Y Hacker News Books

Ask HN: What are your favorite books of all time, and why? ↗

The books people recommended

2017-11-05 · 123 points · 110 comments · 121 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. 7

    Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!

    Richard Feynman

    7 here · 90 all-time · #35 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 13,344 ratings on Amazon
  2. 6

    Daemon

    Daniel Suarez

    6 here · 52 all-time · #78 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 6,091 ratings on Amazon
  3. 5

    The Name of the Wind

    Patrick Rothfuss

    5 here · 30 all-time · #190 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 89,463 ratings on Amazon
  4. 4

    Gödel, Escher, Bach

    Douglas Hofstadter

    4 here · 347 all-time · #1 overall

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

    Blood Meridian

    Cormac McCarthy

    3 here · 41 all-time · #118 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 21,706 ratings on Amazon
  6. 3

    Ghost in the Wires

    Kevin Mitnick

    3 here · 20 all-time · #318 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 4,520 ratings on Amazon
  7. 2

    Atlas Shrugged

    Ayn Rand

    2 here · 173 all-time · #9 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 22,012 ratings on Amazon
  8. 2

    Snow Crash

    Neal Stephenson

    2 here · 119 all-time · #16 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 20,720 ratings on Amazon
  9. 2

    Siddhartha

    Hermann Hesse

    2 here · 97 all-time · #31 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 18,150 ratings on Amazon
  10. 2

    1984

    George Orwell

    2 here · 94 all-time · #34 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 126,118 ratings on Amazon
  11. 2

    The Soul of a New Machine

    Tracy Kidder

    2 here · 76 all-time · #43 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 1,741 ratings on Amazon
  12. 2

    Catch-22

    Joseph Heller

    2 here · 46 all-time · #96 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 14,669 ratings on Amazon
  13. 2The Cuckoo's Egg

    The Cuckoo's Egg

    Clifford Stoll

    2 here · 39 all-time · #124 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 3,286 ratings on Amazon
  14. 2

    East of Eden

    John Steinbeck

    2 here · 36 all-time · #141 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 23,886 ratings on Amazon
  15. 2Moneyball

    Moneyball

    Michael Lewis

    2 here · 8 all-time · #872 overall

  16. 2Freedom(tm)

    Freedom(tm)

    Daniel Suarez

    2 here · 5 all-time · #1455 overall

  17. 2Shibumi

    Shibumi

    Trevanian

    2 here · 3 all-time · #2461 overall

  18. 1

    Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs

    Harold Abelson

    1 here · 316 all-time · #2 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 742 ratings on Amazon
  19. 1

    Dune

    Frank Herbert

    1 here · 250 all-time · #3 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 104,032 ratings on Amazon
  20. 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
  21. 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
  22. 1

    Meditations

    Marcus Aurelius

    1 here · 165 all-time · #10 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 21,552 ratings on Amazon
  23. 1

    The Three-Body Problem

    Cixin Liu

    1 here · 152 all-time · #11 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 53,978 ratings on Amazon
  24. 1

    Neuromancer

    William Gibson

    1 here · 117 all-time · #17 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 20,213 ratings on Amazon
  25. 1

    Foundation

    Isaac Asimov

    1 here · 110 all-time · #20 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 36,591 ratings on Amazon
  26. 1

    The Martian

    Andy Weir

    1 here · 103 all-time · #25 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 187,449 ratings on Amazon
  27. 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
  28. 1

    The Fountainhead

    Ayn Rand

    1 here · 90 all-time · #36 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 12,667 ratings on Amazon
  29. 1

    Zero to One

    Peter Thiel, Blake Masters

    1 here · 89 all-time · #37 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 40,093 ratings on Amazon
  30. 1Permutation City

    Permutation City

    Greg Egan

    1 here · 73 all-time · #45 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 2,604 ratings on Amazon
  31. 1

    Blindsight

    Peter Watts

    1 here · 70 all-time · #48 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 8,527 ratings on Amazon
  32. 1

    The Count of Monte Cristo

    Alexandre Dumas

    1 here · 70 all-time · #50 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 12,487 ratings on Amazon
  33. 1

    Ready Player One

    Ernest Cline

    1 here · 69 all-time · #52 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 155,485 ratings on Amazon
  34. 1

    Getting Things Done

    David Allen

    1 here · 62 all-time · #61 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 10,742 ratings on Amazon
  35. 1

    Hyperion

    Dan Simmons

    1 here · 56 all-time · #69 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 30,786 ratings on Amazon
  36. 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
  37. 1

    Principles

    Ray Dalio

    1 here · 49 all-time · #88 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 19,363 ratings on Amazon
  38. 1

    The Demon-Haunted World

    Carl Sagan

    1 here · 45 all-time · #99 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 7,776 ratings on Amazon
  39. 1

    The Making of the Atomic Bomb

    Richard Rhodes

    1 here · 42 all-time · #114 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 4,174 ratings on Amazon
  40. 1

    Debt: The First 5000 Years

    David Graeber

    1 here · 41 all-time · #120 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 2,289 ratings on Amazon
  41. 1

