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Ask HN: Best book you read in 2010 and briefly why ↗

The books people recommended

2010-12-06 · 258 points · 202 comments · 104 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. 6

    Foundation

    Isaac Asimov

    6 here · 110 all-time · #20 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 36,591 ratings on Amazon
  2. 6Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

    Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

    Eliezer Yudkowsky

    6 here · 101 all-time · #27 overall

    Buy on Amazon
  3. 5

    Anathem

    Neal Stephenson

    5 here · 83 all-time · #40 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 5,275 ratings on Amazon
  4. 5

    Daemon

    Daniel Suarez

    5 here · 52 all-time · #78 overall

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

    Into Thin Air

    Jon Krakauer

    5 here · 22 all-time · #275 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 26,031 ratings on Amazon
  6. 5Delivering Happiness

    Delivering Happiness

    Tony Hsieh

    5 here · 13 all-time · #506 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 6,090 ratings on Amazon
  7. 4

    The Alchemist

    Paulo Coelho

    4 here · 52 all-time · #77 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 184,313 ratings on Amazon
  8. 4

    Shogun

    James Clavell

    4 here · 26 all-time · #223 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 27,634 ratings on Amazon
  9. 4

    The Big Short

    Michael Lewis

    4 here · 20 all-time · #324 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 17,192 ratings on Amazon
  10. 3Rework

    Rework

    Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson

    3 here · 43 all-time · #106 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 11,954 ratings on Amazon
  11. 3

    The Four Steps to the Epiphany

    Steve Blank

    3 here · 36 all-time · #137 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 673 ratings on Amazon
  12. 3

    Freedom

    Daniel Suarez

    3 here · 23 all-time · #260 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 5,152 ratings on Amazon
  13. 3Shantaram

    Shantaram

    Gregory David Roberts

    3 here · 18 all-time · #345 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 41,148 ratings on Amazon
  14. 3Breakfast of Champions

    Breakfast of Champions

    Kurt Vonnegut

    3 here · 13 all-time · #482 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 7,546 ratings on Amazon
  15. 3Commonwealth Saga

    Commonwealth Saga

    Peter F. Hamilton

    3 here · 10 all-time · #651 overall

  16. 3Tai-Pan

    Tai-Pan

    James Clavell

    3 here · 8 all-time · #875 overall

  17. 3Where Good Ideas Come From

    Where Good Ideas Come From

    Steven Johnson

    3 here · 6 all-time · #1211 overall

  18. 3Do More Faster

    Do More Faster

    Brad Feld, David Cohen

    3 here · 4 all-time · #1885 overall

  19. 3Noble House

    Noble House

    James Clavell

    3 here · 4 all-time · #1894 overall

  20. 2

    Black Swan

    Nassim Nicholas Taleb

    2 here · 110 all-time · #19 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 8,277 ratings on Amazon
  21. 2

    Cryptonomicon

    Neal Stephenson

    2 here · 106 all-time · #23 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 8,425 ratings on Amazon
  22. 2

    The Pragmatic Programmer

    Andrew Hunt and David Thomas

    2 here · 102 all-time · #26 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 3,644 ratings on Amazon
  23. 2

    Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!

    Richard Feynman

    2 here · 90 all-time · #35 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 13,344 ratings on Amazon
  24. 2

    Founders at Work

    Jessica Livingston

    2 here · 51 all-time · #80 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 689 ratings on Amazon
  25. 2

    Predictably Irrational

    Dan Ariely

    2 here · 35 all-time · #144 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 11,450 ratings on Amazon
  26. 2

    The Baroque Cycle

    Neal Stephenson

    2 here · 32 all-time · #176 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 2,191 ratings on Amazon
  27. 2

    Player of Games

    Iain M. Banks

    2 here · 28 all-time · #202 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 11,218 ratings on Amazon
  28. 2

    A Game of Thrones

    George R.R. Martin

    2 here · 22 all-time · #274 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 83,380 ratings on Amazon
  29. 2

    Getting Real

    37 Signals

    2 here · 20 all-time · #310 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 281 ratings on Amazon
  30. 2Use of Weapons

    Use of Weapons

    Iain M. Banks

    2 here · 17 all-time · #376 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.1 out of 5, 6,573 ratings on Amazon
  31. 2Land of Lisp

