1. https://www.amazon.com/Bringing-Up-Bébé-Discovers-Parenting/...
2. https://www.amazon.com/How-Talk-Kids-Will-Listen/dp/14516638...
3. https://www.amazon.com/Prepared-What-Kids-Need-Fulfilled/dp/...
4. https://www.amazon.com/Reviving-Ophelia-Saving-Selves-Adoles...
Also a fan of
Our babies ourselves - https://www.amazon.com/Our-Babies-Ourselves-Biology-Culture/...
Hunt, Gather, Parent - https://www.amazon.com/Our-Babies-Ourselves-Biology-Culture/...
- "What do you do with a problem?" https://www.amazon.com/What-Do-You-Problem/dp/1943200009
- "What do you do with an idea?" https://www.amazon.com/What-Do-You-Idea/dp/1938298071/
- "What do you do with a chance?" https://www.amazon.com/What-Do-You-Chance/dp/1943200734/
- "I wish you more" https://www.amazon.com/Encouragement-Gifts-Uplifting-Books-G...
Of course, there are others. These are just the ones that come to mind ATM.
I've given the "What do...?" books as gifts to plenty of adult and young adults. My point is, a book doesn't have to be 200+ pages to have an impact.
Edit: oh wait you were being serious
It is not a popular book. The approaches and ideas were great though, and that was indeed the beauty of the book. Here is the correct link - https://www.amazon.com/Good-Enough-Parent-Book-Child-Rearing...
Incidentally this and the original are some of the best managing resources you can read.
wow, the book is only physical and it costs $60 to get it where I live... (without import taxes)
Checking it right now shows ₹1,388 (~$17) for the Paperback and ₹2,261 (~$28) for the Hardcover edition.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4tf95ulhkt4tn9g/screenshot%202022-...
Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory: Stories by Raphael Bob-Waksberg is another good set of short stories, more absurd and about love, but equally fun. If you liked the funny-sad combo of Bojack Horseman (which Bob-Waksberg created), you'll probably like this.
Similarly, Bojack Horseman is one of my favorite shows. I had never looked into its creators and had no idea the creator also wrote short stories. I am now very excited to read this. Thanks!
Sanderson's Skyward Flight series (a few things came out this year, it's young-adult but thoughtfully enjoyable and easy to consume).
I read a few Asimov's this year I hadn't gotten around to, but the two that really stood out were 'The Gods Themselve's and 'The End of Eternity'.
(I primarily read to sci-fi/fantasy)
Also love how fellow devs such as Andy Weir and Ernest Cline (Ready Player One) are coming up with great novels.
“Moreover, within a lifetime of people born just after the Second World War the rate had more than tripled, from about 10 to 34 GJ/capita between 1950 and 2020. Translating the last rate into more readily imaginable equivalents, it is as if an average Earthling has every year at their personal disposal about 800 kilograms (0.8 tons, or nearly six barrels) of crude oil, or about 1.5 tons of good bituminous coal. And when put in terms of physical labor, it is as if 60 adults would be working non-stop, day and night, for each average person; and for the inhabitants of affluent countries this equivalent of steadily laboring adults would be, depending on the specific country, mostly between 200 and 240. On average, humans now have unprecedented amounts of energy at their disposal.”
My review is at : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4708765021
Another excellent book is Arbitrary Lines by Nolan Gray - which is a great book about zoning and why we should all be YIMBYs.
My review is at : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4800787011
How Asia Works by Joe Studwell is a fascinating look at why Japan, South Korea and China have done so well.
My review is at : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4806521204
Another book I really enjoyed was Firepower : How Weapons Shaped Warfare by Paul Lockhart
review at : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4417950705
Moneyball, people have been recommending this to me for years but I never read it because I find baseball so boring. I'm glad I finally read it. It's not really a book about baseball it's about finding and exploiting unappreciated edges.
Who We Are and How We Got Here, makes a lot of the recent genetic research on human origins understandable. Especially relevant this year due to Svante Paabo's nobel prize.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, possibly better than the movie (which I love). Reads a bit like a script. The dialog is very good and contains many "scenes" that aren't in the movie.
$12 Million Dollar Stuffed Shark, if you are interested in modern art or how things that look like something anyone could do can sell for absurd amounts of money this book is worth reading.
