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Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by ErrantX on Monday July 20, 2009 @04:20PM (#715098)
Mind Magic (by Marc Lemezma) - Im trying to improve my mentalism skills (and though that book is really basic it is a good refresher on ideas).

Last serious book was a 620 page tome entitled "Writing Security Tools and Exploits". A book with potentially the largest "great title" to "boring content" ratio ever :( (stuck at it though in principle :P)

Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by yan on Monday July 20, 2009 @04:28PM (#715118)
Check out "The Art of Software Security Assessment" if you're into that.
Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by ErrantX on Tuesday July 21, 2009 @10:36AM (#716297)
cheers, added to my reading list :) (I might have read it - not sure)
Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by nopassrecover on Monday July 20, 2009 @10:59PM (#715637)
This is a great source of stuff for:

function get_smarter():

   1. Am I smart enough yet?  (default answer:   of course not!)
   2. If yes, go make a grillion dollars, or go fishing, or something. (Note: this statement is unreachable).
   3. Otherwise:
         1. Do various important things, until I have some free time.
         2. Pick a book from my book list and read it.
         3. If I've read it already, check all the references at the end, and add the ones that look good to my book list.
         4. get_smarter()
"If your book list is empty, add Gödel, Escher, Bach to it before calling the function for the first time. And with that, I'm off to go finish the book!"

http://steve.yegge.googlepages.com/godel-escher-blog

Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by yan on Monday July 20, 2009 @04:27PM (#715115)
"A People's History of the United Sates" by Howard Zinn. A decent history book, not exactly uplifting.

Reading currently: "The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York" by Robert Caro. Absolutely loving it.

That, and my usual climbing books.

Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by Evgeny on Monday July 20, 2009 @06:41PM (#715377)
Last fiction - The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross

Before that - The Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson (recommended to all fantasy fans)

Last technical - AntiPatterns: Refactoring Software, Architectures, and Projects in Crisis

Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by keefe on Monday July 20, 2009 @05:12PM (#715215)
Last serious book : http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Cryptography-Practice-Hewlett-P...

Last fun book : http://www.amazon.com/Woken-Furies-Takeshi-Kovacs-Novels/dp/...

I can't resist the body swapping stuff ever since reading Lord of Light as a kid

Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by miditim on Monday July 20, 2009 @10:37PM (#715612)
Musicophilia (too much psychiatry, not enuf music)

b4 that

Anathem (will read again after a few years)

b4 that

Halting State (cool)

Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by jacquesm on Monday July 20, 2009 @05:05PM (#715196)
The big switch

before that

Accelerando

Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by spk on Monday July 20, 2009 @09:48PM (#715559)
I've almost finished Accelerando. I can't remember which was the previous one..
Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by rokhayakebe on Monday July 20, 2009 @05:15PM (#715226)
I started to read it but I lost interest quickly.
Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by burke on Monday July 20, 2009 @07:39PM (#715449)
Current: Zen and the Brain

Previous: Gödel, Escher, Bach (still working on that one, actually)

Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by mgrouchy on Monday July 20, 2009 @04:51PM (#715162)
I am currently reading "beautiful code" by Greg Wilson, Andy Oram(and all the contributors)
Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by fiaz on Tuesday July 21, 2009 @08:46AM (#716131)
King Warrior Magician Lover by Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette

http://www.amazon.com/King-Warrior-Magician-Lover-Rediscover...

Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by blazamos on Monday July 20, 2009 @06:14PM (#715347)
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan (excellent; recently saw Food, Inc. as well)

The Next 100 Years by George Friedman (amusing; was given to me as a gag gift)

Currently reading: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by HalcyonMuse on Monday July 20, 2009 @05:07PM (#715201)
Cat's Cradle, by Vonnegut.
Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by silvio on Monday July 20, 2009 @08:33PM (#715497)
I read Multireal, which is the follow up to Infoquake. They deal with a startup producing software that runs inside people, executed by tiny nanobots. The books explore startup culture.
Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by sharpn on Monday July 20, 2009 @06:41PM (#715380)
'Create Your Own Economy' by Tyler Cowen - a good read.
Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by scott_s on Monday July 20, 2009 @04:30PM (#715121)
Current: The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

Last: The World Without Us by Alan Weisman.

