Y Hacker News Books

Ask HN: What are your favorite books? ↗

The books people recommended

2016-07-14 · 57 points · 44 comments · 62 books named by at least one person here and at least 3 people overall. The number on the left is how many people named it in this thread.

  1. 3

    Gödel, Escher, Bach

    Douglas Hofstadter

    3 here · 347 all-time · #1 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 2,713 ratings on Amazon
  2. 3

    The Hard Thing About Hard Things

    Ben Horowitz

    3 here · 56 all-time · #67 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 15,933 ratings on Amazon
  3. 3The Inner Game of Tennis

    The Inner Game of Tennis

    W. Timothy Gallwey

    3 here · 26 all-time · #226 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 10,399 ratings on Amazon
  4. 2

    Zero to One

    Peter Thiel, Blake Masters

    2 here · 89 all-time · #37 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 40,093 ratings on Amazon
  5. 2Concepts, Techniques, and Models of Computer Programming

    Concepts, Techniques, and Models of Computer Programming

    Peter Van Roy and Seif Haridi

    2 here · 16 all-time · #409 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 37 ratings on Amazon
  6. 2The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

    The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

    Stephen Covey

    2 here · 10 all-time · #666 overall

  7. 2How Not to Be Wrong

    How Not to Be Wrong

    Jordan Ellenberg

    2 here · 8 all-time · #843 overall

  8. 2Big Book of Concepts

    Big Book of Concepts

    Gregory Murphy

    2 here · 4 all-time · #1812 overall

  9. 1

    Thinking, Fast and Slow

    Daniel Kahneman

    1 here · 178 all-time · #6 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 48,679 ratings on Amazon
  10. 1

    The Selfish Gene

    Richard Dawkins

    1 here · 178 all-time · #7 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 8,966 ratings on Amazon
  11. 1

    How to Win Friends and Influence People

    Dale Carnegie

    1 here · 175 all-time · #8 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 106,505 ratings on Amazon
  12. 1

    Meditations

    Marcus Aurelius

    1 here · 165 all-time · #10 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 21,552 ratings on Amazon
  13. 1

    Code

    Charles Petzold

    1 here · 147 all-time · #12 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 2,787 ratings on Amazon
  14. 1

    The Lord of the Rings

    J.R.R. Tolkien

    1 here · 114 all-time · #18 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.9 out of 5, 14,620 ratings on Amazon
  15. 1Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

    Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

    Eliezer Yudkowsky

    1 here · 101 all-time · #27 overall

    Buy on Amazon
  16. 1

    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

    Douglas Adams

    1 here · 101 all-time · #28 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 30,738 ratings on Amazon
  17. 1

    Infinite Jest

    David Foster Wallace

    1 here · 75 all-time · #44 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 6,443 ratings on Amazon
  18. 1

    The Phoenix Project

    Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Spafford

    1 here · 67 all-time · #56 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 14,975 ratings on Amazon
  19. 1

    Hyperion

    Dan Simmons

    1 here · 56 all-time · #69 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 30,786 ratings on Amazon
  20. 1

    Ulysses

    James Joyce

    1 here · 55 all-time · #71 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 3,819 ratings on Amazon
  21. 1

    A Guide to the Good Life

    William B. Irvine

    1 here · 53 all-time · #74 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 6,528 ratings on Amazon
  22. 1

    Moby Dick

    Herman Melville

    1 here · 51 all-time · #82 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 16,756 ratings on Amazon
  23. 1

    Nonviolent Communication

    Marshall B. Rosenberg

    1 here · 47 all-time · #92 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 12,436 ratings on Amazon
  24. 1

    The Power of Habit

    Charles Duhigg

    1 here · 46 all-time · #97 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 40,333 ratings on Amazon
  25. 1

    Creativity Inc.

