Ask HN: Recommend one book I need to read this summer?

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...

rdeboo · 6 years ago

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?

deneb150 · 6 years ago

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.

kapep · 6 years ago

I also read it because it was mentioned on HN and I think it is boring too. Everything that is happening seems quite random and not very interesting. I feel either something got lost in translation or I lack some knowledge about Russian culture and don't get most references, even though I enjoyed a few other Russian classics. Otherwise I'm couldn't explain why it seems so popular here. It really doesn't help that the German translation which I read seems really theatrical and has really contrived dialog.

bemmu · 6 years ago

I also found it hard to follow and the story not particularly interesting, at least not enough of a reward for struggling through it. I finished it a few pages a night over ~3 months, which was a good activity to help me sleep.

I read the translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. Could be that it simply whooshed me, maybe I'll try again older and wiser and find myself enjoying it.

blue_devil · 6 years ago

Great to see (classic) fiction suggested. Seems non-fiction usually gets the medal for "worthiness".

spectaclepiece · 6 years ago

Laying at the side of the pool during my vacation in Turkey with a fresh smell of sunflower oil and the sound of an approaching tram.

chantelles · 6 years ago

I am reading it now - and it is fantastic. And because I cannot read in Russian but am learning it I see how much I am missing: eg: the word for Turnstyle in Russian is the same in meaning as tourniquet - which figures prominently in the beginning of the book.

idlewords · 6 years ago

This is a beautiful book. I recommend the Bergin/O'Connor translation.

Choque · 6 years ago

Highly recommended! Especially the version OP linked (the Tiernan O'Connor/Burgin translation)

stepvhen · 6 years ago

i actually just finished reading it last night. probably one of the best bits of fiction ive read.

person_of_color · 6 years ago

Why?

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...

Pepe1vo · 6 years ago

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.

KineticLensman · 6 years ago

> 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.

TimSchumann · 6 years ago

Also enjoyed that one. Reminded me of the whole series that started with ‘Three Body Problem’ which I read around the same time.

TimSchumann · 6 years ago

Finished the first last year, stalled halfway through the second. I’ll finish it sooner or later. The series is entitled ‘Zones of Thought’ IIRC.

Also check out Alistair Reynolds. House of Suns is probably my favorite, which is a pity because it’s a standalone not a series. The whole Revelation Space series is good too.

Lately it’s been the new ‘Expanse’ book, and ‘The Culture’ series.

aerique · 6 years ago

If we're recommending scifi I'd like to add Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward.

Except he's now up to three books.

It's hard scifi of a neutron star passing through the solar system and Earth scrambling to research it. At the same time life is developing on the neutron star.

alexgmcm · 6 years ago

This book inspired the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Blink of an Eye"[1].

I haven't read the book but the Star Trek episode was awesome.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blink_of_an_Eye_(Star_Trek:_Vo...

chha · 6 years ago

No limits on genres or types of books. There are so much wonderful stuff to read I've never heard of, so by imposing any kind of limits or suggesting genres I would limit people to suggest stuff I might already like, not stuff I might like but would never otherwise hear about.

INTPenis · 6 years ago

I did not expect to see sci-fi here but I'd like to add anything in the Revelation Space universe by Alastair Reynolds. I just got done reading it for a 2nd time, and Elysium Fire for the 1st time and I'm in love with his style of writing and the universe he's created.

I just want more information about all the things like Ultras, Rust belt, Glitter band, Belle epoque and so forth.

In my opinion it's not as poetic as Dune but it's not action filled like The Expanse. The fascinating parts that make me keep reading are all the cultural and technical details he brings out between the story line.

dfc · 6 years ago

I could not imagine a thread like this on HN without sci-fi.

teekert · 6 years ago

I also like this series but starting a new book in the series takes to long to drag me back in every time... I wish it would zoom into the main characters earlier...

mikehollinger · 6 years ago

Yes! Verner Vinge wrote some great stuff. Go read “Rainbow’s End” if you liked A Fire Upon The Deep.

uslic001 · 6 years ago

Still my favorite SF writer of all time. I read the Witling in the 80's in high school. I have read every book he has written before and after that book. He peaked with the two books you recommended and has slowly gone down hill since then.

doomlaser · 6 years ago

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

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... - It's also in the news that USA has ordered a pilot for a TV adaptation. Here's hoping it's good!

