Best read for me is actually a non-tech book; the Dutch "Hoe hoort het eigenlijk" (roughly translated as: "how it should be done") which is considered "the Dutch Etiquette Bible". There is not enough courtesy and etiquette in this world.
That, and I really liked SICP (finally got off the shelf).
It's not tech-related, but my favorite book this year was Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. The book is a collection of stories from North Korean defectors, combined with some history and background info. It's a quick but satisfying read.
A scary tale about the collapse of the various markets across the globe. I constantly had to keep checking to see if the book was from the fiction section. The stories are so far out there it seemed unreal.
Second this. I'm a huge Michael Lewis fan. If you enjoyed this, I would recommend reading (in the following order):
- Liar's Poker. Lewis' account of how the bond market really got huge in the 80's. The book that put him on the map. He was a bond salesman in Solomon Brothers investment bank, a really interesting read with many larger than life characters. An insider account on how companies and financial institutions gorged themselves in debt.
- The Big Short. In a way this is like a "sequel" to Liar's Poker (weird to say for non-fiction I know), as the 20 year "story arc" from the grow of junk bonds, to the massive deleveraging due to the subprime mortgage collapse is examined. He also follows the stories of those canny enough to stack up massive bets in anticipation of the collapse.
Finance is a boring topic generally, but Lewis focuses on the characters and is a superb storyteller. He has a real knack for being able to explain these complex, earth-shattering events in a way that those of us without PhD's in quantitative finance can understand.
You're welcome. Lewis also writes for Vanity Fair, where in fact some of the material for Boomerang and his other works originated. You might be interested in these also.
The table of contents looks very good. Do you know any other recent and worthy C++ books? I'm more interested in design-related and deeply technical ones.
* "Salonica, City of Ghosts" by M.Mazower. Tells the history of Thessaloniki, informative, entertaining, at times nostalgic.
* "The Cauchy-Schwarz Master Class" by J.M.Steele. A guided tour of mathematical inequalities. Very entertaining and readable (for a math book) and extremely well written.
* "Indiscrete Thoughts" by G-C.Rota. Irreverent anecdotes about mathematicians.
* "Black Swan" by N.N.Taleb. Maybe overhyped and at times annoying and pompous, but extremely insightful nevertheless.
"Salonica, City of Ghosts" is definitely an excellent read. I thought it was somewhat sad how the world wars of the 20th century diminished one of Europe's great, culturally rich cities.
I'm reading Fooled by Randomness and really like it. The Black Swan I couldn't finish because it kind of rambled. Not sure if he had a better editor for Fooled by Randomness or what.
Fooled by randomness seemed to me a little bit less rambling as well and a little bit more straight to the point. But I liked the more essayistic style of Black Swan as well (well, I studied literature, so i think I am just used to these kinds of writing).
I'd like to mention two books because I can't decide which is greatest (they're very different):
- The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (often quoted here, and rightly so; it's short and really really great)
- How to Live, or A life of Montaigne by Sarah Bakewell (a fantastic take on Montaigne's essays by a contemporary scholar with a refreshing take on everything).
Yes! I've read "How to Live, or A life of Montaigne" and it _is_ brilliant, partly due to Montaigne being brilliant I'd recommend Penguins Great Ideas Book "On Friendship" by Montaigne. And seeing as you mention on of my favorites to, I'll be sure to check out The Checklist Manifesto, thanks.
Penguin's Great Ideas series [1] is a collection of abridged (i think) versions of popular/influential books, or essays by influential writers, the "On Friendship" one by Montaigne is a few of his essays from his Essays [2] Short essays brilliantly eloquent, accessible pragmatic philosophy.
"""Montaigne likes to point out that philosophers don’t know everything, and that they would be a lot wiser if they laughed at themselves a little more. He also writes in a personal and often very frank way designed to shock the prudish. “Kings and philosophers shit, and so do ladies,” he says, “Even on the highest throne in the world, we are seated still upon our arses.” """
The Checklist Manifesto is a great book. Short and offers lots of insights in how to manage risks and minimize silly mistakes. Must read for every system administrator and programmer who want to make sure every deployment works as smoothly as possible and every release as few silly bugs as possible.
