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Ask HN: Great books you read in 2009?

125 points by ryanwaggoner ↗ HN
I got a Kindle halfway through 2009 and I've been reading a lot more but I'm always on the lookout for great books. I'd love to hear about what books others in the HN community enjoyed during the last year and would recommend. I'm primarily looking for non-programming books, but if anything really blew you away, I'd love to hear about it.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Note: I'm not trying to start a flamewar, as I didn't agree with all the books below, just that I found them interesting and they inspired further research and exploration on my part.

The Family, by Jeff Sharlet - Fascinating overview of the intersection between American fundamentalist Christianity and conservative ideology and how they gave birth to the "Religious Right".

The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand - Philosophical novel that uses architecture as a metaphor to introduce the tenants of Objectivism.

His Majesty's Dragon, by Naomi Novik - Alternate-history fantasy set in the Napoleanic Wars. The entire series was very enjoyable, and I don't usually enjoy fantasy.

The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollen - Overview of our food, how it is grown, and the things we should know about it. I found it very persuasive without being preachy and it completely revolutionized the way I eat and view food in general.

139 comments

[ 2.5 ms ] story [ 185 ms ] thread
andrewcooke
is fiction ok? i live in chile and stumbled across bolano's books (particularly the savage detectives and 2666) in spanish just as they became popular in english in the usa (2666 was released in translation).

savage detectives is a funny account of adolescent "poets" in mexico; 2666 is a much darker, somewhat rambling tome that addresses "evil". they're very different, but both great books.

for non-fiction the book i've used most this year is an old classic - harbison & steele's "c a reference manual". it's invaluable (if you're writing c). i don't know how people can prefer kernighan & ritchie...

tjr
I think that K&R works better as a tutorial, as an introduction to C programming. Once you're generally comfortable with C, Steele's book is a much better reference.
jakarta
Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin - a great blow by blow account of the financial crisis shortly after the fall of Bear Stearns. A really amazing look at how decisions are made under extraordinary pressure. It is fast paced and reads almost like a movie.
rogupta
I second that - 2/3 through and have a hard time putting it down. It's written in a way that outsiders can understand the hour-by-hour details of the crisis. While some of his opinions are clear, it seems mostly objective.
reg4c
Harmony Silk Factory - Tash Aw

Satanic Verses - Salman Rushdi

Old Man and the Sea - Hemingway

andrewcooke
have you read midnight's children? if so, how does satanic verses compare to that? i thought children was wonderful, but everything i've read since by rushdie has been a disappointment (often flat our boring). i often wonder if i give him another chance and take on satanic verses....
CamperBob
Both Grimus and Midnight's Children are great. The Satanic Verses is worth a read but not before the first two IMO.
streblo
I just finished reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. It's really long and a little digressive (1079 pages, took me 3 months to finish), but was one of the most entertaining and brilliant books I've ever read. I highly recommend it.
nopassrecover
Some books that stood out this year (many not for their intended reasons)

The 4 Hour Work Week (Tim Ferriss) - In parts entertaining, interesting, self-promoting, educational, inspirational, attractive and undesirable. Definitely worth the read and a great call to action. Will make you consider what you want and how you can achieve it.

The Game (Neil Strauss) - Truly interesting story and an interesting view on human dynamics and hacking one of the more important systems (dating). A great view on what is most important - ends or means. Will make you consider how people work, what motivates them and whether success cures emptiness.

Losing my Virginity (Richard Branson) - The awesome and entertaining story of Virgin with lots of great advice and startup David vs Goliath inspiration. Will make you consider what determination and the little guy can achieve.

Business Stripped Bare (Richard Branson) - Branson's more focused take on business advice and patches on bits of the Virgin story since the first book. Will make you consider the power of being genuine and growing a company with people treated as smart humans.

On Writing (Stephen King) - Most inspirational and compelling book on writing I've read. Half writing advice half King biography all awesome. Will make you consider becoming a novelist.

Coders at Work (Peter Siebel) - Haven't finished yet but great interviews of leading coders. I didn't enjoy Founders at Work (personally found it a bit indirect/not deep enough) but in Coders at Work you really feel the connection between interviewer and interviewee while at the same time getting a lot of incidental startup advice as these coders have all had decent roles to play in Silicon Valley etc. history. Will make you consider if you're actually a better coder than you thought.

