Notepad++ V 7.3.3 – Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ Issue - <AUTHOR> https://notepad-plus-plus.org/news/notepad-7.3.3-fix-cia-hacking-issue.html <comment><USER2> I know it's annoying to hear this, but I'm going to keep saying it: this stuff is silly. The DLL injection stuff in the CIA leaks should embarrass the CIA. If you're calibrating your defenses based on the idea that application programs on Windows and OS X can defend against malware, you're playing to lose.

Here's the rootkits track from Black Hat 2008 --- keep in mind that this is almost a decade old _and_ that it's public work:

* Deeper Door: Exploiting NIC Chipsets

* A New Breed of Rootkit: The System Management Mode Rootkit

* Insane Detection of Insane Rootkits

* Crafting OS X Kernel Rootkits

* Viral Infections on Cisco IOS

* Detecting And Preventing Xen Hypervisor Subversions

* Bluepilling (implementing a hypervisor rootkit) The Xen Hypervisor

This is _just one year 's_ work. If you summed all of it together, you're talking ~2.5 FTEs across 7 different research projects which we will very generously assume took a full year to develop (spoiler: no, none of them did). People who can write hypervisor rootkits command a pretty decent salary, but it's not 2x the prevailing SFBA senior salary. So this is at most mid-single- digit millions worth of work.

I don't know why the CIA has this team of people bumbling around with DLL injectors and AV bypasses. Maybe it's some weird turf thing they're doing against NSA? But the stuff in the CIA leaks is not the standard you need to be protecting yourself against.

<comment><USER3> The CIA probably isn't stupid. Why would they waste attacks like the ones you listed if the silly stuff simply works for most targets. Also those "silly stuff" things are perfect because anybody could have developed them and not necessarily a nation state actor.

Also just because some information got leaked, doesn't mean that there aren't more units / projects at the CIA where maybe the more skilled people are working and where the "good" attacks don't get leaked.

This looks to be the kind of stuff for the day in, day out operations.

<comment><USER2> This might be true for things like exploits, where every time you use them you stand a chance of burning them, so you're incentivized to keep using whatever's working. But it's not true of rootkit and implant techniques; in fact, the opposite is true: the dumber your implants, the more likely it is that your target will discover you compromised them.

<comment><USER4> The more likely it is that your target will discover someone compromised them, yes. But finding a DLL injection exploit only says "hacked by someone", whereas finding a microcode-level rootkit in the CPU pretty much says "hacked by a state actor". Which, sometimes is what you want to say (see e.g. Stuxnet), but often not. If you know the first has a 99% chance of going undetected, and the second a 99.9% chance, do you always want to risk the one that pretty much acts like a calling card?

<comment><USER5> > microcode-level rootkit

There's two ways microcode goes on Intel CPUs. The first is when it gets flashed in at the factory onto an OTP ROM. The second is when it gets uploaded to a block of internal RAM by your computer, every time it boots. That's why packages like this one ([https://www.archlinux.org/packages/extra/any/intel- ucode/](https://www.archlinux.org/packages/extra/any/intel-ucode/)) exist.

One is set at the factory, one is set by your computer every time, once at boot, before the completion of boot. Also, it's very carefully signed, so even if you managed to put a bootkit before the OS boot, you would need to steal Intel's microcode key.

Microcode is not targetable. Few things at that level are. (A decent example of something that might be more targetable at that level is a hard drive controller. Less difficult but still not easy.) The amount of engineering needed to pull off an exploit that is "99.9% chance" unnoticeable, but still persistent, is much more than that of a "99% chance".

(I know nothing of AMD's CPUs and their microcode, but I'm guessing it's much of the same.)

<comment><USER6> Knowing the NSA got to the SIM cards manufacturer master keys, I wouldn't be surprised if they had Intel's key to forge microcode updates...

<comment><USER7> The CIA took control of the SIM card manufacturer company through in-q-tel years before and willingly sold their shares just before the keys got stolen by NSA/GHCQ.

It was a big deal at the time known as "l'affaire gemplus" and it prompted the french government to set up the "Fonds stratégique d'investissement" or strategic investment fund, sort of a french in-q-tel.

Intel being a US company it is probable the US agencies have their ways with them.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> NPP still starts on my pc -I am kind of insulted that I am not important enough for the NSA to replace my .dll files.

I mean I know I am not that important but it would have boosted my ego. Way to go NSA. Thanks for nothing.

<comment><USER9> Your password is hunter2, what did you expect?

<comment><USER8> You have lost me there.

<comment><USER10> It's a joke reference to an old IRC exchange [1] about passwords.

[1] [http://www.bash.org/?244321](http://www.bash.org/?244321)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> This is a useless change. There was no issue in Notepad++. The attack involving scilexer.dll just happened to be a convenient way to inject code GIVEN you already have root access to write to the program directory. There are an endless number of other ways they could have done it in those circumstances.

<comment><USER12> It says so right in the release notes..

<comment><USER11> The release notes make some analogy about "locking your door" which is just ridiculous. This change doesn't even give the _semblance_ of increased security. It is totally just an excuse for the author to make this politically charged changelog entry.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I wonder how many CIA agents pose as innocent HackerNews commenters?

If this world is corrupted then spies are among us here too

<comment><USER14> They don't even have to be spies; judging by the leak, which had a number of personal and informal comments, CIA employees appear to be people too. I wouldn't be surprised if those working on government malware frequent HN just like you and me.

<comment><USER13> Imagine if most popular comment threads were actually actively manipulated by the CIA - sophisticated social engineering applied here too. Most popular thread here is: CIA is pathetic they just use silly tech

(I miss John C. Dvorak)

<comment><USER15> He does a couple of really good podcasts that're worth checking out.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Kudos for your first OSS contribution CIA.

</comment><comment><USER17> For v7.3.2, SHA1 for original SciLexer.dll:

x86: D7F9B9FD1459EDF6B417244E14EB5D734A973914

x64: 506F6CE3F09BFD1B0A982F2E6ECCBA397FD07BC2

1\. Downloaded .bin.zip and .bin.x64.zip from [https://notepad-plus- plus.org/download/v7.3.2.html](https://notepad-plus- plus.org/download/v7.3.2.html)

2\. Verified sha1 against [https://notepad-plus- plus.org/repository/7.x/7.3.2/npp.7.3.2...](https://notepad-plus- plus.org/repository/7.x/7.3.2/npp.7.3.2.sha1.md5.digest.txt) (for posterity: E32326B860815688302DF006C37395F13E24AABD and C81E940B04BAF11DE485068D9DCA4CD5CCE0E418)

3\. Extracted SciLexer.dll from zips

4\. Generated sha1 of SciLexer.dll

Note: The machine I tested this already had v7.3.2 installed. The hash of SciLexer.dll from my (x86) install matches the above, but independent verification is recommended over taking my word for it.

<comment><USER18> This is for 7.3.3+

<comment><USER17> >This is for 7.3.3+

v7.3.2 is the latest version without the cert check, and is thus the latest possibly vulnerable version.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> That "fix" is kinda useless. But at least he admits it in the release notes.

<comment><USER20> Yep.

> _This solution only prevents from Notepad++ loading a CIA homemade DLL. It > doesn 't prevent your original notepad++.exe from being replaced by modified > notepad++.exe while the CIA is controlling your PC._

The CIA attack is an application directory attack, and the application directory is a trusted location on Windows. See: [https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20161013-00/?p=...](https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20161013-00/?p=94505)

I guess the attack allowed them to inject code into a Notepad++ process without breaking the signature on notepad++.exe itself. There's probably some value to the CIA doing this, or they wouldn't have done it (...right?)

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> >> The DLL injection stuff in the CIA leaks should embarrass the CIA.

Haha, nice try.

No, it should embarrass the entire US public.

CIA is not some autonomous entity, its actions directly relate to the will and wants of the US government. People are not going to stand by and clap as their text editors are wiretapped. Note: I noticed the homing behavior when using it in wine, so I switched to PSPad.

</comment><comment><USER22> It's not every day you make a "fix CIA bug" commit. Kudos! lol

</comment><comment><USER23> I wonder if they just check that WinVerifyTrust() returns OK or if they bother to also check the cert thumbprint.

Because if it's the former, it's trivial to just sign dll with any key and add it to the local trusted store (if needed).

<comment><USER24> Looks like they check to see if the cert issuer is a trusted root CA and then they check that the subject name is "Notepad++"

[https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus- plus/commi...](https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus- plus/commit/b869163609473f05c4f5d1d72a579b9f6af66ccd)

<comment><USER23> Yeah, that's trivial to bypass on a compromised machine without touching their binaries or hijacking system APIs.

<comment><USER25> To be fair, most things are trivial to bypass on a compromised machine. In fact what would even be the point of loading arbitrary code into Notepad++ on an already compromised machine?

<comment><USER26> The author of Notepad++ even said it, "It doesn't prevent your original notepad++.exe from being replaced by modified notepad++.exe while the CIA is controlling your PC."

If CIA is already on your compromised machine and they want to target user of Notepad++, then they would just patched Notepad++ itself.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> Does anyone know where I can find the best summary/analysis of the CIA leaks?

Is there someone I can follow on Twitter that's doing great analysis?

<comment><USER28> I enjoy the commentary of [https://twitter.com/briankrebs](https://twitter.com/briankrebs) and [https://twitter.com/erratarob](https://twitter.com/erratarob)

</comment></comment><comment><USER29> What is the actual attack vector? The leak document just lists a dll that could be replaced to do nefarious things. How are these dlls getting replaced?

<comment><USER7> Microsoft provided backdoor into windows ?

</comment></comment><comment><USER30> If you follow the links to from the release notes to the relevant wikileaks pages, you will find a list that also include chrome, firefox, vlc, opera, libreoffice as well as Kasparsky and McAfee antivirus and many other commonly used software packages, many of them open source.

