Y Hacker News Books

Ask YC: favorite books ↗

The books people recommended

2007-12-04 · 43 points · 80 comments · 126 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. 13

    Gödel, Escher, Bach

    Douglas Hofstadter

    13 here · 347 all-time · #1 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 2,713 ratings on Amazon
  2. 4

    The Lord of the Rings

    J.R.R. Tolkien

    4 here · 114 all-time · #18 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.9 out of 5, 14,620 ratings on Amazon
  3. 4

    Cryptonomicon

    Neal Stephenson

    4 here · 106 all-time · #23 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 8,425 ratings on Amazon
  4. 4

    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

    Douglas Adams

    4 here · 101 all-time · #28 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 30,738 ratings on Amazon
  5. 4

    Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!

    Richard Feynman

    4 here · 90 all-time · #35 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 13,344 ratings on Amazon
  6. 4

    Nineteen Eighty-Four

    George Orwell

    4 here · 43 all-time · #108 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 15,224 ratings on Amazon
  7. 4

    Sherlock Holmes

    Arthur Conan Doyle

    4 here · 21 all-time · #303 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 1,781 ratings on Amazon
  8. 3

    Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs

    Harold Abelson

    3 here · 316 all-time · #2 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 742 ratings on Amazon
  9. 3

    Dune

    Frank Herbert

    3 here · 250 all-time · #3 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 104,032 ratings on Amazon
  10. 3

    The Diamond Age

    Neal Stephenson

    3 here · 64 all-time · #58 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 5,358 ratings on Amazon
  11. 3

    House of Leaves

    Mark Z. Danielewski

    3 here · 28 all-time · #203 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 14,466 ratings on Amazon
  12. 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
  13. 2

    Atlas Shrugged

    Ayn Rand

    2 here · 173 all-time · #9 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 22,012 ratings on Amazon
  14. 2

    Snow Crash

    Neal Stephenson

    2 here · 119 all-time · #16 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 20,720 ratings on Amazon
  15. 2

    The Design of Everyday Things

    Don Norman

    2 here · 95 all-time · #33 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 8,629 ratings on Amazon
  16. 2

    Getting Things Done

    David Allen

    2 here · 62 all-time · #61 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 10,742 ratings on Amazon
  17. 2

    The Alchemist

    Paulo Coelho

    2 here · 52 all-time · #77 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 184,313 ratings on Amazon
  18. 2

    The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

    Thomas S. Kuhn

    2 here · 33 all-time · #167 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 2,045 ratings on Amazon
  19. 2

    Freakonomics

    Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner

    2 here · 26 all-time · #225 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 7,647 ratings on Amazon
  20. 2

    The Great Gatsby

    F. Scott Fitzgerald

    2 here · 24 all-time · #247 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 16,338 ratings on Amazon
  21. 2

    Liar's Poker

    Michael Lewis

    2 here · 23 all-time · #258 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 10,163 ratings on Amazon
  22. 2Paradigms of Artificial Intelligence Programming

    Paradigms of Artificial Intelligence Programming

    Peter Norvig

    2 here · 15 all-time · #440 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 65 ratings on Amazon
  23. 2Rama

    Rama

    Arthur C. Clarke

    2 here · 4 all-time · #1828 overall

  24. 2Eats, Shoots & Leaves

    Eats, Shoots & Leaves

    Lynne Truss

    2 here · 3 all-time · #2585 overall

  25. 1

    Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

    Robert Pirsig

    1 here · 193 all-time · #5 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 13,921 ratings on Amazon
  26. 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
  27. 1

    The Mythical Man-Month

    Frederick Brooks Jr.

    1 here · 137 all-time · #13 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 1,811 ratings on Amazon
  28. 1

    Neuromancer

    William Gibson

    1 here · 117 all-time · #17 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 20,213 ratings on Amazon
  29. 1

    The Pragmatic Programmer

    Andrew Hunt and David Thomas

    1 here · 102 all-time · #26 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 3,644 ratings on Amazon
  30. 1

    Siddhartha

    Hermann Hesse

    1 here · 97 all-time · #31 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 18,150 ratings on Amazon
  31. 1

    Guns, Germs, and Steel

    Jared Diamond

    1 here · 83 all-time · #39 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 14,634 ratings on Amazon
  32. 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
  33. 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
  34. 1

    Peopleware

    Tom DeMarco

    1 here · 62 all-time · #59 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 1,189 ratings on Amazon
  35. 1

    Hyperion

    Dan Simmons

    1 here · 56 all-time · #69 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 30,786 ratings on Amazon
  36. 1

    Stranger in a Strange Land

    Robert A. Heinlein

    1 here · 55 all-time · #70 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 12,077 ratings on Amazon
  37. 1

    The Hobbit

    J.R.R. Tolkien

    1 here · 53 all-time · #75 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 82,135 ratings on Amazon
  38. 1

