Ask HN: What should I read next?

38 点作者 anavette超过 2 年前

Between books, need something to read.What's the best, most unexpectedly-excellent book you've read lately?Any genre goes. No text too niche or too odd.

34 条评论

credit_guy超过 2 年前

Here's two books that will change the way you understand the non-Western world.1. Coup d'Etat A Practical Handbook. I know, you never intend to organize a coup, why would you need a practical handbook? Well, coups or attempted coups are surprisingly frequent. Wikipedia has a list [1] of 60 attempted coups worldwide since 2010, a stunning 18 of which (30%) were successful.2. The Dictator's Handbook. Yet another handbook. I think these titles, with their weird attempt of humor, are quite unfortunate. It's a shame. The content is great, but I wonder how many people don't buy the book because they feel insulted by the idea that they'd ever need a handbook to be a dictator. I know I felt that way. Well, don't take that title as an insult, just ignore it. The majority of the countries worldwide are led by dictators. It's quite important to understand how they think. This way it's easier to understand what's going on in the world.[1] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_coups_and_coup_attempts_since_2010" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_coups_and_coup_attempt...</a>

fsociety超过 2 年前

If you are interested in cybersecurity, I thought these two books are fantastic:- Tracer in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency by Andy Greenberg <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60471288-tracers-in-the-dark" rel="nofollow">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60471288-tracers-in-the-...</a>- This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race by Nicole Perlroth <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/49247043" rel="nofollow">https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/49247043</a>

评论 #34521517 未加载

alexashka超过 2 年前

Thus Spoke Zarathustra.“Man is something that shall be overcome. Man is a rope, tied between beast and overman — a rope over an abyss. What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not an end.”“You say 'I' and you are proud of this word. But greater than this- although you will not believe in it - is your body and its great intelligence, which does not say 'I' but performs 'I'.”

评论 #34524273 未加载

wobbly_bush超过 2 年前

If you are open to fiction - I came across an entire genre called LitRPG which is combination of RPG-game style elements in the form of a book. It is mostly written by young gamers so the writing quality is pretty basic but various authors explore different gaming-related creative elements very well. Couple of books to start with in this genre are "Defiance of the fall" and "Dungeon Crawler Carl". The latter is even better as an audiobook vs regular book.

somebody123超过 2 年前

This one can make the trick, I guess: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thus_Spoke_Zarathustra" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thus_Spoke_Zarathustra</a>

评论 #34519586 未加载

cainxinth超过 2 年前

The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. Recently got around to finally reading it. I know Snow Crash is considered his best sci-fi novel (and it’s amazing, too), but I think I liked this one even better.Snow Crash is funny and weird and action packed, but its light-hearted tone diffuses the tension. The Diamond Age, by contrast, had a lot of hair-raising moments and characters I was really invested in.

评论 #34524409 未加载

评论 #34524223 未加载

评论 #34524394 未加载

评论 #34522439 未加载

评论 #34522376 未加载

simonblack超过 2 年前

Murder Mysteries.Agatha Christie's 'Hercule Poirot Series' books are always good. (Actually most of the Agatha Christie's crime series are good.) Bear in mind that most of those are set in the 1920s-1930s period.

mtmail超过 2 年前

I'd check the "Best book in 2022" <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33849267" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33849267</a> submission. There's actually 5-10 such submissions <a href="https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=pastYear&page=0&prefix=true&query=best%20book%202022&sort=byPopularity&type=story" rel="nofollow">https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=pastYear&page=0&prefix=tru...</a>

billfruit超过 2 年前

The Count of Monte Cristo, it is over 1300+ pages in the English translation I read, and it is fun and interesting read, almost every single page of it.

评论 #34522840 未加载

评论 #34532143 未加载

评论 #34533564 未加载

01arjuna超过 2 年前

This book came out not too long ago and is really good. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van PeltWhat does a misanthropic octopus have in common with Tova, a widowed aquarium employee? Not much, until a friendship develops following a daring tank rescue, and Marcellus McSquiddles happily uses all eight of his tentacles, his three hearts, plus his sharp brain, to solve the soul-scarring mystery of Tova’s son Erik’s disappearance thirty years ago. Utterly original, funny, wise, and heartwarming (be warned: there’ll be tears as well as giggles), Remarkably Bright Creatures will have readers falling hard for an acerbic invertebrate whose intervention in his new friend’s life sets her up for healing lessons in love, loss, and family. —Vannessa Cronin, Amazon Editor<a href="https://a.co/d/cKptjQl" rel="nofollow">https://a.co/d/cKptjQl</a>

TylerLives超过 2 年前

The Ancient City - Numa Denis Fustel de CoulangesIf you're interested in what life in ancient Greece / Rome was like. The author does a very good job at not going into too much detail and boring the reader, while still telling you all the important events and changes that took place.

评论 #34528891 未加载

评论 #34538754 未加载

Kaibeezy超过 2 年前

Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking, Masaharu MorimotoHomemade dashi, ftw.<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31823606-mastering-the-art-of-japanese-home-cooking" rel="nofollow">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31823606-mastering-the-a...</a>

serjester超过 2 年前

Personally I’m a sucker for a beat-the-odds survival story and 438 days is in a tier of it’s own. It takes a special kind of human to survive in the open ocean for over a year.With no exaggeration, everyone I’ve recommended it to finished it the same day they started it.

评论 #34523200 未加载

WillAdams超过 2 年前

_The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo_ by Tom Reiss, and Gabriel Stoian (Translator)<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13330922-the-black-count" rel="nofollow">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13330922-the-black-count</a>It was an interesting look at this period of history, and even more fascinating insight into the wellspring from which Dumas drew for his stories.It's esp. interesting when contrasted w/ the pastiche of _The Count of Monte Cristo_ by Steven Brust, _The Baron of Magister Valley_, which I also highly recommend if you're interested in literate fantasy.

wry_discontent超过 2 年前

I read a lot, usually history but I've been getting back into fictionI really liked The Three Body Problem, I've over a thousand pages in the last month in this series. I also enjoyed The Poppy War and Dune.The best nonfiction I read recently was Blackshirts and Reds and A People's History of the Supreme Court.It's not quite HN material, but I also absolutely loved The Nix. It's a book I described to my friends as "nothing happens" by which I mean all character stuff.

vlod超过 2 年前

After numerous attempts at getting through Snow Crash (pretty good), finally finished it last night.Next is Blindsight by Peter Watt [0], which looks interesting.[0] <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Blindsight-Peter-Watts/dp/1250237483" rel="nofollow">https://smile.amazon.com/Blindsight-Peter-Watts/dp/125023748...</a>

评论 #34524291 未加载

评论 #34524368 未加载

评论 #34530747 未加载

DylanSp超过 2 年前

Shattered Sword, by Anthony P. Tully and Jonathan Parshall. An in-depth analysis of the battle of Midway, primarily from the Japanese perspective, covering everything from the organizational culture of the IJN and its impact on Japanese doctrine and planning to the minute-by-minute events of the battle.

jboynyc超过 2 年前

When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut.

评论 #34520466 未加载

dunefox超过 2 年前

If you like horror: The Great God Pan by Machen. If you like Scifi: Dune or Children of Time/...

sandreas超过 2 年前

Fantasy:<pre><code> Patrick Rothfuss - Kingkiller Chronicles Naomi Novik - Scholomance Michael J. Sullivan - Riyria Ilona Andrews - many books </code></pre> Caution: Be aware that the last book of the Kingkiller Chronicles "the doors of stone" is not out yet and may never happen[1], so although it is one of the greatest fantasy books of all time (in my opinion), it's kind of unsatisfying after part 2 :-)[1]: <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/wdoiq2/in_december_readers_donated_over_700000_to/" rel="nofollow">https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/wdoiq2/in_december_r...</a>

评论 #34522635 未加载

3minus1超过 2 年前

The Selfish Gene by Dawkins is a fascinating (to me mind-blowing) look at biology and evolution. There are some subtle popular misunderstandings about evolution that he thoroughly debunks.Thinking Fast and Slow by Kahneman is basically a summary of his life's research in behavioral economics and is super fascinating. There has been some scrutiny about some of the claims but still an amazing, enlightening book.Expecting Better by Osler is basically a summary of things to expect with pregnancy but she takes skeptical view to any and all conventional wisdom and summarizes the actual research behind various recommendations. Very educational and refreshing read for me.

varunsharma07超过 2 年前

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30659.Meditations" rel="nofollow">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30659.Meditations</a>

vector_rotcev超过 2 年前

There is No Antimemetics Division. You'll love it.

mindcrime超过 2 年前

The Universe Speaks in Numbers: How Modern Math Reveals Nature's Deepest Secrets[1][1]: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Speaks-Numbers-Reveals-Natures/dp/0465056652" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Speaks-Numbers-Reveals-Natur...</a>

hot_gril超过 2 年前

1. The Aeneid 2. Romans

wisie超过 2 年前

Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency by Andy GreenbergThe Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War by Craig Whitlock.Enjoyed both a lot over the Christmas break.

ilrwbwrkhv超过 2 年前

4000 weeks by Oliver Burkeman.

roydivision超过 2 年前

Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo had a big impact on me when I read it recently. I wouldn't call it horror, but it's a disturbing and yet compelling read.

评论 #34530093 未加载

skibidibipiti超过 2 年前

Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky is a really good political action adventure sci-fi novel with aliens and techno science magicy stuff.

mindracer超过 2 年前

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is excellent

warrenm超过 2 年前

Stealth of NationsNudgeThinking Fast and SlowWithout RemorseCuckoo's EggThe Intellectual Lives of ChildrenWhy Johnny Still Can't Read or Write or Understand MathTechnopolyAmusing Ourselves to DeathLeviathan (Dolin)

评论 #34524411 未加载

sprkwd超过 2 年前

Providence, Alan Moore

vladsanchez超过 2 年前

Ask ChatGPT! LOL

steponlego超过 2 年前

KJV Bible.

评论 #34533592 未加载