Ask HN: What are your favorite books/courses of 2022? Why?
Thanks!
15 comments
I'm a huge fan of the scrimba[0] style of teaching. They're a fairly well established startup now, whose content style involves having a screen cast be recorded with an interactive code editor, review window and slides which you can move around and use as an online IDE.
You can interrupt the narrator at any time and interact with their code editor as if it was your own, messing with the code at that time and review the results.
Right now they seem to be focused on fronted skills, namely React and more general web dev topics but I'm very happy with how quickly i was bale to get the hang of React using their courses.
[0] https://scrimba.com/
You can interrupt the narrator at any time and interact with their code editor as if it was your own, messing with the code at that time and review the results.
Right now they seem to be focused on fronted skills, namely React and more general web dev topics but I'm very happy with how quickly i was bale to get the hang of React using their courses.
[0] https://scrimba.com/
Love Imba[0] as well which is the programming language Scrimba is written in. Truly revolutionary.
[0] https://imba.io/
[0] https://imba.io/
Shockingly underrated
I agree - Scrimba is terrific.
My only complaint with their system is there is no way for the course to work offline.
My only complaint with their system is there is no way for the course to work offline.
"Lectures on the Philosophy of Mathematics" by Hamkins is a great non-technical read into the foundations of mathematics, assuming that you know some set theory and logic.
See https://www.amazon.com/Lectures-Philosophy-Mathematics-David...
See https://www.amazon.com/Lectures-Philosophy-Mathematics-David...
I read two pop books this year that were way better than I expected.
Circe by Madeline Miller. This is a fantastic genre defining classic. This book gave me BIG emotion.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. Obviously, everyone should read this, it's great. I would insist that white Americans born between 1980-2000 especially consider it. It's a quick read and the insights are profound. It's a book I would buy a box of and pass out to people who I think would either enjoy it or benefit from reading it.
Circe by Madeline Miller. This is a fantastic genre defining classic. This book gave me BIG emotion.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. Obviously, everyone should read this, it's great. I would insist that white Americans born between 1980-2000 especially consider it. It's a quick read and the insights are profound. It's a book I would buy a box of and pass out to people who I think would either enjoy it or benefit from reading it.
Circe was magnificent. The audiobook is beyond perfectly narrated by Perdita Weeks.
I started reading "Altered Carbon" after watching the netflix adaptation ( which was good ). Turns out the book is far better, more immersive and lets you wander off with subtle gaps that your imagination fills in and makes it an "interactive" experience in my opinion.
For anyone interested -> https://www.amazon.com/Altered-Carbon-Richard-K-Morgan/dp/07... (there is also the takeshi kovacs novel which i found that it isnt different )
For anyone interested -> https://www.amazon.com/Altered-Carbon-Richard-K-Morgan/dp/07... (there is also the takeshi kovacs novel which i found that it isnt different )
This was a good read! I read it on Kindle and didn't pay attention to how long it was. It's immersive!
I went through Delta academy's Reinforcement Learning courses. I really like having someone to ask questions when I got stuck. Not free, but 100% worth the money.
https://joindeltaacademy.com/
https://joindeltaacademy.com/
My favorite course was optimize coach. Heroic.us/optimize/coach
The biggest benefit I got was a deep connection to who I want to be. And through meditation and daily practices, I'm seeing myself progress towards someone whom I believe I would deeply admire. It's been an awesome start to a long journey!
The biggest benefit I got was a deep connection to who I want to be. And through meditation and daily practices, I'm seeing myself progress towards someone whom I believe I would deeply admire. It's been an awesome start to a long journey!
Adventurer: The Life and Times of Giacomo Casanova by Leo Damrosch. Solid biography of an interesting 18th century figure.
So far my favorite books of 2022 are:
Political
-----------
Why We're Polarized
Breaking the Two Party Doom Loop: The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America
I liked these two books together because they are two sides to the same coin and offers something I feel a lot of political books don't, a hope for a better America. Both books offer perspectives on this history of the political parties and how we have gotten to this point.
World
------
How the World Really Works: A Scientist’s Guide to Our Past, Present and Future
Vaclav Smil is an amazing author, his latest book really covers a range of topics from energy to food and how solving these problems are not as simple as people think. If you like these types of books, his other book (more dense) Energy and Civilization: A History is something I would highly recommend.
Leadership
----------
To Risk It All: Nine Conflicts and the Crucible of Decision
Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
Leadership has been a big topic for me recently to explore and out of the books I have read these three have opened my mind. I was in the Navy for severals years and so To Risk It All and Extreme Ownership really resonated with me. Execution is a great book as well and the three of them really cover the core of leadership, making hard choices, ownership, and execution based in reality.
Some of these books are new and a few of them are older, but these and several others are books I have read this year and have found them very enjoyable. I will also put out there if you like business an honorable mention of "Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't" which also was a pretty good read about how some businesses have done well and beaten the market while other industry giants have not.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52098718-why-we-re-polar...
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/44244963-breaking-the...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56587388-how-the-world-r...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31850765-energy-and-civi...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58885774-to-risk-it-all
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23848190-extreme-ownersh...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1635.Execution
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/76865.Good_to_Great
Political
-----------
Why We're Polarized
Breaking the Two Party Doom Loop: The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America
I liked these two books together because they are two sides to the same coin and offers something I feel a lot of political books don't, a hope for a better America. Both books offer perspectives on this history of the political parties and how we have gotten to this point.
World
------
How the World Really Works: A Scientist’s Guide to Our Past, Present and Future
Vaclav Smil is an amazing author, his latest book really covers a range of topics from energy to food and how solving these problems are not as simple as people think. If you like these types of books, his other book (more dense) Energy and Civilization: A History is something I would highly recommend.
Leadership
----------
To Risk It All: Nine Conflicts and the Crucible of Decision
Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
Leadership has been a big topic for me recently to explore and out of the books I have read these three have opened my mind. I was in the Navy for severals years and so To Risk It All and Extreme Ownership really resonated with me. Execution is a great book as well and the three of them really cover the core of leadership, making hard choices, ownership, and execution based in reality.
Some of these books are new and a few of them are older, but these and several others are books I have read this year and have found them very enjoyable. I will also put out there if you like business an honorable mention of "Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't" which also was a pretty good read about how some businesses have done well and beaten the market while other industry giants have not.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52098718-why-we-re-polar...
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/44244963-breaking-the...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56587388-how-the-world-r...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31850765-energy-and-civi...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58885774-to-risk-it-all
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23848190-extreme-ownersh...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1635.Execution
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/76865.Good_to_Great
For leadership, I really enjoyed Turn the Ship Around by Marquet. It's a fairly quick read with actionable advice.