Ask HN: What is the best book you have read with the greatest impact on you? ↗

The books people recommended

2022-06-13 · 42 points · 49 comments · 49 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.

3The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
Haruki Murakami
3 here · 26 all-time · #221 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 11,999 ratings on Amazon
2
The Selfish Gene
Richard Dawkins
2 here · 178 all-time · #7 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 8,966 ratings on Amazon
2
Meditations
Marcus Aurelius
2 here · 165 all-time · #10 overall
Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 21,552 ratings on Amazon
2
Siddhartha
Hermann Hesse
2 here · 97 all-time · #31 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 18,150 ratings on Amazon
2
Man's Search for Meaning
Viktor Frankl
2 here · 95 all-time · #32 overall
Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 100,360 ratings on Amazon
2
The Beginning of Infinity
David Deutsch
2 here · 38 all-time · #128 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 2,382 ratings on Amazon
2Lonesome Dove
Lonesome Dove
Larry McMurtry
2 here · 12 all-time · #528 overall
Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 31,757 ratings on Amazon
2Total Money Makeover
Total Money Makeover
Dave Ramsey
2 here · 7 all-time · #990 overall
1
Dune
Frank Herbert
1 here · 250 all-time · #3 overall
Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 104,032 ratings on Amazon
1
Sapiens
Yuval Noah Harari
1 here · 197 all-time · #4 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 133,705 ratings on Amazon
1
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Daniel Kahneman
1 here · 178 all-time · #6 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 48,679 ratings on Amazon
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
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
1
1984
George Orwell
1 here · 94 all-time · #34 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 126,118 ratings on Amazon
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
1
Never Split the Difference
Chris Voss
1 here · 62 all-time · #60 overall
Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 51,660 ratings on Amazon
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
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
1
A Random Walk Down Wall Street
Burton Malkiel
1 here · 38 all-time · #131 overall
Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 4,237 ratings on Amazon
1
The 48 Laws of Power
Robert Greene
1 here · 36 all-time · #136 overall
Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 90,218 ratings on Amazon
1
On Intelligence
Jeff Hawkins
1 here · 36 all-time · #138 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 893 ratings on Amazon
1Walden
Walden
Henry David Thoreau
1 here · 35 all-time · #146 overall
Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 2,309 ratings on Amazon
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
1
The Innovator's Dilemma
Clayton Christensen
1 here · 30 all-time · #185 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 4,076 ratings on Amazon
1
The Iliad
Homer
1 here · 28 all-time · #201 overall
Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 5,214 ratings on Amazon
1
Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck
1 here · 22 all-time · #269 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 25,575 ratings on Amazon
1The 4 Hour Work Week
The 4 Hour Work Week
Timothy Ferriss
1 here · 18 all-time · #361 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 529 ratings on Amazon
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
1Inspired
Inspired
Marty Cagan
1 here · 13 all-time · #478 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 6,322 ratings on Amazon
1Prometheus Rising
Prometheus Rising
Robert Anton Wilson
1 here · 12 all-time · #522 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 1,187 ratings on Amazon
1The Millionaire Next Door
The Millionaire Next Door
Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko
1 here · 11 all-time · #600 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 15,873 ratings on Amazon
1The Origin of Species
The Origin of Species
Charles Darwin
1 here · 10 all-time · #637 overall
1Self-Reliance
Self-Reliance
Ralph Waldo Emerson
1 here · 9 all-time · #699 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 1,724 ratings on Amazon
1The Disappearance of the Universe
The Disappearance of the Universe
Gary Renard
1 here · 7 all-time · #911 overall
1Just for Fun
Just for Fun
Linus Torvalds
1 here · 7 all-time · #929 overall
1The Cathedral and the Bazaar
The Cathedral and the Bazaar
Eric S. Raymond
1 here · 7 all-time · #949 overall
1I Will Teach You To Be Rich
I Will Teach You To Be Rich
Ramit Sethi
1 here · 6 all-time · #1115 overall
1Sometimes a Great Notion
Sometimes a Great Notion
Ken Kesey
1 here · 6 all-time · #1139 overall
1Dhammapada
Dhammapada
The Buddha
1 here · 6 all-time · #1153 overall
1The Infinite Game
The Infinite Game
Simon Sinek
1 here · 6 all-time · #1203 overall
1The Elements of Typographic Style
The Elements of Typographic Style
Robert Bringhurst
1 here · 5 all-time · #1237 overall
1The Kite Runner
The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini
1 here · 5 all-time · #1300 overall
1Consilience
Consilience
E.O. Wilson
1 here · 5 all-time · #1314 overall
1The Greatest Show On Earth
The Greatest Show On Earth
Richard Dawkins
1 here · 4 all-time · #1613 overall
1Love in the Time of Cholera
Love in the Time of Cholera
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
1 here · 4 all-time · #1645 overall
1The Sixth Extinction
The Sixth Extinction
Elizabeth Kolbert
1 here · 4 all-time · #1679 overall
1The Gita
The Gita
Eknath Easwaran
1 here · 3 all-time · #2086 overall
1A House for Mr Biswas
A House for Mr Biswas
VS Naipaul
1 here · 3 all-time · #2241 overall
1How not to diet
How not to diet
Dr. Michael Greger
1 here · 3 all-time · #2518 overall