Barbara Payton, old hollywood starlet who
| ended her life broke and addicted, an interesting look at the
| dark side of the old studio system and the seedier parts of Los
| Angeles. Picked up at Mast Books in the East Village (along with
| a few others on this list), highly recommend the book store,
| great selection of artsy fartsy stuff
|
| The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis, didn't finish it, mostly because
| it's massive and I never could bring myself to pack it, intend to
| finish to next year, but if you like his other books, especially
| less than 0, it's worth reading. Picked up at Literati in Ann
| Arbor, great bookstore near a few other great bookstores on the
| edge of Kerrytown, highly recommend
|
| Eve's Hollywood by Eve Babitz, if you want to fall in love with a
| Los Angeles even more, great writing
|
| An Attempt at exhausting a place in Paris by George Perec, a
| quick read can't remember if it was the first book I bought from
| Wakefield Press at Artbook Hauser & Worth LA, but thankful for
| that bookstore introducing me to that press
|
| Psychology of the Rich Aunt by Erich Muhsam, another Wakefield
| title, funny and still felt modern despite being a century old.
| The authors real life was really interesting to me, he was one
| of, (if not the first, I remember reading somewhere but can't
| find the source), victim of the Nazis
|
| The Sundays of Jean Dezert by Jean de La Ville de Mirmont,
| another Wakefield title, I read it one sitting (easy to do with
| this press, they publish almost entirely novellas from what I can
| gather), made me think of Notes From Underground and Seinfeld
|
| Honey I'm Homo by Matt Baume, A really wonderful guided tour of
| LGBT representation in television. Was not expecting this book to
| hit so hard. I cried more times reading this than anything else
| this year. If you grew up gay in the 1900s, it's a really
| powerful reminder of how vital accurate and compassionate
| representation is. Made me realize how much things have changed
| for the better, really made me appreciate being alive today.
|
| The Art Thief by Michael Finkel, really romantic crime non
| fiction about a prolific art thief, his girfriend, his family,
| extremely cinematic, would be shocked if it's not made into a
| movie very soon
|
| Paris by Paris Hilton, a really dark look at the troubled teen
| industry, made me really respect Paris Hilton as a cultural
| engineer (she was mostly in on the joke) and abuse survivor.
| Also, a really dark look at revenge porn, consent, and technology
| in the aughts
|
| Mean Baby by Selma Blair, really enjoyed the parts about her
| childhood, a very specific look at the Jewish Detroit suburbs at
| the last quarter of the 20th century
|
| Unprotected by Billy Porter, if you watched Pose, and wanted to
| know more about the actor that brought Pray Tell to life . A
| memoir about demanding your place in the world
|
| Spinning Plates by Sophie Ellis Bextor, read at the start of the
| year, but love that with Saltburn coming out "Murder on the
| Dancefloor" is everywhere again. Loved the early parts of the
| book and the britt pop teenage stories, the obvious music career
| throughout, and then interesting look at motherhood. She's so
| charming, smart and talented, I've always wondered why she wasn't
| as big as the other pop stars of her era but her podcast Spinning
| Plates is also great, and most recent album Hana is a charming
| love letter to japan.
|
| Pageboy by Elliot Page, really made me want to go Nova Scotia,
| feels like a long late night conversation on a porch chain
| smoking cigarettes in college while a party is going on inside
| but the conversation is more compelling
|
| When We Cease To Understand The World by Benjamin Labatut,
| suggested to me in last years version of this, really beautiful
| and thoughtful, lots of very specific truths in a fictional
| history
|
| I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jenette McCurdy, a look back at being a
| child star, written as if it's all happening in the present,
| interesting reflections on Mormonism and Nickelodeon
|
| Atomic Habits, nothing earth shattering but a pleasant, picked up
| a few things from it i started doing day to day that increased my
| quality of life
|
| Friends, Lovers, and The Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry, a
| really dark look at what addiction combined with fame does to a
| person, didn't enjoy reading it, but when Matthew Perry died I
| was glad I had.