A Sailor of Austria: In Which Without Really Intending to, Otto Prohaska Becomes Official War Hero No. 27 of the Hapsburg Empire, one of the reviews I read before starting this described it as something like "a techno-thriller set on an austrian submarine in world war one". If that sounds appealing to you, you'll probably like this book. If not don't bother starting it.
It's an introduction to the philosophy of ethics through real-life examples and anecdotes by the creator of The Good Place TV show (the audio book even features the shows actors). Unlike most of philosphy stuff you can actually finish it in couple of days and feel like you learned a whole lot!
In particular it helped me with my ethics choice anxiety and introduced me to Aristotel's "be the best version of yourself" philosophy which is such a liberating way of thinking.
Its an incredible older book looking at the mechanisms exploited by totalitarian systems to subdue their victims. Namely nazi Germany, soviet Russia and revolutionary China.
The author was part of the dutch resistance against the nazi occupation and headed the psychological department of the dutch army in exile after he had to flee mainland Europe. He later also acted as a witness for the defense in the trial against Frank Schwable for collaborating as a PoW in Korea.
In addition to the really interesting and still highly relevant topic his writing shows him to be among the other awe inspiring scientists of the "greatest generation". Its quite simply an extremely impressive yet pleasant to read opus magnum.
Does this book go into detail how the Dutch resistance did it?
Its an approach you should be familiar with when it comes to combating the different methods of propaganda, psychological warfare or information operations. Or simply cognitive biases. Once you describe how they work, you are primed to recognize them when you come across them. Which hopefully reduces their effectiveness.
To give an example, there is the rather famous quote concerning the title:
>“Many victims of totalitarianism have told me in interviews that the most upsetting experience they faced "…" was the feeling of loss of logic, the state of confusion into which they had been brought — the state in which nothing had any validity "…" they simply did not know what was what.”
Recognizing that this is an actual tactic, aimed at creating a predictable reaction is rather helpful to break out of that predetermined path for your thoughts.
Finally, it was fact that she was speaking from experience (as a professional poker player) and just some idea she researched.
Further, in any given situation, variance swaps all - so don't expect to be able to say "i told ya so".
I firmly believe this book helps make my life better in terms of making better decisions, but it is not a book you want to trot out at cocktail parties unless you enjoy arguments. And I will also say - people get offended when you ask them to put money down on their perspective, even after you disagree. So it appears to be true, people know it's true when money is on the line, but will still argue with you.
Let it change how you think, but if you want something to discuss with others, go with Gladwell or Freakonomics.
As for Gladwell. That's the problem, isn't it? Beige ideas and slanted research, etc. Yeah, I read him to see what the "average reader" is slurping down, but he's a candy coated pop star to Duke's Radiohead ideas.
After being prepped for an understanding of the conflict of visions by Thomas Sowell, Booker T Washington's autobiography really brings it all home as to what could have been. The accomplishments, the respect, the fulfillment.
A close second is Shelby Steele's White Guilt, in particular, his description of the difference of his parents' civil rights attitude (change the laws, get along) compared to his own in his youth (burn it down) with his eventual understanding of where that came from and what the consequences were.
I haven't finished it yet, but I am currently working through Thomas Sowell's Ethnic America which has a very satisfying history so far of different ethnic groups in America.
I also have to say that most years, I have barely been able to read even a few books. But this year I got audible and have now listened to 35 books. Of course, I have a growing queue which now stands at 176 books.
Neuromancer by William Gibson. The book that started cyberpunk. I love the genre, but I think it's well worth a read just to see how he can craft a world with language. I sometimes found it hard to understand what exactly was happening, but the vibe was always crystal clear.
Here are some early "cyberpunk" books that people may not be aware of. I'm using a loose definition of stories where networked computers play a major role, the characters are technologically sophisticated and from the shady edge of society, and there's a caper of some kind.
John Brunner, The Shockwave Rider (1975)
Thomas J Ryan, The Adolescence of P-1 (1977)
Vernor Vinge, True Names (1980)
John M Ford, Web of Angels (1980)
I've left a few out (e.g., Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Bester's The Computer Connection) because they're not really "punk".
As an American, it was the most enjoyable and interesting history book I ever read, was even laughing out loud at one point. Talks about the four major English cultures that planted the seeds of the United States. It's so cool to learn about these old cultures and how their values and folkways are still reflected in certain locales to this day.