It is also the first time I have seen evidence that they also target Linux, since they have a hijacked "CMD prompt" on Linux, whatever that means. They may also have targeted Linux with the other software packages of cause.

This is really scary.

<comment><USER31> > Kasparsky and McAfee antivirus

if you had high opinions of those programs, you have bigger problems

<comment><USER30> Antivirus software is likely a net negative for computer security in general. On the other hand they are without doubt used a lot, which makes them attractive targets.

My point was more the length of the list of commonly used software than the quality of each item on the list.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER32> Is there a real need to go at this level? Notepad++ has a 3rd party plugin model which it happily auto-updates all the time. I wonder what would it take for CIA (or any big pocketed attackers) to "buy" one of those things and push updates with their own stuff. Chrome extensions are even more merky. Many of these 3rd party popular extensions would be happy to sell their business for couple of millions dollars and let buyer push whatever they wanted.

<comment><USER33> Then you get caught once, no one ever downloads your extension ever again and you just wasted a couple of million dollars.

</comment></comment><comment><USER34> Are his release notes always this... upbeat?

<comment><USER35> Notepad++ 6.7.4 Je suis Charlie edition

Notepad++ 666 Friday the 13th edition

Notepad++ 6.6.4 Tiananmen June Fourth Incident Edition

Notepad++ Workers' Day Edition (v6.6)

The last release (v6.2.3) - End of World Edition

Notepad++ 5.7 release (outside the USA)

<comment><USER36> At first I thought you were kidding, but nope, those are all real updates. Those release notes are fun to read, it's inspiring me to write release notes with more personality.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER37> Argh, we have this all over our lan. Is there anywhere I can get a copy or the md5 of the trojan scilexer.dll? Also, - how many people just downloaded these binaries?

</comment><comment><USER38> How can I check if my DLL is affected - I want to know..

<comment><USER39> There's at least two ways.

Right click the file scilexer.dll in your notepad folder and select properties. Then verify the certificate manually.

Another way is to download the same version from the notepad++ website and compare your version with theirs.

Really I wouldn't worry so much as long as you're not a CIA target they have no incentive to spent the time to deploy such a DLL on your system.

</comment></comment><comment><USER40> There's a scilexer.dll in atmel studio which is based on visual studio. does anyone know if it is the same?

<comment><USER41> You could probably replace it with a "known safe" DLL and be just fine.

SciLexer.dll is for Scintilla, which is a fancy GUI widget for code. The lexer is part of the parser that determines the things like what code to highlight, scope folding, etc.

<comment><USER39> SciLexer is also the editor control itself, not just the parser.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER42> Dude. If they are able to replace the dll, they can replace the exe and remove the checks

<comment><USER43> He writes that in the release notes:

> Checking the certificate of a DLL makes it harder to hack. Note that once > users' PCs are compromised, the hackers can do anything on the PCs. This > solution only prevents from Notepad++ loading a CIA homemade DLL. It doesn't > prevent your original notepad++.exe from being replaced by modified > notepad++.exe while the CIA is controlling your PC.

</comment></comment><comment><USER44> Now I can blame that it was CIA who wrote bad code, not Me!!

</comment><comment><USER45> anyone else having a similar issue when updating?

[https://imgur.com/a/QoQsq](https://imgur.com/a/QoQsq)

</comment><comment><USER46> I win for vimscript, we can read the plugins.

<comment><USER47> When is the last time you have run a plugin audit?

This is actually more secure as vim doesn't support plugin signing. (Not that this signing matters until you verify the entire stack which very few people do).

<comment><USER46> I've never done it thoroughly,but I have looked through most plugins to get ideas on developing my own.

All signing does is prove it wasn't modified, not that it's legit.

<comment><USER47> I'm not familiar with notepad++'s signing but I was hoping that you could somehow restrict the list of keys.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER48> That was fast.

<comment><USER49> He's using Notepad++.

<comment><USER50> (¬‿¬) this guy

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER51> ok

</comment><comment><USER52> > Just like knowing the lock is useless for people who are willing to go into > my house, I still shut the door and lock it every morning when I leave home. > We are in a f __king corrupted world, unfortunately.

He fucking nailed it. This is what all of us are feeling. It's almost like, _we are collectively being punished_ by trying to make shit more secure. It makes me dysphoric with hopelessness.

I can no longer proudly claim the West is free. We are living in a surveillance state. It's going to be hard to point fingers at other authoritative regimes around the world using the same tools.

I sometimes feel as if the West is a giant hypocrisy because of the double standards it upholds but relatively better than it's counterparts. Lesser evils.

<comment><USER53> _I can no longer proudly claim the West is free. We are living in a surveillance state._

That's a little disrespectful to those who actually lived in surveillance states. Is your neighbor watching you, ready to report you to the state for suspected subversive activities?

Even if you were engaged in actual subversive activities, like reading and publishing terrorist propaganda or selling drugs at scale, Tor makes it possible to do this with relatively little risk to yourself. It's still risky, but nothing like it used to be. And even if the government knows that you do these things, how much of a threat do you need to pose before they'll act against you in particular? The governments of old would routinely act against large numbers of their population for far less.

I'm not arguing for complacency, but it's important to keep perspective.

<comment><USER54> "If you see something, say something" is an actual campaign run during the last administration. It wasn't taken as seriously as what you mention, but the same spirit was/is there.

<comment><USER55> >"If you see something, say something"

Perhaps a slightly different context but I have heard this almost verbatim a few days ago on buses and trains in Birmingham, UK.

If I'm not mistaken too, I believe that "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear" is also something the Govt used a few years ago.

<comment><USER56> "See it, say it, sorted" is the current British Transport Police campaign:

[http://www.btp.police.uk/latest_news/see_it_say_it_sorted_ne...](http://www.btp.police.uk/latest_news/see_it_say_it_sorted_new_natio.aspx)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER57> "I can no longer proudly claim the West is free. We are living in a surveillance state."

This has been the case for a very long time.

Nothing is new under the sun - but now lots of people are seeing things for what they are.

<comment><USER58> The problem is that it isn't only our state or other states that are surveilled. It's the entire internet.

<comment><USER59> The problem is that the majority of people simply don't care.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER60> Wow. This is huge.. Take a peek. [https://wikileaks.org/ciav7p1/cms/page_17760284.html](https://wikileaks.org/ciav7p1/cms/page_17760284.html)</comment>


Apple left App Store open to attack: Google researcher - <AUTHOR> http://www.zdnet.com/apple-left-app-store-open-to-attack-google-researcher-7000012372/ <comment><USER2> We need a researcher to tell us that non-HTTPS connections are MITM-able? Or did he simply Wireshark it and notice it was HTTP instead of HTTPS? Or am I simply expecting too much of zdnet?

<comment><USER3> Seriously. It's amazing how many services do this. Xbox LIVE and PSN are two other examples.</comment></comment>


Apple at BlackHat: Reopening the "Going Dark" Debate - <AUTHOR> https://lawfareblog.com/apple-blackhat-reopening-going-dark-debate <comment><USER2> Sounds like Apple should ban PINs on iOS sooner rather than later, maybe even starting with the next version.</comment>


Ask HN: Recommend one book I need to read this summer? - <AUTHOR> I'm coming up on my summer leave, and have absolutely no plans other than doing various things related to house maintenance or renovation. Evenings are mostly free. If you could recommend one book I should plan on reading this summer, what should it be and why. No limitations on genre, it doesn't have to be related to CS. <comment><USER3> Patrick Collison, co-founder of Stripe, keeps a cool reading list with tons of books, color coded by the impact they had on him. He's clearly a voracious reader on a wide range of topics. I happened to find it yesterday and found tons of books and authors to add to my Amazon wishlists: [https://patrickcollison.com/bookshelf](https://patrickcollison.com/bookshelf)

If you're interested in games / startup stories, I have to recommend Masters of Doom, about the early days of id. It's thrilling and exciting to read: [https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed- Cult...](https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed- Culture/dp/0812972155) \- It's also in the news that USA has ordered a pilot for a TV adaptation. Here's hoping it's good!

<comment><USER4> _Masters of Doom_ had a much bigger impact on me then I thought it would. Can really recommend it!

<comment><USER5> I read that a year or two ago and find myself quite often thinking about it. It really is very good

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> My to-go favorite for relaxed summer evenings is "The Master and Margarita" by Bulgakov.

It is a literature masterpiece that magically adjusts to my current inner state. It can be both easy reading when I'm tired and just want to unwind, and thought provoking when I'm ready to be thoughtful.

[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/117833.The_Master_and_Ma...](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/117833.The_Master_and_Margarita)

<comment><USER7> I started reading "The Master and Margarita" this year after seeing this title pop up on HN so often. I could not finish it, I found it rather boring. I'm curious, am I the only one? What does everyone find so great about this book?

<comment><USER8> I read it earlier this year and also can't understand why it's so highly recommended. If I were living in the Soviet Union during the time it was written it would probably be the greatest book I had ever read, but as someone just looking for something to read nowadays, I mean, so, so many other better choices.

<comment><USER9> That is an incredibly limited view. How many amazing books written in "add country" during "add time" which are classics and amazing books. Sure, there is always an opportunity cost, but what does it have to do where you are living and the time it was written? Does it mean you can only read books written after the new millennia?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> I always think that learning probability can not only help you to gain more intuition when dealing with scientific relative subjects but also empower you to think the daily life things in a different way. I recommend Introduction of probability [1] since it's easy to study and provides great free video lectures [2].

[1] - [https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Probability-Dimitri-P- Be...](https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Probability-Dimitri-P- Bertsekas/dp/188652940X)

[2] - [https://ocw.mit.edu/resources/res-6-012-introduction-to- prob...](https://ocw.mit.edu/resources/res-6-012-introduction-to-probability- spring-2018/)

<comment><USER11> yeah, statistics rocks! One area which I am fascinated about is Bayesian methods and here is the excellent book [https://gumroad.com/l/empirical- bayes](https://gumroad.com/l/empirical-bayes)

<comment><USER12> What about the Bayesian has been fascinating?

