Ask HN: What are you reading?

On the Origin of Sex - real life examples that seem like science fiction. How to Make an Apple Pie from Scratch, I read last year but goes into most recent discoveries in physics.

I'm on book 3 of Romlyn Domingue's "Keeper of Tales" trilogy. One unusual touch I liked is that each book is written in a different person - book 1 is a second person autobiography written as the protagonist talking to her past self, book 2 is third person with a different protagonist, and then book 3 is a continuation of book 2 but with the voice switched to first person.

> I'm looking for something a little meaty to keep the brain working...

- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks comes to mind. I had no idea how rampant purposeful discrimination was so recently for example, but the point of the book is the HeLa cells - and biology is also not my forté so loads of new information there as well. It was very interesting in expected and unexpected areas for me

- Daniel Suarez' Kill Decision has only gotten more relevant since its release in 2012. Not sure I'd call this meaty though, but his thrillers are always good (near-ish future tech) and the author iirc also said this particular one is meant as food for thought and not only entertainment

Non fiction: The Dawn of Everything.

Fiction: just finished The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott; about to read The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson (for the 2nd or 3rd time)

Ted Chiang's Stories of Your Life And Others. Just finished the short story behind Arrival, the way it frames free is something the film doesn't capture. Other stories in the book have been brilliant too.

You've Been Pooping All Wrong by Trisha Pasricha MD. Get a bidet, eat more fiber and kiwis.

I recently enjoyed the Dark Profit Saga by Zachary Pike: https://www.goodreads.com/series/207236-the-dark-profit-saga

It was a mix of fantasy & humor. It is a bit long but it is extremely funny & entertaining. It is the first fantasy book I have read other than the Harry Potter series (not sure if it is considered fantasy) but I loved it.

One of the best non-fiction books I read this year was Doppleganger: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/138505710.

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

On the recommendation of a friend, the spiral wars series (https://spiral-wars-shepherd.fandom.com/wiki/Spiral_history).

It started slow (booting) but I'm enjoying the books (currently on #3), the universe-building and the length (10 books) of it.

I've taken a hiatus in my journey through Iain M. Banks' Culture novels to reread 1984.

Re-reading C.J. Cherryh's Chanur books and various other Alliance-Union novels from her Humble Bundle.

I'd be re-reading Tolkien's _Old English Exodus_, but proofreading the typos got to be too much.

Iain Banks - Excession - 5 stars and the most optimistic series on AI

Dungeon Crawler Card - Not for me but I might give it another chance

Bukowski - Post Office - Worth reading, Gen-Z might get triggered

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang.

It's an autobiographical history which recounts the lives of the author, her mother, and her grandmother throughout an extremely transformational century in Chinese history.

I went into this knowing little to no Chinese history, and it has opened my eyes to this fascinating country. I hope to visit China for the first time in 2027. Before I go, I'm doing a deep dive into Chinese history. Open to recommendations on what to read next!

I just finished "The Emergency". Heard about it on Reading Hannah Arendt with Roger Berkowitz [0]. Is a fictional story about what it might be like if a modern government empire collapses. Im interested in writers that are thinking about the future.

[0]: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-emergency-with-geo...

Helliconia Summer

I just finished the full cast Harry Potter audiobooks and they were fantastic.

Currently reading and recommending - Endurance by Alfred Lansing. Sir Earnest Shackleton’s attempt to cross the Antarctic.

I'm reading tons of Claude, all I do everyday is read all day

One of the books I'm reading now is Ask the Fellows Who Cut the Hay, by George Ewart Evans. Set in 1957 Suffolk county, England. I often read in a theme and this theme is about cultural and technological transitions.

I am reading The dream of enlightenment by Anthony Gottlieb.

My goal is to read the history of ideas from Renaissance period till 2000s. Started with The Florentines by Paul Strathern. Then read The Clockwork Universe by Edward Dolnick. Now at the enlightenment era. It has been eye opening to read about the life and times of some of the great minds like Kepler, Galileo, Newton, Locke and more.

Terry Pratchet's entire corpus

I've got a history of picking up the 2 top books of the airports best sellers. Have been my strategy for a while, right now it's FLESH. Feels like I'm being part of the mainstream, reading something everyone else reading.

Glen Cook's Garrett P.I. series[0]. It's a perennial fave (I've read it many times, in the past).

I'm reading Deadly Quicksilver Lies, right now.

[0] https://www.goodreads.com/series/49491-garrett-files

I read a lot so I'll toss out some fiction titles you might like if you're a DCC fan:

* Ode to the Half-Broken by Suzanne Palmer -- post-apoc dystopian, somewhat cozy, told from a robot's perspective (who is joined by a companion cyborg dog)

* Blacktongue Thief by Chris Buehlman -- witty and snarky fantasy, solid character development and world building; and, if you like it, book 2 in the series (book 3 if you count a prequel) comes out soon

* Mortedant's Peril -- Fantasy mystery in a world where magic allows the "detectives" to touch the dead and sense their final thoughts/words; in that world, someone learns a dark secret from a victim...