    Founders at Work

    Jessica Livingston

    1 here · 51 all-time · #80 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 689 ratings on Amazon
  39. 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
  40. 1

    Animal Farm

    George Orwell

    1 here · 48 all-time · #90 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 94,716 ratings on Amazon
  41. 1

    A Fire Upon the Deep

    Vernor Vinge

    1 here · 47 all-time · #93 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 5,097 ratings on Amazon
  42. 1

    The Wheel of Time

    Robert Jordan

    1 here · 43 all-time · #109 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 45,874 ratings on Amazon
  43. 1

    Blood Meridian

    Cormac McCarthy

    1 here · 41 all-time · #118 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 21,706 ratings on Amazon
  44. 1

    A Deepness in the Sky

    Vernor Vinge

    1 here · 41 all-time · #121 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 3,418 ratings on Amazon
  45. 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
  46. 1Walden

    Walden

    Henry David Thoreau

    1 here · 35 all-time · #146 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 2,309 ratings on Amazon
  47. 1

    Slaughterhouse-Five

    Kurt Vonnegut

    1 here · 34 all-time · #153 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 40,601 ratings on Amazon
  48. 1

    Flow

    Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

    1 here · 33 all-time · #166 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 7,594 ratings on Amazon
  49. 1

    The Baroque Cycle

    Neal Stephenson

    1 here · 32 all-time · #176 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 2,191 ratings on Amazon
  50. 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
  51. 1

    The Odyssey

    Homer

    1 here · 28 all-time · #200 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 5,214 ratings on Amazon
  52. 1

    A Canticle for Leibowitz

    Walter M. Miller Jr.

    1 here · 28 all-time · #205 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 5,243 ratings on Amazon
  53. 1

    The Book of the New Sun

    Gene Wolfe

    1 here · 27 all-time · #211 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 3,428 ratings on Amazon
  54. 1

    The Wealth of Nations

    Adam Smith

    1 here · 27 all-time · #212 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 2,706 ratings on Amazon
  55. 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
  56. 1

    Shogun

    James Clavell

    1 here · 26 all-time · #223 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 27,634 ratings on Amazon
  57. 1

    Ubik

    Philip K. Dick

    1 here · 25 all-time · #234 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 7,135 ratings on Amazon
  58. 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
  59. 1

    The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

    Edward Tufte

    1 here · 24 all-time · #253 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 996 ratings on Amazon
  60. 1Kafka on the Shore

    Kafka on the Shore

    Haruki Murakami

    1 here · 22 all-time · #270 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 22,113 ratings on Amazon
  61. 1

    Think and Grow Rich

    Napoleon Hill

    1 here · 21 all-time · #287 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 75,414 ratings on Amazon
  62. 1

    Cosmos

    Carl Sagan

    1 here · 20 all-time · #309 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 8,712 ratings on Amazon
  63. 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
  64. 1Shantaram

    Shantaram

    Gregory David Roberts

    1 here · 18 all-time · #345 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 41,148 ratings on Amazon
  65. 1Sophie's World

    Sophie's World

    Jostein Gaarder

    1 here · 18 all-time · #364 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 7,501 ratings on Amazon
  66. 1The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

    The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

    Benjamin Franklin

    1 here · 17 all-time · #366 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 11,110 ratings on Amazon
  67. 1Blink

    Blink

    Malcolm Gladwell

    1 here · 17 all-time · #375 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 14,166 ratings on Amazon
  68. 1Use of Weapons

    Use of Weapons

    Iain M. Banks

    1 here · 17 all-time · #376 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.1 out of 5, 6,573 ratings on Amazon
  69. 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
  70. 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
  71. 1Getting to Yes

    Getting to Yes

    Roger Fisher, William Ury

    1 here · 14 all-time · #459 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 11,602 ratings on Amazon
  72. 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
  73. 1Metamagical Themas

    Metamagical Themas

    Douglas Hofstadter

    1 here · 12 all-time · #518 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 119 ratings on Amazon
  74. 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
  75. 1The Mind's I

    The Mind's I

    Douglas Hofstadter, Daniel Dennett

    1 here · 12 all-time · #525 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 157 ratings on Amazon
  76. 1Treasure Island

    Treasure Island

    Robert Louis Stevenson

    1 here · 11 all-time · #560 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 19,136 ratings on Amazon
  77. 1Secrets of Consulting

    Secrets of Consulting

    Gerald M. Weinberg

    1 here · 11 all-time · #562 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 370 ratings on Amazon
  78. 1Ringworld

    Ringworld

    Larry Niven

    1 here · 11 all-time · #569 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 8,555 ratings on Amazon
  79. 12001: A Space Odyssey

    2001: A Space Odyssey

    Arthur C. Clarke

    1 here · 11 all-time · #572 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 11,089 ratings on Amazon
  80. 1The Silmarillion

    The Silmarillion

    J.R.R. Tolkien

    1 here · 11 all-time · #573 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 24,821 ratings on Amazon
  81. 1Open Society and Its Enemies

    Open Society and Its Enemies

    Karl Popper

    1 here · 11 all-time · #574 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 274 ratings on Amazon
  82. 1What Do You Care What Other People Think?