|
| The Woman in Me (Le Femme en Moi), currently enjoying this as an
| audio book in French, if you're learning another language and
| love pop culture, the vocab is simple, being able to slow down
| the speed on audible is really nice. Read the book in English
| first and it was a really interesting look at sexism in the media
| and the commodification of celebrity, super sad
|
| Valid by Chris Bergeron, currently reading, trans dystopian sci
| fi in a near future Montreal. Enjoying it so far
|
| Bunny by Mona Awad, also currently reading, reminds me of
| Heathers if it was made by Wilt Stillman
|
| The Love of Singular Men by Victor Heringer, also still reading,
| really visceral writing, one of those books that really makes you
| feel like you are seeing what the author is writing about, was
| suggested by the staff at De Stille in Montreal on Duluth, a
| great english language bookstore highly recommend
| qkeast wrote:
| I keep track of my reading list on my website:
| https://quinnkeast.com/reading.
|
| I've mostly been reading fiction this year. On reflection, I
| think my favourite book of 2023 was "The Adventures of Amina Al-
| Sirafi" by Shannon Chakraborty. The "Wool" series by Hugh Howey
| was also a highlight.
| thealchemistdev wrote:
| Thank you. Any non-fiction?
|
| I do the same. https://thealchemist.dev/reading-list/
| qkeast wrote:
| Possibly "Family Lexicon" by Natalia Ginzburg or "Steering
| the Craft" by Ursula K. Le Guin.
|
| Thanks for sharing!
| swed420 wrote:
| Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will by Robert
| Sapolsky
|
| It picks up where "Behave" left off.
| voisin wrote:
| Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World by John Vaillant.
|
| It is ostensibly about the 2016 Fort McMurray, Alberta wildfires,
| but the background is broadly interesting as context for this
| last summer's historic wildfire season and the ones sure to come.
| pauljonas wrote:
| 1. _Doppleganger: A Trip into the Mirror World_ by Naomi Klein --
| have read other titles by this author & they were mostly meh,
| but this is an incredible book, hard to describe, better to
| experience. Ostensibly is about how the author is often confused
| with Naomi Wolf who went down conspiracy rabbit holes but it is
| so much more than that.
|
| 2. _The Myth of Christian Beginnings_ by Robert Wilkin -- an
| older title (1971), short well written book on how Christians
| mythologize early Christians, & frame it as some static model of
| heavenly perfection that they're always trying to get back to, or
| maintain
|
| 3. _Everyday Utopia_ by Kristen Ghodsee -- on the surface, a book
| about utopian community experiments but is so much more,
| imaginative conjuring on thinking outside the box, how we blindly
| just accept things the way they are, so dismissive of nonorthodox
| ideas
|
| 4. _Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the
| World_ by Malcolm Harris -- just as the title advertises, have
| read a lot of history but the 19C on California presented here
| was so interesting
| coumbaya wrote:
| The Waygarers series by Becky Chambers. I'm usually not into
| space operas and more into hard SF, but this one was a superb
| experience, far away from the too-gritty things I read usually,
| really positive.
| monkeypicks wrote:
| Fiction:
|
| Victory City- new Salman Rushdie book. Great retelling of the
| history of one of the great medieval South Indian kingdoms. Not
| his best, but his writing is still top notch.
|
| Sea of Tranquility- speculative fiction from Emily St. John
| Mandel (of Station Eleven fame). It's a series of interconnected
| stories spanning centuries from the near past to the near future.
| Beautifully written. Read when I was down with COVID earlier this
| year and it invaded my dreams (in a good way). Short and easy
| read.
|
| Giovanni's Room- story of an American expat in Paris caught
| between his love for a man and his duty to his girlfriend. This
| is the first James Baldwin book I have read but will definitely
| check out more of his work in 2024.
|
| Theory of Bastards- speculative fiction by Audrey Schulmann.
| Literary sci-fi similar to Station Eleven. It's about a woman
| researching primate behavior set in the near future where the
| earth is ravaged by the effects of climate change. Very well
| researched, beautifully written and nothing like I have ever read
| before. This won the 2019 Philip K Dick Award.
