Y Hacker News Books

Ask HN: What are your favorite books of all time, and why? ↗

The books people recommended

2017-11-05 · 123 points · 110 comments · 64 books named by at least one person here and at least 3 people overall. The number on the left is how many people named it in this thread.

  1. 7Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman

    Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman

    Richard Feynman

    7 here · 21 all-time · #37 overall

  2. 5Daemon

    Daemon

    Daniel Suarez

    5 here · 10 all-time · #141 overall

  3. 4The Name of the Wind

    The Name of the Wind

    Patrick Rothfuss

    4 here · 12 all-time · #104 overall

  4. 3

    Gödel, Escher, Bach

    Douglas Hofstadter

    3 here · 82 all-time · #1 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 2,713 ratings on Amazon
  5. 3Blood Meridian

    Blood Meridian

    Cormac McCarthy

    3 here · 11 all-time · #115 overall

  6. 3Ghost in the Wires

    Ghost in the Wires

    Kevin Mitnick

    3 here · 6 all-time · #243 overall

  7. 2Siddhartha

    Siddhartha

    Hermann Hesse

    2 here · 26 all-time · #22 overall

  8. 21984

    1984

    George Orwell

    2 here · 22 all-time · #35 overall

  9. 2Catch-22

    Catch-22

    Joseph Heller

    2 here · 20 all-time · #40 overall

  10. 2East of Eden

    East of Eden

    John Steinbeck

    2 here · 7 all-time · #191 overall

  11. 2The Cuckoo's Egg

    The Cuckoo's Egg

    Clifford Stoll

    2 here · 6 all-time · #255 overall

  12. 1

    Thinking, Fast and Slow

    Daniel Kahneman

    1 here · 58 all-time · #3 overall

  13. 1

    Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs

    Harold Abelson, Gerald Jay Sussman, Julie Sussman

    1 here · 49 all-time · #7 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 742 ratings on Amazon
  14. 1The Three-Body Problem