I have a very rough idea about it and i wanted to learn more. Is this book based out on Baseball statistics any good when i don't know anything about baseball?

<comment><USER11> it's just the fact that one simple formula drives everything and there is the infinite number of applications - from A/B testing to deriving poker play strategies against opponents based on the small number of observations. I don't think that lack of knowledge about baseball can prevent anyone from reading this book. The author explains everything by using very simple terms. But you need to have some knowledge of R programming language to run the code samples.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I'd have to recommend 'A deepness in the sky' and 'A fire upon the deep' by Vernor Vinge. Both really good science fiction books where your initial perception is slowly shown to be incorrect as more details appear about the characters, and with great storylines. Despite being thick tomes with small print, I got through both reasonably quickly as they were so addictive to read - 'just one more chapter', etc...

<comment><USER14> If you enjoyed those books, I'd recommend _Children of Time_ by Adrian Tchaikovsky as well! It explores the concept of a race of spiders evolving into sentience and how wildly different it's civilization and technology would be.

<comment><USER15> > I'd recommend Children of Time

I agree! Like the Vinge books mentioned by the GP, the interactions between aliens and humans are well written, and nicely bring out the quirks of the different species.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman" and "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out", also by Richard Feynman.

He worked on the Manhattan Project among other things, writes in a very engaging way and shares a huge number of funny anecdotes. Yet he is also thought-provoking, for example introducing the idea of nanotechnology, explains why he is against pompous titles and posing, and how he struggled with staying creative.

Besides funny stories and grand ideas, there's also a heartbreaking personal struggle. One of those books years after reading I find myself randomly thinking about sometimes.

<comment><USER17> Richard Feynman inspired Ralph Leighton to get curious about Tannu Tuva, an area in central Asia. Which led Leighton to write, "Tuva or Bust!" about his travels there. [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60349.Tuva_or_Bust](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60349.Tuva_or_Bust)

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> I've really enjoyed Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Lila by Robert M. Pirsig.

EDIT: Also, The Phoenix Project is very very good if you are into IT management: funny, and although a novel then the content will make you want to fix your company and perhaps even think bigger about your carrer. But this one won't last you a summer since if you read it that slow you'll forget what was going on. :)

<comment><USER5> After reading recommendations everywhere I read Motorcycle Maintenance but I just didn't get what all the fuss was about. I was completely bored all the way through and still have no idea what it is people see in it.

<comment><USER19> I felt exactly the same way, and this as someone who spent their entire life surrounded by motorcycles. The philosophical insights just felt a bit... corny? And the rest was just plain boring.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> Blindsight by Peter Watts Very strong hard sci-fi with mind-bending approach to the question of conscience. And vampires (not the Twilight kind, the scary kind).

[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48484.Blindsight](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48484.Blindsight)

Fair warning: it's kinda pessimistic on the future of humankind.

If you like it, proceed to Echopraxia. More hard sci-fi, more vampires, even worse news for humankind.

<comment><USER21> Someone posted this on a previous book list and I read it and I'm so glad I did, now I've read Echopraxia, and I've bought all his other books and I'm on those as well, totally awesome. I still think about this series and the vampires and hive minds.

</comment></comment><comment> jor-el Thinking, fast and slow - by Daniel Kahneman

It is a great book and talks about two systems in which we can divide the working of our brain. Kahneman also talks exposes the extraordinary capabilities—and also the faults and biases—of fast thinking, and reveals the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and behavior.

[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11468377-thinking- fast-a...](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11468377-thinking-fast-and- slow)

<comment><USER22> Others already wrote that lots of the studies this book is based on have been called into question, here's a summary: [https://replicationindex.com/2017/02/02/reconstruction- of-a-...](https://replicationindex.com/2017/02/02/reconstruction-of-a-train- wreck-how-priming-research-went-of-the-rails/)

Please note also that Kahneman himself left a comment there stating: "I accept the basic conclusions of this blog."

<comment><USER23> Kahneman, like any scientist, can only really present our best thinking at the time of writing. It's not like anything he wrote about was conjecture or pseudoscience. There are studies to back everything he wrote about. In most cases, there was and still is ample evidence. Some are now considered questionable after contrary evidence was found. None have really been "disproven" but are much less certain. And I don't think he presented any of it with an air of mathematically certainty. Still a great book.

<comment><USER20> It is important to separate wrong results from the person who does or publishes them. There's always chance that some research fails to reproduce. Proper controls and methodology reduce it, but it's still there. Especially in fields where the science just begins to understand the basics and where the matters are as complex and diverse as human behavior. We shouldn't be afraid to question the conclusions if they don't reproduce because it might imply that it was "conjecture or pseudoscience". Sometimes it is, but often it isn't - it's just this particular theory proven to be not true. Happens all the time to the very best of scientists.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> Perhaps the most important book I've ever read is Difficult Conversations, by Douglas Stone. It's possible that my life is 10-20% easier since I read it, with zero hyperbole.

It's not a breezy quick read, but my favourite sci-fi is always likely to be Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson.

<comment><USER25> In what ways did reading Difficult Conversations make your life easier? Very curious to learn more (it's been on my list for a while, but need to motivate myself to get around to it)!

On that note, have you ever read Non-violent Communication? Seems like another book in the same vein.

<comment><USER24> I'm making this as a separate comment so that if there's one thing you take away, it's this:

 _Whatever someone says they are upset about is only rarely what they are actually upset about._

This seems simple and obvious in hindsight, but to truly internalize it has changed my life experience. They aren't sad that you forgot to call; they are concerned that you don't love them. It's almost like when someone is upset, you should try dropping down at least one level of Maslow's hierarchy to interrogate "what's really going on, here" because the upset person is frequently not consciously aware of what they are really upset about, either.

To that end, if you practice consoling people by addressing what they are feeling instead of what they are saying, it might as well be like gaining a superpower. And _that_ is why I put this book at the top of any list. It is the real deal in this regards.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> I would recommend Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (Hays Translation) along with On the Shortness of Life by Seneca. These 2 books together will introduce you to the Stoic philosophy which I just found a couple of years ago and it has made my life much better.

<comment><USER27> I have always been of the opinion that you ought to read the stoics in the order of:

1\. Epictetus (foundational with the enchiridion) [trans Robert Dobbin] 2\. Seneca's letters (eloquent exhortations from one person to another) [trans Robin Campbell] 3\. Aurelius's meditations (powerful self-reflections not meant for publication) [trans Martin Hammond]

I found that, going back, both Seneca or Epictetus were lesser reads than Aurelius, but I'm still glad I read them.

[These are my preferred translations, but I did see this comment and just ordered the translation mentioned [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8717216](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8717216)]

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> A special book that I'm thoroughly enjoying right now: "Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts"[1].

Why? I'll let the abstract speak:

 _" [...] The idea for the book, which is entirely new, is to invite the reader into intimate conversations with twelve of the most famous manuscripts in existence and to explore with the author what they tell us about nearly a thousand years of medieval history - and sometimes about the modern world too. Christopher de Hamel introduces us to kings, queens, saints, scribes, artists, librarians, thieves, dealers, collectors and the international community of manuscript scholars, showing us how he and his fellows piece together evidence to reach unexpected conclusions. He traces the elaborate journeys which these exceptionally precious artefacts have made through time and space, shows us how they have been copied, who has owned them or lusted after them (and how we can tell), how they have been embroiled in politics and scholarly disputes, how they have been regarded as objects of supreme beauty and luxury and as symbols of national identity. The book touches on religion, art, literature, music, science and the history of taste.

"Part travel book, part detective story, part conversation with the reader, Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts conveys the fascination and excitement of encountering some of the greatest works of art in our culture which, in the originals, are to most people completely inaccessible. At the end, we have a slightly different perspective on history and how we come by knowledge. It is a most unusual book."_

        - - -

PS: Get the hardcover edition—absolutely worth it, especially given the subject matter; it's about 600 pages (don't let the page count discourage you) and is beautifully bound, with lots of educating pictures of internals of manuscripts, calligraphic masterpieces and much more.

[1] [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/213/213069/meetings-with- rem...](https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/213/213069/meetings-with-remarkable- manuscripts/9780141977492.html)

</comment><comment><USER29> I mainly read SF to relax (biased towards hard space opera) and have accumulated a "best of the best" list of my own:

Leviathan Wakes - James S. A. Corey (TV show The Expanse is loosely based on this, but IMO doesn't even come close)

Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds

Three Body Problem (all 3 books) - Liu Cixin

Consider Phlebas - Iain M. Banks (your gateway drug into the Culture universe)

Genuinely wish I could experience all the above for the first time again. And looking forward to checking out some of the others mentioned here.

<comment><USER30> > Three Body Problem (all 3 books) - Liu Cixin

These are great and helped me re-discover my love of sci-fi from when I was a kid, they are often recommended in these HN book threads. I just ordered the other 3 books that you mentioned so thanks for the recommendations!

<comment><USER31> TBP is probably the worst sci-fi book I've ever read. It's hard to say how much one should blame Cixin vs. the translator regarding the inept, wooden dialogue, but we can certainly blame Cixin for terrible character development and absurd plot points.

<comment><USER29> Well, there's no accounting for taste I suppose - needless to say I disagree, but if it wasn't for you, so be it. I do note the books seem a little divisive; people either love them or hate them, much like Stephenson.

I do understand how some people might find the dialogue somewhat strange, especially if they haven't had much exposure to foreign media before. The translator always has a choice as to how much they "westernize" the dialogue. This translator did indeed try to keep as much of the Chinese "tone" in there as he could, and as such if you were expecting totally normal English, I can see how you'd be disappointed.