|
| Invisible Cities- literary fiction by Italo Calvino. It's less
| than 200 pages but a very dense and tough read. It's a
| conversation between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan where MP is
| describing cities in KK's vast empire. It's a strange, strange
| book that I think I will return to often. If you liked the world
| building in Piranesi and want more, this is the book for you.
| Calvino describes 55 cities in under 200 pages, with each one
| feeling very different. Again, first Calvino book I have read and
| will definitely check out more of his works in 2024.
|
| Non-fiction:
|
| Thinking in Systems: A Primer- by Donella Meadows. Read this
| based on HN's recommendation. Thank you!
|
| On Intelligence- by Jeff Hawkins. This was on my shelf for years
| and am glad I got to read it this year. The creator of the Palm
| Pilot presents his theory of intelligence and how the brain
| works. It's compelling. I hope to read his follow up book in
| 2024. Would love HN's recommendations of similar books.
|
| A Primate's Memoir- by Robert M. Sapolsky. Enjoyable read of the
| author's research on Savannah baboons and his adventures in
| Africa. His love for primates and humans alike come through
| clearly.
|
| Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making- by Tony
| Fadell. A great business book by the co-founder of Nest. Draws on
| his experience both as a startup founder and leading innovative
| teams at large tech companies (Apple, in his case). Just as any
| business book, this could have been shorter and less repetitive
| but thankfully, there is enough good material here to be a book
| rather than a blog post.
| syldarion wrote:
| I was introduced to Calvino this year and picked up Invisible
| Cities for the first. It was amazing how evocative the
| descriptions were. If On A Winter's Night is a great place to
| go next, but I don't think you can go wrong with any of them.
| monkeypicks wrote:
| Thanks for the rec! If On a Winter's Night and Baron in the
| Trees are next on my list :)
| sshine wrote:
| The subtle art of not giving a fuck
| thorncorona wrote:
| Blogspam, perfected.
| say_it_as_it_is wrote:
| "Breaking Through: My Life in Science", a memoir by Katalin
| Kariko.
| racktash wrote:
| * Operators And Things - a fascinating account of a woman's
| journey through (and out of) schizophrenia. Also, some very
| interesting insight into toxic office politics.
|
| * Philosophical Investigations - I've wanted to read and
| understand Wittgenstein's PI for a while now. This year I've made
| a serious effort and it has been very worthwhile. Best read with
| a companion text (I used Routledge Guidebook to Wittgenstein's
| Philosophical Investigations).
| timeagain wrote:
| PI is so good even if you don't "understand" it all. In it he
| pretty much demolishes any notion that language is composed of
| words that refer to objects. This idea was as old as Plato and
| an often un-explored assumption of almost every philosopher
| henceforth.
|
| Plato might ponder the nature of "love". Wittgenstein asks,
| "what is love in this particular context?" Loving chocolate,
| loving your partner? Love between fictional characters? Was the
| speaker being sarcastic? Could a person born without language
| "love" without the framework of words and mutual understandings
| we get through culture, or would it be something different?
|
| Surprisingly relevant to programming.
| shpx wrote:
| Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell. It was super straightforward.
| jess-desu wrote:
| I've only gotten through two short books this year:
|
| Forget the Funnel by Claire Suellentrop and Georgiana Laudi -
| concise and insightful overview of modern marketing thought,
| moving beyond MQLs
|
| Pocket Guide to Product Launches by Mary Sheehan - a nice
| introduction to product launches from a product marketing
| perspective or a helpful refresher with lots of fresh insights.
|
| I've also been really enjoying the podcast "If Books Could Kill,"
| which questions and fact-checks many poplit "airport books" with
| a lighthearted vibe.
| syldarion wrote:
| Fiction:
|
| "Yumi and the Nightmare Painter" and "Tress of the Emerald Sea" -
| Two of Brandon Sanderson's "secret projects" that he released
| this year and easily my favorites of the bunch. Tress is just
| such a fun adventure and Yumi left me an emotional wreck by the
| end.