It's not only an interesting history book, but it feels useful. I feel like I have a much stronger understanding and frame with which to look at modern American politics. You stop looking at things as Democrats vs Republicans and start looking at things as Puritans vs Borderers - these are the two prevailing English cultures of the four who founded the country.
Goes without saying that this Team A vs Team B is an oversimplification and there's nuance and it's complex, et cetera et cetera. But as a simplification, there's a lot more to learn and there's more depth in the Puritan vs Borderer frame than in the Democrat vs Republican frame. I've gained more respect and appreciation for these imposing cultures/factions who persist to this day.
Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson, a near future book about climate change and trying to fix it with an interesting geopolitical look of China acting like the US. I also liked Ministry of the Future but it was less fun of a read.
Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt, a reasoned look at how social media and devices are negatively impacting society and children.
Borne by Jeff VanderMeer, a weird near future declinepunk with bioengineering and evil corporations.
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, very short book with a glimpse into post colonial colonialism in remote locations. Wanted to read a book about Congo.
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, a portrait of a character in a time I didn’t experience.
Also, Apocalypse Now was based on Heart of Darkness; so it’s definitely worth rewatching after having read HoD.
I loved Shriek: An Afterword, and have wanted to read more VanderMeer for a while. Did you just coin the term 'declinepunk'? I've never heard it before.
Similar would be Battle Angle Alita and the last section from Bone Clocks.
You're Not Listening by Kate Murphy - If you're like me and "listening" actually means "solutioning", read this book.
Longitude by Dava Sobel - The fascinating and infuriating story of how longitude was created/discovered/measured/whatever.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - I loved The Martian and after what felt like a misstep with Artemis this is a return to form.
Think Again was good as well, but didn't hit me as hard as "Listening."
I name it the best book I read in 2022 because of the ways the author prompts his readers to hunt for meaning. It's a book that reminds one to ask philosophical questions of meaning amid the pleasures, the ambiguities, and the tumult of ordinary life.
Winner of the booker prize, a delightful tale set in Kerala, a province of India where our ancestors first landed on the subcontinent.
Very well written, and invokes powerful imaginery of Kerela's environ and social setting.
Perhaps, just perhaps, the people of my state and thus me are influenced heavily by Bengali literature, food, and culture. I might have felt closer to her or she became a common name in our tiny town. Finally, I grew up with teachers, most of who hail from South India and have heard (and I visualize) the hot Indian summers in the state of Kerala. One of my few good friends I made during school, was from Kerala and lost contact after school. During summer vacation, I visualize that he met his local friends, and play around big ponds and jump in beating the heat.
It's about one possible future of our relationship with AI. It paints multiple perspectives on this relationship while being implicitly judgmental. I'm being vague because the story reveals itself slowly, and the blossoming of information is itself a work of art -- this unfolding is part of Ishiguro's mastery.
Most people feel that AI currently has zero emotions, and perhaps a near-future version may convince some people that it has _some_ kind of emotions, though these emotions almost certainly will feel wrong, maybe-invalid, and strange to us, merely by them being different and by our awareness that an AI is not human. This and other questions are explored in Klara and the Sun.
It’s a recent Hugo award winner. Generally speaking if you like SiFi/Fantasy novels, you can find a trove of excellent books by looking at the list of past Hugo and Nebula award winners and nominees. The Fifth Season is more fantasy, but has aspects that I consider SiFi’ish. Superbly written, and wonderful world building.
"The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity" by Graeber and Wengrow since it really shows how narrow our political imagination has been for the last 250 years, and makes me excited by people looking for new ways to organize.
"The Ministry for the Future" by KSR, which has further radicalized me and challenged me to spend more of my time fighting the climate crisis.
[edited for formatting]
I’m equally interested but lacking in imagination currently how software can have a bigger impact.
All the big impactful things are in hard tech, ie changing industrial processes, new / improved material design, renewable energy production, reducing energy waste or waste in general etc and planting tons and tons of trees at scale - best carbon capture and ecosystem restoration tech we have I think.
But for all that we need to have the political will, which is not sufficiently present at the moment. Too many counter forces preventing systems change. So how do you address that?
A book on my to read list is Reinventing Fire.