So yes, anyone thinking about picking this up should be aware - it doesn't read like a Tom Clancy novel. If that doesn't scare you off, though, I think you'll find it most rewarding.

<comment><USER31> My specific complaint with the dialogue is that nearly every character talks in the same way: robotic and professorial. It's a symptom of Liu's poor character design, especially when it comes to female characters. His characters' motivations are often opaque so their actions are inexplicable.

I could forgive this (even Arthur C. Clarke wasn't much interested in characters) if it wasn't for some of the laughably absurd plot points the novel hinges on.

<comment><USER32> This way of speaking is believable for Chinese scientists and militaries. The cop had a very different tone.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER33> Why everyone is recommending even more work for on your summer leave is beyond me. I'd personally recommend Ready Player One, perhaps use an audiobook (I love them). I personally listened to the one voiced by Wil Wheaton and it was fantastically done. Definitely recommended! It is a lot better than the movie in case you're wondering.

<comment><USER34> You have every right to enjoy this book. But for anyone who has read Ready Player One and absolutely hated it as much as I did, there is a hilarious podcast called 372 Pages We'll Never Get Back (from the guys of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Rifftrax) that mocks the book chapter-by-chapter.

<comment><USER33> Why did you finish the book? I just don't finish the books that I find a drag to read. I won't listen to the podcast, but everyone is free to have their own opinions.

<comment><USER34> I promised a friend. It was a pretty short book as well so it was easy to blow through.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER35> _War and Peace_ by Tolstoy (I like the Volokhonsky and Pevear translation, though I first read a different one that I also liked and now can't remember). If you read it casually, it'll take you most of the summer; if you race through it, you might be done in a few weeks. It's funny, it's tragic, it's moving, it's educational.

<comment><USER36> Strongly second this. However, it starts very slow, so, if you do read it, make sure to force yourself through the first handful of chapters.

</comment></comment><comment><USER37> Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, SF from 1992. Goodreads entry here [1]

[1] [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40651883-snow- crash](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40651883-snow-crash)

<comment><USER38> Recently finished this, I enjoyed it a lot but I admit it's not... quite what I expected with the heavy religious aspect of the book. Deliberately irreverent, almost tongue-in-cheek (Hiro Protaganist...). Neal Stephenson had an incredible eye wrt the capabilities limitations of software, especially if you view it through the lens of 1992

</comment></comment><comment><USER39> Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou

The ride to the top and then rock bottom for Theranos is a wild one, and the author does a great job of not letting you put this book down once you start.

<comment><USER40> I would recommend this book to every young person just entering the workforce. Many companies are outright built on lies and many managers, C levels especially, are manipulative psychopaths. Don't sell your soul, don't lose your sanity, don't doubt your skills, even if a whole room of wealthy and venerable yesman point finger at you - there is a good chance it is not you who is crazy, it is them.

</comment></comment><comment><USER41> Books on interacting with people.

How to Win Friends and Influence People. - Dale Carnegie

Influence - Robert Cialdini

Books on understanding how to push through adversity

The Obstacle Is The Way - Ryan Holiday

Man's Search For Meaning - Victor Frankly

Books on process improvement

The Phoenix Project

The Four Hour Work Week - Tim Ferriss (ignore the outsourcing bit, listen to his podcast)

Books on breaking out of your thought bubble.

Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell

Ishmael - David Quinn

Books for understanding how sales works

Ultimate Sales Machine - Chet Holmes

Negotiate As If Your Life Depended on It - Chris Voss

Any of these books are great starts. If the leadership big bites you there's way more I can suggest. Most of these are a mix of classics and new stuff. I've read them all and they want have their own style and provide their own insight. The trick is to find out what parts work with how you do and incorporate them into your flow. The learning process never ends.

<comment><USER42> I'll disagree with Viktor Frankl, not because I've read the book - but it is worth knowing the man was a questionable person and his ideas have some questions over them too: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Frankl#Controversy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Frankl#Controversy)

<comment><USER41> There's valid criticisms that can be made of any book and any author. The question isn't whether the reader gets benefit or not in my eyes. We read books from Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, Marcus Aurelius, and all sorts of historical people who have advocated or committed actual atrocities. Many of our heroes are warriors with imperfect lives that history has white washed. General Patton for example was a brilliant general who knew what it took to win a war, but was harsh on his troops often to the point of cruel. General Sherman burned civilian cities to the ground and let slaves drown in his mission to end the civil war. Rev. Martin Luther King was a womanizer. To take the important lessons one can learn from a person who has failed in one way but succeeded to find the positive aspects of life and shared them is what allows for all human advancement. We don't succeed because we are without fault, but because we overcome that fault.

<comment><USER37> Thanks for your point and great examples.

They succeeded because they [somehow, for one reason or another] got away with their bad traits (or what we perceive as bad trait nowadays), and they became famous because of their good traits.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER43> That has to be Factfulness from Hans Rosling :-)

Why: Where journalists continuosly provide the trees of human progress, this book provides the forest.

</comment><comment><USER44> "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by Robert Heinlein. A wonderfully in depth look at a society that grew up in the harshest conditions, and their revolution against tyrannical oppression.

</comment><comment><USER45> Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence [by Max Tegmark]

> When they launched, Prometheus was slightly worse than them at programming > AI systems, but made up for this by being vastly faster, spending the > equivalent of thousands of person-years chugging away at the problem while > they chugged a Red Bull. By 10 a.m., it had completed the first redesign of > itself, v2.0, which was slightly better but still subhuman. By the time > Prometheus 5.0 launched at 2 p.m., however, the Omegas were awestruck: it > had blown their performance benchmarks out of the water, and the rate of > progress seemed to be accelerating. By nightfall, they decided to deploy > Prometheus 10.0 to start phase 2 of their plan: making money.

<comment><USER46> I always found that book shallow. I only read it because of Elon Musk being mentioned

<comment><USER47> I found the name dropping (Elon Musk etc) rather tedious. The book wasn't as good as I expected it to be.

<comment><USER46> Yes and that's the only reason I picked up the book. Because back in the day I was obsessed (2017-2018) with him and the book literal advice is getting a job not like musk but a special skill that automation can't replace

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER48> I really enjoyed Never Split the Difference. The stories are good, and I still use the practical tips on negotiation and conversation all the time.

<comment><USER49> +1

I am glad this is mentioned here, as I was about to. One of the most useful book I have read. Lots of practical advice.

</comment></comment><comment><USER50> I'd recommend _The selfish gene_ , quite interesting book, it gave me a new perspective in how the evolution and life works.

<comment><USER51> Plus one. I'm reading this now. I have little interest in biology/zoology but already I'm gripped by it. I can't believe how old it is, yet still feels fresh

</comment></comment><comment><USER52> Carter beats the devil, by Glen David Gold. It is sort of a mystery-thriller fiction novel, set in a real-ish historical context of stage magicians, when technology is entering the scene.

I found it very enjoyable, rarely read books in that kind of fictional setting, and have successfully recommended it to a number of friends and family. I can't recommend the author's other books though. It has nothing to do with CS.

I should add that this is not a book you will see commonly recommended, since it isn't on many people's top 10-20 lists. However, I originally read it on a summer holiday from work - and I hope others will share in enjoying it too.

</comment><comment><USER53> _On the Shortness of Life_ by Seneca.[1]

[1] - [https://tripinsurancestore.com/4/on-the-shortness-of- life.pd...](https://tripinsurancestore.com/4/on-the-shortness-of-life.pdf)

<comment><USER54> On the genre of Stoicism, Marcus Aurelius has intrigued me for some time. I have yet to read any of Seneca's work though but imagine that it is any bit as much quality(!).

I would like to add a candidate for the recommendation on Stoic philosophy - "Meditations by Marcus Aurelius".

<comment><USER55> Meditations disappointed me, it was so obviously never meant as a coherent whole. Just long lists of notes in more or less random order, lots of repetition, not everything intelligible, few things applicable.

I think reading a randomly selected 1/6th of Meditations gives more or less the same experience as reading all of it.

<comment><USER56> I find it great to dip into. Open at random and read a page. Like you said, it's just not meant to be read as a whole.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER57> Inner Engineering by Sadhguru. For me it was an unexpectedly transformational when I read it 6 months ago.

Unlike the stoicism books that teach you to condition yourself to be unaffected by external events, this is a method for taking charge of what goes on inside the body and (in my case) in the mind and emotions.

As an aside, if you haven't tried audiobooks, I would recommend trying. I find that after a while day of staring at the screen I really don't want to stare at anything else, so my book consumption dropped considerably. With audiobooks I was able to restore it somewhat (and it's great for filling in lost time during driving).

<comment><USER58> Not to take away anything from your experience. Obviously Sadhguru and his teachings worked for you.

To me Sadhguru comes across as a person who made a good living for himself by telling others what they want to hear. As a person of science, I can't tolerate his 'scientific' theories which are downright wrong. This is person who said he can figure out if a food is spoiled by looking at the direction of rotation of a rudhraksha necklace held above it!

You can find more examples here: [https://scroll.in/article/927625/opinion- the-disturbing-irra...](https://scroll.in/article/927625/opinion-the- disturbing-irrationalism-of-jaggi-vasudev)

<comment><USER57> Your perspective is yours to chose.

I chose to see him as a great human being who inspires many people to do a lot of good for his country and the world. [1] Really, the state the world is in, the fact that he is really big on planting trees means I don't care if he's into Xenu - just keep planting those trees man! ;)

Jokes aside though, my perspective allowed me to benefit from his teaching and yours precludes you from doing so. Interesting, isn't it?

As for "science": the only thing I care about is what I know through direct experience. So I follow the simple rule of practicing something for 3 months without questioning and evaluating the results. If it works, I keep at it - <USER2> I'm keeping at it. I also recently took the opportunity to meet Sadhguru in person. This to me is better "science" than theoretical discussions.

