Ask HN: Books you read in 2023 and recommend for 2024?
HN readers share the books that most influenced them in 2023, ranging from epic fantasy and hard sci‑fi to history, economics, politics, and parenting. Recommendations highlight recurring interests in big-idea science fiction (e.g., Liu Cixin, Malazan, Hyperion), biographies and political history, “thinking” books on systems, money, and time, and practical guides on parenting, creativity, and personal finance. Several threads also wrestle with polarizing titles (like Ayn Rand), free will and determinism, and how tools like reading challenges or tracking lists can help adults rebuild a serious reading habit.
Range of Recommendations
- Thread is a long exchange of book lists across fiction, non‑fiction, history, science, philosophy, parenting, and self‑help.
- Several commenters maintain public reading logs and end‑of‑year “best of” lists, then pull highlights into the thread.
- Many describe particular books as “life‑changing” or habit‑shaping (sleep, alcohol, diet, money, creativity, work).
Fantasy & Science Fiction
- Strong cluster around epic fantasy and SF series: multiple recommendations and re‑reads of long multi‑volume sagas.
- One series about a vast war-torn world is repeatedly praised as the “most epic” fantasy, but also criticized for extreme length, dense worldbuilding, rapid POV shifts, and apparent deus ex machina; defenders argue its events are causally grounded in ancient in‑world history.
- Other frequent mentions: space operas, literary SF, “cozy” fantasy, and works with unusual or “weird” magic systems; some readers trade recs specifically for non‑standard systems.
- Several warn certain series are emotionally punishing and not ideal if you’re already depressed.
Polarizing and Philosophical Works
- A major libertarian novel provokes sharp division:
- Critics call it poorly written, full of strawman antagonists and narcissistic ideology, occasionally comparing it to other notorious works.
- Supporters argue it’s a romantic/philosophical fantasy rather than realism, say mocking it is clichéd, and some report concrete positive effects (e.g., inspiring scholarships).
- A recent book arguing against free will leads to detailed debate about determinism vs. quantum randomness, the difference between moral and physical notions of determinism, and how (or whether) this alters views on responsibility and justice.
- One commenter strongly condemns the same author’s popular lecture on schizophrenia as shallow and harmful.
History, Politics, and Society
- Many recommendations in political history and biography (U.S. presidents, Churchill, Hitler, Roman Empire, economic history of the 20th century, California/capitalism, globalization, world order).
- Others highlight books on chips and geopolitics, climate and wildfires, waste, water in the American West, private equity, degrowth, and utopian/alternative social experiments.
- Several note being inspired by biographies to “get life in order” or reframe current events via historical cycles.
Parenting, Relationships, and Spirituality
- Parenting titles on emotional intelligence and parent–child dynamics are praised as practically transformative, sometimes with the caveat to “ignore” strong religious framing.
- Relationship and “love language” books are called eye‑opening for understanding how people give/receive affection.
- A small cluster recommends Buddhist and nondual/Advaita‑style works, tying them to questions around agency and free will.
Reading Habits and Meta‑Discussion
- Commenters describe using annual reading challenges and tracking tools to push themselves to read more and record what they finish.
- Some say they “got their attention back” and rediscovered childhood‑level voracious reading or used books as comfort during illness and family crises.
- One person requests an automatically compiled list from the thread; others point to an existing site that aggregates HN book mentions.