    Land of Lisp

    Conrad Barski

    2 here · 10 all-time · #627 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 160 ratings on Amazon
  32. 2Pale Fire

    Pale Fire

    Vladimir Nabokov

    2 here · 10 all-time · #671 overall

  33. 2Too Big to Fail

    Too Big to Fail

    Andrew Ross Sorkin

    2 here · 8 all-time · #874 overall

  34. 2Foundation and Empire

    Foundation and Empire

    Isaac Asimov

    2 here · 8 all-time · #893 overall

  35. 2Switch

    Switch

    Chip Heath, Dan Heath

    2 here · 7 all-time · #948 overall

  36. 2Kitchen Confidential

    Kitchen Confidential

    Anthony Bourdain

    2 here · 7 all-time · #1009 overall

  37. 2King Rat

    King Rat

    James Clavell

    2 here · 7 all-time · #1022 overall

  38. 2Surface Detail

    Surface Detail

    Iain M. Banks

    2 here · 6 all-time · #1199 overall

  39. 2Innovation & Entrepreneurship

    Innovation & Entrepreneurship

    Peter Drucker

    2 here · 4 all-time · #1870 overall

  40. 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
  41. 1

    Atlas Shrugged

    Ayn Rand

    1 here · 173 all-time · #9 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 22,012 ratings on Amazon
  42. 1

    Snow Crash

    Neal Stephenson

    1 here · 119 all-time · #16 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 20,720 ratings on Amazon
  43. 1

    Ender's Game

    Orson Scott Card

    1 here · 109 all-time · #21 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 45,794 ratings on Amazon
  44. 1

    Siddhartha

    Hermann Hesse

    1 here · 97 all-time · #31 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 18,150 ratings on Amazon
  45. 1

    Guns, Germs, and Steel

    Jared Diamond

    1 here · 83 all-time · #39 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 14,634 ratings on Amazon
  46. 1

    Masters of Doom

    David Kushner

    1 here · 69 all-time · #53 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 3,851 ratings on Amazon
  47. 1

    The Diamond Age

    Neal Stephenson

    1 here · 64 all-time · #58 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 5,358 ratings on Amazon
  48. 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
  49. 1The Cuckoo's Egg

    The Cuckoo's Egg

    Clifford Stoll

    1 here · 39 all-time · #124 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 3,286 ratings on Amazon
  50. 1

    Hackers and Painters

    Paul Graham

    1 here · 36 all-time · #139 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 765 ratings on Amazon
  51. 1

    The War of Art

    Steven Pressfield

    1 here · 33 all-time · #163 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 31,336 ratings on Amazon
  52. 1

    Flow

    Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

    1 here · 33 all-time · #166 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 7,594 ratings on Amazon
  53. 1

    Finite and Infinite Games

    James P. Carse

    1 here · 31 all-time · #183 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 1,993 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

    Steppenwolf

    Hermann Hesse

    1 here · 22 all-time · #272 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 1,837 ratings on Amazon
  56. 1

    On the Shortness of Life

    Seneca

    1 here · 22 all-time · #273 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 3,385 ratings on Amazon
  57. 1

    The Catcher in the Rye

    J.D. Salinger

    1 here · 21 all-time · #290 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 48,047 ratings on Amazon
  58. 1

    Cosmos

    Carl Sagan

    1 here · 20 all-time · #309 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 8,712 ratings on Amazon
  59. 1

    The Gulag Archipelago

    Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

    1 here · 20 all-time · #313 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 5,474 ratings on Amazon
  60. 1Snowball

    Snowball

    Alice Schroeder

    1 here · 18 all-time · #346 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 5,023 ratings on Amazon
  61. 1In Search of Lost Time

    In Search of Lost Time

    Marcel Proust

    1 here · 18 all-time · #353 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 2,507 ratings on Amazon
  62. 1Born to Run

    Born to Run

    Christopher McDougall

    1 here · 17 all-time · #369 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 26,656 ratings on Amazon
  63. 1Start Small, Stay Small

    Start Small, Stay Small

    Rob Walling

    1 here · 16 all-time · #390 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 750 ratings on Amazon
  64. 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
  65. 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
  66. 1Joy of Clojure