[1] [https://isha.sadhguru.org/sites/default/files/uploadpdf/OUT1...](https://isha.sadhguru.org/sites/default/files/uploadpdf/OUT18_Anukampa- IshaOutreachReport-Interactive.pdf)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER59> Read an intro book on biology at university level. I think I read this one, but feel free to grab a newer one:

[https://www.amazon.com/Zoology-Robert- Dorit/dp/0030305047/re...](https://www.amazon.com/Zoology-Robert- Dorit/dp/0030305047/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=zoology+Dorit+walker&qid=1562059433&s=books&sr=1-1)

I used to read books on physics, but I think I learned an order of magnitude more about the world we live in from the above book, and it didn't require more than a high school level understanding of chemistry and biology. I read three more books on various topics in biology afterwards.

Otherwise, if you are the sort of person who can stomach a theoretical book, Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed is really the kind of book that takes a while to get through, but you start seeing things differently afterwards. It discusses how large organizations can mean well and do evil.

</comment><comment><USER60> Strange not to found it here yet:

Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy

What's better than to have a good laugh, even if already read it, is always a nice book. And if you finish it fast, you have the rest of the series ahead.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> The list looks great so far, with lots of books and authors I would never otherwise hear about. A big thank you to everyone who has contributed so far.

Please keep it coming, but try to stick to one book each. This isn't as much about keeping the list short, more to make you decide on one title which is more interesting than the others you've read.

</comment><comment><USER61> When I was a pre-teen/teen, I grew up in a pretty nerdy family with a scientist dad, a brother who eventually became a linguist, and stacks of Byte Magazine, Omni, Particle Physics Digest, etc. as far as the eye could see. I couldn't stomach the fantasy stuff my brother was into, and I was a bit on the technical side, so I decided my genre was Sci Fi. I followed this to the point that I felt deeply guilty for reading anything else, until one summer I found myself at a cabin somewhere with nothing to do but lay in a hammock and read _Double Whammy_ by Carl Hiaasen. Oh my God, it went down so easy compared to the Sci Fi. It really made me realize a joy in recreational reading that's stuck for 30 years. Now I'm not saying that Florida Humor Noir is right for you, but don't feel obligated to spend your summer reading something like _Nudge_ or _Crucial Conversations_.

</comment><comment><USER62> Last year a friend showed me trailer of a game called The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, I found its story so fascinating that I ended up reading all of its 8 books in a single month. If you like reading fantasy, do not miss it.

<comment><USER63> I just recently stumbled across the "The Wichter" series and found it interesting. I haven't read all of them yet though. They sort of remind me of "Wheel of time" but with a sort of different twist.

</comment></comment><comment><USER64> Lots of great mentions here, book-related HN threads are fantastic.

As for my recommendation:

\- technical - "Mythical Man-Month", if you haven't read it yet, \- "Dune" by Frank Herbert - I just love re-reading it in the summer!

</comment><comment><USER65> In the wake of new attempts to "ban encryption", I'd recommend reading Crypto by Steven Levy (2001).

[https://www.stevenlevy.com/index.php/books/crypto](https://www.stevenlevy.com/index.php/books/crypto)

<comment><USER66> _The Code Book_ [0] by Simon Singh (1999) is another famed popular science book that offers a non-technical introduction to cryptography and its history, there's also an indie game [1] _Cypher_ by Matthew Brown (2018) inspirited by the book.

[0] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Code_Book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Code_Book)

[1] [https://store.steampowered.com/app/746710/Cypher/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/746710/Cypher/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER67> Someone recommended Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss here recently. I read it and found it invaluable.

Packed full of quality advice and techniques that you can use out of the box. The real-life stories he had from his FBI negotiating days make it an easy read.

</comment><comment><USER68> Regardless of your religious beliefs (I'm a very happy aethist) I found Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth hugely interesting.

As a tool to understand the people of the time, the stories that grew and the 'person' behind the dominant religion of the Western World - there is no book that comes close.

Don't expect to have fun chats with religious (Christian) friends after reading this though, as much of what you learn will differ from the bible that they were taught, or the uniqueness of Jesus as a prophet/zealot.

Still - a book that I found a hugely interesting historical/religious read last summer, and one I recommend to my friends.

<comment><USER69> I don't find Zealot any more damning than The DaVinci Code.

Jean Danielou wrote a book about the Dead Sea Scrolls, Qumran, and the Essenes way back in the 80's that explains how it's all related and what it means for Christianity.

I personally had a "not fun" chat with an atheist friend about Zealot because I pointed out how much silly conjecture and assumptions are underlying the book.

<comment><USER68> Like religion, it is heavily based on conjecture and assumption - but one that I heartily read and enjoyed. It is nice to get a different point of view and a challenge to the stories that I'd been told were 'true' as a child - eg Joseph returning to Bethlehem

What specifically did you find silly, if you don't mind me asking?

I'll look out for the Dead Sea Scrolls book, I listened to a hugely interesting series of lectures about them on Audible and was left wanting more, but hadn't found a good book yet.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER70> I found "Sapiens" absolutely fascinating and incredibly dense in information.

<comment><USER71> I found it 50% of things I already knew. I got dissapointed with author lack of knowledge how farming works. He just keeps going on how those hunter gatherers had it all good and farming started to break people backs and stuff. When farming you work hard 2 times a year, rest of the year you just check out on stuff and myabe round up some animals. But it is not 365 days a year back breaking labor.

I was dissapointed with that book, maybe because everyone was saying it is great book, so I had high expectations.

<comment><USER72> The hype is ruining me some movies and books as well..

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER73> If you like sci-fi, I would recommend Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. It really had some weird twists ! :)) [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27833670-dark- matter](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27833670-dark-matter)

</comment><comment><USER74> The Book of Why, by Judea Pearl.

[http://bayes.cs.ucla.edu/WHY/](http://bayes.cs.ucla.edu/WHY/)

<comment><USER75> I'm in the middle of it and I feel - maybe weird could be a right word, regading the book.

It is very verbose in explaining how stupid statistics and statisticians were before the causal revolution orchestrated mainly by the author were. And how magnificiently efficient and simple these new concepts with causation diagrams are for uncovering causal relationships.

But for some reason I have completely missed how you come up with these diagrams in the first place, and how you actually, practically use the data to validate if the diagram you have come up with is correct. In other words, the book has completely failed to help me build any kind of mental model how I should apply this magnificent new idea in practice.

Is that just me being dumb or would there be some other sources worth reading for yhe same concepts? (Yes, I _am_ intrigued with the question how to evaluate causal statements)

<comment><USER76> I think you'll enjoy this piece titled "Bayesian Networks without Tears".

[https://www.cs.ubc.ca/~murphyk/Bayes/Charniak_91.pdf](https://www.cs.ubc.ca/~murphyk/Bayes/Charniak_91.pdf)

The author of this paper/article attempts to make Judea Pearl's concepts digestible while keeping a good balance between using math (not much) but still referring to the relevant mathematical concepts.

I'm currently (re-)exploring these concepts (specifically Bayesian networks) and would be happy to chat (check profile) if you end up reading this paper or finding different sources which help you grok the field!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER77> "What is Real" by Adam Becker. He presents the sociology of why the Copenhagen interpretation persisted for so long, despite strong opposition early on and refutations of Von Neumann's work on why it had to be true.

Once into the modern world, he provides an overview of current interpretations and their experimental support.

Becker's book is, I think, the best lay person's explanation of the problems QM was invented to solve, the Copenhagen Interpretation itself, and several of the more modern interpretations.

Great, mind bending read.

</comment><comment><USER78> If you like Michael Lewis (the big short, moneyball, etc) try his favorite novel: The Confederacy of Dunces. The main character is an antihero. This can bother some people. The story about the book which is usually in the prelude is interesting and tragic. Really good fiction.

</comment><comment><USER79> I can't recommend "Into thin air" by John Krakauer enough.

A true story written with naked emotion by someone who experienced the life altering disaster on Everest.

It's all too relevant right now with another recent calamity on Everest.

An excerpt from the opening words:

"The Everest climb had rocked my life to its core, and it became desperately important for me to record the events in complete detail, unconstrained by a limited number of column inches. This book is the fruit of that compulsion...

Several authors and editors I respect counseled me not to write the book as quickly as I did; they urged me to wait two or three years and put some distance between me and the expedition in order to gain some crucial perspective. Their advice was sound, but in the end I ignored it—mostly because what happened on the mountain was gnawing my guts out. I thought that writing the book might purge Everest from my life. It hasn't, of course. Moreover, I agree that readers are often poorly served when an author writes as an act of catharsis, as I have done here. But I hoped something would be gained by spilling my soul in the calamity's immediate aftermath, in the roil and torment of the moment. I wanted my account to have a raw, ruthless sort of honesty that seemed in danger of leaching away with the passage of time and the dissipation of anguish."

<comment><USER80> He does have an incredible writing style ("voice"). Compelling read, admittedly I only finished half - thanks for the reminder.

</comment></comment><comment><USER81> If you don't sleep 8+ hours every night: Matthew Walker - Why We Sleep

<comment><USER82> Also, the Circardian Code by Satchin Panda.

I have read both recently, and there is a lot of overlap, but the Circardian Code goes beyond sleep into nutrition and execise, as well.

<comment><USER81> Oh yes, definitely. Another one from these experts is Valter Longo with his book "The Longevity Diet". All three of them were interviewed by Rhonda Patrick [https://www.youtube.com/user/FoundMyFitness/videos](https://www.youtube.com/user/FoundMyFitness/videos) for people who like to watch/listen before reading. Matthew was also a guest in Joe Rogan Experience [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwaWilO_Pig](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwaWilO_Pig)

<comment><USER82> I found only one point in which Satchin Panda and Matthew Walker were disagreeing:

Satchin said that there were no (genetic) sleep types among humans (who prefer to get up and go to bed early, or late) referencing a paper in which a group of students went on a hiking and camping trip where they all synchronized to the same rhythm after a few days of exposure to all natural light.