    On Intelligence

    Jeff Hawkins

    1 here · 36 all-time · #138 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 893 ratings on Amazon
  42. 1

    Red Rising

    Pierce Brown

    1 here · 35 all-time · #147 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 111,087 ratings on Amazon
  43. 1The Power of Now

    The Power of Now

    Eckhart Tolle

    1 here · 34 all-time · #155 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 54,841 ratings on Amazon
  44. 1

    Flowers for Algernon

    Daniel Keyes

    1 here · 33 all-time · #160 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 40,104 ratings on Amazon
  45. 1

    Accelerando

    Charles Stross

    1 here · 33 all-time · #162 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 1,553 ratings on Amazon
  46. 1

    The Glass Bead Game

    Hermann Hesse

    1 here · 33 all-time · #164 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 1,540 ratings on Amazon
  47. 1

    The Art of Electronics

    Horowitz and Hill

    1 here · 33 all-time · #170 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 2,192 ratings on Amazon
  48. 1The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

    The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

    Stephen Covey

    1 here · 30 all-time · #186 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 20,573 ratings on Amazon
  49. 1

    Player of Games

    Iain M. Banks

    1 here · 28 all-time · #202 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 11,218 ratings on Amazon
  50. 1

    The Book of the New Sun

    Gene Wolfe

    1 here · 27 all-time · #211 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 3,428 ratings on Amazon
  51. 1

    The Game

    Neil Strauss

    1 here · 26 all-time · #224 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 6,899 ratings on Amazon
  52. 1

    The E-Myth Revisited

    Michael E. Gerber

    1 here · 24 all-time · #244 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 13,028 ratings on Amazon
  53. 1

    Steve Jobs

    Walter Isaacson

    1 here · 24 all-time · #245 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 26,863 ratings on Amazon
  54. 1

    Liar's Poker

    Michael Lewis

    1 here · 23 all-time · #258 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 10,163 ratings on Amazon
  55. 1

    High Performance Browser Networking

    Ilya Grigorik

    1 here · 22 all-time · #281 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 213 ratings on Amazon
  56. 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
  57. 1Old Man's War

    Old Man's War

    John Scalzi

    1 here · 21 all-time · #295 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 32,356 ratings on Amazon
  58. 1

    The Big Short

    Michael Lewis

    1 here · 20 all-time · #324 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 17,192 ratings on Amazon
  59. 1Dark Tower Series

    Dark Tower Series

    Stephen King

    1 here · 18 all-time · #343 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 34,581 ratings on Amazon
  60. 1Malazan Book of the Fallen

    Malazan Book of the Fallen

    Steven Erikson

    1 here · 18 all-time · #344 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 16,649 ratings on Amazon
  61. 1The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

    The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

    Benjamin Franklin

    1 here · 17 all-time · #366 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 11,110 ratings on Amazon
  62. 1Use of Weapons

    Use of Weapons

    Iain M. Banks

    1 here · 17 all-time · #376 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.1 out of 5, 6,573 ratings on Amazon
  63. 1Evicted

    Evicted

    Matthew Desmond

    1 here · 16 all-time · #402 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 10,921 ratings on Amazon
  64. 1Ender's Shadow

    Ender's Shadow

    Orson Scott Card

    1 here · 16 all-time · #407 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 5,741 ratings on Amazon
  65. 1Notes from Underground

    Notes from Underground

    Fyodor Dostoevsky

    1 here · 15 all-time · #414 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 5,859 ratings on Amazon
  66. 1Narcissus and Goldmund

    Narcissus and Goldmund

    Hermann Hesse

    1 here · 15 all-time · #424 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 1,269 ratings on Amazon
  67. 1The Magic Mountain

    The Magic Mountain

    Thomas Mann

    1 here · 15 all-time · #426 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 1,367 ratings on Amazon
  68. 1The Death and Life of Great American Cities

    The Death and Life of Great American Cities

    Jane Jacobs

    1 here · 15 all-time · #434 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 1,700 ratings on Amazon
  69. 1A Thousand Plateaus

    A Thousand Plateaus

    Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari

    1 here · 15 all-time · #444 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 367 ratings on Amazon
  70. 1The Handmaid's Tale

    The Handmaid's Tale

    Margaret Atwood

    1 here · 14 all-time · #451 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 180,443 ratings on Amazon
  71. 1Getting to Yes

    Getting to Yes

    Roger Fisher, William Ury

    1 here · 14 all-time · #459 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 11,602 ratings on Amazon
  72. 1Consider Phlebas

    Consider Phlebas

    Iain M. Banks

    1 here · 13 all-time · #477 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.1 out of 5, 14,019 ratings on Amazon
  73. 1The Remains of the Day

    The Remains of the Day

    Kazuo Ishiguro

    1 here · 13 all-time · #491 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 29,067 ratings on Amazon
  74. 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
  75. 1Glasshouse

    Glasshouse

    Charles Stross

    1 here · 12 all-time · #517 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 875 ratings on Amazon
  76. 1The Mind's I

    The Mind's I

    Douglas Hofstadter, Daniel Dennett

    1 here · 12 all-time · #525 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 157 ratings on Amazon
  77. 12001: A Space Odyssey

