Hacker News Books

- Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

- Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight

- Rework by Jason Fried

- Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam

- Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

- The Martian by Andy Weir

- Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman by Richard Feynman

What amazed me was after reading Unbroken (WWII novel set in the pacific) was the incredible amount of sharks in hawaii and the surrounding islands. A family member who was in the pacific theatre backed this up. Shark schools so dense that sailors would be attacked after they fell in. This was barely 70 years ago so alot has changed in terms of animal population.

Oh boy, you fucked up now. Here are the books I read this past year that I felt were "Good", starting from the most recent :

To Kill A Mocking Bird (Insanely good)

True Grit (Insanely good)

The Little Friend (Good)

Priceless (Very good, about art theft)

The Secret History (Insanely good)

Ready Player One (Good, nerdy)

Shadow Divers (Very good, history nerd book)

Diary of Anne Frank (Very good)

Unbroken (Very good, way better than the movie)

With The Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa (Very good)

Seveneves (good, but I'm a Stephenson fanboy)

The Martian (Very good, but just watch the movie).

I read a bunch of other stuff, but that's what I found really "good" this past year.

I gave my father Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. Horrors of war and the triumph of the human spirit. What a story, what a life!

Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand.
Story of human grit and survival in the Pacific WWII theater that I hadn't heard of before. I was blown away by the story, and about what I learned about the War that I didn't already know.

Creativity Inc. Re-read it this year, re-inspired.

The Outsider - Stephen King.
Well written, engrossing but a typical Stephen King novel

Shoe Dog - Phil Knight.
Story of Nike. Phenomenal.

Bad blood - John Carreyrou.
Story of Theranos. Absolutely crazy read.

7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy - Hamilton Helmer.
Good insights on strategy

Dude, you are too young at 29 to consider yourself a failure. You're not even half done.

I see nothing but good advice so far -- challenge, exercise, lighten up on yourself. However, I'll offer up something completely different... allocate a chunk of your time to helping others. Focus on their problems and challenges (not yours) and use your skills and background to help them improve their situation. It is incredibly rewarding to look back and see how your actions have materially helped the lives of others. Churches, other non-profits, Big Brothers, community groups, etc. are often starving for skilled volunteers like yourself. And hey, while you are busy helping others, you might bump into a nice lady. It's a great way for them to see you for who you really are, not just what you look like on the outside.

BTW, I just watched Unbroken tonight for the first time. What an awesome story. The number and magnitude of the challenges that this guy went through were staggering -- and he never gave up. The challenges just made him redouble his efforts. Get some inspiring things to watch and read.

Friends? Get some quality ones. If you have any toxic friends, dump them. If a good group of friends doesn't happen by accident, you should consciously cultivate one. You need a group of friends that will support and encourage you, and it's your duty to do the same for them.

How We Got to Now, Steven Johnson. Walks you through a half dozen foundational inventions and the process through which they came to be. Fascinating to see what the inventors were trying to solve vs. how the world ended up applying their technology.

Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand. If you haven't read the book don't judge it by the (awful) movie.

The Liberators: My Life in the Soviet Army. Really opens your eyes to the problems and realities of communism. I love the author's dry sense of humor as he witnesses the absurdity of many of the things he encountered.

Sniper on the Eastern Front, Albrecht Wacker. A view of WWII through the eyes of a German sniper.

Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account, Miklos Nyiszli. A view of the holocaust through the eyes of a Jewish doctor in the Auschwitz concentration camp.