Ask HN: What is the most mind expanding book(s) you have read till date? ↗

The books people recommended

2022-12-31 · 75 points · 85 comments · 47 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.

5Ashtavakra Gita
Ashtavakra Gita
Ashtavakra
5 here · 7 all-time · #1050 overall
Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 618 ratings on Amazon
4
The Illuminatus! Trilogy
Robert Shea, Robert Anton Wilson
4 here · 30 all-time · #192 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 1,268 ratings on Amazon
3
Gödel, Escher, Bach
Douglas Hofstadter
3 here · 347 all-time · #1 overall
Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 2,713 ratings on Amazon
3The Dawn of Everything
The Dawn of Everything
David Graeber and David Wengrow
3 here · 45 all-time · #102 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 289 ratings on Amazon
2
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Daniel Kahneman
2 here · 178 all-time · #6 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 48,679 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
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
2
The Information
James Gleick
2 here · 24 all-time · #248 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 1,588 ratings on Amazon
2
A Brief History of Time
Stephen Hawking
2 here · 23 all-time · #259 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 11,605 ratings on Amazon
2The Mind Illuminated
The Mind Illuminated
Culadasa
2 here · 18 all-time · #356 overall
Buy on Amazon3.5 out of 5, 2 ratings on Amazon
2Around the World in Eighty Days
Around the World in Eighty Days
Jules Verne
2 here · 4 all-time · #1921 overall
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
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
Foundation
Isaac Asimov
1 here · 110 all-time · #20 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 36,591 ratings on Amazon
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
1
1984
George Orwell
1 here · 94 all-time · #34 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 126,118 ratings on Amazon
1
Design Patterns
Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, John Vlissides
1 here · 80 all-time · #42 overall
Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 27 ratings on Amazon
1
The Soul of a New Machine
Tracy Kidder
1 here · 76 all-time · #43 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 1,741 ratings on Amazon
1
Infinite Jest
David Foster Wallace
1 here · 75 all-time · #44 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 6,443 ratings on Amazon
1Permutation City
Permutation City
Greg Egan
1 here · 73 all-time · #45 overall
Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 2,604 ratings on Amazon
1
Blindsight
Peter Watts
1 here · 70 all-time · #48 overall
Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 8,527 ratings on Amazon
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
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
1
The Righteous Mind
Jonathan Haidt
1 here · 57 all-time · #66 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 12,156 ratings on Amazon
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
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
Outliers
Malcolm Gladwell
1 here · 44 all-time · #103 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 39,353 ratings on Amazon
1The Power of Now
The Power of Now
Eckhart Tolle
1 here · 34 all-time · #155 overall
Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 54,841 ratings on Amazon
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
1
Player of Games
Iain M. Banks
1 here · 28 all-time · #202 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 11,218 ratings on Amazon
1Shantaram
Shantaram
Gregory David Roberts
1 here · 18 all-time · #345 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 41,148 ratings on Amazon
1The Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon
Joseph Smith
1 here · 15 all-time · #419 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 2,494 ratings on Amazon
1The Remains of the Day
The Remains of the Day
Kazuo Ishiguro
1 here · 13 all-time · #491 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 29,067 ratings on Amazon
1The Fabric of the Cosmos
The Fabric of the Cosmos
Brian Greene
1 here · 12 all-time · #516 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 2,315 ratings on Amazon
1Metamagical Themas
Metamagical Themas
Douglas Hofstadter
1 here · 12 all-time · #518 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 119 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 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
1The Challenger Sale
The Challenger Sale
Matthew Dixon, Brent Adamson
1 here · 9 all-time · #761 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 2,424 ratings on Amazon
1The Disappearance of the Universe
The Disappearance of the Universe
Gary Renard
1 here · 7 all-time · #911 overall
1The Phantom Tollbooth
The Phantom Tollbooth
Norton Juster
1 here · 7 all-time · #994 overall
1The Art of Profitability
The Art of Profitability
Adrian Slywotzky
1 here · 6 all-time · #1187 overall
1Leaves of Grass
Leaves of Grass
Walt Whitman
1 here · 5 all-time · #1326 overall
1Awareness
Awareness
Anthony de Mello
1 here · 5 all-time · #1432 overall
1Persuasion
Persuasion
Jane Austen
1 here · 4 all-time · #1598 overall
1The Fire Next Time
The Fire Next Time
James Baldwin
1 here · 4 all-time · #1678 overall
1Overcoming Gravity
Overcoming Gravity
Steven Low
1 here · 3 all-time · #2239 overall
1Aion
Aion
Carl Jung
1 here · 3 all-time · #2240 overall