Sivers also has a list: https://sivers.org/book

backslash_16 · 6 years ago

Masters of Doom is such a fun, good book. I ended up power reading a few summers ago.

If you grew up playing Doom, and all the other shareware games like Hexen, Heretic, etc... reading about Id Software's start and history is more interesting than I ever thought it would be.

Another book that drew me in was "Blood, Sweat, and Pixels". It's a collection of short-ish game creation stories packaged into a book. Really candid interviews and writing.

pimmen · 6 years ago

Masters of Doom had a much bigger impact on me then I thought it would. Can really recommend it!

ElCapitanMarkla · 6 years ago

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

anderspitman · 6 years ago

One of very few books I've read twice and intend to read again in the future.

tossaway127 · 6 years ago

Keep in mind, he claims to have read about half the books on the list and it's not clear which half...

robodale · 6 years ago

I've read Master's of Doom 4 times...and loved each time through it.

wenxin · 6 years ago

love this list

jefim · 6 years ago

waitingkuo · 6 years ago

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...

[2] - https://ocw.mit.edu/resources/res-6-012-introduction-to-prob...

sAbakumoff · 6 years ago

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

kaushikt · 6 years ago

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?

yash_8141 · 6 years ago

this. I almost completed first book just 2 months ago .Excellent book also do all the exercise.

djaychela · 6 years ago

"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.

Gairm · 6 years ago

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

lelima · 6 years ago

"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman" is really good, almost every week I remember some adventure, and I look locks a different way :)

I listened to all of his books, and all of his lectures, on a car ride once. Everything was throughly enjoyable and I’d recommend it to anyone.

kreetx · 6 years ago

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. :)

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.

clarityPhone · 6 years ago

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.

Jtsummers · 6 years ago

If you've read The Phoenix Project (or haven't yet) I also recommend The Goal. Also a novel, but I think it does a better job of explaining the Theory of Constraints. The Phoenix Project worked better (for me) after reading The Goal, it connects ToC to IT work, but I don't think worked as a good introduction on its own.

Fun fact: Pirsig never once mentions which make and model of motorcycle he rides in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Dead Comment

smsm42 · 6 years ago

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

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.

CosmicShadow · 6 years ago

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.

bxjx · 6 years ago

Some of the wildest sci fi I've ever read. So many mind stretching concepts are explored while still remaining a great story.

komon · 6 years ago

If you liked Blindsight, check out his Rifters trilogy beginning with Starfish. Hard Sci-Fi, bioengineering/hacking, deep sea adventure.

jaratec · 6 years ago

I propose that Planet 9 (when/if is found) to be named "Big Ben"

s/conscience/consciousness/ though conscience is mentioned too...

jor-el · 6 years ago

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...

hannob · 6 years ago

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-...

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

tootie · 6 years ago

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.

Symmetry · 6 years ago

Yeah. Kahneman himself didn't do to badly in the replication crisis but a lot of the research that was used in his book did. It would be great if he could release a new, shorter edition or something.

blub · 6 years ago

The book contains much more than priming though, doesn't it?

I only listened to a few chapters and lost interest.

chrisdirkis · 6 years ago

It is worth noting that a lot of the psychological studies that this book references have failed to reproduce. I don't have a list on me (and haven't read the book!), but I know that there was more than one.

Likely still worth reading, for at least forcing the reader to introspect on processes that will help them think better, and solve problems better.

Note however: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking,_Fast_and_Slow#Replic...

ozychhi · 6 years ago

If I had to choose one book to save from 451, I'd definitely choose this one. Also rereading it is very rewarding experience, I've read it at least 12 times.

Is not in Audible and that's killing me!

Living in Ireland you have to use .uk and they don't have many books.

cannonedhamster · 6 years ago

This is a great book. It have me a lot to think about and sincerely improved my decision making skills.