Think and Grow Rich (Napoleon Hill) - Reads a bit like a bad Internet ad at times but that's because they stole that technique from here. This book summarizes the techniques that lead to success based on numerous interviews of most of the greatest leaders of the early 20th century. Pretty good bits in here and again inspiration fuel. Will make you consider how you can take charge of your self and your life.

Letters From a Stoic (Seneca) - Decent musings on living life and mastering oneself. As relevant today as 2 thousand years ago. Will make you consider how you can master your self and what you will let affect you.

Here Comes Everybody (Clay Shirky) - The best book on online community I've read. Shirky makes you want to make a difference and communicates his enthusiasm for the power of the masses with ease. Will make you consider how to enable communities to achieve unthought of goals.

tokenadult
My favorite read in early 2009 was What Intelligence Tests Miss: The Psychology of Rational Thought by Keith Stanovich

http://www.amazon.com/What-Intelligence-Tests-Miss-Psycholog...

which is full of helpful information on developing the kind of cognition missed by IQ tests that constitutes rationality, very important information for parents, educators, and business leaders.

2009, the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his book On the Origin of Species, has been a banner year for new books on evolutionary biology. Some of my favorites include

Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne

http://www.amazon.com/Why-Evolution-True-Jerry-Coyne/dp/0670...

The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins

http://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Show-Earth-Evidence-Evolution...

and

Evolution: The First Four Billion Years edited by Michael Ruse and Joseph Travis.

http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-First-Four-Billion-Years/dp/...

All are full of up to date information about biology, which, as Thedosius Dobzhansky said, only makes sense in the light of evolution.

SuperFreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

http://www.amazon.com/SuperFreakonomics-Cooling-Patriotic-Pr...

is enjoyable and thought-provoking, sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, for all the usual reasons applying to collaborations by those two authors.

diego
Recently I've been reading books about different facets of human nature. Some of my favorites:

- Spent, by Geoffrey Miller (evolutionary psychology, sex, consumerism)

- Gang Leader for a Day, by Sudhir Venkatesh

- Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely

Here's a short blog post about these books and a few others.

http://ogeid.com/weblog/2010/01/some-books-about-human-natur...

adamhowell
The War of Art (again) - I reread this book at least once a year. IMHO one of the best books ever written on the creative process, no matter what you're creating.

In Defense of Food - Best criticism of the problems with reductionist "nutrition-ism" I've read.

They Made America - Good, quick history of some of America's most revolutionary inventors, businessmen and women.

StrawberryFrog
introduce the tenants of Objectivism

How much rent do they pay? And what kind of landlady is Ms Rand.

ardell
Atlas Shrugged - finally got around to reading it after dozens of recommendations from good friends. Shocking how relevant and prophetic it is, especially with respect to the events of 2009.
jberryman
*eye roll
rinich
It's the reaction everybody has with Rand. To be completely fair to her, she introduces a lot of people to ideas they haven't grappled with before. I'm still glad I read her, even if, three years after, I disagree with all but a strand of her ideas.

I doubt it's worth having another HN debate about Rand, though. We've thoroughly exhausted that discussion.

jimmyjim
I would be interested in reading up on those. Could you perhaps give a link? I tried googling, but I didn't get very interesting results. Maybe you can think of a few memorable discussions that?
rinich
Two memorable discussions here in which I played a seminal part:

http://news.ycombinator.net/item?id=359551

The link died, but it was a comparison between Rand and Gladwell, and provoked a lot of interesting conversation/drama. That's pretty old; I was actually still arguing in favor of Rand.

http://news.ycombinator.net/item?id=499109

This one has some of the most elegant denunciations: This was one of the few arguments that wasn't overridden by one side or another.

But if you want a really terrific online discussion, I'm going to abandon ship and give you a link to MetaFilter instead, which starts with a series of critical articles and leads on to one of the most lucid, multifaceted discussions of Rand's many flaws I've ever seen. This was the discussion that severed the last of my connections to Rand and her philosophy.

http://www.metafilter.com/86325/She-screamed-You-have-reject...

rdtsc's link is thorough, but dry reading. I found it harder to digest than the community conversations.

CamperBob
But if you want a really terrific online discussion, I'm going to abandon ship and give you a link to MetaFilter instead, which starts with a series of critical articles and leads on to one of the most lucid, multifaceted discussions of Rand's many flaws I've ever seen.

I'm not defending Rand, but is it really intellectually honest to judge her stated principles by her behavior, as most of her critics do? Many of the most influential philosophers in all schools of thought have proven to be either hypocritical or downright nuts.

