Ask HN: What are you reading?

Tomte

Back issues of The London Review of Books.

andsoitis

Why Greatness cannot be Planned. The authors argue that rigid, goal-oriented planning and metric-driven objectives actively prevent true innovation and groundbreaking achievement.

PaulHoule

In my bag right now I have: The Fox and the Jewel by Karen A. Smeyers and The Spiral Dance by Starhawk.

SubGenius

The Rouse by China Miéville, great read so far.

snicky

Private Revolutions: Four Women Face China's New Social Order Not sure if this one qualifies as more meaty :)

softwaredoug

I’m reading The Well of Ascension, the second book of Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy I like how he has the slow, almost clinical way of revealing interesting worlds and systems. It’s not the kind of book that’ll make me cry, but I really like world building with fun enough characters

leandot

The Immortal Great Souls from Phil Tucker. Very enjoyable fantasy with unique world and characters.

ferguess_k

This is my 13th round to recommend "The Soul of a new Machine" as well as "Showstoppers".

leandot

The Immortal Great Souls by Phil Tucker. Very enjoyable fantasy with great world and characters.

AbbeFaria

The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins

Rendello

Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer [1]. I don't tend to be great at finishing (or starting) books, and this is a big one. I've also never had any interest in Medieval or Renaissance history, for me it's been a black hole between the fall of Rome and the modern age. But recently I saw some Youtube videos of Ada, and her enthusiasm is totally infectious [2]. She's fun and paints these vivid pictures of Florence and renaissance Europe that are incredible, absurd, and relatable, which makes sense since given she's also an accomplished sci-fi writer. She also reminds me of one of my favourite high school teachers. So I ordered the book right away. The book is in the same tone as her videos, so it won't be for everyone, but I've really been enjoying it and now I'm fascinated by Renaissance Italy, Machiavelli, merchant republics, etc. 1. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/I/bo246135... 2. (My favourite example) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68p3jVQQdFk

judicious

Blank Space: A Cultural History of the Twenty-First Century by W. David Marx. A fascinating and approachable read.

akkartik

Lots of scifi and fantasy. The Works of Vermin. Exceptionally well written. Not an ounce of flab anywhere. The Carryx series, 2 books so far. Best villains ever. Tainted Cup and sequel. Sherlock Holmes meets Godzilla. Goblin Emperor The Prophet (Gibran) Los Alamos (Kanon) Hyperion (reread) Finally, a shout out to the best book I read in 2025: Terra Ignota. Yes, the whole series.

buckhx

Infinite Jest. Enjoying it so far, but the length keeps on killing me. I'm like 5% of the way in after a couple of weeks...

theflyinghorse

Finally got to Dostoevsky's Brother Karamazov. This will take a while.

rearview

Just recently started watching Reacher S1 and it was absolutely amazing so started reading the book and wow - like its absolutely amazing

abstash

The Shadow Lines by Amitav Ghosh. A book which depicts tale of a family across the East and West Bengal amidst Partition of India. This book is very renowned and well written. Being a programmer, its better to read on different topics(which is rarity these days)

lp92

Currently reading "Beyond Tube-and-Wing: The X-48 Blended Wing-Body and NASA's Quest to Reshape Future Transport Aircraft". Its a pretty good history of the X-48 program. Edit: also reading the "The Anduril Thesis" in parallel.

no-dr-onboard

The Intellectual Life by AG Sertillanges. Note that it does presuppose a Christian worldview, so ymmv depending on your belief.

undopamine

Just started Quantum Break: Zero State Highly recommend the game for anyone who liked Dark or Primer (or any other fiction that features stable time loops).