Top 1 or top 1-3 book you read this year (2025) that you would recommend to the HN community? Note: book itself doesn't need to have been published in 2025.
1. Why Machines Learn - Anil Ananthaswamy
Fantastic exposition of machine learning. The author does an amazing job of bringing a technical subject down to an easily readable level.
2. The Joy of Abstraction - Eugenia Cheng
Similar to the above review. I never thought Category Theory could be made so easily readable!
3. A Little History of Philosophy - Nigel Warburton
Small, compact book. A quick interesting jaunnt through the history of philosophy. Entertaining and educational!
Man’s Search For Meaning (Frankl), The Color Purple (Walker), Orbital (Harvey)
Not specifically for the HN community but these are the only books I read this year that I would recommend without qualification.
Empire of AI by Karen Hao. The whole world is going crazy for AI. This book brings the story of what actually goes on within those companies.
Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
This year I quite enjoyed:
- The Bright Sword, Lev Grossman Modern take on King Arthur, very fun, wild ride.
- The Courage to Be Disliked, Ichiro Kishimi Philosophy as a dialogue between teacher and student, lots to think about.
Caves of Steel, Forever War, Childhood’s End