    Joy of Clojure

    Michael Fogus

    1 here · 13 all-time · #493 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 44 ratings on Amazon
  67. 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
  68. 1Where Wizards Stay Up Late

    Where Wizards Stay Up Late

    Katie Hafner

    1 here · 12 all-time · #554 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 650 ratings on Amazon
  69. 1Watchmen

    Watchmen

    Alan Moore

    1 here · 10 all-time · #631 overall

  70. 1Night

    Night

    Elie Wiesel

    1 here · 10 all-time · #643 overall

  71. 1The Master Switch

    The Master Switch

    Tim Wu

    1 here · 10 all-time · #686 overall

  72. 1Linchpin

    Linchpin

    Seth Godin

    1 here · 8 all-time · #810 overall

  73. 1Startup

    Startup

    Jerry Kaplan

    1 here · 8 all-time · #839 overall

  74. 1QED

    QED

    Richard Feynman

    1 here · 8 all-time · #847 overall

  75. 1Naked Economics

    Naked Economics

    Charles Wheelan

    1 here · 8 all-time · #862 overall

  76. 1Pillars of the Earth

    Pillars of the Earth

    Ken Follett

    1 here · 8 all-time · #882 overall

  77. 1Management: A Political Activity

    Management: A Political Activity

    Ted Stephenson

    1 here · 7 all-time · #925 overall

  78. 1Into the Wild

    Into the Wild

    Jon Krakauer

    1 here · 7 all-time · #940 overall

  79. 1The Man Who Knew Infinity

    The Man Who Knew Infinity

    Robert Kanigel

    1 here · 7 all-time · #1016 overall

  80. 1Growing Object-Oriented Software Guided by Tests

    Growing Object-Oriented Software Guided by Tests

    Steve Freeman and Nat Pryce

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1070 overall

  81. 1Of Mice and Men

    Of Mice and Men

    John Steinbeck

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1152 overall

  82. 1Martin Eden

    Martin Eden

    Jack London

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1238 overall

  83. 1Programming in Scala

    Programming in Scala

    Martin Odersky, Lex Spoon, Bill Venners

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1255 overall

  84. 1The Algebraist

    The Algebraist

    Iain M. Banks

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1261 overall

  85. 1Behind the Cloud

    Behind the Cloud

    Marc Benioff

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1263 overall

  86. 1The Night's Dawn Trilogy

    The Night's Dawn Trilogy

    Peter F. Hamilton

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1273 overall

  87. 1At Home

    At Home

    Bill Bryson

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1327 overall

  88. 1Microserfs

    Microserfs

    Douglas Coupland

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1329 overall

  89. 1A Little History of the World

    A Little History of the World

    E.H. Gombrich

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1352 overall

  90. 1Little, Big

    Little, Big

    John Crowley

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1390 overall

  91. 1Foundation's Edge

    Foundation's Edge

    Isaac Asimov

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1425 overall

  92. 1The Hunger Games

    The Hunger Games

    Suzanne Collins

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1666 overall

  93. 1The Terror

    The Terror

    Dan Simmons

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1719 overall

  94. 1Big Book of Concepts

    Big Book of Concepts

    Gregory Murphy

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1812 overall

  95. 1How We Decide

    How We Decide

    John Lehrer

    1 here · 3 all-time · #1959 overall

  96. 1Dynamics of Software Development

    Dynamics of Software Development

    McCarthy

    1 here · 3 all-time · #1969 overall

  97. 1Touching the Void

    Touching the Void

    1 here · 3 all-time · #1970 overall

  98. 1Different

    Different

    Frans de Waal

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2080 overall

  99. 1Game Change

    Game Change

    John Heilemann and Mark Halperin

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2137 overall

  100. 1White Fang

    White Fang

    Jack London

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2179 overall

  101. 1Anatomy of an Epidemic

    Anatomy of an Epidemic

    Robert Whitaker

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2258 overall

  102. 1All the Devils are Here

    All the Devils are Here

    Bethany McLean

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2361 overall

  103. 1Gai-Jin

    Gai-Jin

    James Clavell

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2377 overall

  104. 1Failure Is Not an Option

    Failure Is Not an Option

    Gene Kranz

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2509 overall