Y Hacker News Books

The Best Books I Read in 2013 ↗

The books people recommended

2013-12-13 · 248 points · 156 comments · 64 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

    Snow Crash

    Neal Stephenson

    3 here · 119 all-time · #16 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 20,720 ratings on Amazon
  2. 3The Brothers Karamazov

    The Brothers Karamazov

    Fyodor Dostoevsky

    3 here · 69 all-time · #51 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 3,359 ratings on Amazon
  3. 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
  4. 2

    1984

    George Orwell

    2 here · 94 all-time · #34 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 126,118 ratings on Amazon
  5. 2

    Ulysses

    James Joyce

    2 here · 55 all-time · #71 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 3,819 ratings on Amazon
  6. 2

    The Baroque Cycle

    Neal Stephenson

    2 here · 32 all-time · #176 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 2,191 ratings on Amazon
  7. 2

    Chaos

    James Gleick

    2 here · 31 all-time · #181 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 3,339 ratings on Amazon
  8. 2

    The Game

    Neil Strauss

    2 here · 26 all-time · #224 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 6,899 ratings on Amazon
  9. 2The Emperor's Handbook

    The Emperor's Handbook

    Marcus Aurelius

    2 here · 4 all-time · #1853 overall

  10. 2A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

    A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

    Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

    2 here · 3 all-time · #2556 overall

  11. 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
  12. 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
  13. 1

    Meditations

    Marcus Aurelius

    1 here · 165 all-time · #10 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 21,552 ratings on Amazon
  14. 1

    Cryptonomicon

    Neal Stephenson

    1 here · 106 all-time · #23 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 8,425 ratings on Amazon
  15. 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
  16. 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
  17. 1

    Anathem

    Neal Stephenson

    1 here · 83 all-time · #40 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 5,275 ratings on Amazon
  18. 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
  19. 1

    Brave New World

    Aldous Huxley

    1 here · 67 all-time · #55 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 48,055 ratings on Amazon
  20. 1

    The Master and Margarita

    Mikhail Bulgakov

    1 here · 67 all-time · #57 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 4,777 ratings on Amazon
  21. 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
  22. 1

    Anna Karenina

    Leo Tolstoy

    1 here · 51 all-time · #83 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 13,344 ratings on Amazon
  23. 1

    Outliers

    Malcolm Gladwell

    1 here · 44 all-time · #103 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 39,353 ratings on Amazon
  24. 1Rework

    Rework

    Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson

    1 here · 43 all-time · #106 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 11,954 ratings on Amazon
  25. 1

    War and Peace

    Leo Tolstoy

    1 here · 41 all-time · #117 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 3,710 ratings on Amazon
  26. 1

    Mistborn

    Brandon Sanderson

    1 here · 41 all-time · #119 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 60,557 ratings on Amazon
  27. 1

    The Beginning of Infinity

    David Deutsch

    1 here · 38 all-time · #128 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 2,382 ratings on Amazon
  28. 1Endurance

    Endurance

    Alfred Lansing

    1 here · 37 all-time · #135 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 27,447 ratings on Amazon
  29. 1

    East of Eden

    John Steinbeck

    1 here · 36 all-time · #141 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 23,886 ratings on Amazon
  30. 1

    Quiet

    Susan Cain

    1 here · 33 all-time · #165 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 35,789 ratings on Amazon
  31. 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
  32. 1

    The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind

    Julian Jaynes

    1 here · 25 all-time · #236 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 1,067 ratings on Amazon
  33. 1

    Steve Jobs

    Walter Isaacson

    1 here · 24 all-time · #245 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 26,863 ratings on Amazon
  34. 1

    A Brief History of Time

    Stephen Hawking

    1 here · 23 all-time · #259 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 11,605 ratings on Amazon
  35. 1

    Wool

    Hugh Howey

    1 here · 23 all-time · #262 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 53,808 ratings on Amazon
  36. 1

    So Good They Can't Ignore You

    Cal Newport

    1 here · 23 all-time · #263 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 8,838 ratings on Amazon
  37. 1

    A Game of Thrones

    George R.R. Martin

    1 here · 22 all-time · #274 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 83,380 ratings on Amazon
  38. 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
  39. 1

    The Emperor of All Maladies

    Siddhartha Mukherjee

    1 here · 19 all-time · #334 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 9,907 ratings on Amazon
  40. 1Are Your Lights On?

    Are Your Lights On?

    Donald C. Gause

    1 here · 15 all-time · #421 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.0 out of 5, 264 ratings on Amazon
  41. 1The Magic Mountain

    The Magic Mountain

    Thomas Mann

    1 here · 15 all-time · #426 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 1,367 ratings on Amazon
  42. 1The Unbearable Lightness of Being

    The Unbearable Lightness of Being

    Milan Kundera

    1 here · 15 all-time · #433 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 6,523 ratings on Amazon
  43. 1Pride and Prejudice

    Pride and Prejudice

    Jane Austen

    1 here · 14 all-time · #447 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 39,261 ratings on Amazon
  44. 1The Prophet

    The Prophet

    Kahlil Gibran

    1 here · 14 all-time · #449 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 13,665 ratings on Amazon
  45. 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
  46. 1The Devil in the White City

    The Devil in the White City

    Erik Larson

    1 here · 10 all-time · #623 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 31,370 ratings on Amazon
  47. 1Things Fall Apart

    Things Fall Apart

    Chinua Achebe

    1 here · 8 all-time · #780 overall

  48. 1The Happiness Hypothesis

    The Happiness Hypothesis

    Jonathan Haidt

    1 here · 8 all-time · #789 overall

  49. 1The Sun Also Rises

    The Sun Also Rises

    Ernest Hemingway

    1 here · 8 all-time · #815 overall

  50. 1The Good Earth

    The Good Earth

    Pearl S. Buck

    1 here · 7 all-time · #914 overall

  51. 1Venture Deals

    Venture Deals

    Brad Feld

    1 here · 7 all-time · #932 overall

  52. 1Art & Fear

    Art & Fear

    David Bayles

    1 here · 7 all-time · #946 overall

  53. 1Who Owns The Future

    Who Owns The Future

    Jaron Lanier

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1182 overall

  54. 1Madame Bovary

    Madame Bovary

    Gustave Flaubert

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1278 overall

  55. 1Emma

    Emma

    Jane Austen

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1599 overall

  56. 1The Corrections

    The Corrections

    Jonathan Franzen

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1618 overall

  57. 1Twilight

    Twilight

    Stephenie Meyer

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1647 overall

  58. 1Punished by Rewards

    Punished by Rewards

    Alfie Kohn

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1669 overall

  59. 1The Crying of Lot 49

    The Crying of Lot 49

    Thomas Pynchon

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1711 overall

  60. 1Hardboiled Wonderland and The End of the World

    Hardboiled Wonderland and The End of the World

    Haruki Murakami

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1721 overall

  61. 1Decisive

    Decisive

    Dan Heath and Chip Heath

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2196 overall

  62. 1Dictionary of the Khazars

    Dictionary of the Khazars

    Milorad Pavić

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2267 overall

  63. 1Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers

    Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers

    Robert M. Sapolsky

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2391 overall

  64. 1The Price of Inequality

    The Price of Inequality

    Joseph Stiglitz

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2392 overall