I usually don't read anything true crime like, but this book struck me as an almost endless maelstrom of night feverish violence.
This and 'The corner' are the books that 'The wire' is based on.
1. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life by Donald Miller (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1999475.A_Million_Miles_...)
2. The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers by Alex Banyan (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36739769-the-third-door)
3. A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54503521-a-thousand-brai...)
There are still like 4 weeks left until 2022 ends, and am hoping to finish more books. Wish me luck! :D
Fritz Riemann is a german psychoanalyst, and this is the translation of his best-known work, originally published under the title Grundformen der Angst (Basic forms of fear).
The book discusses how various types of fear (fear of commitment, fear of self-becoming, fear of change, fear of necessity) give rise to various personalities (schizoid personalities, depressive personalities, compulsive personalities, hysterical personalities), and discusses their relationship to love, aggression and their biographical backgrounds.
- Travel, Alan de Botton: This got me thinking more than anything else that I read this year - The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester: I read a lot of scifi and fantasy, but this was the standout for the surprising (and in retrospect, obvious) twist. The other interesting aspect was that this was written in the 50s, and you can see how their idea of 'the future' is rooted in the tech of the time
Of more interest to this crowd is probably - Math Girls and Math Girls Talk About Trigonometry, Hiroshi Yuki: Brilliant!
And finally, - Lords of the Deccan, Anirudh Kanisetti: More relevant to people from the Indian Subcontinent, I suppose.
My (still to be updated) list of books I read this year: https://shrirang.karandikar.org/reading-in-2022/
Humanity has made incredible progress over the last centuries and decades, and it's important to maintain a sense of optimism.
Ask HN: What are some of the best books you have read in 2022?
- Prayer of Owen Meany, it’s the basis of the movie Simon Birch if you have seen that. The book has so much more going on though
- My Antonia, wonderful characters
- Jude the Obscure, the cover tells you the ending is shocking, and the cover is right!
- How the Irish Saved Civilization, really fun and interesting
"Select a female character in Hardy and discuss the development of character in the relevant novel".
* Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - If you enjoy books about persistence in the face of adversity, this has it in spades. When I was in my 20's I saw the movie "Touching the Void" and remember being in total awe at a human's ability to persevere in seemingly impossible situations. Shackleton and his crew bring this power of determination to another level.
* On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft - Reading this gave me another level of respect for Stephen King. He also pointed me towards another excellent book "Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life".
Fears of a Setting Sun by Dennis Rasmussen. About the Founding Fathers loss of faith in the Constitution over time.
The Greek Plays. Edited collection of 16 plays by Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles. Fascinating reads.
Grand Strategies by Charles Hill. Short book on literature and statecraft.
For fiction, I read almost all Chaim Potok's novels this year and he has become my favourite author. If anybody has a deep interest in religion, and how it interacts with the secular world, and how one is to reconcile the two, I heartily recommend Potok.
In a similar, but different, vein, I also recommend Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges. Do not be turned off by the useless film adaptation. The book is intelligent and fascinating, and more aimed at someone with an undergraduate level understanding of math and logic, rather than a general layperson.
After finishing it (I read it after watching the movie) I was rather shocked at just how many liberties the film had taken. I'm not against a historical movie tweaking things here and there for the sake of drama, but The Imitation Game totally mischaracterised almost everything about Turing and his work in my opinion. I guess, to the movie's credit, it did make me want to learn more about Turing.
Other books are:
-The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson
-Sapiens by Yuval Yuval Noah Harari
-21 Lessons for the 21st Century
-Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feyn man!: Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard Feynman
-Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson
-Permanent Record by Edward Snowden
Changed how I think about work and makes me hyper-aware of when I or anyone I work with says that we “have” to do something. Getting into the mindset that everything I do at work is my choice has helped me feel more in control of my workday and get more done as well.
• Excel VBA Programming for Dummies
• The Christopher Parkening Guitar Method Volume I -- The Art and Technique of the Classical Guitar
They were both good. I can't really say which was best because they are about such different topics.
I read the VBA book because I wanted to automate some tasks in my food tracking spreadsheet that went beyond what I could figure out how to do with the macro recorder.
