Y Hacker News Books

Summer Reading List ↗

The books people recommended

2017-08-03 · 470 points · 272 comments · 59 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. 18Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection

    Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection

    John E. Sarno

    18 here · 21 all-time · #308 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 7,970 ratings on Amazon
  2. 6The Death and Life of Great American Cities

    The Death and Life of Great American Cities

    Jane Jacobs

    6 here · 15 all-time · #434 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 1,700 ratings on Amazon
  3. 5

    The Righteous Mind

    Jonathan Haidt

    5 here · 57 all-time · #66 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 12,156 ratings on Amazon
  4. 4

    The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

    Thomas S. Kuhn

    4 here · 33 all-time · #167 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 2,045 ratings on Amazon
  5. 4The Nix

    The Nix

    Nathan Hill

    4 here · 6 all-time · #1223 overall

  6. 3

    Sapiens

    Yuval Noah Harari

    3 here · 197 all-time · #4 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 133,705 ratings on Amazon
  7. 3

    The Three-Body Problem

    Cixin Liu

    3 here · 152 all-time · #11 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 53,978 ratings on Amazon
  8. 3Ancillary Justice

    Ancillary Justice

    Ann Leckie

    3 here · 21 all-time · #301 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 21,235 ratings on Amazon
  9. 3The Man Who Knew Infinity

    The Man Who Knew Infinity

    Robert Kanigel

    3 here · 7 all-time · #1016 overall

  10. 2

    Snow Crash

    Neal Stephenson

    2 here · 119 all-time · #16 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 20,720 ratings on Amazon
  11. 2

    Guns, Germs, and Steel

    Jared Diamond

    2 here · 83 all-time · #39 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 14,634 ratings on Amazon
  12. 2

    Infinite Jest

    David Foster Wallace

    2 here · 75 all-time · #44 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 6,443 ratings on Amazon
  13. 2

    Blindsight

    Peter Watts

    2 here · 70 all-time · #48 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 8,527 ratings on Amazon
  14. 2

    The Power Broker

    Robert Caro

    2 here · 50 all-time · #86 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 3,176 ratings on Amazon
  15. 2

    Homo Deus

    Yuval Noah Harari

    2 here · 35 all-time · #150 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 38,098 ratings on Amazon
  16. 2Einstein's Dreams

    Einstein's Dreams

    Alan Lightman

    2 here · 6 all-time · #1157 overall

  17. 2Ninefox Gambit

    Ninefox Gambit

    Yoon Ha Lee

    2 here · 5 all-time · #1383 overall

  18. 2The Conquest of Bread

    The Conquest of Bread

    Peter Kropotkin

    2 here · 5 all-time · #1449 overall

  19. 1

    Gödel, Escher, Bach

    Douglas Hofstadter

    1 here · 347 all-time · #1 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 2,713 ratings on Amazon
  20. 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
  21. 1

    Neuromancer

    William Gibson

    1 here · 117 all-time · #17 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 20,213 ratings on Amazon
  22. 1

    1984

    George Orwell

    1 here · 94 all-time · #34 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 126,118 ratings on Amazon
  23. 1

    Brave New World

    Aldous Huxley

    1 here · 67 all-time · #55 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 48,055 ratings on Amazon
  24. 1

    Seveneves

    Neal Stephenson

    1 here · 58 all-time · #64 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 31,865 ratings on Amazon
  25. 1

    Red Rising

    Pierce Brown

    1 here · 35 all-time · #147 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 111,087 ratings on Amazon
  26. 1

    The Innovator's Dilemma

    Clayton Christensen

    1 here · 30 all-time · #185 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 4,076 ratings on Amazon
  27. 1

    The Wealth of Nations

    Adam Smith

    1 here · 27 all-time · #212 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 2,706 ratings on Amazon
  28. 1

    A Brief History of Time

    Stephen Hawking

    1 here · 23 all-time · #259 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 11,605 ratings on Amazon
  29. 1

    Into Thin Air

    Jon Krakauer

    1 here · 22 all-time · #275 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 26,031 ratings on Amazon
  30. 1