It's easy to attack someone as flawed as Rand, and it's even easier to attack strawmen fashioned from bits and pieces of her work. Neither of these facts tell you anything about the quality or relevance of her overall message.

rinich
Actually, the linked discussion mentions that also. When discussing such an inherently flawed philosophy, it's important to really think about the origins of Rand's thoughts. Why did she think the way she did? Who inspired her? Objectivism is not a stand-alone philosophy.

In particular, the talk about her and the mass murderer horrified me. When her ideal of humanity cut a young girl to pieces, you have to wonder if the sadomasochism in her philosophy was more a personal kink than it was some step of logic.

billswift
I have major disagreements with a lot of Rand's ideas, but I agree more with her social descriptions/depictions/??(I can't think of a really good word) now, 23 years after first reading Atlas Shrugged, than I did three years after reading it.
CamperBob
If I hadn't read Rand, comments like this one would make me want to, just to see how she managed to piss so many hipsters off.
jberryman
I don't mind Rand so much. Just people who claim that we're living "Atlas Shrugged" because they have to pay taxes or some nonsense.
nailer
Anyone read 'Crush It'? Gary Vee seems like a scamster to me, but it seems really popular in the wider tech community right now. I'd trust HN better than my Twitter contacts...
Hates_
Yes and I thought it was great. It only takes a few hours to get through which is a big bonus. My co-worker was a big "anti-veynerchucker", thinking he was all talk with no real message. But he had a read of it on my Kindle and is now a complete convert. He ended up dragging me to a talk by Gary and starting his own video blog too.
bayareaguy
Although actually released in late 2008, my favorite book for 2009 was Neal Stephenson's Anathem.
rnicholson
Finally got around to reading 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' Blew me away. So much better than the film adaptation.
sabat
"The other police station" -- that still freaks me out.
avinashv
Despite Blade Runner being one of my favorite films (if not the favorite, given how I'm feeling pitting it against 2001), I still completely agree.

They're very different in a lot of ways, though--I might go as far as to say Blade Runner is just barely an adaptation and more a derivative. However, that'd just be me arguing semantics.

daeken
The Machinery of Freedom (David Friedman) -- Great book on a potential anarcho-capitalist society and how we could push the US government in that direction.

The Game (Neil Strauss) -- See nopassrecover's response; he explained it well.

Little Brother (Cory Doctorow) -- A fantastic novel about freedom and technology.

Makers (Cory Doctorow) -- A great novel about people who create, whether technology or business models. Perhaps the best book I read this year.

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom (Cory Doctorow) -- The story of a man working in Disney World, which is now part of the Bitchun Society (a post-scarcity, post-death society). A story of love, betrayal, and death; how can you go wrong? Worth it for the concept of Whuffie (you'll need to read it to really get it) alone.

Diamond Age (Neal Stephenson) -- The evolution of a society towards post-scarcity, written around the story of a young girl's growth into an adult. Best post-cyberpunk book written thus far, IMO.

chasingsparks
I'm a huge Stephenson fan, but I felt let down by the Diamond Age's ending. It felt like it was missing 30 pages.
Xichekolas
None of Stephenson's books really have much of an ending (or in some cases much of a coherent plot)... the closest I can think of (in the way of endings) is Snow Crash.

But he writes with wonderful detail and humor, and seems really great at writing believable near-term futures, which I imagine are much harder than writing about the distant future (where everything can be fantastical).

coderholic
I finally finished "Godel, Escher, Bach" in 2009, after starting and giving up on it a few times previously. A great book, but it does require a lot of time and some serious thinking with a pencil and pad to do some working out (or at least it did for me).

The best book I read in 2009 (and possibly ever!) was "Fooled By Randomness" - a fantastic book that I can't recommend enough. I also read the sequel, "Black Swans", that was interesting but not in the same league.

"Made to stick" was also a great book, with lots of great marketing advice that is simple to follow.

rmorrison
I agree that Fooled By Randomness was a good read, but since then Taleb has become too wrapped up in self-aggrandizement, and he now thinks way to highly of himself and his abilities.

He lost me when he started writing articles like Ten Principles for a Black Swan-Proof World (http://www.fooledbyrandomness.com/tenprinciples.pdf). Isn't the point about Black Swans that they're impossible to protect against?

jamesbkel
Agreed. I thought "Fooled..." and "The Black Swan" were great and I have a lot of respect for Taleb. But lately, he has become too self-aggrandizing.

