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Ask HN: Books that changed your life? ↗

The books people recommended

2010-08-25 · 24 points · 53 comments · 39 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. 4The Last Lecture

    The Last Lecture

    Randy Pausch

    4 here · 11 all-time · #594 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 13,429 ratings on Amazon
  2. 3

    Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

    Robert Pirsig

    3 here · 193 all-time · #5 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 13,921 ratings on Amazon
  3. 3

    1984

    George Orwell

    3 here · 94 all-time · #34 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 126,118 ratings on Amazon
  4. 3

    Brave New World

    Aldous Huxley

    3 here · 67 all-time · #55 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 48,055 ratings on Amazon
  5. 3

    Catch-22

    Joseph Heller

    3 here · 46 all-time · #96 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 14,669 ratings on Amazon
  6. 3

    The Demon-Haunted World

    Carl Sagan

    3 here · 45 all-time · #99 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 7,776 ratings on Amazon
  7. 3

    On Writing Well

    William Zinsser

    3 here · 19 all-time · #335 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 5,858 ratings on Amazon
  8. 2

    Gödel, Escher, Bach

    Douglas Hofstadter

    2 here · 347 all-time · #1 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 2,713 ratings on Amazon
  9. 2

    Atlas Shrugged

    Ayn Rand

    2 here · 173 all-time · #9 overall

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

    Foundation

    Isaac Asimov

    2 here · 110 all-time · #20 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 36,591 ratings on Amazon
  12. 2

    The Little Schemer

    Daniel P. Friedman, Matthias Felleisen

    2 here · 51 all-time · #81 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 185 ratings on Amazon
  13. 2

    The Game

    Neil Strauss

    2 here · 26 all-time · #224 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 6,899 ratings on Amazon
  14. 2

    One Hundred Years of Solitude

    Gabriel García Márquez

    2 here · 25 all-time · #231 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 9,706 ratings on Amazon
  15. 2

    Cosmos

    Carl Sagan

    2 here · 20 all-time · #309 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 8,712 ratings on Amazon
  16. 2Status Anxiety

    Status Anxiety

    Alain de Botton

    2 here · 7 all-time · #977 overall

  17. 2When Nietzsche Wept

    When Nietzsche Wept

    Irvin D. Yalom

    2 here · 4 all-time · #1765 overall

  18. 2In the Beginning was the Command Line

    In the Beginning was the Command Line

    Neal Stephenson

    2 here · 4 all-time · #1773 overall

  19. 2Leadership

    Leadership

    Peter Northouse

    2 here · 3 all-time · #2447 overall

  20. 2Tao Teh Ching

    Tao Teh Ching

    2 here · 3 all-time · #2448 overall

  21. 2The Schopenhauer Cure

    The Schopenhauer Cure

    Irvin D. Yalom

    2 here · 3 all-time · #2449 overall

  22. 2The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work

    The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work

    Alain de Botton

    2 here · 3 all-time · #2450 overall

  23. 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
  24. 1

    Man's Search for Meaning

    Viktor Frankl

    1 here · 95 all-time · #32 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 100,360 ratings on Amazon
  25. 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
  26. 1

    The Alchemist

    Paulo Coelho

    1 here · 52 all-time · #77 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 184,313 ratings on Amazon
  27. 1

    The Republic

    Plato

    1 here · 32 all-time · #174 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 1,034 ratings on Amazon
  28. 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
  29. 1

    Les Misérables

    Victor Hugo

    1 here · 24 all-time · #250 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 3,681 ratings on Amazon
  30. 1

    Steppenwolf

    Hermann Hesse

    1 here · 22 all-time · #272 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 1,837 ratings on Amazon
  31. 1Time Enough for Love

    Time Enough for Love

    Robert A. Heinlein

    1 here · 17 all-time · #373 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 2,709 ratings on Amazon
  32. 1Norwegian Wood

    Norwegian Wood

    Haruki Murakami

    1 here · 16 all-time · #396 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 23,666 ratings on Amazon
  33. 1The Stranger

    The Stranger

    Albert Camus

    1 here · 15 all-time · #416 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 12,720 ratings on Amazon
  34. 1The Book of Mormon

    The Book of Mormon

    Joseph Smith

    1 here · 15 all-time · #419 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 2,494 ratings on Amazon
  35. 1The Metamorphosis

    The Metamorphosis

    Franz Kafka

    1 here · 13 all-time · #476 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 3,692 ratings on Amazon
  36. 1Spark

    Spark

    John Ratey

    1 here · 9 all-time · #706 overall

  37. 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

  38. 1The 5 Love Languages

    The 5 Love Languages

    Gary Chapman

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1221 overall

  39. 1The Gita

    The Gita

    Eknath Easwaran

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2086 overall