I read the guitar book because after a long gap I got back into playing guitar, and decided that it would be best if I just pretended I was a complete beginner and started over. Also even when I had been playing regularly I was never good at reading music, so I also wanted to start over and pay more attention to the sheet music.
I don't know how good the Parkening book would be for an actual true beginner, but for a pretend beginner it worked out great and I'm playing better than I ever did before, and reading music way better too. I feel I'm good enough now that it is finally time to upgrade my guitar from the Hohner HG-13 I bought new around 1980. Next week my new Cordoba C9 should arrive.
On the fiction side from this year that I'd recommend, I reread Lord of the Rings and Silmarillion and read Unfinished Tales for the first time, all were great. I've read Tolkien as a kid, a teen, and now an adult, enjoyed him each time but I think I got even more out of some things this time around. I also liked Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness, and in the last month or so I read two enjoyable tearjerkers: Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, and Still Alice by Lisa Genova.
It`s a biography of Paul Dirac, considered one of the best physicists of the 20th century. The book elucidates his obscure life and his contribution to quantum physics while not being overly jargonistic.
Fiction: Red Crosses by Sasha Filipenko
But aside from that, there are lots of thoughts about art, artistic development, traits of painters, self-doubt, etc in this book (Highsmith was a painter herself). Hence I might consider a re-read, because I didn't get everything.
As a non-fiction book I am currently reading 'The Man from the Future' by science-writer Ananyo Bhattacharya. The book is a biography of Hungarian-American mathematical genius John von Neumann. It has a long chapter on how JvN developed quantum mechanics, together with other researchers, of course. Bhattacharya goes to great lengths to explain the maths and the thinking behind QM in nonmathematical terms (without equations) but still very competently.
Another along similar lines of technology and war "The Arms of Krupp" William Manchester
Ever dream of being a post-human computer with a free mandate to explore the galaxy as a Von Neumann probe? Then read this series.
Not only is the setting interesting, his character development is really well done too.
I hate recommending an Audible book (terrible business practices) but Dennis has an exclusivity agreement with them (he’s a new author) and it is actually a really great way to consume his books. They’re narrated by Ray Porter and he really does a fantastic job.
Well written, engrossing book on the historical underpinnings and the pharmacological foundations behind liturgical practices in modern religions. The motivation and gist of the book isn't new but the author paid great attention to existing evidence and wrote the book carefully enough to not diverge into hippie territory.
Winter Is Coming by Garry Kasparov
Prisoners of Geography
The Accidental Superpower by Peter Zeihan
Carl Sagan’s Contact
The Art of the Long View by Peter Schwartz
China Coup by Roger Garside
Incredible History of India’s Geography by Sanjeev Sanyal: Abbreviated history of the Indian subcontinent, starting with the Indus Valley civilization, ending with the conflicts between India - Pakistan.
Sea Stories by William McRaven - An autobiography of a decorated Navy SEAL officer, who was involved in planning and execution of historically significant special operations (rescuing Captain Philip, and killing Bin Laden).
Project Hail Mary, a book about space for engineering nerds.
The Body and At Home. They're books by Bill Bryson. He geeks out about stuff and showers is with fascinating trivia. It's hard to put his books down.
The Right Stuff, a book about how they picked the first astronauts without knowing what the job would even entail. A fascinating look at the psychology of test pilots. Pairs well with the movie First Man.
True Biz, Sara Nović - A year in the life of a boarding school for the deaf.
Upgrade, Blake Crouch
Blindsight: The (Mostly) Hidden Ways Marketing Reshapes Our Brains, Matt Johnson & Prince Ghuman - Interesting angle of examining neurology.
Treasure & Dirt, and The Tilt, Chris Hammer - Good Australian rural crime fiction.
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, Eliezer Yudkowsky - Alternate fan fic depiction of Harry Potter as a hyper-rationalist. My review linked below.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60034663-ten-steps-to-na...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58395049-true-biz
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59838811-upgrade
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52225003-blindsight
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58520598-treasure-dirt
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61413297-the-tilt
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33951086-harry-potter-an...
(My review) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5124124732
Queueing theory is probably one of the most useful subjects of all time, for just about any human. This book teaches it in a way that made it extremely easy for me to grok.
* Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture - Martin Fowler
Published in 2005 I believe, but still _very_ relevant. Good concrete architecture patterns and it's cool to see these patterns before they were no-brainers.