He seems to take too much credit for saying that an unpredictable event could happen, a few years before a relatively unpredictable (or at least, unforeseen) event did happen.

tokenadult
Isn't the point about Black Swans that they're impossible to protect against?

No, actually. The point about Black Swans is that they are impossible to predict. But one can plan to avoid the severe CONSEQUENCES of unpredictable events. The illustration that Taleb gave in a conference talk video once posted to HN was that a resident of Florida doesn't know when the next hurricane will come, but can build a house that is more resistant to hurricane damage than the typical house. Similarly, some investment strategies can be genuinely hedged against rare events that will happen at unknown times, while other investment strategies expose the investor to debts greater than the original investment.

gintas
"Fooled By Randomness" is an interesting read and its central claim, namely that humans tend to see patterns where there aren't any, is correct and scientifically proved by psychology. However, the book seems to go way too far by occupying a strongly skeptic position and therefore refuting itself.
DanielBMarkham
Finally got around to reading some Tolstoy -- Anna Karenina.

It was terrific. Great book!

xorphy
I basically discovered Vernor Vinge.

A Fire Upon the Deep, by Vernor Vinge

A Deepness in the Sky, by Vernor Vinge

The Peace War, by Vernor Vinge

Marooned in Realtime, by Vernor Vinge

Hyperion, by Dan Simmons

Mrs. Perkins's Electric Quilt, a fun book about some math and physics problems

billswift
The Peace War and Marooned in Realtime are also in a one volume Across Realtime, which also includes his entertaining novella The Ungoverned which introduces some of the characters, including W W Brierson (sp?) of Marooned.
chasingsparks
Death of a Salesman. This is yet another book that you are forced to read prematurely in middle or high school. At the time, it was a frustrating exercise; upon rereading it at age 25, I thought it was fantastic.

I also enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. It was very creative.

Sadly, I had no books that yielded a personal intellectual epoch this year.

pingswept
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. A sad story about a guy named Zeitoun in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.

Wars, Guns, and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places by Paul Collier. Someone smart thinks about how to move failed states toward democracy in such a way that it sticks.

Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama. A good memoir, but particularly interesting because he wrote it before he was famous.

Cliff Walk by Don Snyder. An English professor gets fired and becomes a carpenter. Great if academia irritates you.

rjett
I'm a fan of reading biographies and Open, Andre Agassi's biography, was a very intriguing, enjoyable, and surprisingly well-written book.

The only other book I read this past year that stood out to me was GK Chesterton's The Man Who was Thursday. I thought this was a very well written allegorical spy novel that had some very quippy dialogue.

Next on my reading list I would like to read some Vladimir Nabokov since I've never read any of his work. Has anyone else here read any of his books?

iron_ball
Yes. As a reader and speaker of the English language, you are absolutely required to read Lolita as soon as possible. It is one of the best novels ever.
tokenadult
Next on my reading list I would like to read some Vladimir Nabokov since I've never read any of his work. Has anyone else here read any of his books?

I read a lot of Nabokov beginning in high school and continuing into my university studies (when I was initially a Russian language major). Nabokov is very interesting to read. I like Speak, Memory

http://www.amazon.com/Speak-Memory-Everymans-Library-Cloth/d...

and his essays on literary criticism (which I'm not turning up just now as I do an Amazon search, but which you should be able to find in a library). I'm not such a big fan of his most famous novel, Lolita. I read it once and have never reread it.

pingswept
Lolita is great. If you like puzzles, you might also consider Pale Fire, which is bizarre, but quite rewarding if you get into it.
julius_geezer
The British computer scientist Martin Ward has a site dedicated to G.K. Chesterton, with a fair bit of his work on-line.

I lent a copy of Nabokov's _Verse and Versions_ to a friend, and the cheap binding finally gave out. Look for his poetry, also,

quizbiz
Started and finished Super Freakonomics on a flight just recently. I enjoyed it a lot.
teeja
Charles Stross, 'Accelerando'

Stephenson, 'Anathem' (first 150 pages slow)

statictype
Anathem started slow but ended up being one of his better efforts, I think. Like classic Stephenson, it's short on plot but long on details and interesting dialog between characters.
murrayb
Re Anathem first 150 pages- if the story had stayed in the Concents then the level of detail may have been justified, but in the end I was annoyed that he spent so long creating the Concents just to throw them away. Editor fail.