    What Do You Care What Other People Think?

    Richard Feynman

    1 here · 11 all-time · #575 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 2,654 ratings on Amazon
  83. 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
  84. 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
  85. 1Night

    Night

    Elie Wiesel

    1 here · 10 all-time · #643 overall

  86. 1An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

    An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

    David Hume

    1 here · 10 all-time · #676 overall

  87. 1Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

    Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

    Susanna Clarke

    1 here · 9 all-time · #726 overall

  88. 1Watership Down

    Watership Down

    Richard Adams

    1 here · 8 all-time · #784 overall

  89. 1The Time Machine

    The Time Machine

    H.G. Wells

    1 here · 8 all-time · #798 overall

  90. 1Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

    Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

    Douglas Adams

    1 here · 8 all-time · #822 overall

  91. 1Dubliners

    Dubliners

    James Joyce

    1 here · 8 all-time · #833 overall

  92. 1How the Mind Works

    How the Mind Works

    Steven Pinker

    1 here · 8 all-time · #849 overall

  93. 1Phenomenology of Spirit

    Phenomenology of Spirit

    Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

    1 here · 8 all-time · #853 overall

  94. 1Confessions of an Economic Hitman

    Confessions of an Economic Hitman

    John Perkins

    1 here · 8 all-time · #877 overall

  95. 1The Black Company

    The Black Company

    Glen Cook

    1 here · 7 all-time · #1011 overall

  96. 1The Hero with a Thousand Faces

    The Hero with a Thousand Faces

    Joseph Campbell

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1063 overall

  97. 1The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    Mark Twain

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1065 overall

  98. 11632

    1632

    Eric Flint

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1089 overall

  99. 1If on a winter's night a traveler

    If on a winter's night a traveler

    Italo Calvino

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1138 overall

  100. 1The Farseer Trilogy

    The Farseer Trilogy

    Robin Hobb

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1183 overall

  101. 1The Elements of Typographic Style

    The Elements of Typographic Style

    Robert Bringhurst

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1237 overall

  102. 1Art of Deception

    Art of Deception

    Kevin Mitnick

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1253 overall

  103. 1The Logic of Scientific Discovery

    The Logic of Scientific Discovery

    Karl Popper

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1256 overall

  104. 1As I Lay Dying

    As I Lay Dying

    William Faulkner

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1258 overall

  105. 1The Evolution of Cooperation

    The Evolution of Cooperation

    Robert Axelrod

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1286 overall

  106. 1The Difference Engine

    The Difference Engine

    William Gibson, Bruce Sterling

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1316 overall

  107. 1Market Wizards

    Market Wizards

    Jack D. Schwager

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1319 overall

  108. 1The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect

    The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect

    Roger Williams

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1339 overall

  109. 1The Gay Science

    The Gay Science

    Friedrich Nietzsche

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1415 overall

  110. 1Stainless Steel Rat

    Stainless Steel Rat

    Harry Harrison

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1437 overall

  111. 1What the Dormouse Said

    What the Dormouse Said

    Markoff, John

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1489 overall

  112. 1The Dilbert Principle

    The Dilbert Principle

    Scott Adams

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1635 overall

  113. 1Punished by Rewards

    Punished by Rewards

    Alfie Kohn

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1669 overall

  114. 1The Earthsea Series

    The Earthsea Series

    Ursula K. Le Guin

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1676 overall

  115. 1I, Claudius

    I, Claudius

    Robert Graves

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1716 overall

  116. 1The Four Hour Work Week

    The Four Hour Work Week

    Tim Ferriss

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1804 overall

  117. 1The Devil's Dictionary

    The Devil's Dictionary

    Ambrose Bierce

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1817 overall

  118. 1Diary

    Diary

    Chuck Palahniuk

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2024 overall

  119. 1Otherland

    Otherland

    Tad Williams

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2153 overall

  120. 1The Underground History of American Education

    The Underground History of American Education

    John Taylor Gatto

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2157 overall

  121. 1The Sound and the Fury

    The Sound and the Fury

    William Faulkner

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2191 overall

  122. 1Hannibal

    Hannibal

    Thomas Harris

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2233 overall

  123. 1Firestar

    Firestar

    Michael Flynn

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2304 overall

  124. 1Life of Pi

    Life of Pi

    Yann Martel

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2317 overall

  125. 1Patterns of Software

    Patterns of Software

    Richard P. Gabriel

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2372 overall

  126. 1His Dark Materials

    His Dark Materials

    Philip Pullman

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2403 overall