    Ed Catmull

    1 here · 43 all-time · #107 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 10,683 ratings on Amazon
  26. 1

    The Wheel of Time

    Robert Jordan

    1 here · 43 all-time · #109 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 45,874 ratings on Amazon
  27. 1

    The Four Steps to the Epiphany

    Steve Blank

    1 here · 36 all-time · #137 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 673 ratings on Amazon
  28. 1

    How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big

    Scott Adams

    1 here · 36 all-time · #143 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 7,596 ratings on Amazon
  29. 1

    Predictably Irrational

    Dan Ariely

    1 here · 35 all-time · #144 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 11,450 ratings on Amazon
  30. 1

    Quiet

    Susan Cain

    1 here · 33 all-time · #165 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 35,789 ratings on Amazon
  31. 1

    How to Measure Anything

    Douglas Hubbard

    1 here · 27 all-time · #214 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 595 ratings on Amazon
  32. 1The Annotated Turing

    The Annotated Turing

    Charles Petzold

    1 here · 25 all-time · #235 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 399 ratings on Amazon
  33. 1Revelation Space

    Revelation Space

    Alastair Reynolds

    1 here · 24 all-time · #251 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 10,275 ratings on Amazon
  34. 1

    Think and Grow Rich

    Napoleon Hill

    1 here · 21 all-time · #287 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 75,414 ratings on Amazon
  35. 1

    The Forever War

    Joe Haldeman

    1 here · 21 all-time · #294 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 18,724 ratings on Amazon
  36. 1

    Skunk Works

    Ben Rich

    1 here · 21 all-time · #302 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 5,053 ratings on Amazon
  37. 1

    Cosmos

    Carl Sagan

    1 here · 20 all-time · #309 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 8,712 ratings on Amazon
  38. 1

    Why Nations Fail

    Daron Acemoglu, James A. Robinson

    1 here · 19 all-time · #329 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 10,898 ratings on Amazon
  39. 1Grit

    Grit

    Angela Duckworth

    1 here · 16 all-time · #395 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 20,854 ratings on Amazon
  40. 1Are Your Lights On?

    Are Your Lights On?

    Donald C. Gause

    1 here · 15 all-time · #421 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.0 out of 5, 264 ratings on Amazon
  41. 1The Art of Learning

    The Art of Learning

    Josh Waitzkin

    1 here · 14 all-time · #453 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 5,454 ratings on Amazon
  42. 1The Art of Game Design

    The Art of Game Design

    Jesse Schell

    1 here · 13 all-time · #501 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 670 ratings on Amazon
  43. 1The Singularity Is Near

    The Singularity Is Near

    Ray Kurzweil

    1 here · 10 all-time · #622 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 2,109 ratings on Amazon
  44. 1Artificial Life

    Artificial Life

    Steven Levy

    1 here · 9 all-time · #702 overall

  45. 1The Histories

    The Histories

    Tacitus

    1 here · 9 all-time · #707 overall

  46. 1The Water Knife

    The Water Knife

    Paolo Bacigalupi

    1 here · 9 all-time · #729 overall

  47. 1Barbarians at the Gate

    Barbarians at the Gate

    Bryan Burrough

    1 here · 9 all-time · #758 overall

  48. 1Linchpin

    Linchpin

    Seth Godin

    1 here · 8 all-time · #810 overall

  49. 1The Holy Bible

    The Holy Bible

    1 here · 8 all-time · #870 overall

  50. 1Surfaces and Essences

    Surfaces and Essences

    Douglas Hofstadter and Emmanuel Sander

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1074 overall

  51. 1Lateral Thinking

    Lateral Thinking

    Edward de Bono

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1084 overall

  52. 1The Field Guide to Understanding Human Error

    The Field Guide to Understanding Human Error

    Sidney Dekker

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1226 overall

  53. 1Prime Obsession

    Prime Obsession

    John Derbyshire

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1427 overall

  54. 1Time Reborn

    Time Reborn

    Lee Smolin

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1557 overall

  55. 1The Postman

    The Postman

    David Brin

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1586 overall

  56. 1The Peter Principle

    The Peter Principle

    Laurence J. Peter, Raymond Hull

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1660 overall

  57. 1Day of the Triffids

    Day of the Triffids

    John Wyndham

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1661 overall

  58. 1The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

    The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

    Robin Sharma

    1 here · 3 all-time · #1957 overall

  59. 1Assembly Language and Computer Architecture Using C++ and Java

    Assembly Language and Computer Architecture Using C++ and Java

    Anthony J. Dos Reis

    1 here · 3 all-time · #1964 overall

  60. 1Compiler Construction Using Java, JavaCC, and Yacc

    Compiler Construction Using Java, JavaCC, and Yacc

    Anthony J. Dos Reis

    1 here · 3 all-time · #1965 overall

  61. 1Ghost in the Machine

    Ghost in the Machine

    Arthur Koestler

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2050 overall

  62. 1Sync

    Sync

    Steven Strogatz

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2209 overall