Matthew, on the other hand, says that there are definitely variations in sleep time preference in humans, with a genetic base and recommends to find out so that the ideal time windows for work and sleeps are chosen. Does not give a reference, sadly.

Not sure what to make of it, really.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER83> Basically anything by Simon Singh, I mostly enjoyed the Code Book and the Big Bang, Fermat's Last Theorem was also solid.

Detailed yet extremely readable for a very wide audience.

</comment><comment><USER84> A few people already recommended this already but I'll add some of my thoughts.

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight. It's a memoir by the founder of Nike. The book goes deep into his emotional rollercoaster, starting from nothing to eventually going IPO.

<comment><USER72> I read it this year, one of my favorites for sure.

</comment></comment><comment><USER85> If you have the whole summer to read a book, check out The Power Broker by Robert Caro. It's the story about the rise and fall of Robert Moses. His accumulation of power and how he basically built modern New York and his impact on the 20th century.

I'm in the middle of reading it, it's very good. It's long though. Something like 1400 pages or 66 hours of audio. So you'll need the summer to finish it!

</comment><comment><USER86> Neurosis and human growth by Karen Horney

Neverending story by Michael Ende

It is interesting to read these two together - they are basically the same book, just expressed differently.

</comment><comment><USER87> I personally hate self improvement books/management, so here are some narrative books that I loved and got lost in

1) The tiger's wife - To me it has a brilliant full universe. Its comprised of a overarching narrative broken up with lots of short stories.

2) night watch/ making money / going postal - terry pratchett Fun stories with full characters.

3) THe pigeon tunnels - john le carre, Again composed of short stories, not overly spy-y just fascinating character studies, with a bit of history.

4) differently morphous - Yahtzee croshaw this one is a scifi comedy, 100% worth getting in audiobook form

5) rivers of london - ben aaronovich, policeman who was all set for a life of being a desk clerk accidentally becomes a wizard policemen.

6) harry potter, obviously :)

<comment><USER63> I just read "A hat full of stars" yesterday evening. I can recommend _all_ discworld books. But this one was especially moving. Now that I know that Terry was a advocate for assisted dying, I finally understand the alegory at the end of the book. Moved me to tears.

</comment></comment><comment><USER88> If you only read one book, I suggest Don Quixote, the Grossman translation particularly, if only for the higher quality footnotes (compared to Lathrop's which is very well translated but poorly commented). The advantage here is DQ is really like four or five books of various types, and has a Yale Open Courseware series attached to it, so for any chapters you want to know more about, the resources are at hand. Through this book you can learn so, so much about literature.

But also, watching Don Quixote and Sancho's friendship develop is heartwarming. It was a book written for entertainment first, and just happened to be saturated in intense philosophical and literary quality.

<comment><USER89> I've started and failed to complete this book many times. Yet I've loved what I read. There are many who believe this is the greatest novel of all time.

</comment></comment><comment><USER90> Anything by W. G. Sebald for instance The Rings of Saturn [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rings_of_Saturn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rings_of_Saturn)

</comment><comment><USER91> _Shoe Dog_ , by Phil Knight (Nike). The best business book I've read in 5 years (maybe more). Really well written, too.

The Undoing Project, Micheal Lewis. The story behind "Thinking Fast and Slow" but much easier to read.

</comment><comment><USER92> Both are a major investment of time, but have paid off:

VOLTAIRE'S BASTARDS: THE DICTATORSHIP OF REASON IN THE WEST [http://www.johnralstonsaul.com/non-fiction- books/voltaires_b...](http://www.johnralstonsaul.com/non-fiction- books/voltaires_bastards/)

The Penguin History of the World [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/316944/the- penguin-...](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/316944/the-penguin- history-of-the-world-by-j-m-roberts/9781846144431/)

<comment><USER93> Haven't read the book, but his interview on Econtalk was interesting: [http://www.econtalk.org/john-ralston-saul-on-reason- elites-a...](http://www.econtalk.org/john-ralston-saul-on-reason-elites-and- voltaires-bastards/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER94> Kundalini — An Untold Story by Om Swami [https://www.amazon.com/Kundalini- Untold-Story-Himalayan/dp/0...](https://www.amazon.com/Kundalini-Untold-Story- Himalayan/dp/0994002793)

If you fancy about metaphysical and mystical stuff, If you think there's more to a living being than blood and tissues, and if you want to keen on not just entertaining but possibly learn to experience the truth (if any)s behind the claims of superhuman faculties, then read this book.

>>> Kundalini is your polar opposite within you. When it awakens, you realize how immensely powerful you already are. You experience how there is a whole universe within you. It is your feminine energy if you are a man and your masculine energy if you are a woman. It is your passage, your path to eternal fulfillment within you.

>>> Awakening of the kundalini is realization of your pure abstract intelligence, the type that is not conditioned by your fears, emotions and worries. It is your pristine nature. When you are able to tap into this latent source of energy, you truly become the master of your universe. You can manifest whatever you wish in your life because your scale of consciousness is no longer limited to your body alone; it envelops the whole universe.

</comment><comment><USER95> Probably not able to completed during a single 3 months unless you do it full time, but I picked up a copy of SICP [0] and started reading through and working through every-single-problem. I got stuck so far on one problem in the first chapter toward the end at the moment. I will say, Scheme is fun! The problems can be challenging, short, and very rewarding.

However, maybe I'm not very smart and feel like I might have a very hard time with it. I'm not that great at math I don't think, nor do I consider myself genius like. Did people who go through this book do every single problem and figure it out themselves? There are a lot more problems then I expected. They are also, so far, some to be quite challenging and math heavy. It does really feel like it helps get my brain thinking differently about a lot of problems and I love it! But it also feels like I might start grinding a lot and burn out on it. Any tips or help or suggestions how to get through it successfully, get a good amount of education out of, and continue to be excited to keep moving forward?

[0] [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0262510871](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0262510871)

I know it's free online, but I wanted a physical edition.

</comment><comment><USER96> If you haven't read it yet, read the Culture series by Iain Banks. It's not a "book" but a series of books, but once you start you won't be able to put it down. Just the thing after a long day of manual labor. You'll also understand where Elon Musk gets names for his barges.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture_(series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture_\(series\))

</comment><comment><USER63> It is already 6 years old. I had a great time reading it when a friend recommended it to me about 3 years ago: The Circle by Dave Eggers: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Circle_(Eggers_novel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Circle_\(Eggers_novel\))

And do yourself a favour, _never_ watch the movie version from 2017. The end has been butchered which ruins the whole message of the story.

<comment><USER97> Horrible, just horrible ending...

<comment><USER63> I was actually wondering how expensive such a butchered ending might be these days. Turning a story around like this just smells of manipulation. I guess Google/FB weren't really happy with how the book ends...

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER98> I highly recommend Isaac Miller's book, Just Get Up And Manifest Inner Genius. His real life example of a teenager overcoming extremely overwhelming obstacles as he fought his way out of a life drugs, crime, and poverty by becoming an entrepreneur at 17 is very inspiring. I love his 27 Month Plan for discovering your gifts and dreams. His Limelight Spot Effect theory is genius and The Octagon Way chapter is just brilliant. You can click on the link below to preorder a copy of his book. I was privileged to read an advanced reader copy of his book because I gave him an endorsement quote. His book's release date is August 31th but you can preorder a copy. I enjoy his motivational podcast episodes as well. [http://www.koehlerbooks.com/book/just-get-up-and- manifest-yo...](http://www.koehlerbooks.com/book/just-get-up-and-manifest- your-inner-genius/)

[https://youtu.be/NSoc8_BRM74](https://youtu.be/NSoc8_BRM74) (Podcast)

www.isaacsmiller.com (you can go to his website and preorder a copy of his book from his website or from the publisher's website. I hope this information was helpful.

</comment><comment><USER99> Mindstorms: Children, Computers, And Powerful Ideas [https://www.amazon.com/Mindstorms-Children-Computers- Powerfu...](https://www.amazon.com/Mindstorms-Children-Computers-Powerful- Ideas/dp/0465046746/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1470066484&sr=8-1&keywords=mindstorms+papert&linkCode=sl1&tag=resourcesforprog&linkId=15a6219a33ec8080a67b07fbf30a50bb)

</comment><comment><USER100> "The Real Happy Pill" by Anders Hansen.

In a nutshell: it goes through the myriad of ways that exercise is good for your brain, and the author does it in a way that is easy to grok and even easier to implement in your own life.

To me it really drove home that I need to continue exercising for years to come and thanks to this book I'll be driving the concept home for people I care about as well.

</comment><comment><USER101> Dead souls, by Nikolai Gogol. Wikipedia article [0] and freely licensed ebook [1].

[0] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Souls](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Souls) [1] [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1081](http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1081)

</comment><comment><USER102> In the wake of China's expansion into Africa, I'd recommend "Confessions of an economic hitman" by John Perkins.

<comment><USER103> I read this long time ago, it was unbelievable and crazy to my naive brain. I don't know how much of it is true and how much of it is made up, it is definitely worth a read. I remember reading it in one sitting, shaking my head along the way multiple times

<comment><USER102> Me too! The most memorable ones are the Iran CIA coup of 1953 which is pretty much considered the truth. Torrijos "murder" remains a mistery imho. I'm willing to believe the book...

I also love the way the book is written, like an adventure, very immersive.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER104> Lost Connections by Johann Hari

About the sources of depression and anxiety of the current society. Interesting book backed with a lot of studies.

