Y Hacker News Books

Books That Changed My Life ↗

The books people recommended

2008-06-26 · 41 points · 40 comments · 57 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. 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
  2. 3

    1984

    George Orwell

    3 here · 94 all-time · #34 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 126,118 ratings on Amazon
  3. 2

    Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

    Robert Pirsig

    2 here · 193 all-time · #5 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 13,921 ratings on Amazon
  4. 2

    Atlas Shrugged

    Ayn Rand

    2 here · 173 all-time · #9 overall

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

    Brave New World

    Aldous Huxley

    2 here · 67 all-time · #55 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 48,055 ratings on Amazon
  6. 2

    Stranger in a Strange Land

    Robert A. Heinlein

    2 here · 55 all-time · #70 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 12,077 ratings on Amazon
  7. 2Walden

    Walden

    Henry David Thoreau

    2 here · 35 all-time · #146 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 2,309 ratings on Amazon
  8. 2Hyperion Cantos

    Hyperion Cantos

    Dan Simmons

    2 here · 19 all-time · #342 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 18,239 ratings on Amazon
  9. 2The Story of My Experiments with Truth

    The Story of My Experiments with Truth

    Mahatma Gandhi

    2 here · 3 all-time · #2588 overall

  10. 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
  11. 1

    The C Programming Language

    Brian Kernighan, Dennis Ritchie

    1 here · 124 all-time · #15 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 182 ratings on Amazon
  12. 1

    Neuromancer

    William Gibson

    1 here · 117 all-time · #17 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 20,213 ratings on Amazon
  13. 1

    The Lord of the Rings

    J.R.R. Tolkien

    1 here · 114 all-time · #18 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.9 out of 5, 14,620 ratings on Amazon
  14. 1

    Black Swan

    Nassim Nicholas Taleb

    1 here · 110 all-time · #19 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 8,277 ratings on Amazon
  15. 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
  16. 1

    Code Complete

    Steve McConnell

    1 here · 108 all-time · #22 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 1,353 ratings on Amazon
  17. 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
  18. 1

    Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!

    Richard Feynman

    1 here · 90 all-time · #35 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 13,344 ratings on Amazon
  19. 1

    The Fountainhead

    Ayn Rand

    1 here · 90 all-time · #36 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 12,667 ratings on Amazon
  20. 1

    The Feynman Lectures on Physics

    Richard Feynman

    1 here · 59 all-time · #63 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 1,049 ratings on Amazon
  21. 1

    Anna Karenina

    Leo Tolstoy

    1 here · 51 all-time · #83 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 13,344 ratings on Amazon
  22. 1

    Crime and Punishment

    Fyodor Dostoevsky

    1 here · 50 all-time · #85 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 5,186 ratings on Amazon
  23. 1

    Catch-22

    Joseph Heller

    1 here · 46 all-time · #96 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 14,669 ratings on Amazon
  24. 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
  25. 1

    The Dispossessed

    Ursula K. Le Guin

    1 here · 42 all-time · #113 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 9,037 ratings on Amazon
  26. 1Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution

    Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution

    Steven Levy

    1 here · 39 all-time · #123 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 836 ratings on Amazon
  27. 1

    Slaughterhouse-Five

    Kurt Vonnegut

    1 here · 34 all-time · #153 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 40,601 ratings on Amazon
  28. 1Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach

    Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach

    Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig

    1 here · 29 all-time · #195 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 664 ratings on Amazon
  29. 1Crossing the Chasm

    Crossing the Chasm

    Geoffrey Moore

    1 here · 21 all-time · #286 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 2,624 ratings on Amazon
  30. 1

    To Kill a Mockingbird

    Harper Lee

    1 here · 21 all-time · #296 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 149,155 ratings on Amazon
  31. 1Probability Theory

    Probability Theory

    E. T. Jaynes

    1 here · 19 all-time · #341 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 147 ratings on Amazon
  32. 1The Denial of Death

    The Denial of Death

    Ernest Becker

    1 here · 14 all-time · #448 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 3,415 ratings on Amazon
  33. 1On the Road

    On the Road

    Jack Kerouac

    1 here · 13 all-time · #483 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 12,129 ratings on Amazon
  34. 1The Blind Watchmaker

    The Blind Watchmaker

    Richard Dawkins

    1 here · 13 all-time · #485 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 2,322 ratings on Amazon
  35. 1The Myth of Sisyphus

    The Myth of Sisyphus

    Albert Camus

    1 here · 13 all-time · #499 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 3,884 ratings on Amazon
  36. 1The Moral Animal

    The Moral Animal

    Robert Wright

    1 here · 9 all-time · #700 overall

  37. 1Artificial Life

    Artificial Life

    Steven Levy

    1 here · 9 all-time · #702 overall

  38. 1The Fabric of Reality

    The Fabric of Reality

    David Deutsch

    1 here · 9 all-time · #737 overall

  39. 1Startup

    Startup

    Jerry Kaplan

    1 here · 8 all-time · #839 overall

  40. 1Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

    Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

    J.K. Rowling

    1 here · 8 all-time · #858 overall

  41. 1The Fall

    The Fall

    Albert Camus

    1 here · 7 all-time · #968 overall

  42. 1The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    Mark Twain

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1065 overall

  43. 1Language in Thought and Action

    Language in Thought and Action

    S. I. Hayakawa

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1071 overall

  44. 1Mein Kampf

    Mein Kampf

    Adolf Hitler

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1112 overall

  45. 1Tropic of Cancer

    Tropic of Cancer

    Henry Miller

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1206 overall

  46. 1Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning

    Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning

    Peter J. Eccles

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1215 overall

  47. 1The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

    The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

    Tom Wolfe

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1284 overall

  48. 1The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect

    The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect

    Roger Williams

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1339 overall

  49. 1Escape from Freedom

    Escape from Freedom

    Erich Fromm

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1430 overall

  50. 1Zen Flesh, Zen Bones

    Zen Flesh, Zen Bones

    Paul Reps

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1688 overall

  51. 1The Age of Reason

    The Age of Reason

    Thomas Paine

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1717 overall

  52. 1The Tao is Silent

    The Tao is Silent

    Raymond Smullyan

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1850 overall

  53. 1The Worst Journey in the World

    The Worst Journey in the World

    Apsley Cherry-Garrard

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1875 overall

  54. 1Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics

    Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics

    Gerald Jay Sussman

    1 here · 3 all-time · #1978 overall

  55. 1Anarchy, State, and Utopia

    Anarchy, State, and Utopia

    Robert Nozick

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2246 overall

  56. 1Society Of The Spectacle

    Society Of The Spectacle

    Guy Debord

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2402 overall

  57. 1Kim

    Kim

    Rudyard Kipling

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2473 overall