I read "Wheel of time" series by Robert Jordan this year. The books in this series are just so addictive.. wasn't able to stop till I read all thirteen books :)
Oh, when ever I get the longing for the last one, I go on a revision of my favorite parts in previous books.. Thank fully I started this in August and haven't heard of it before.. Now just one more year to go till the last book.. :)
I still wonder how BS is going to cover all loose ends in one book!
Apparently it's finished. It will require numerous rewrites and edits, but the book is essentially finished. Sanderson said to look for the final book in the fall.
I've been trying to get a hold of this book for a while in the UK, but it seems very tough to get a copy of without paying through the teeth for international shipping. Anyone have any tips?
"Left in the dark" - a theory about how our mind works. It is either crackpot or one of the most amazing discoveries of the last few decades. Hard to tell which, but it is a very interesting read regardless.
Crackpot, because I couldn't go through the first page with a straight face. It is attacking science for lacking rigor (why not, depending on your standards and the field) and ignoring a momentous event, then proceeds to put forth an explanation that is not rigorous at all (cultural arguments do not support neuroscience jargon).
First page of the website or the first page of the book?
Either way, you should spend more time reading it. Consider it science fiction if it bothers you.
"The origin of consciousness in the breakdown of the bicameral mind" is also mind blowing. Neither is foolproof, and both are potentially crackpot -- but if should read a crackpot book to broaden your horizons. Just consider it scifi instead of science.
312 comments
[ 2.5 ms ] story [ 219 ms ] threadYou won't regret it.
That, and I really liked SICP (finally got off the shelf).
A scary tale about the collapse of the various markets across the globe. I constantly had to keep checking to see if the book was from the fiction section. The stories are so far out there it seemed unreal.
- Liar's Poker. Lewis' account of how the bond market really got huge in the 80's. The book that put him on the map. He was a bond salesman in Solomon Brothers investment bank, a really interesting read with many larger than life characters. An insider account on how companies and financial institutions gorged themselves in debt.
- The Big Short. In a way this is like a "sequel" to Liar's Poker (weird to say for non-fiction I know), as the 20 year "story arc" from the grow of junk bonds, to the massive deleveraging due to the subprime mortgage collapse is examined. He also follows the stories of those canny enough to stack up massive bets in anticipation of the collapse.
Finance is a boring topic generally, but Lewis focuses on the characters and is a superb storyteller. He has a real knack for being able to explain these complex, earth-shattering events in a way that those of us without PhD's in quantitative finance can understand.
http://www.vanityfair.com/search?query=michael+lewis&sor...
* "Salonica, City of Ghosts" by M.Mazower. Tells the history of Thessaloniki, informative, entertaining, at times nostalgic.
* "The Cauchy-Schwarz Master Class" by J.M.Steele. A guided tour of mathematical inequalities. Very entertaining and readable (for a math book) and extremely well written.
* "Indiscrete Thoughts" by G-C.Rota. Irreverent anecdotes about mathematicians.
* "Black Swan" by N.N.Taleb. Maybe overhyped and at times annoying and pompous, but extremely insightful nevertheless.
- The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (often quoted here, and rightly so; it's short and really really great)
- How to Live, or A life of Montaigne by Sarah Bakewell (a fantastic take on Montaigne's essays by a contemporary scholar with a refreshing take on everything).
[1]: http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/minisites/greatideas...
[2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essays_%28Montaigne%29
Sounds like a good man.
It made me feel like I'm not thinking enough about everything around me.
I still wonder how BS is going to cover all loose ends in one book!
TIL today, there is a comic book for The Eye of the World.
Non-Fiction: Improv Wisdom: Don't Prepare, Just Show Up, by Patricia Ryan Madison.
Edited for formatting
http://leftinthedark.org.uk/
Either way, you should spend more time reading it. Consider it science fiction if it bothers you.
"The origin of consciousness in the breakdown of the bicameral mind" is also mind blowing. Neither is foolproof, and both are potentially crackpot -- but if should read a crackpot book to broaden your horizons. Just consider it scifi instead of science.