* SQL Performance Explained - Markus Winand
Actually how I first convinced my company to start paying for my books (and there have been 15+ since). We had a query that was running in an absurd amount of time for our largest customer and we couldn't get it down. It was a real blocker for releasing a feature, so I bought this book while visiting family and tore through it on the plane home. Got that query down from over 10 minutes to about 12 seconds. Through a light caching layer in front and we were cooking with gas. Part of that query's long runtime is definitely due to a poor initial implementation, but this book taught me a lot about indexes and how they're not being used constantly like I thought they were.
* Clean Architecture - Robert Martin
Always recommended around here. Finally gave it a read and the central message of dependency inversion is a good one. I took a "software engineering" course in Uni that taught us SOLID principles in a text book way where we didn't actually apply them, but working in the real world has taught me that they're appropriate in many cases, and why that's the case. Uncle Bob does a great job demonstrating that.
* Your Money or Your Life - Vicky Robin and Joe Dominguez
I reread this about once a year so I'm going to count it :) Fantastic book that keeps the concept of money and what is really does for us grounded. Helps me keep my expenses down by not being a nut with money. Working in software is a very fortunate career path for a lot of us, and I want to make sure I can make the most of it.
The Dawn of Everything fundamentally transforms our understanding of the human past and offers a path toward imagining new forms of freedom, new ways of organizing society. This is a monumental book of formidable intellectual range, animated by curiosity, moral vision, and a faith in the power of direct action.
I will put up The Last Duel as one of the most entertaining books I read this year. I really enjoyed it.
I am looking for a follow up and may read Secondhand Time by Svetlana Alexievich, Stalin by Kotkin, or The Free World by Mendand. Suggestions appreciated
Deepens your understanding of a different conception of a hero. According to Nagy, the heroes in Homeric poetry were not meant to be directly emulated like our modern Superman -- instead of a single character being the role model, you should take your inspiration from the whole story. All characters, all nuances, sequences of events, consequences and interactions.
Also gives you a much richer vocabulary for so many concepts still central to the human condition. English and other modern languages don't allow us to explore these in the same way.
In-depth, but provides a "civilizing experience" according to Nagy. And I suggest: don't read it as an engineer, so to speak. It's not code, or an academic paper. Read for inspiration and conceptual diversification. Broaden your toolbox for understanding the human condition.
It was a great read because it gave an insight into the "Russian" style perspective of the Anabaptist understanding, and the deep complications around: nonresistance, nationhood, language, and war. It is only a small slice of some of the horrifying realities the Anabapists' suffered at the hands of both Axis and Allies during WWII, but as a personal account, and as a detailed series of event, it is excellent.
"Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture" by David Kushner
It gave a real snapshot of what it was like making (and playing) games in the 80's and 90's. It helped to remind the reader of the technical challenges programmers faced, as well as the much less money-focused nature of video games as an industry. (I have way more to say on this, but will resist the urge.)
"Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland" by Patrick Radden Keefe
Gives, in my opinion, very accurate account of both "sides" of the issue regarding The Troubles. It brought up a massive number of details I was either unaware of, or forgot about. From my perspective, it didn't appear to pull any punches, but instead laid things out precisely as they happened, and showed the blood on the shirts and knuckles of both side. It gave a personal insight to the people who were going through it first hand, and the ways in which they lived their lives; in many ways, it reminded me of some of the descriptions I had heard about the 2003-2011 Iraq War from civilians. (A common theme in both I recall hearing described was the fear of waiting in lines for things, as it meant that location might be targeted for bombing.)
"History Is Wrong" by Erich von Däniken
Although the book is meant to be a serious read, I take it as a comedy. I enjoy listening to various conspriacy theories to see whether I find any shreds of truth in them. In this book, there are some claims about how the way we understand human history is fundamentally wrong, and that "a lost subterranean labyrinth in Ecuador" held specific secrets in the form of "gold panels" - panels which mysteriously disappeared.
Note: I don't mean to sound overly dismissive to anyone who might be a "true believer" in this specific line of thinking, I just find the claims made to be preposterous.
I checked out "The Northern Ireland Conflict: Bolinda Beginner Guides" by Aaron Edwards and Cillian McGrattan a few years ago, but was a little underwhelmed by how the information was presented - it felt a little one sided, if I remember correctly.
