Y Hacker News Books

Ask HN: Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2019? ↗

The books people recommended

2019-12-14 · 156 points · 71 comments · 48 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. 5

    Why We Sleep

    Matthew Walker

    5 here · 68 all-time · #54 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 34,551 ratings on Amazon
  2. 5

    Bad Blood

    John Carreyrou

    5 here · 44 all-time · #105 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 33,871 ratings on Amazon
  3. 3

    Masters of Doom

    David Kushner

    3 here · 69 all-time · #53 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 3,851 ratings on Amazon
  4. 3

    Skunk Works

    Ben Rich

    3 here · 21 all-time · #302 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 5,053 ratings on Amazon
  5. 2The Dream Machine

    The Dream Machine

    M. Mitchell Waldrop

    2 here · 31 all-time · #184 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 307 ratings on Amazon
  6. 2The Checklist Manifesto

    The Checklist Manifesto

    Atul Gawande

    2 here · 17 all-time · #370 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 15,188 ratings on Amazon
  7. 2Permanent Record

    Permanent Record

    Edward Snowden

    2 here · 13 all-time · #508 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 17,278 ratings on Amazon
  8. 2Being Mortal

    Being Mortal

    Atul Gawande

    2 here · 12 all-time · #531 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 49,670 ratings on Amazon
  9. 2A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again

    A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again

    David Foster Wallace

    2 here · 7 all-time · #1055 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 1,649 ratings on Amazon
  10. 2The Infinite Game

    The Infinite Game

    Simon Sinek

    2 here · 6 all-time · #1203 overall

  11. 2Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts

    Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts

    Christopher de Hamel

    2 here · 4 all-time · #1825 overall

  12. 1

    Sapiens

    Yuval Noah Harari

    1 here · 197 all-time · #4 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 133,705 ratings on Amazon
  13. 1

    Fooled by Randomness

    Nassim Nicholas Taleb

    1 here · 81 all-time · #41 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 6,682 ratings on Amazon
  14. 1

    The Lean Startup

    Eric Ries

    1 here · 56 all-time · #68 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 17,985 ratings on Amazon
  15. 1

    High Output Management

    Andrew S. Grove

    1 here · 39 all-time · #125 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 5,879 ratings on Amazon
  16. 1

    Enlightenment Now

    Steven Pinker

    1 here · 39 all-time · #126 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 7,145 ratings on Amazon
  17. 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
  18. 1

    How to Change Your Mind

    Michael Pollan

    1 here · 25 all-time · #241 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 10,573 ratings on Amazon
  19. 1Rationality: From AI to Zombies

    Rationality: From AI to Zombies

    Eliezer Yudkowsky

    1 here · 24 all-time · #246 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 242 ratings on Amazon
  20. 1

    The Vital Question

    Nick Lane

    1 here · 21 all-time · #291 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 1,792 ratings on Amazon
  21. 1

    The Prize

    Daniel Yergin

    1 here · 20 all-time · #314 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 2,705 ratings on Amazon
  22. 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
  23. 1Evicted

    Evicted

    Matthew Desmond

    1 here · 16 all-time · #402 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 10,921 ratings on Amazon
  24. 1The Effective Executive

    The Effective Executive

    Peter Drucker

    1 here · 14 all-time · #457 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 3,714 ratings on Amazon
  25. 1Born a Crime

    Born a Crime

    Trevor Noah

    1 here · 12 all-time · #521 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 113,678 ratings on Amazon
  26. 1Unix: A History and a Memoir

    Unix: A History and a Memoir

    Brian Kernighan

    1 here · 11 all-time · #611 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 789 ratings on Amazon
  27. 1The Undercover Economist

    The Undercover Economist

    Tim Harford

    1 here · 10 all-time · #635 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 1,821 ratings on Amazon
  28. 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
  29. 1Thinking in Bets

    Thinking in Bets

    Annie Duke

    1 here · 9 all-time · #735 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 5,347 ratings on Amazon
  30. 1Educated

    Educated

    Tara Westover

    1 here · 9 all-time · #753 overall

  31. 1American Kingpin

    American Kingpin

    Nick Bilton

    1 here · 8 all-time · #814 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 12,197 ratings on Amazon
  32. 1Countdown to Zero Day

    Countdown to Zero Day

    Kim Zetter

    1 here · 7 all-time · #973 overall

  33. 1Kitchen Confidential

    Kitchen Confidential

    Anthony Bourdain

    1 here · 7 all-time · #1009 overall

  34. 1Team of Rivals

    Team of Rivals

    Doris Kearns Goodwin

    1 here · 7 all-time · #1028 overall

  35. 1At Home

    At Home

    Bill Bryson

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1327 overall

  36. 1One Summer: America, 1927

    One Summer: America, 1927

    Bill Bryson

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1381 overall

  37. 1Capital in the 21st Century

    Capital in the 21st Century

    Thomas Piketty

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1468 overall

  38. 1Can't Hurt Me

    Can't Hurt Me

    David Goggins

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1612 overall

  39. 1Alchemy

    Alchemy

    Rory Sutherland

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1643 overall

  40. 1Dark Emu

    Dark Emu

    Bruce Pascoe

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1774 overall

  41. 1Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha

    Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha

    Daniel Ingram

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1777 overall

  42. 1Billion Dollar Whale

    Billion Dollar Whale

    Tom Wright

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1822 overall

  43. 1Shakespeare

    Shakespeare

    Bill Bryson

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2030 overall

  44. 1Lenin

    Lenin

    Victor Sebestyen

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2242 overall

  45. 1Made in America

    Made in America

    Bill Bryson

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2243 overall

  46. 1Rise and Kill First

    Rise and Kill First

    Ronen Bergman

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2244 overall

  47. 1Company of One

    Company of One

    Paul Jarvis

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2425 overall

  48. 1Exactly

    Exactly

    Simon Winchester

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2506 overall