* Trade of Blood -- Another fantasy mystery that is exceptionally well told; it's Book 3 in a series so I'd start with Tainted Cup if you haven't read that already

* The Infinite State -- new SciFi by Richard Swan (usually a fantasy author); a universe where ultra wealthy can establish colony planets, someone attempts to start a democracy.

if you're into litrpg, have you tried the wandering inn? it's not so meaty but it's above almost all other litrpgs in that department and the storytelling is great

I'm reading A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine, it's the sequel to A Memory Called Empire. I'm enjoying it!

- "Foundations of Analysis" by Belding & Mitchell

- "On Writing Well" by Zinsser

"A man in the Maze" by Robert Silverberg. Don't know why but I felt the urge to re-read it, last time I read it 30 years ago and remembered the plot very well.

Radiant Star (the new Ann Leckie book, in the “Ancillary Justice” series). Not as good as her earlier books in the series, but very worthwhile if you enjoyed them.

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimgar_of_Fantasy_and_Ash

I have grown playing MMORPG's and this one brings the nostalgia vibes without investing the time into grinding for gear.

Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life by Nick Lane.

Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will by Robert Sapolsky

the fionavar tapestry by guy gavriel kay.

nearing the end. i've found it a bit complicated to follow in some spots (there are several 'main' protagonists and it switches between them without much warning or introduction) but overall it's scratched the fantasy itch.

(i suppose it's actually 3 books, but i have the omnibus version)

I just wrapped up the Murderbot Diaries series and am starting in on Dungeon Crawler Carl.

I normally read a lot of nonfiction and history and am trying to make a point to read more fiction this year.

„Practical Engineering for Inventors“. It’s not really made to be read from beginning to end but I do like to le

Just for fun—past examples with > 30 comments:

Ask HN: What Are You Reading? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45283087 - Sept 2025 (42 comments)

Ask HN: What are you reading Feb 2024 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39248780 - Feb 2024 (92 comments)

Ask HN: What are you reading these days? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38237730 - Nov 2023 (281 comments)

Ask HN: What Are You Reading? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21457827 - Nov 2019 (49 comments)

Ask HN: What books are you currently reading? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16160091 - Jan 2018 (43 comments)

Ask HN: What books are you currently reading? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14859274 - July 2017 (80 comments)

Ask HN: What books are you reading? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14608397 - June 2017 (36 comments)

Ask HN: What books are you reading? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10175465 - Sept 2015 (79 comments)

Ask HN: What are you reading? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9636361 - June 2015 (37 comments)

Ask HN: What book are you reading right now? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8108932 - July 2014 (86 comments)

Ask HN: What Books Are You Reading? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7968124 - June 2014 (80 comments)

Ask HN: What books are you reading right now? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4596721 - Oct 2012 (40 comments)

Ask HN: What are you reading? What've you read lately? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3335496 - Dec 2011 (41 comments)

Ask HN: What are you reading right now? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3230965 - Nov 2011 (59 comments)

Ask HN: What books are you reading - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2615647 - June 2011 (53 comments)

Ask HN: What are you reading right now? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1865350 - Nov 2010 (298 comments)

What are you reading? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=797070 - Sept 2009 (214 comments)

The Cuckoo's Egg, by Cliff Stoll

Gouged: The End of a Fair Price—and What That Means for Your Wallet by Lindsay Owens became available today, and I have purchased ebook and will begin reading today.

Nothing currently, but most recently, the various audiobooks of The Wind in the Willows to fall asleep, and Diana Wynne Jones' (of Howl's Moving Castle fame) Chrestomanci series while awake.

Currently on the final book of James Clavell’s Asia Saga, it’s been a long road and I’m frankly kind of over it but 90% through the final book and I’m glad I read them. First read Shogun maybe ~10 years ago but read the other four back to back. Gai-Jin wasn’t very good but the others have been pretty solid overall. A bit long winded and sometimes I wish he’d’ve had a more aggressive editor, but happy with em enough to finish them all.

Book 2 of Hyperion Cantos. Really enjoying it, but am unsure if I want to do books 3 & 4. Anyone read them and recommend either way?

Rereading Pale, slowly:

https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/

Iain M Banks' Culture series. It's hilarious (not really) how badly these books are mis-read by wannabe tech dictators.

I am currently listening to VC An American History by Tom Nicholas, Audible 2019. I am reading Predictable Winners, A Handbook for Developing, Forecasting, and Launching New Products and Services, Stanford Business Books, 2025. I have cracked open, but not gotten very far in reading, The Rise And Fall of the Artificial State by Jill Lepore, Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2026. The Jill Lepore book is very interesting.

I finished Quantum Radio last week and Im quite far in Rainbows End. I think the former is ok, not great; the latter is a better book (with AR future vibes), but still lacking something that makes u never drop it before u finish it.

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.

Three books.

These two feel especially relevant:

Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered - E.F. Schumacher

Tools for Conviviality - Ivan Illich

and

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows - John Koenig

An Introduction to General Systems Thinking by Gerald Weinberg. I've found his writing style to really land with my brain.

Boom Town by Sam Anderson. Its an intertwined history of Oklahoma City and its basketball team, the Thunder. I'm about halfway through, and I'm loving it so far.

"Correction" from Bernhard. Wow. This is in its own league of weirdness and yet it flows...

Just finished:

- Selected Stories - Anton Chekhov

- Death in Venice - Thomas Mann

- The Burnout Society - Byung-Chul Han

Currently I am reading an Austrian economics classic - Economics in one lesson by Henry Hazlitt