Alternatively, "The Celtic World" by The Great Courses (audiobook) was pretty good, but a little overwhelming in the amount of time it was covering (Again, I think. It's been a few years since I listened to it.) I'd really like to hear something historical about Ireland that focuses in on one or two eras/generations, not necessarily a "Here's the last 1,000 years" type approach. Anything in particular around the time Romans had come to the English area would be of especial interest to me, due to certain religious perspectives and beliefs I'm interested with.
An astonishing tale of daring and determination about the Battle off Samar in WW2 Pacific. Told with respect and admiration for the 6 USA escort carriers, their planes, and their destroyer escorts, that faced 4 battleships, 6 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers, and 11 destroyers of the Japanese navy. One of the greatest last stands in history, and a riveting story.
It made me realize the utter horror of the conditions the sailors fought under. The ordinary backgrounds of them all. That training and a culture of excellence can multiply the effectiveness of people far beyond what feels possible. That accurate information is critical to making good decisions. And that for all your preparation, you are still at the mercy of chance.
The best fiction book I read in 2022 was Spinning Silver (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36896898-spinning-silver). A really awesome riff on Russian fairy tales.
I found it while searching for fan fictions that would explore the HP universe from different cultural perspectives and in different settings. I was looking for a bigger jump (the US is more similar to the UK than other countries are) but the books have everything I was looking for in terms of exploring magic associated to the local cultures.
Also The Dawn of Everything, which Graeber cowrote with archaeologist David Wengrow. The broader point of the book is that there is no one story of the "evolution" of society into modern states and no "agricultural revolution" triggering the rise of urbanization and social hierarchy. Instead, there have been countless arrangements and permutations of these things with intelligent, politically-conscious people thinking about how they wanted to order their society long before the invention of writing. He takes particular aim at popular writers pushing simpler stories painting Western capitalism as a natural endpoint, especially Stephen Pinker and Yuval Noah Harari.
Even if you aren't onboard with Graeber's radical left politics, both books are so chock full of ideas and examples that it's hard to come away without a lot to think about.
Graeber misinterprets the history and ideas of mainstream economics, calls the safest securities on the planet a debt that will never be paid and spins bizarre conspiracy theories about the Iraq invasion. You might learn about the quaint cultural practices of remote tribes but a lot of the ideas presented are complete nonsense.
You might say it has good and original parts. But the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good.
Can you provide a well researched body of literature that counters Graeber’s thesis as opposed to just stating an opinion?
Adam Smith and his contemporaries hypothesized that barter proceeded money. Modern economics textbooks and pundits continue to repeat this misbelief. Academics even admit the tale is often repeated as form of short hand narrative.
Charlemagne was quaint?
I am sure there are many factual inaccuracies in the book (I am not an expert so I wouldn't know either way). But what he successfully manages to do is show the reader that there are many many different economic systems practiced throughout history, and many of them very highly sophisticated (and not quaint as you suggest). And once the reader realizes this, there is only a short step to the question, "is neoliberalism really the best we can do or one of the other systems better for us?"
Another good one is Irrational Man by William Barrett. The only truly comprehensive look at existentialism I've read.
The Body - Bill Bryson
The Way of Kings - Sanderson
So Good They Can't Ignore You - Cal Newport
Having read more books on "how to communicate better" than I should admit to, Murphy's easy yet highly usedul read reminded me just how important listening is, just how important people feeling like they've been heard it.
I'm honestly not doing it just, and pardon the cliche but it was a game changer for me.
https://www.harvard.com/book/youre_not_listening/
p.s. This was my second answer. Sorry?
- What Happened To You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Bruce D. Perry
- The Star Principle: How It Can Make You Rich
- Decoding Greatness: How the Best in the World Reverse Engineer Success
- The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz
- Hands-On Machine Learning with Scikit-Learn and TensorFlow
- The Choice: Embrace the Possible by Edith Eger
A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon by Neil Sheehan (Biography and background to the development of the ICBM)
The American War in Afghanistan: A History by Carter Malkasian
One Minute to Midnight by Michael Dobbs (about the Cuban missile crisis)
Chip War by Chris Miller (about the semiconductor industry and it's place in geopolitical competition)
- Jade City
- Jade War
- Jade Legacy
How to open a door to more effective conversations with real people you care about and interact with in your communities.
