The books people recommended

2012-12-25 · 359 points · 220 comments · 131 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.

4
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Daniel Kahneman
4 here · 178 all-time · #6 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 48,679 ratings on Amazon
3
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Robert Pirsig
3 here · 193 all-time · #5 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 13,921 ratings on Amazon
3
The Lean Startup
Eric Ries
3 here · 56 all-time · #68 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 17,985 ratings on Amazon
3Reamde
Reamde
Neal Stephenson
3 here · 26 all-time · #218 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 5,708 ratings on Amazon
3
Steve Jobs
Walter Isaacson
3 here · 24 all-time · #245 overall
Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 26,863 ratings on Amazon
3
Ghost in the Wires
Kevin Mitnick
3 here · 20 all-time · #318 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 4,520 ratings on Amazon
3Pattern Recognition
Pattern Recognition
William Gibson
3 here · 13 all-time · #494 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 3,192 ratings on Amazon
3Sprawl trilogy
Sprawl trilogy
William Gibson
3 here · 11 all-time · #586 overall
3The Startup Owner's Manual
The Startup Owner's Manual
Steve Blank
3 here · 10 all-time · #669 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 915 ratings on Amazon
2
How to Win Friends and Influence People
Dale Carnegie
2 here · 175 all-time · #8 overall
Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 106,505 ratings on Amazon
2
Neuromancer
William Gibson
2 here · 117 all-time · #17 overall
Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 20,213 ratings on Amazon
2
Antifragile
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
2 here · 100 all-time · #29 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 8,430 ratings on Amazon
2
Ready Player One
Ernest Cline
2 here · 69 all-time · #52 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 155,485 ratings on Amazon
2
The Hobbit
J.R.R. Tolkien
2 here · 53 all-time · #75 overall
Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 82,135 ratings on Amazon
2
JavaScript: The Good Parts
Douglas Crockford
2 here · 28 all-time · #206 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 1,478 ratings on Amazon
2
Mastery
Robert Greene
2 here · 22 all-time · #268 overall
Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 11,553 ratings on Amazon
2Moonwalking with Einstein
Moonwalking with Einstein
Joshua Foer
2 here · 18 all-time · #357 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 10,911 ratings on Amazon
2Born to Run
Born to Run
Christopher McDougall
2 here · 17 all-time · #369 overall
Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 26,656 ratings on Amazon
2The Signal and the Noise
The Signal and the Noise
Nate Silver
2 here · 17 all-time · #372 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 3,922 ratings on Amazon
2Mindfulness in Plain English
Mindfulness in Plain English
Henepola Gunaratana
2 here · 10 all-time · #656 overall
2The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
Oliver Sacks
2 here · 9 all-time · #728 overall
2Count Zero
Count Zero
William Gibson
2 here · 7 all-time · #963 overall
2How Music Works
How Music Works
David Byrne
2 here · 4 all-time · #1761 overall
2The Sense of an Ending
The Sense of an Ending
Julian Barnes
2 here · 4 all-time · #1933 overall
1
Gödel, Escher, Bach
Douglas Hofstadter
1 here · 347 all-time · #1 overall
Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 2,713 ratings on Amazon
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
Cryptonomicon
Neal Stephenson
1 here · 106 all-time · #23 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 8,425 ratings on Amazon
1Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
Eliezer Yudkowsky
1 here · 101 all-time · #27 overall
Buy on Amazon
1
The Fountainhead
Ayn Rand
1 here · 90 all-time · #36 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 12,667 ratings on Amazon
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
1
Hyperion
Dan Simmons
1 here · 56 all-time · #69 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 30,786 ratings on Amazon
1
Ulysses
James Joyce
1 here · 55 all-time · #71 overall
Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 3,819 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
Founders at Work
Jessica Livingston
1 here · 51 all-time · #80 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 689 ratings on Amazon
1
Moby Dick
Herman Melville
1 here · 51 all-time · #82 overall
Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 16,756 ratings on Amazon
1
Anna Karenina
Leo Tolstoy
1 here · 51 all-time · #83 overall
Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 13,344 ratings on Amazon
1
The Power of Habit
Charles Duhigg
1 here · 46 all-time · #97 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 40,333 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
Diaspora
Greg Egan
1 here · 45 all-time · #101 overall
Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 2,393 ratings on Amazon
1
How to Solve It
George Polya
1 here · 42 all-time · #115 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 1,615 ratings on Amazon
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
1The 4-Hour Workweek
The 4-Hour Workweek
Timothy Ferriss
1 here · 38 all-time · #130 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 29,714 ratings on Amazon
1
Mathematics
Jan Gullberg
1 here · 37 all-time · #134 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 528 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
Programming Pearls
Jon Bentley
1 here · 35 all-time · #145 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 402 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
Accelerando
Charles Stross
1 here · 33 all-time · #162 overall
Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 1,553 ratings on Amazon
1
Quiet
Susan Cain
1 here · 33 all-time · #165 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 35,789 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 Illuminatus! Trilogy
Robert Shea, Robert Anton Wilson
1 here · 30 all-time · #192 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 1,268 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
1Coders at Work
Coders at Work
Peter Seibel
1 here · 27 all-time · #213 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 330 ratings on Amazon
1
A Song of Ice and Fire
George R. R. Martin
1 here · 26 all-time · #219 overall
Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 83,380 ratings on Amazon
1The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
Haruki Murakami
1 here · 26 all-time · #221 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 11,999 ratings on Amazon
1
Freakonomics
Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner
1 here · 26 all-time · #225 overall
Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 7,647 ratings on Amazon
1
Gravity's Rainbow
Thomas Pynchon
1 here · 25 all-time · #229 overall
Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 2,472 ratings on Amazon
1A People's History of the United States
A People's History of the United States
Howard Zinn
1 here · 25 all-time · #232 overall
Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 17,556 ratings on Amazon
1
Liar's Poker
Michael Lewis
1 here · 23 all-time · #258 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 10,163 ratings on Amazon
1
Freedom
Daniel Suarez
1 here · 23 all-time · #260 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 5,152 ratings on Amazon
1
Wool
Hugh Howey
1 here · 23 all-time · #262 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 53,808 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
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
1
The Forever War
Joe Haldeman
1 here · 21 all-time · #294 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 18,724 ratings on Amazon
1Old Man's War
Old Man's War
John Scalzi
1 here · 21 all-time · #295 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 32,356 ratings on Amazon
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
1The Idea Factory
The Idea Factory
Jon Gertner
1 here · 19 all-time · #333 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 1,862 ratings on Amazon
1Dark Tower Series
Dark Tower Series
Stephen King
1 here · 18 all-time · #343 overall
Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 34,581 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 Checklist Manifesto
The Checklist Manifesto
Atul Gawande
1 here · 17 all-time · #370 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 15,188 ratings on Amazon
1Lila
Lila
Robert Pirsig
1 here · 16 all-time · #389 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 817 ratings on Amazon
1Start Small, Stay Small
Start Small, Stay Small
Rob Walling
1 here · 16 all-time · #390 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 750 ratings on Amazon
1Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
Haruki Murakami
1 here · 15 all-time · #418 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 6,333 ratings on Amazon
1The Art of Learning
The Art of Learning
Josh Waitzkin
1 here · 14 all-time · #453 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 5,454 ratings on Amazon
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
11Q84
1Q84
Haruki Murakami
1 here · 13 all-time · #490 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 10,748 ratings on Amazon
1Joy of Clojure
Joy of Clojure
Michael Fogus
1 here · 13 all-time · #493 overall
Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 44 ratings on Amazon
1The Mysterious Island
The Mysterious Island
Jules Verne
1 here · 13 all-time · #495 overall
Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 932 ratings on Amazon
1Logicomix
Logicomix
Apostolos Doxiades, Christos Papadimitriou
1 here · 12 all-time · #523 overall
Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 953 ratings on Amazon
1The Windup Girl
The Windup Girl
Paolo Bacigalupi
1 here · 12 all-time · #527 overall
Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 5,206 ratings on Amazon
1Pandora's Star
Pandora's Star
Peter F. Hamilton
1 here · 12 all-time · #538 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 7,049 ratings on Amazon
1Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja
Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja
John Resig
1 here · 12 all-time · #550 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 140 ratings on Amazon
1The Magicians
The Magicians
Lev Grossman
1 here · 12 all-time · #556 overall
Buy on Amazon4.0 out of 5, 16,061 ratings on Amazon
1Anything You Want
Anything You Want
Derek Sivers
1 here · 11 all-time · #602 overall
Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 5,077 ratings on Amazon
1The Singularity Is Near
The Singularity Is Near
Ray Kurzweil
1 here · 10 all-time · #622 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 2,109 ratings on Amazon
1Altered Carbon
Altered Carbon
Richard K. Morgan
1 here · 10 all-time · #628 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 15,405 ratings on Amazon
1The Shadow of the Wind
The Shadow of the Wind
Carlos Ruiz Zafón
1 here · 10 all-time · #641 overall
1Proofs and Refutations
Proofs and Refutations
Imre Lakatos
1 here · 10 all-time · #644 overall
1Artificial Life
Artificial Life
Steven Levy
1 here · 9 all-time · #702 overall
1Cloud Atlas
Cloud Atlas
David Mitchell
1 here · 9 all-time · #725 overall
1Trust Me, I'm Lying
Trust Me, I'm Lying
Ryan Holiday
1 here · 9 all-time · #739 overall
1Halting State
Halting State
Charles Stross
1 here · 9 all-time · #745 overall
1The Millionaire Fastlane
The Millionaire Fastlane
MJ DeMarco
1 here · 8 all-time · #794 overall
1The Road Less Traveled
The Road Less Traveled
M. Scott Peck
1 here · 8 all-time · #811 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 9,026 ratings on Amazon
1Learn You a Haskell for Great Good!
Learn You a Haskell for Great Good!
Miran Lipovaca
1 here · 8 all-time · #835 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 358 ratings on Amazon
1Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
Edwin Lefèvre
1 here · 8 all-time · #865 overall
1Never Eat Alone
Never Eat Alone
Keith Ferrazzi
1 here · 7 all-time · #905 overall
1World War Z
World War Z
Max Brooks
1 here · 7 all-time · #922 overall
1Leviathan Wakes
Leviathan Wakes
James S. A. Corey
1 here · 7 all-time · #938 overall
1Incognito
Incognito
David Eagleman
1 here · 7 all-time · #941 overall
1The Cathedral and the Bazaar
The Cathedral and the Bazaar
Eric S. Raymond
1 here · 7 all-time · #949 overall
1Mona Lisa Overdrive
Mona Lisa Overdrive
William Gibson
1 here · 6 all-time · #1098 overall
1The Defining Decade
The Defining Decade
Meg Jay
1 here · 6 all-time · #1114 overall
1Burning Chrome
Burning Chrome
William Gibson
1 here · 6 all-time · #1129 overall
1Art of Deception
Art of Deception
Kevin Mitnick
1 here · 5 all-time · #1253 overall
1The Joy of X
The Joy of X
Steven Strogatz
1 here · 5 all-time · #1260 overall
1The Book of Five Rings
The Book of Five Rings
Miyamoto Musashi
1 here · 5 all-time · #1287 overall
1Sum
Sum
David Eagleman
1 here · 5 all-time · #1295 overall
1Business Model Generation
Business Model Generation
Alexander Osterwalder
1 here · 5 all-time · #1402 overall
1Running Lean
Running Lean
Ash Maurya
1 here · 5 all-time · #1414 overall
1Against the Day
Against the Day
Thomas Pynchon
1 here · 5 all-time · #1452 overall
1On Numbers & Games
On Numbers & Games
John H. Conway
1 here · 4 all-time · #1577 overall
1The Long Earth
The Long Earth
Terry Pratchett and Steve Baxter
1 here · 4 all-time · #1593 overall
1The Dilbert Principle
The Dilbert Principle
Scott Adams
1 here · 4 all-time · #1635 overall
1Singularity Sky
Singularity Sky
Charles Stross
1 here · 4 all-time · #1636 overall
1Programming Collective Intelligence
Programming Collective Intelligence
Toby Segaran
1 here · 4 all-time · #1713 overall
1The Terror
The Terror
Dan Simmons
1 here · 4 all-time · #1719 overall
1Seven Databases in Seven Weeks
Seven Databases in Seven Weeks
Eric Redmond
1 here · 4 all-time · #1762 overall
1The New Industrial State
The New Industrial State
John Kenneth Galbraith
1 here · 4 all-time · #1763 overall
1On War
On War
Carl von Clausewitz
1 here · 4 all-time · #1784 overall
1Black Like Me
Black Like Me
John Howard Griffin
1 here · 4 all-time · #1790 overall
1If on a Winter's Night a Traveller
If on a Winter's Night a Traveller
Italo Calvino
1 here · 4 all-time · #1909 overall
1Games People Play
Games People Play
Eric Berne
1 here · 3 all-time · #2002 overall
1A Universe From Nothing
A Universe From Nothing
Lawrence Krauss
1 here · 3 all-time · #2040 overall
1Animator's Survival Kit
Animator's Survival Kit
Richard Williams
1 here · 3 all-time · #2041 overall
1Orthogonal
Orthogonal
Greg Egan
1 here · 3 all-time · #2151 overall
1The Education of Millionaires
The Education of Millionaires
Michael Ellsberg
1 here · 3 all-time · #2152 overall
1Otherland
Otherland
Tad Williams
1 here · 3 all-time · #2153 overall
1Life of Pi
Life of Pi
Yann Martel
1 here · 3 all-time · #2317 overall
1Mortality
Mortality
Christopher Hitchens
1 here · 3 all-time · #2367 overall
1Softwar
Softwar
Larry Ellison
1 here · 3 all-time · #2383 overall
1Existence
Existence
David Brin
1 here · 3 all-time · #2386 overall