    2001: A Space Odyssey

    Arthur C. Clarke

    1 here · 11 all-time · #572 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 11,089 ratings on Amazon
  78. 1Watchmen

    Watchmen

    Alan Moore

    1 here · 10 all-time · #631 overall

  79. 1Vagabonding

    Vagabonding

    Rolf Potts

    1 here · 10 all-time · #636 overall

  80. 1The Shadow of the Wind

    The Shadow of the Wind

    Carlos Ruiz Zafón

    1 here · 10 all-time · #641 overall

  81. 1Fall of Hyperion

    Fall of Hyperion

    Dan Simmons

    1 here · 9 all-time · #701 overall

  82. 1The Trial

    The Trial

    Franz Kafka

    1 here · 9 all-time · #711 overall

  83. 1Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

    Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

    Susanna Clarke

    1 here · 9 all-time · #726 overall

  84. 1The Water Knife

    The Water Knife

    Paolo Bacigalupi

    1 here · 9 all-time · #729 overall

  85. 1A Man for All Markets

    A Man for All Markets

    Edward O. Thorp

    1 here · 9 all-time · #733 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 2,788 ratings on Amazon
  86. 1Unwritten Laws of Engineering

    Unwritten Laws of Engineering

    W.J. King

    1 here · 9 all-time · #743 overall

  87. 1The Bridge

    The Bridge

    William Gibson

    1 here · 8 all-time · #804 overall

  88. 1The Road Less Traveled

    The Road Less Traveled

    M. Scott Peck

    1 here · 8 all-time · #811 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 9,026 ratings on Amazon
  89. 1Incerto

    Incerto

    Nassim Nicholas Taleb

    1 here · 8 all-time · #845 overall

  90. 1Gateway

    Gateway

    Frederik Pohl

    1 here · 7 all-time · #921 overall

  91. 1Franny and Zooey

    Franny and Zooey

    J. D. Salinger

    1 here · 7 all-time · #939 overall

  92. 1Grammatical Man

    Grammatical Man

    Jeremy Campbell

    1 here · 7 all-time · #970 overall

  93. 1Journey Through Genius

    Journey Through Genius

    William Dunham

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1066 overall

  94. 1Robinson Crusoe

    Robinson Crusoe

    Daniel Defoe

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1072 overall

  95. 1A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again

    A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again

    David Foster Wallace

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1076 overall

  96. 1The Tipping Point

    The Tipping Point

    Malcolm Gladwell

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1091 overall

  97. 1Nine Princes in Amber

    Nine Princes in Amber

    Roger Zelazny

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1127 overall

  98. 1The Dresden Files

    The Dresden Files

    Jim Butcher

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1133 overall

  99. 1Dhammapada

    Dhammapada

    The Buddha

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1153 overall

  100. 1Collapse

    Collapse

    Jared Diamond

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1171 overall

  101. 1Wind, Sand and Stars

    Wind, Sand and Stars

    Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1282 overall

  102. 1The Kite Runner

    The Kite Runner

    Khaled Hosseini

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1300 overall

  103. 1Nine Stories

    Nine Stories

    J.D. Salinger

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1395 overall

  104. 1A Time of Gifts

    A Time of Gifts

    Patrick Leigh Fermor

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1429 overall

  105. 1Neverwhere

    Neverwhere

    Neil Gaiman

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1471 overall

  106. 1Citizen of the Galaxy

    Citizen of the Galaxy

    Robert Heinlein

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1637 overall

  107. 1The Peter Principle

    The Peter Principle

    Laurence J. Peter, Raymond Hull

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1660 overall

  108. 1Day of the Triffids

    Day of the Triffids

    John Wyndham

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1661 overall

  109. 1David Copperfield

    David Copperfield

    Charles Dickens

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1703 overall

  110. 1Bernie Gunther series

    Bernie Gunther series

    Philip Kerr

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1745 overall

  111. 1Lucky Jim

    Lucky Jim

    Kingsley Amis

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1942 overall

  112. 1After Virtue

    After Virtue

    Alasdair MacIntyre

    1 here · 3 all-time · #1968 overall

  113. 1The Stand

    The Stand

    Stephen King

    1 here · 3 all-time · #1971 overall

  114. 1The Crow Road

    The Crow Road

    Iain Banks

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2058 overall

  115. 1The Girl with All the Gifts

    The Girl with All the Gifts

    M.R. Carey

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2063 overall

  116. 1Brief Answers to the Big Questions

    Brief Answers to the Big Questions

    Stephen Hawking

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2236 overall

  117. 1A House for Mr Biswas

    A House for Mr Biswas

    VS Naipaul

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2241 overall

  118. 1Hagakure

    Hagakure

    Yamamoto Tsunetomo

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2271 overall

  119. 1The Sciences of the Artificial

    The Sciences of the Artificial

    Herbert Simon

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2296 overall

  120. 1The Golden Bough

    The Golden Bough

    James George Frazer

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2371 overall

  121. 1The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

    The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

    Agatha Christie

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2608 overall