</comment><comment><USER105> Algorithms to live by - Brian Christian

Takes you through the entire CS curriculum again but applies everything to personal real life situations.

</comment><comment><USER106> I recently decided to do all my presentations (work related) by drawing/sketching (No slides). People love the clarity and interactions.

A really good friend and business partner suggested me Dan Roam and his books. I'm loving it. Check out his books [https://www.danroam.com](https://www.danroam.com)

<comment> another-dave This sounds really interesting — do you mean on a whiteboard in the meeting room or bringing pre-prepped material?

<comment><USER106> Yes on Whiteboards, I usually carry a bunch of whiteboard markers (many colors). In special cases, I include post-it notes.

I also tend to sketch/scribble a lot during meetings. They usually end up being the meeting notes. People take pictures of them to relate back later.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER107> I would say [https://personalmba.com/](https://personalmba.com/)

</comment><comment><USER108> The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells - super eye opening.

</comment><comment><USER109> If you haven't read it: Factfulness by Hans Rossling The book uncovers our misconceptions about what is going on in the world in terms of global population, health and prosperity. It provides you with a sharpened sense of where the world is going and what factors play a role in this development.

</comment><comment><USER110> Lots of disposable scifi in this thread. And there is nothing wrong with that so let me chime in with the hard stuff: The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin is one of the best scifi/fantasy (it is hard the classify) novels I have read in recent years. Fair warning, it gets pretty grim.

I also enjoyed reading Ignition! by John D Clark. It is a dated (written in the 70s) but fascinating look at all the different chemicals tried to make rockets during the space race. Very interesting even if, like me, you only have a simple understanding of chemistry. There are some hair-raising (or hair razing) anecdotes.

I keep a list of books I've liked to answer questions like this: [https://sheep.horse/tagcloud.html#book](https://sheep.horse/tagcloud.html#book)

</comment><comment><USER111> The Revolt of The Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium by Martin Gurri.

[1] [https://www.amazon.com/Revolt-Public-Crisis-Authority- Millen...](https://www.amazon.com/Revolt-Public-Crisis-Authority- Millennium/dp/1732265143)

</comment><comment><USER77> Darwin's Dangerous Idea, by Daniel Dennett, one of the two most important (IMHO, of course) books I've read (Thinking, Fast and Slow is the other, already recommended, below.

Dennett is a practical philosopher of science; the book is a detailed analysis and extension of the idea of "designer-free design", evolution by incremental random change. Among other things, he thoroughly presents the implications of Darwinian evolution, discusses the concept of "design space" and how some evolutions preclude whole swaths of that space, then speculates carefully on how the idea could pertain to other fields, e.g., the evolution of physical law (assuming that each "big bang" resulted in a universe with slightly different physics.

<comment><USER112> "how some evolutions preclude whole swaths of that space"

If I remember correctly, Kevin Kelly's "Out of Control" introduced me to this idea, of a kind of but not quite meta-evolution: [https://kk.org/mt- files/outofcontrol/ch14-a.html](https://kk.org/mt- files/outofcontrol/ch14-a.html)

</comment></comment><comment><USER113> An odd one here. 'Chimpanzee Material Culture'[0]. It's getting on a bit (pub 1992) so perhaps others can recommend a more updated study, but it's a sophisticated presentation of chimps, their culture, how they compare to human hunter-gatherers (and how difficult it can be to distinguish between crude stone tools used by one or other), how difficult it is to even phrase the right question when it comes to comparing chimps and humans, and a list of open issues. Anyone who wants to talk about limits of nonhuman should read this.

And with a sense of humour too. Not too heavy, and I found it a genuine page- turner (rather unexpected that!)

And as I mention humour I just reminded myself of 'The Innocent Anthropologist'[1] which is kind-of similar in a way but totally hilarious [1]. It's _really_ funny, also very educational, and would make a very good complement to the first.

I suppose to continue the theme of _other cultures_ (which fascinate me because they teach me so much about my own culture and assumptions when I read how very different other societies can be), 'Aztec'[2]. It tracks the life of a (fictional) aztec and the destruction of his culture and people as the conquistadors arrive. The author does take some historical liberties; allow for that a little. I'll call it the best book I ever read, however it is _dense_ so it either works for you or it doesn't. But if it works, it is amazing!

[0] [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chimpanzee-Material-Culture- Implica...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chimpanzee-Material-Culture-Implications- Evolution/dp/0521423716)

[1] [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Innocent-Anthropologist-Notes- Mud-H...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Innocent-Anthropologist-Notes-Mud- Hut/dp/1906011508)

[2] [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aztec-Gary- Jennings/dp/0765317508](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aztec-Gary- Jennings/dp/0765317508)

</comment><comment><USER114> Red Rising by Pierce Brown.

</comment><comment><USER36> I _really_ liked the series of A Song of Ice and Fire (the books on which Game of Thrones is based). Martin does a great job at building a fantasy world while keeping humans true to their human nature. The combination of morally ambiguous characters that follow their own motivations with the fog-of-war (in the sense of making decisions with incomplete information) sets the motion for a really intriguing plot.

In addition, although not a book, I would strongly recommend the podcast Hardcore History. In particular, the series on WWI (Blueprint for Armageddon) is the best audio content I've ever heard, and it is long enough to be considered an audio book (~23 hours of content broken into 6 chapters).

</comment><comment><USER115> 'The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion' by Christopher Germer [https://chrisgermer.com/mindful-path-self- compassion/](https://chrisgermer.com/mindful-path-self-compassion/)

</comment><comment><USER116> If you are open to the possibility to go against society's norms:

1\. A brief history of humankind: This opens your mind to the possibility that maybe our society is not as good as you think. What if the foundation that our society is built on is wrong?

2\. A guide to the good life: Perhaps your pursuit of success, comforts, and convenience is grounded on the wrong foundation. And as a result, a false sense of happiness.

Then you might realize that core of your happiness starts with the people you love most (parents, kids, childhood friends, etc). From there, you can treasure friends (or coworkers or whatever) who support and appreciate your priorities and keep these people close to heart.

</comment><comment><USER117> I decided to try reading the classic literature this year. The books that stood the test of time. I started with

      Brothers Karamazov by F.Dostoyevsky
      Middlemarch by G.Eliot

After that I plan to continue with

      East of Eden by J.Steinbeck
      Ulysses by J.Joyce

They all have incredible characters, deep thoughts, delicious language. Sure, not an easy read after contemporary fiction, but I noticed that the more classic literature I read the better I understand and enjoy it. Also, I own Folio Society's copies of last three titles, and it's an an additional pleasure to hold, touch, and read physical books.

<comment><USER118> >Ulysses by J.Joyce

you will never be able to read that. i have a friend that did read it and it took him 10 years just to finish (not even understand!)

<comment><USER69> This neat little web page might help: [http://m.joyceproject.com/info/sources.html](http://m.joyceproject.com/info/sources.html)

It allows you to click on things to understand their allusions/references.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER119> If you like Science , I'd highly recommend "Our mathematical universe" by Max Tegmark. I'm halfway through it and find it fascinating. It is more about physics than mathematics. Think of it like "A brief history of time" advanced plus.

</comment><comment><USER4> I have been spending a lot of time reading English language classics lately (I'm Swedish, so I only read two classics in my high school English class) so I will recommend one I recently read, _Catch 22_.

I read it so that I knew what it was about before watching the Hulu show. Still haven't watched the Hulu show, but absolutely loved the book. It's funny, very dark and even though most people think they know all about it without reading it because they understand the term "catch 22", they are missing out on a very good story that will leave you in want of discussing it with someone else.

</comment><comment><USER120> The Godfather -Mario Puzo

The Running Man -Richard Bachman (A Stephen King pen name)

Never Split The Difference -Chris Voss

"The Godfather" is a classic that features my 2nd favorite evil genius Don Corleone (Hannibal Lecter being the 1st). Great character development and a fine tale to boot.

"The Running Man" isn't Kings best, but there's something about it, well that book and "The Long Walk"\--also by Bachman, that makes it an entertaining read.

"Never Split the Difference" is the best negotiating book I've ever read and, I have negotiated deals for a living at various times in my career.

</comment><comment><USER121> Limiting us to recommending one book is very cruel.

I suppose if I have to recommend one it would be _Consciousness and the Brain: Deciphering How the Brain Codes Our Thoughts_ by Stanislas Dehaene. This isn't a complete scientific explanation of consciousness. This is looking at questions like how do stimuli we're consciously aware of differ from subliminal stimuli? How does awareness relate to memory? How do the readings our instruments give relate to people's descriptions of their experiences?

</comment><comment><USER122> Shantaram is a great novel that is very easy to read regardless of the book length (it's very long). If you are even remotely interested in India and/or travelling it is a must.

</comment><comment><USER123> Random book with no justification:

Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization, Volume 1

by Will Durant

It's in the Internet Archive:

[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.61276/page/n15](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.61276/page/n15)

The Story of Civilization is an 11-volume set of books[1], by the way.

[1] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Civilization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Civilization)

<comment><USER124> I got through the entire set on audiobook. It's a fantastic history of Western civilisation. We might accent some things slightly differently nowadays, but overall it's held up really well.

<comment><USER123> I read a bit of the first one years ago, but didn't get very far since I was busy with other stuff.

I'm still busy with other stuff. I haven't been able to prioritize such career-unrelated leisure reading in years. Maybe in one or two years I'll give it another go.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER125> Neuromancer. Utterly cool sci-fi.

<comment><USER63> Neuromancer and Snowcrash. For some reason, I always think of both at the same time. The story is kind of similar after all.

</comment></comment><comment><USER126> If you like SciFi, and you didn't read The Martian yet, then now's a good time. In my opinion this is by far the best SciFi book of all time. Hard SciFi, in the style of Arthur C Clarke, but packed with 10 times the "sci" of the Odyssey or Rama. If you already read this, go for Andy Weir's second novel, Artemis. Not the level of The Martian, but still better than 99.9975% of all the SciFi books out there.