    The Three-Body Problem

    Liu Cixin

    1 here · 36 all-time · #11 overall

  15. 1Neuromancer

    Neuromancer

    William Gibson

    1 here · 36 all-time · #12 overall

  16. 1Meditations

    Meditations

    Marcus Aurelius

    1 here · 35 all-time · #13 overall

  17. 1The Fountainhead

    The Fountainhead

    Ayn Rand

    1 here · 32 all-time · #14 overall

  18. 1Snow Crash

    Snow Crash

    Neal Stephenson

    1 here · 27 all-time · #18 overall

  19. 1The Count of Monte Cristo

    The Count of Monte Cristo

    Alexandre Dumas

    1 here · 21 all-time · #38 overall

  20. 1Zero to One

    Zero to One

    Peter Thiel, Blake Masters

    1 here · 19 all-time · #43 overall

  21. 1The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

    The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

    Carl Sagan

    1 here · 18 all-time · #49 overall

  22. 1Getting Things Done

    Getting Things Done

    David Allen

    1 here · 17 all-time · #55 overall

  23. 1Blindsight

    Blindsight

    Peter Watts

    1 here · 16 all-time · #58 overall

  24. 1The Glass Bead Game

    The Glass Bead Game

    Hermann Hesse

    1 here · 13 all-time · #87 overall

  25. 1A Thousand Plateaus

    A Thousand Plateaus

    Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari

    1 here · 13 all-time · #93 overall

  26. 1Principles

    Principles

    Ray Dalio

    1 here · 11 all-time · #111 overall

  27. 1The Art of Electronics

    The Art of Electronics

    Paul Horowitz

    1 here · 10 all-time · #134 overall

  28. 1A Guide to the Good Life

    A Guide to the Good Life

    William Irvine

    1 here · 10 all-time · #136 overall

  29. 1Accelerando

    Accelerando

    Charles Stross

    1 here · 9 all-time · #147 overall

  30. 1The Magic Mountain

    The Magic Mountain

    Thomas Mann

    1 here · 9 all-time · #148 overall

  31. 1The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

    The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

    Stephen Covey

    1 here · 9 all-time · #149 overall

  32. 1Ready Player One

    Ready Player One

    Ernest Cline

    1 here · 8 all-time · #163 overall

  33. 1Steve Jobs

    Steve Jobs

    Walter Isaacson

    1 here · 8 all-time · #164 overall

  34. 1Debt: The First 5000 Years

    Debt: The First 5000 Years

    David Graeber

    1 here · 8 all-time · #169 overall

  35. 1Use of Weapons

    Use of Weapons

    Iain M. Banks

    1 here · 8 all-time · #174 overall

  36. 1Getting to Yes

    Getting to Yes

    Roger Fisher

    1 here · 7 all-time · #188 overall

  37. 1Liar's Poker

    Liar's Poker

    Michael Lewis

    1 here · 7 all-time · #193 overall

  38. 1The Mind's I

    The Mind's I

    Douglas Hofstadter

    1 here · 7 all-time · #196 overall

  39. 1On Intelligence

    On Intelligence

    Jeff Hawkins

    1 here · 7 all-time · #200 overall

  40. 1Glasshouse

    Glasshouse

    Charles Stross

    1 here · 5 all-time · #257 overall

  41. 1The Road Less Traveled

    The Road Less Traveled

    M. Scott Peck

    1 here · 5 all-time · #266 overall

  42. 1Flowers for Algernon

    Flowers for Algernon

    Daniel Keyes

    1 here · 5 all-time · #286 overall

  43. 1A Man for All Markets

    A Man for All Markets

    Edward O. Thorp

    1 here · 5 all-time · #317 overall

  44. 1The Malazan Book of the Fallen

    The Malazan Book of the Fallen

    Steven Erikson

    1 here · 4 all-time · #349 overall

  45. 1Player of Games

    Player of Games

    Iain M. Banks

    1 here · 4 all-time · #353 overall

  46. 1The Remains of the Day

    The Remains of the Day

    Kazuo Ishiguro

    1 here · 4 all-time · #364 overall

  47. 1Incerto

    Incerto

    Nassim Nicholas Taleb

    1 here · 4 all-time · #369 overall

  48. 1The Dark Tower

    The Dark Tower

    Stephen King

    1 here · 4 all-time · #372 overall

  49. 1Unwritten Laws of Engineering

    Unwritten Laws of Engineering

    W. J. King

    1 here · 4 all-time · #381 overall

  50. 1The Game

    The Game

    Neil Strauss

    1 here · 4 all-time · #399 overall

  51. 1The Art of Game Design

    The Art of Game Design

    Jesse Schell

    1 here · 4 all-time · #412 overall

  52. 1Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

    Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

    Susanna Clarke

    1 here · 4 all-time · #425 overall

  53. 1High Performance Browser Networking

    High Performance Browser Networking

    Ilya Grigorik

    1 here · 4 all-time · #454 overall

  54. 1Journey Through Genius

    Journey Through Genius

    William Dunham

    1 here · 3 all-time · #461 overall

  55. 1Consider Phlebas

    Consider Phlebas

    Iain M. Banks

    1 here · 3 all-time · #485 overall

  56. 1Robinson Crusoe

    Robinson Crusoe

    Daniel Defoe

    1 here · 3 all-time · #495 overall

  57. 1Brief Answers to the Big Questions

    Brief Answers to the Big Questions

    Stephen Hawking

    1 here · 3 all-time · #499 overall

  58. 1Old Man's War

    Old Man's War

    John Scalzi

    1 here · 3 all-time · #518 overall

  59. 1Red Rising

    Red Rising

    Pierce Brown

    1 here · 3 all-time · #519 overall

  60. 1The Power of Now

    The Power of Now

    Eckhart Tolle

    1 here · 3 all-time · #523 overall

  61. 1The Big Short

    The Big Short

    Michael Lewis

    1 here · 3 all-time · #533 overall

  62. 1Fall of Hyperion

    Fall of Hyperion

    Dan Simmons

    1 here · 3 all-time · #548 overall

  63. 1Watchmen

    Watchmen

    Alan Moore

    1 here · 3 all-time · #576 overall

  64. 1The Forever War

    The Forever War

    Joe Haldeman

    1 here · 3 all-time · #630 overall