Christianity and the New Spirit of Capitalism by Kathryn Tanner. A really good look at how capitalism has been expressed in our modern world, and how Christianity should not enable the worst excesses of capitalism.
The Power Broker by Robert Caro. This one actually took me about 6 months between reading and Audible, because it is in some ways too detailed, but the naked use of power for maintaining power for a singular vision is illuminating. Even in an antagonistic biography, Moses leaps off the page as a bright, energetic, flawed human. I enjoyed this a lot.
Rediscovering Scripture’s Vision for Women by Lucy Peppiat. A persuasive, intelligent, and solid look at how Christianity in America has taken many unfortunate turns away from reading Scripture as a document of equality and elevation, and toward a document of hierarchy and repression. I think Peppiat does a good job of discussing all theological avenues of thought and while clearly disfavoring some, not stooping to ridicule, caricature, or personal attack.
If you just want to dip your toe in reading history, the Cartoon Guide to the History of the Universe series is a reasonable place to start. I think it prioritizes entertainment over accuracy some, but it's pretty entertaining! https://www.amazon.com/Cartoon-History-Universe-Volumes-1-7/...
Someone I know factchecked a different book, A Brief History of the Human Race, and said it did really well: https://acesounderglass.com/2017/04/18/epistemic-spot-check-...
I read A Brief History of the Human Race based on their recommendation and I can def recommend it also. So here's the link on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Brief-History-Human-Race/dp/039332645...
After learning about the macro contours of history, I started reading more about specific things which seemed potentially interesting. I liked all of these, roughly in this order:
* Venice: https://www.amazon.com/Venice-History-Thomas-F-Madden/dp/014...
* Lincoln and contemporaries: https://www.amazon.com/Team-Rivals-Political-Abraham-Lincoln...
* The United Nations: https://www.amazon.com/United-Nations-History-Stanley-Meisle...
Reading history is a great way of getting a broader perspective.
Learning about history is underwhelming when you do it as a kid because when you're young, everything is new to you. You don't gain an appreciation for how interesting the past really was.
But as an adult, you have a well-developed model of how the world is supposed to be, so history becomes really interesting because you realize that lots of historical events actually violate your model. (Did you know that when Venice first heard about the USA, they didn't bother establishing diplomatic relations because they thought the experiment would not last? Turns out it was the Venetian state that soon disappeared! Sometimes it feels like I'm highlighting an interesting fact like that on practically every page. There's a lot that gets left out of popular narratives.)
(in terms of genre, I guess you'd call it urban fantasy, kind of, but it's really more of a classic fable - in structure, not in story - told in an original way)
* Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin: the story of the people of Eastern and Central Europe during the early 20th century.
* Man's Search for Meaning: An Holocaust survivor explains on how to find hope and meaning even in the darkest of times.
* Why civil resistance works: the strategic logic of nonviolent conflict: Examining on how most resist movements in the last one hundred years have tended to be more successful when they eschew violence.
* The origins of Canadian and American political differences: On how two very similiar-seeming countries right next to each other could diverge in their cultures. (I'm Canadian.)
Bobiverse Series by Dennis Taylor https://www.goodreads.com/series/192752-bobiverse
Project Hail Mary by Weir Andy https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54493401-project-hail-ma...
When you question competence of state, usefulness of bureaucracy, purpose of police, laws and basically dependence society on state.
Reason why isn't necessarily because of the specifics of the 2013 leaks, but because he documents the interaction between government and press (and how he was demonized and threatened afterwards). Tl;dr the government blackmailed journalists to keep the story from getting published
Also (on a related note because both are about obscure bureaucracy), Kafka's Castle. Kafka bored me at first, but he writes situations that are just a little "off" in a way that's really unique. It's incredibly hard to describe and definitely very surreal, he takes certain aspects of human nature and amplifies them to the point of absurdity
Published in October 2022, The Art of Computer Programming: Volume 4B is dazzling. It's like a guide to expressing (in non-obvious ways) all kinds of problems as some variation on Exact Cover (or Boolean Satisfiability) and using wicked tight little general-purpose backtracking solvers to solve them.
If you want a peek, watch Knuth's 2018 lecture on Dancing Links Exact Cover: