Y Hacker News Books

Reading list for those who love to learn ↗

The books people recommended

2009-06-18 · 118 points · 88 comments · 42 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. 7Convex Optimization

    Convex Optimization

    Boyd and Vanderberghe

    7 here · 17 all-time · #384 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 210 ratings on Amazon
  2. 5

    The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

    Thomas S. Kuhn

    5 here · 33 all-time · #167 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 2,045 ratings on Amazon
  3. 4

    The Art of Computer Programming

    Donald Knuth

    4 here · 127 all-time · #14 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 203 ratings on Amazon
  4. 4

    The Feynman Lectures on Physics

    Richard Feynman

    4 here · 59 all-time · #63 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 1,049 ratings on Amazon
  5. 4The 4 Hour Work Week

    The 4 Hour Work Week

    Timothy Ferriss

    4 here · 18 all-time · #361 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 529 ratings on Amazon
  6. 4Personal Development for Smart People

    Personal Development for Smart People

    Steve Pavlina

    4 here · 5 all-time · #1523 overall

  7. 3

    Fooled by Randomness

    Nassim Nicholas Taleb

    3 here · 81 all-time · #41 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 6,682 ratings on Amazon
  8. 3

    Getting Things Done

    David Allen

    3 here · 62 all-time · #61 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 10,742 ratings on Amazon
  9. 3Game Theory

    Game Theory

    Maschler, Solan & Zamir

    3 here · 9 all-time · #755 overall

  10. 3The Innovator's Solution

    The Innovator's Solution

    Clayton Christensen

    3 here · 8 all-time · #836 overall

  11. 3The Wisdom of Crowds

    The Wisdom of Crowds

    James Surowiecki

    3 here · 6 all-time · #1193 overall

  12. 2

    Founders at Work

    Jessica Livingston

    2 here · 51 all-time · #80 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 689 ratings on Amazon
  13. 2

    Predictably Irrational

    Dan Ariely

    2 here · 35 all-time · #144 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 11,450 ratings on Amazon
  14. 2

    Don't Make Me Think

    Steve Krug

    2 here · 35 all-time · #149 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 4,670 ratings on Amazon
  15. 2

    The Innovator's Dilemma

    Clayton Christensen

    2 here · 30 all-time · #185 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 4,076 ratings on Amazon
  16. 2Information Theory, Inference, and Learning Algorithms

    Information Theory, Inference, and Learning Algorithms

    MacKay

    2 here · 12 all-time · #515 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 191 ratings on Amazon
  17. 2Stumbling on Happiness

    Stumbling on Happiness

    Daniel Gilbert

    2 here · 11 all-time · #595 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 3,802 ratings on Amazon
  18. 2The Fabric of Reality

    The Fabric of Reality

    David Deutsch

    2 here · 9 all-time · #737 overall

  19. 2Against Method

    Against Method

    Paul Feyerabend

    2 here · 5 all-time · #1369 overall

  20. 2The Paradox of Choice

    The Paradox of Choice

    2 here · 4 all-time · #1877 overall

  21. 1

    The Selfish Gene

    Richard Dawkins

    1 here · 178 all-time · #7 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 8,966 ratings on Amazon
  22. 1

    Meditations

    Marcus Aurelius

    1 here · 165 all-time · #10 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 21,552 ratings on Amazon
  23. 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
  24. 1

    Algorithms

    Robert Sedgewick

    1 here · 49 all-time · #89 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 876 ratings on Amazon
  25. 1

    Outliers

    Malcolm Gladwell

    1 here · 44 all-time · #103 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 39,353 ratings on Amazon
  26. 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
  27. 1

    How to Read a Book

    Mortimer J. Adler

    1 here · 31 all-time · #182 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 8,081 ratings on Amazon
  28. 1

    The E-Myth Revisited

    Michael E. Gerber

    1 here · 24 all-time · #244 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 13,028 ratings on Amazon
  29. 1Made to Stick

    Made to Stick

    Chip and Dan Heath

    1 here · 16 all-time · #386 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 1,888 ratings on Amazon
  30. 1Trading and Exchanges

    Trading and Exchanges

    Larry Harris

    1 here · 16 all-time · #412 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 117 ratings on Amazon
  31. 1Visual Complex Analysis

    Visual Complex Analysis

    Tristan Needham

    1 here · 15 all-time · #420 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 232 ratings on Amazon
  32. 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
  33. 1Algorithm Design

    Algorithm Design

    Kleinberg, Tardos

    1 here · 11 all-time · #601 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 426 ratings on Amazon
  34. 1The Extended Phenotype

    The Extended Phenotype

    Richard Dawkins

    1 here · 10 all-time · #663 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 462 ratings on Amazon
  35. 1The Elegant Universe

    The Elegant Universe

    Brian Greene

    1 here · 9 all-time · #723 overall

  36. 1The Happiness Hypothesis

    The Happiness Hypothesis

    Jonathan Haidt

    1 here · 8 all-time · #789 overall

  37. 1QED

    QED

    Richard Feynman

    1 here · 8 all-time · #847 overall

  38. 1Brain Rules

    Brain Rules

    John Medina

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1188 overall

  39. 1Elements of Information Theory

    Elements of Information Theory

    Cover, Thomas

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1317 overall

  40. 1The Culture Code

    The Culture Code

    Daniel Coyle

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1857 overall

  41. 1The Character of Physical Law

    The Character of Physical Law

    Richard Feynman

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2145 overall

  42. 1The Four Pillars of Investing

    The Four Pillars of Investing

    William Bernstein

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2300 overall