    Nexus

    Ramez Naam

    1 here · 21 all-time · #288 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 3,715 ratings on Amazon
  31. 1Starship Troopers

    Starship Troopers

    Robert A. Heinlein

    1 here · 21 all-time · #292 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 20,764 ratings on Amazon
  32. 1

    Waking Up

    Sam Harris

    1 here · 19 all-time · #337 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 9,211 ratings on Amazon
  33. 1Mindstorms

    Mindstorms

    Seymour Papert

    1 here · 18 all-time · #350 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 146 ratings on Amazon
  34. 1Superintelligence

    Superintelligence

    Nick Bostrom

    1 here · 18 all-time · #352 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 4,884 ratings on Amazon
  35. 1The Last Question

    The Last Question

    Isaac Asimov

    1 here · 17 all-time · #383 overall

    Buy on Amazon3.8 out of 5, 25 ratings on Amazon
  36. 1Behave

    Behave

    Robert Sapolsky

    1 here · 16 all-time · #387 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 9,783 ratings on Amazon
  37. 1The Master Algorithm

    The Master Algorithm

    Pedro Domingos

    1 here · 15 all-time · #432 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 1,752 ratings on Amazon
  38. 1Broken Earth

    Broken Earth

    N.K. Jemisin

    1 here · 15 all-time · #439 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 42,847 ratings on Amazon
  39. 1Childhood's End

    Childhood's End

    Arthur C. Clarke

    1 here · 13 all-time · #480 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 15,230 ratings on Amazon
  40. 1The Guns of August

    The Guns of August

    Barbara Tuchman

    1 here · 13 all-time · #497 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 8,588 ratings on Amazon
  41. 1Chaos Monkeys

    Chaos Monkeys

    Antonio Garcia Martinez

    1 here · 13 all-time · #510 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 3,904 ratings on Amazon
  42. 1The Windup Girl

    The Windup Girl

    Paolo Bacigalupi

    1 here · 12 all-time · #527 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 5,206 ratings on Amazon
  43. 1The New Jim Crow

    The New Jim Crow

    Michelle Alexander

    1 here · 11 all-time · #564 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 16,634 ratings on Amazon
  44. 1The First and Last Freedom

    The First and Last Freedom

    Jiddu Krishnamurti

    1 here · 11 all-time · #606 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 1,342 ratings on Amazon
  45. 1Pragmatic Thinking and Learning

    Pragmatic Thinking and Learning

    Andy Hunt

    1 here · 10 all-time · #626 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 506 ratings on Amazon
  46. 1World War Z

    World War Z

    Max Brooks

    1 here · 7 all-time · #922 overall

  47. 1Benjamin Franklin

    Benjamin Franklin

    Walter Isaacson

    1 here · 7 all-time · #969 overall

  48. 1The Last Samurai

    The Last Samurai

    Helen DeWitt

    1 here · 7 all-time · #1004 overall

  49. 1Star Maker

    Star Maker

    Olaf Stapledon

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1140 overall

  50. 1Kill Decision

    Kill Decision

    Daniel Suarez

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1343 overall

  51. 1Why the West Rules for Now

    Why the West Rules for Now

    Ian Morris

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1385 overall

  52. 1Ideas

    Ideas

    Peter Watson

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1865 overall

  53. 1Bad Samaritans

    Bad Samaritans

    Ha-Joon Chang

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1869 overall

  54. 1Innovation & Entrepreneurship

    Innovation & Entrepreneurship

    Peter Drucker

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1870 overall

  55. 1Platform Revolution

    Platform Revolution

    Geoffrey G. Parker

    1 here · 3 all-time · #1972 overall

  56. 1A Primate's Memoir

    A Primate's Memoir

    Robert M. Sapolsky

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2130 overall

  57. 1Radical Acceptance

    Radical Acceptance

    Tara Brach

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2308 overall

  58. 1The End of Alchemy

    The End of Alchemy

    Mervyn King

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2341 overall

  59. 1Too Like the Lightning

    Too Like the Lightning

    Ada Palmer

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2342 overall