Hacker News Books

heya! Yes, I should've made this more clear :) but we've already promised xkcd book profits to Room to Read (it says so on the copyleft page of each book).

2 years ago when I started breadpig, I had ambitions for a vague 'breadpig prize' -- what your proposing is a much more concrete idea. It's great and I think you're absolutely right on with this (and would love to have your help in the near future, if you're up for it). I'm officially retired from reddit, tho, so there'll probably be no blog.reddit takeover ;)

But I do like this idea. I'm proud to be one of the AwesomeFoundation trustees; the org itself is nothing short of awesome: http://awesomefoundation.org/

Creating something with a more 'help the world' bent would be great, especially if it's software-based. To even play a small part in starting the next Ushahidi...

I read a lot this year, so I'll just point out some highlights:

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante - The highlight of the year. I'm now partially through the 3rd book in the series. And amazing portrait of the friendship between 2 girls as they grow up and try to escape the violence and poverty of their small town in Naples.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel - My guess is that plenty of people here have read it. Great read about the fall of civilization due to a massive flu outbreak.

Room by Emma Donoghue - Beautiful, heartbreaking, troubling and uplifting.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - A classic, glad to finally read it.

The Room by Jonas Karlsson - Absurdist take on corporate life about a man who finds a room in his office building that shouldn't be there.

Welcome To Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor - For fans of the podcast. I highly recommend both.

Uglies/Pretties/Specials by Scott Westerfeld - YA trilogy about a future in which everybody is made pretty once they reach a certain age. Not great literature, but a fun read. Although the second one is a little blah.

Get In Trouble by Kelly Link - Excellent collection of fantastical yet mundane short stories.

Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine - Powerful exploration of race in America. I feel like I need to read it a few more times.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - Still one of my favorite authors. Story of a baby whose family is brutally murdered and ends up being raised by spirits in a graveyard.

If you're looking for something in the same vein but more substantial, I recommend _Leaving Microsoft to Change The World_ by John Wood.

In the book, John Wood describes his dissatisfaction with the Microsoft executive lifestyle (not much of a life, he thinks) and explains the origins & philosophy (importance of educating women) behind the popular charity he founded, Room To Read.

It is a quick read and available very cheaply if you don't mind buying used.

Same, and with special emphasis on The Diamond Age.

Also Douglas Adams, Vernor Vinge, Richard K. Morgan, and all kinds of other stuff. I like to read almost as much as I like to program.

Best nonfiction I have read in a while: "Leaving Microsoft To Change The World" by John Wood. A Microsoft VP leaves to pursue his dream of changing the world with books, and ends up founding Room to Read (http://www.roomtoread.org/ .) Highly recommended.