Y Hacker News Books

Ask HN: What is the best book you read in 2020? ↗

The books people recommended

2020-12-31 · 66 points · 57 comments · 55 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. 3

    Dune

    Frank Herbert

    3 here · 250 all-time · #3 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 104,032 ratings on Amazon
  2. 3

    Never Split the Difference

    Chris Voss

    3 here · 62 all-time · #60 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 51,660 ratings on Amazon
  3. 3Orthodoxy

    Orthodoxy

    G.K. Chesterton

    3 here · 16 all-time · #393 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 2,701 ratings on Amazon
  4. 2Range

    Range

    David Epstein

    2 here · 16 all-time · #413 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 12,946 ratings on Amazon
  5. 2The Psychology of Money

    The Psychology of Money

    Morgan Housel

    2 here · 9 all-time · #705 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 74,322 ratings on Amazon
  6. 2Children of Dune

    Children of Dune

    Frank Herbert

    2 here · 6 all-time · #1147 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 22,093 ratings on Amazon
  7. 2Rhythm of War

    Rhythm of War

    Brandon Sanderson

    2 here · 4 all-time · #1831 overall

  8. 2The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

    The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

    Agatha Christie

    2 here · 3 all-time · #2608 overall

  9. 2The Oresteia

    The Oresteia

    Aeschylus

    2 here · 3 all-time · #2630 overall

  10. 1

    Foundation

    Isaac Asimov

    1 here · 110 all-time · #20 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 36,591 ratings on Amazon
  11. 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
  12. 1The Brothers Karamazov

    The Brothers Karamazov

    Fyodor Dostoevsky

    1 here · 69 all-time · #51 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 3,359 ratings on Amazon
  13. 1

    Why We Sleep

    Matthew Walker

    1 here · 68 all-time · #54 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 34,551 ratings on Amazon
  14. 1

    Anna Karenina

    Leo Tolstoy

    1 here · 51 all-time · #83 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 13,344 ratings on Amazon
  15. 1

    12 Rules for Life

    Jordan Peterson

    1 here · 47 all-time · #95 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 85,667 ratings on Amazon
  16. 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
  17. 1A Philosophy of Software Design

    A Philosophy of Software Design

    John Ousterhout

    1 here · 42 all-time · #116 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 2,832 ratings on Amazon
  18. 1

    The Left Hand of Darkness

    Ursula K. Le Guin

    1 here · 36 all-time · #140 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 15,332 ratings on Amazon
  19. 1

    Homo Deus

    Yuval Noah Harari

    1 here · 35 all-time · #150 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 38,098 ratings on Amazon
  20. 1

    The Name of the Wind

    Patrick Rothfuss

    1 here · 30 all-time · #190 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 89,463 ratings on Amazon
  21. 1

    The Mom Test

    Rob Fitzpatrick

    1 here · 28 all-time · #208 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 4,371 ratings on Amazon
  22. 1

    The Autobiography of Malcolm X

    Malcolm X

    1 here · 24 all-time · #252 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 19,848 ratings on Amazon
  23. 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
  24. 1The First Law

    The First Law

    Joe Abercrombie

    1 here · 18 all-time · #349 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 29,733 ratings on Amazon
  25. 1When Breath Becomes Air

    When Breath Becomes Air

    Paul Kalanithi

    1 here · 16 all-time · #388 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 119,433 ratings on Amazon
  26. 1Evicted

    Evicted

    Matthew Desmond

    1 here · 16 all-time · #402 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 10,921 ratings on Amazon
  27. 1Piranesi

    Piranesi

    Susanna Clarke

    1 here · 16 all-time · #406 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 48,471 ratings on Amazon
  28. 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
  29. 1The Body

    The Body

    Bill Bryson

    1 here · 12 all-time · #540 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 21,832 ratings on Amazon
  30. 1The Elephant in the Brain

    The Elephant in the Brain

    Kevin Simler, Robin Hanson

    1 here · 10 all-time · #661 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 1,746 ratings on Amazon
  31. 1Fear

    Fear

    Thich Nhat Hanh

    1 here · 10 all-time · #667 overall

  32. 1The Fabric of Reality

    The Fabric of Reality

    David Deutsch

    1 here · 9 all-time · #737 overall

  33. 1The Wise Man's Fear

    The Wise Man's Fear

    Patrick Rothfuss

    1 here · 8 all-time · #840 overall

  34. 1The Man Who Was Thursday

    The Man Who Was Thursday

    G. K. Chesterton

    1 here · 7 all-time · #926 overall

  35. 1Barbarian Days

    Barbarian Days

    William Finnegan

    1 here · 7 all-time · #955 overall

  36. 1Countdown to Zero Day

    Countdown to Zero Day

    Kim Zetter

    1 here · 7 all-time · #973 overall

  37. 1The Eye of the World

    The Eye of the World

    Robert Jordan

    1 here · 7 all-time · #1027 overall

  38. 1Naming and Necessity

    Naming and Necessity

    Saul Kripke

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1428 overall

  39. 1Lifespan

    Lifespan

    David Sinclair

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1605 overall

  40. 1Can't Hurt Me

    Can't Hurt Me

    David Goggins

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1612 overall

  41. 1Alchemy

    Alchemy

    Rory Sutherland

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1643 overall

  42. 1Salt Fat Acid Heat

    Salt Fat Acid Heat

    Samin Nosrat

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1668 overall

  43. 1The Splendid and the Vile

    The Splendid and the Vile

    Erik Larson

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1694 overall

  44. 1A Mathematician's Lament

    A Mathematician's Lament

    Paul Lockhart

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1710 overall

  45. 1Sunburst and Luminary: An Apollo Memoir

    Sunburst and Luminary: An Apollo Memoir

    Don Eyles

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1818 overall

  46. 1Killers of the Flower Moon

    Killers of the Flower Moon

    David Grann

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1839 overall

  47. 1Washington

    Washington

    Ron Chernow

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2068 overall

  48. 1The War on Normal People

    The War on Normal People

    Andrew Yang

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2072 overall

  49. 1Greenlights

    Greenlights

    Matthew McConaughey

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2083 overall

  50. 1Phantoms in the Brain

    Phantoms in the Brain

    V.S. Ramachandran

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2170 overall

  51. 1Halo Effect

    Halo Effect

    Phil Rosenzweig

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2315 overall

  52. 1Common Lisp: A Gentle Introduction to Symbolic Computation

    Common Lisp: A Gentle Introduction to Symbolic Computation

    David S. Touretzky

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2405 overall

  53. 1Black Edge

    Black Edge

    Sheelah Kolhatkar

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2517 overall

  54. 1Hamnet

    Hamnet

    Maggie O’Farrell

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2582 overall

  55. 1From a Logical Point of View

    From a Logical Point of View

    W. V. O. Quine

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2600 overall