The best recent: Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamon.

Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by stepherm on Monday July 20, 2009 @06:16PM (#715349)
Last: What is a Designer: Things, Places, Messages by Potter.

Current: Flow: The psychology of optimal experience by Csikszentmihalyi

Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by BrentRitterbeck on Monday July 20, 2009 @04:53PM (#715167)
The last book I finished was Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship.

I am currently perusing numerous books for summer research.

Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by michaelfairley on Monday July 20, 2009 @04:33PM (#715127)
Last: I am a Strange Loop

Current: Neuromancer

Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by kes on Monday July 20, 2009 @05:43PM (#715285)
"A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by David Eggers. Ironic title, thoughtful and enjoyable book. Suggested.
Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by sgoraya on Monday July 20, 2009 @06:45PM (#715386)
Current:

Ghandi and Churchill by Arthur Herman

Last:

The Odyssey by Homer

A bull in China by Jim Rogers

Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by lacker on Monday July 20, 2009 @08:46PM (#715509)
Last: The C Programming Language - Kernighan & Ritchie

Current: The Effective Executive - Peter Drucker

Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by TallGuyShort on Monday July 20, 2009 @04:50PM (#715161)
Last: Hacker's Handbook 3.0 by Dr. K (waste of time)

Current: Last Light by Andy McNab (awesome)

Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by TrevorJ on Monday July 20, 2009 @05:07PM (#715202)
"The Screwtape Letters", by C.S. Lewis

In the middle of "Roughing It" by Mark Twain now.

Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by christofd on Monday July 20, 2009 @10:26PM (#715597)
Last: Create your own Economy, by Tyler Cowen

Current: Real World Haskell

Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by balding_n_tired on Tuesday July 21, 2009 @03:22PM (#716712)
Finished: _Germany 1866-1945_ by Gordon Craig. Various others in parallel.
Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by fogus on Monday July 20, 2009 @04:58PM (#715181)
last book: The Dark Tower II

currently: The T Programming Language

Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by jake_morrison on Monday July 20, 2009 @06:51PM (#715397)
Halting State, by Charles Stross, great for computer geeks
Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by secret on Tuesday July 21, 2009 @12:45PM (#716498)
Just finished: Childhood's End and Rendezvous with Rama
Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by domodomo on Monday July 20, 2009 @05:16PM (#715228)
Last book: 1984 Current book: Master & Commander
Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by johng on Monday July 20, 2009 @05:07PM (#715203)
Just got done reading 'the fountainhead' by ayn rand.
Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by nopassrecover on Monday July 20, 2009 @10:57PM (#715636)
Last: Crossing the Chasm Current: Managing Humans
Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by warfangle on Monday July 20, 2009 @05:02PM (#715188)
Previous: Anathem

Current: Programming in Scala

Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by phugoid on Tuesday July 21, 2009 @10:51AM (#716326)
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, in one sitting.
Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by oz on Monday July 20, 2009 @06:53PM (#715399)
The Road To Gandolfo by Robert Ludlum
Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by deutronium on Monday July 20, 2009 @04:35PM (#715135)
The Revenge of Gaia - James Lovelock
Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by il on Monday July 20, 2009 @10:49PM (#715628)
Robert Greene- 48 Laws of Power
Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by fburnaby on Tuesday July 21, 2009 @12:30PM (#716480)
Freedom Evolves - Dan Dennett
Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by dpnewman on Tuesday July 21, 2009 @02:54AM (#715844)
'The Double' by José Saramago
Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by firefoxman1 on Monday July 20, 2009 @11:04PM (#715643)
Getting Real by 37 signals.
Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by safetytrick on Tuesday July 21, 2009 @12:28AM (#715731)
In the middle of GEB,
Re:Ask HN: What was the latest book you read? by ddemchuk on Monday July 20, 2009 @04:56PM (#715173)
Just finished "Anthem" by Ayn Rand (it's like 100 pages so it only took a few hours)

Started "The American Political Tradition" by Richard Hofstadter, pretty engaging history of our major politicians and founding fathers...