Two books by a French author called Jacques Benoist-Méchin. They work as a pair and they tell the stories of Kemal Atatürk (the founder of modern Turkey) and Ibn Saud (the founder of modern Saudi Arabia). I've found the perspective it brought to the modern geopolitics of the region invaluable.
PS: Benoist-Méchin was a French far-right journalist, writer and was openly sympathetic with Nazi Germany. Not that I condone that (I don't) but the books are excellent nonetheless.
The books I've enjoyed reading most this year are ones I ought to have read in high school some 15 years ago, but just never did because I didn't enjoy reading and never made the effort: The Great Gatsby, As I Lay Dying, and am currently reading Cry, The Beloved Country
I found myself in a similar position recently. I've gone back and read books usually assigned in high school and really enjoyed returning to them after all these years. Anything Vonnegut, East of Eden, and The Things They Carried, to name a few.
East of Eden and Grapes of Wrath are on my upcoming list of titles to read. A few others I've read since high school that I ought to have then are Red Badge of Courage, All Quiet On The Western Front, and Of Mice and Men.
I'm cheating a little on the date, but The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin stands out. It was translated into english late last year, and received the Hugo this year for best story. It's wonderful sci-fi written on a grand scale, and made all the more interesting and refreshing to me by coming from outside the Western perspective. It's one of a trilogy: The Dark Forest english translation is out, and Death's End is coming beginning of next year.
Also enjoyed Seveneves by Stephenson, and H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald. The former is likely known to the HN crowd; the latter draws comparisons to T.H. White's classic The Goshawk.
Among non-fiction books, I enjoyed The Little Prover by Friedman and Eastlund. It was exactly what I expected, a gentle introduction into inductive proofs in the idiom established by The Little Schemer.
I read The Martian, Snow Crash, and Ready Player One over the course of a month or two. All three of those books have their flaws but I enjoy the style and page turning nature of them a lot.
"So You've Been Publicly Shamed", by Jon Ronson, and "The Invaders: How Humans and Their Dogs Drove Neanderthals to Extinction", by Pat Shipman, are my two best reads this year (that were published in 2015). The first is a great analysis of the phenomenon (usually Twitter-based) of shame-storms, and the second is about the far, far older phenomenon of one invasive species driving a closely related one to extinction. Both very well done.
I love reading just about everything and I'm having the hardest time getting momentum on Infinite Jest. I think partly due to the fact that I personally only have some vague idea of what I'm getting myself into.
Just keep going. One page at a time (easier to do if you employ 2 bookmarks in a paper book). It will begin to gel. Just focus on how funny it is, rather than what's going on. It is very much worth the effort.
There's probably a small amount of passive income to be made from slurping all the book recommendation threads and creating a nice simple web page with a bunch of Amazon (.com and .co.uk) referral links.
You could mention how often the book has been mentioned on HN.
2.- Toxic Sludge is Good For You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry
3.- The Advertised Mind: Groundbreaking Insights into How Our Brains Respond to Advertising
4.- The Hidden Persuaders - "A brisk, authoritative and frightening report on how manufacturers, fundraisers and politicians are attempting to turn the American mind into a kind of catatonic dough that will buy, give or vote at their command--The New Yorker
The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett. His last work.
Phoebe and Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson (I'd recommend this to families with young children)
CSS Secrets: Better Solutions to Everyday Web Design Problems by Lea Verou. I'm not really a front in person so this was an interesting look into CSS3
Penetration Testing: A Hands-On Introduction to Hacking
Georgia Weidman
I'm starting next on Rework, as I've heard a lot about it.
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[ 4.5 ms ] story [ 79.5 ms ] threadhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0321601912
http://www.amazon.com/Physics-Future-Science-Shape-Destiny-e...
On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins
The Process of Education by Jerome Bruner
PS: Benoist-Méchin was a French far-right journalist, writer and was openly sympathetic with Nazi Germany. Not that I condone that (I don't) but the books are excellent nonetheless.
http://www.amazon.com/Red-Rising-The-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B...
Tremendous insight into our own inner critic and interaction with people. Got turned onto to this book after hearing the author interviewed by Tim Ferriss, highly recommend> http://fourhourworkweek.com/2015/08/28/brene-brown-on-vulner...
Also enjoyed Seveneves by Stephenson, and H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald. The former is likely known to the HN crowd; the latter draws comparisons to T.H. White's classic The Goshawk.
Among non-fiction books, I enjoyed The Little Prover by Friedman and Eastlund. It was exactly what I expected, a gentle introduction into inductive proofs in the idiom established by The Little Schemer.
Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace
100 Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Origins of Form (Christopher Williams)
Starship & The Canoe (Kenneth Brower)
The Size of Lumber (Nicholson Baker)
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (Shunryu Suzuki)
Deschooling Society (Ivan Illich)
Moby Dick (Herman Melville)
Bolo'Bolo (P.M.)
Le Ton beau de Marot (Douglas Hofstadter)
Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth (James Lovelock)
Mouse or Rat: Translation as Negotiation (Umberto Eco)
Neuromancer (William Gibson)
The Intelligent Investor (Benjamin Graham)
Don Quixote (Miguel Cervantes)
You could mention how often the book has been mentioned on HN.
That was a very good book.
I hadn't even heard of Jack Vance until recently, but it seems like he's been an influence on many modern authors.
2.- Toxic Sludge is Good For You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry
3.- The Advertised Mind: Groundbreaking Insights into How Our Brains Respond to Advertising
4.- The Hidden Persuaders - "A brisk, authoritative and frightening report on how manufacturers, fundraisers and politicians are attempting to turn the American mind into a kind of catatonic dough that will buy, give or vote at their command--The New Yorker