<comment><USER117> On the topic of Mars, may I suggest The Martian Chronicles by R.Bradbury. It's on the other end of the spectrum from hard SciFi - more like lyrical and poetic SciFi.

</comment></comment><comment><USER127> Aldous Huxley - Breve New World

<comment><USER128> I only started reading this one yesterday. I honestly know nothing of this book other than everybody always mentions it (along with 1984, Animal Farm and Farenheit 451). The first few pages made me raise a few eyebrows already, looking forward to finishing it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER129> "Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid" by Douglas R. Hofstadter A beautiful multidisciplinary dive into number theory, self-reference, consciousness art and much more. It's written in the spirit of Lewis Carroll. Really enjoying it right now

<comment><USER71> I am preparing to read it this summer. But this book is going to be big project to read and understand for me and I don't think I will make it in 2 months. If you can read it just like novel I totaly envy you.

I started in December and got into like 20% of book or less and then I decided that I don't get that much out of book by casually reading it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER130> A recent book that I read which really helped my outlook on things business was "Money: The Unauthorized Biography" by Felix Martin. Perhaps my general lack of knowledge in the general area made me feel that the book was profound but it's a good read either way.

If you prefer fiction, I highly recommend "A Canticle for Leibowitz" by Walter M. Miller Jr. One of my alltime favourite books.

</comment><comment><USER131> There is a book I've read at least 6 times:

"The problems of philosophy" by Bertrand Russell.

And for a completely different turn:

"Revolt against the modern world" by Julius Evola.

The first book in my mind is a great read no matter what place you are coming from. The second one is a bit esoteric and might be controversial from some people. But for me it offered a biggest shift in perspective out of all the books I've read so far.

</comment><comment><USER132> On my list for summer reading "NASA Saturn V 1967-1973 (Apollo 4 to Apollo 17 & Skylab) (Owners' Workshop Manual)"

[https://smile.amazon.com/dp/0857338285/?coliid=I3TBY9JPJSRS0...](https://smile.amazon.com/dp/0857338285/?coliid=I3TBY9JPJSRS0Z&colid=3C01LUBLHY2ES&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it)

</comment><comment><USER133> The History of the Future by Blake J. Harris. It's about the foundation and subsequent acquisition of Oculus by Facebook. He has done a lot of first-hand interviews with the involved parties.

It reads like a movie script, and it's full of drama (e.g Palmer Luckey and FB) and full of little gems and information. Even if you're not intersted in VR, it's a great read.

</comment><comment><USER134> The "Master & Commander" Series by Patrick O'Brian has been a great companion to me over the years and over many re-reads.

For me it's not about the sea battles -which I don't find particularly interesting- but rather about the writing style, the character development, and the fun of ambling through life with Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin.

<comment><USER89> This series was the only thing I could read (just barely) while mired in a 1.75-year-long depression in 2014-15.

</comment></comment><comment><USER135> "The Body Keeps the Score" taught me a ton about the psychology of trauma, as it relates to everyone. It really has some jaw-dropping stuff.

[https://www.amazon.com/Body-Keeps-Score-Healing- Trauma/dp/01...](https://www.amazon.com/Body-Keeps-Score-Healing- Trauma/dp/0143127748/)

</comment><comment><USER136> The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho. Short fiction book with a marvelous message about following your dreams and believing in yourself.

</comment><comment><USER137> the Baroque Cycle (three large novels, in fact) by Neal Stephenson

</comment><comment><USER138> Beyond good and evil, Nietzsche. Probably his best work and one that will shake up your conception of morality.

</comment><comment><USER139> Killer of Men - The best historical fiction I've read, you will love it :)

[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GVFY6BM/ref=dp-kindle- redirect?...](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GVFY6BM/ref=dp-kindle- redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1)

</comment><comment><USER140> Primo Levi, _The Periodic Table_.

</comment><comment><USER141> Can't pick one sorry.

Entertaining classic; Gibson: Virtual Light, Idoru

Thinking ahead; Marshall Brain: The Second Intelligent Species

Smart reply became reality but luckily it did not turn into SkyNet; W. Hertling: Avogadro Corp.

Startup advice; Fitzpatrick: The Mom Test

About "value"; Priceonomics: Everything is Bullshit

Entertaining; Ramez Naam: Nexus

</comment><comment><USER142> The Code Book (The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography) By Simon Singh

</comment><comment><USER143> Eisenhorn by Dan Abnett.

It's actually a triology (Xenos, Malleus, Hereticus). It comes in omnibus format now but will not take a long time to get through.

Not a difficut or life changing read - just a good time, with good characters, doing things you haven't read about before.

</comment><comment><USER144> 'Licence to be Bad - How Economics Corrupted Us' by Jonathan Alred, a Cambridge economist, engagingly tells how a group of economic theorists changed our world' in terms of how wealth maximization became the new morality. Unputdownable!

</comment><comment><USER145> Have no particular recommendation as that would very much depend on your own set of interests, but pick something relaxing and completely unrelated to your work/everyday life. Our brains need a vacation here and there, too.

</comment><comment><USER146> The KLF - Chaos, magic and the band who burned a million pounds [https://johnhiggs.com/books/the-klf/](https://johnhiggs.com/books/the-klf/)

</comment><comment><USER147> Passage by Connie Willis

Passage follows the efforts of Joanna Lander, a research psychologist, to understand the phenomenon of near-death experiences by interviewing hospital patients after they are revived following clinical death.

</comment><comment><USER148> "The Rediscovery of Man" by Cordwainer Smith

There's no other science fiction like this, he had a unique style. It's a collection with most of the SF he wrote, excepting the novel "Norstrilia".

</comment><comment><USER149> Boyd: The Fighter Pilot who Changed the Art of War

I'm about 2/3's of the way through and its a great read about the guy who revolutionized fighter pilot tactics and made a number of other big contributions.

</comment><comment><USER150> Here are a few recommendations based on things I've read this year and last:

\- Infinite by Jeremy Robinson

\- The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (this series is a rabbit hole)

\- Scythe by Neal Shusterman

\- Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

\- Stranger In A Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein

</comment><comment><USER151> I am struggling to narrow down my selection. I want to read so many. I usually end up barely finishing just one. I am a slow reader who takes time to experience the journey.

It will be a classic work of fiction.

</comment><comment><USER152> There are some excellent books on this list already. For something different, try Shoe Dog, by Phil Knight. It's a memoir from the founder of Nike. I just finished it and it was great.

</comment><comment><USER153> The holy Quran You can read or listen [http://quran.ksu.edu.sa/m.php?l=en#aya=19_1](http://quran.ksu.edu.sa/m.php?l=en#aya=19_1)

</comment><comment><USER51> Non Violent Communication

I found it as a recommendation on HN sometime ago and I would recommend it to software people especially as we can be an argumentative bunch.

It helped me with relationships at home and at work

</comment><comment><USER154> Anna Karenina.

</comment><comment><USER155> The Mind Illuminated by Culadasa

It's like the missing manual for your mind.

</comment><comment><USER156> Antifragile

</comment><comment><USER157> Cory Doctorow: Little Brother. It shows what kind of dystopian surveillance world we might live in few years and how to fight back.

</comment><comment><USER158> Recommend "radical candor" it has totally changed my management style and it applicable to both managers and non managers

</comment><comment><USER159> saw numerous pop psychology book recommendations and this one should be read first

 _how emotions are made_

it is the new new thing, really thought-provoking, a lot of ideas are speculation, but if it true(I believe most are)

we are seeing a new system to explain our current problems and create a new path to future

believing is seeing

also the audio book is fun, the voice lady seems capable of triggering a lot people.

</comment><comment><USER160> The World According to Garp by John Irving. To me, it's the perfect tragi- comedy. Gotta have a bit of both.

</comment><comment><USER161> Something for the long holiday evenings:

Robert C. Ruark - Something of Value

Frisco Hitt - A Coffin Full of Dreams

Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn - The First Circle

</comment><comment><USER162> FWIW, the best book I ever read at the beach was _The Man Who Loved Children_ by Christina Stead.

Enjoy your vacation!

</comment><comment><USER163> Robert Glover - No More Mr. Nice Guy. It's the best book I know on men's psychological health.

</comment><comment><USER164> I'm currently reading the Commonwealth Saga by Peter F. Hamilton, and would highly recommend it.

</comment><comment><USER165> The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous. Amazing insight on the past and future of money.

<comment><USER165> I also highly recommend The Rational Male by Rollo Tomassi. A must read for all men.

</comment></comment><comment><USER166> War and Peace from Leo Tolstoij is a book that you will have to read once in your lifetime.

</comment><comment><USER167> The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing Personal.

</comment><comment><USER168> On VCs, startups and philanthropy: Accelerando by Charles Stross

</comment><comment><USER169> Platform Revolution - explains why two sided marketplaces work.

</comment><comment><USER170> The Breakdown of Nations by Leopold Kohr.

</comment><comment><USER171> The Kon-Tiki Expedition by Thor Heyerdahl

</comment><comment> 52-hertz_whale The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday.

</comment><comment><USER166> Or play clash Royale - it's a lot of fun. Especially if you have a teenager and you can play in 2v2 mode ;-)

</comment><comment><USER172> Anti-Fragile by Nassim Taleb

</comment><comment><USER173> Hyperion

</comment><comment><USER174> 1984

</comment><comment><USER89> The Porpoise — Mark Haddon

</comment><comment><USER175> Principles by Ray Dalio

</comment><comment><USER176> Beginning of Infinity

<comment><USER177> An excellent book. David Deutsch is a talented writer and this is one of those books that shifts the way you look at the world.

</comment></comment><comment><USER178> Jurassic Park

</comment><comment><USER179> Incognito</comment>