|
| "There Is No Antimemetics Division" - I had a brief period where
| I wanted to read some stories about clandestine operations around
| odd anomalies, SCP-adjacent if you will. This, alongside "Agents
| of Dreamland", is rather short and great for getting through in a
| couple sittings. It's all about taking on an entity that you
| actively can't remember the existence of.
|
| Non-Fiction:
|
| "Letters to a Young Poet" - This is a collection of ten letters
| sent from the poet Rainer Maria Rilke to a younger aspiring poet
| in the early 1900s. As a creative that sometimes struggles with
| the whole "what am I doing this for?", I found this a highly
| inspiring and comforting read.
|
| "On Writing" - I'm sure most of you know the book, or at the
| least know Stephen King. The info in here on writing (at least in
| the style of King) is fantastic, but I think the memoir portions
| are the killer part of this book. The man certainly has a storied
| past, for better or worse.
| ashton314 wrote:
| +1 for Yumi and Tress. You don't have to be deep into the rest
| of his books to appreciate them. (Unlike Sunlit Man) The Frugal
| Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England was a total
| hoot--if you want something light and silly, go for that.
| ivanche wrote:
| "A man for all markets" by Edward O. Thorp - a remarkable story
| of a brilliant mathematician from the Great Depression to beating
| Las Vegas casinos by card counting to practically becoming
| founding father of quants and beating Wall Street.
|
| "The ultimate ETF guidebook" by David Stevenson & David Tuckwell
| - still reading but the book that goes deep into ETFs, way (and I
| mean _way_ ) above laconic "oh just invest in S&P500 and forget
| it" approach.
| rmk wrote:
| A few books I read this year (or perhaps late last year), and
| wholeheartedly recommend:
|
| - Typee: A peep at Polynesian Life by Herman Melville
|
| - Fatu-Hiva, Back to Nature by Thor Heyerdahl
|
| - The lost world: being an account of the recent amazing
| adventures of Professor E. Challenger, Lord John Roxton,
| Professor Summerlee and Mr Ed. Malone of the 'Daily Gazette'
| tmtvl wrote:
| Do light novels count? If so, I particularly enjoyed Zhan Guo
| Xiao Ting Ku Lao Duan (Sengoku Komachi Kurou Tan, Story of the
| Hardships of a Beauty in the Warring States Period), the story of
| a girl who likes history and agriculture being sent back in time
| and meeting Oda Nobunaga, who assigns her the task of making a
| failing village produce enough crops. I find its portrayal of
| Nobunaga interesting, making him about as likeable as you could
| expect a 16th century warlord to be.
| briankelly wrote:
| On Writing by Stephen King - contains a lot great advice and
| interesting anecdotes for writing fiction but is easily
| applicable to other mediums, including software development. And,
| of course, well written.
|
| 4,000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burke -
| deconstructs the hustle/productivity mindset and rejects it in
| favor of an existential view of accepting your finitude and
| prioritizing accordingly. I wouldn't say the book changed my mind
| but reassured some of my feelings and put some words to why
| trying to pursue too many goals or experiences typically fails or
| is unfulfilling. Sort of ironically takes its main point a little
| too far by the end in my opinion but I recommend it anyway, it's
| pretty short.
|
| Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner - still in progress but clearly a
| great book so far. I recommend it to anyone living in western
| US/MX.
| grafelic wrote:
| The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. This book somehow stayed with
| me for a long time after having finished it. For me it
| encapsulates how we sometimes get stuck in systems which are
| unhealthy, but safe and feels better than an uncertain
| alternative. Also how pain and suffering binds people together in
| interesting, and in other circumstances, unlikely relationships.
| I enjoyed the humour as well.
| reducesuffering wrote:
| World Order by Kissinger
|
| Whatever you think of the man and his decisions, you will learn
| deep history and what's at stake in the increasing world chaos
| evidenced by the invasion of Ukraine, current Israel-Hamas war,
| impending Venezuelan invasion of Guyana, Sudanese Civil War,
| Myanmar Civil War, and the fate of Taiwanese lives.
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