Ask HN: What are some good inspirational and uplifting books?

[in9]

Hey HN. I'm in a bit of a rut. Feeling with no sense of goal, unmotivated to do basic shit, and falling back into dangerous old habbits. I have a nice job and still perform well on it. I'm just trying to became inspired as opposed to "smarter", which is what the technical books I usually read do.

And yes, going back to therapy is on my line of sight :D

[rockostrich]

I'll give a casual read that became one of my favorite books:

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

It's got some tech aspects to it since the main character is starting to get into using programming to investigate a mystery and that bit definitely feels motivating. We all have a bunch of problems that we deal with in every day life that we just need a little push to start solving. But it also is just a solid mystery book that's somewhat rooted in history with some great characters (although I think the main character and his love interest are kind of the blandest of the bunch). I don't want to say anymore since I'll get into spoiling it but I'll leave you with this:

festina lente

[mohsaad]

Love this book, would recommend it to anyone who's interested in a good mystery.

[asicsp]

I loved Sourdough by Robin Sloan, will check out this one too.

[theshrike79]

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33313.Kitchen_Confidenti...

Even if you have zero interest in the culinary world, you'll still enjoy the stories - and maybe even get motivated by some of them.

The crappiest CRUD-app making Java job in a toxic office is a cushy vacation compared to the life of a chef :)

[in9]

cooking is one of my favorite hobbies. Will definitely check it out.

[blacksoil]

Mere Christianity by CS Lewis, Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

[adamhp]

> Mere Christianity by CS Lewis

Opens the book by talking shit about atheists and how atheism is not a real philosophy, and basically says it is not even worth commenting on.

I put it down immediately.

[eatonphil]

> Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Unfortunately, this has been thoroughly discredited [0]. But if the point of the list is not to be accurate but to feel good (and I'm not being sarcastic, OP asked about books to feel better) then of course anything is fair to recommend.

[0] https://retractionwatch.com/2017/02/20/placed-much-faith-und...

[Mordisquitos]

If you're into audiobooks, I recommend "You're It! On Hiding, Seeking, and Being Found", a series of talks by Alan Watts [0]. I'm not sure if it can pull you up out of the rut, but it may help you to get out of it sideways.

[0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6583629-you-re-it-on-hid...

[adyer07]

I really enjoyed Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman. It's more of a kick in the pants than an inspirational book, but it actually helped me think about (and act on) my priorities.

[adamgordonbell]

Seconded. Great book

The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking by him is also good.

[hnthrowaway0328]

*Master of Doom*

My takes (in random order):

- Both Johns already bagged years of professional game development experience before ID was formed. Romero started submitting games to magazines in mid-80s and Carmack in 1989. This probably explains why they managed to push out games so fast.

- John Carmack went from Apple ][ tile mapped games (Shadowforge and Wraith) to horizontal smooth scrolling (Commander Keen) in about 1 year, and to ray caster (Wolfenstein) in about 1 year, and to BSP (Doom) in a bit more than 1 year, and to real 3D (Quake) in 2.5 years. And this is only the rendering part. He was super focused and super efficient.

- Tools are really important to rapid iteration. Romero's 2D editor (forgot the name) was used throughout the early years, which says something.

- Early programmers *have* to deal with assembly language routinely. This probably dispelled a lot of "magic" and one of the primary reasons why some of them were so good. Essentially everyone who programs games for long enough is a low level programmer. I wonder if modern programmers should take the same grinding.

- This is probably controversial but I believe Romero leaving ID tipped the balance and I find ID games starting from Quake 2 are less interesting.

- Everyone who wants to get serious about tech should take a few weeks off and concentrate on learning and working on difficult stuffs. Preferably more time but a few weeks should be the minimum.

[credit_guy]

Jubilee, Margaret Walker.

A tree grows in brooklin, Betty Smith.

Cutting for Stone, Abraham Varghese.

They are not light reading. But you do feel like you are a better person after you’re done reading them.

[in9]

wow! All are unheard books for me. Will for sure check them out! Thank you!

[plmpsu]

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl.

Good luck.

[yaseer]

Seconded.

It shall bring you down emotionally, then build you up again - but stronger.

[lqet]

The World as Will and Representation, Vol 1, by Arthur Schopenhauer.

It is still a very original book, and will strongly influence your thoughts on basically everything: love, music, literature, architecture, science, religion.

Volume 1 is also amazingly accessible, and often very funny. If you don't like dry philosophy books which must invent their own language systems, but still fail to bring their basic points across, you will be in good company - because Schopenhauer hates them. He frequently reminds the reader that if someone has truly and fully understood something, he can explain it in simple sentences. And Schopenhauer delivers.

https://www.amazon.com/World-Will-Representation-Vol/dp/0486...

[in9]

It has been a long time since I've had an interest in philosophy. I was one of those "humanities" kid that read stuff I wasn't at all muture enough to go through. And I remember loving some bits I read from Schopenhauer. Perhaps its time for me to relive that interest.

[carapace]

"Seek and ye shall find."

Read the New Testament and then the Bhagavad Gita. Jesus's words are uplifting but there's a lot of information that he gave the disciples that didn't make it into the Book. The Gita can be viewed as the "missing manual".

- - - -

I just lost my cat recently and had a birthday, so I'm in a deeply existential mood.

"All things are impermanent." It's as true as true can be. One day the cat is here, fluffy and meowing. The next day the cat is gone, and unlike the one in the story the cat is not ever coming back. Everything is like this: temporary, transient, contingent, impermanent.

The only thing, if anything, that we can "take with us" or that outlasts us is the effect we had on the world around us while we were alive. That is the closest thing to a "possession" you'll ever have.

So look to that. If you seek meaning in life, try helping people. Be kind. Cherish every moment. Feel and express love.

Hope this helps. :)

[in9]

Thank you for those kind words. I have two 2yo twin cats as well and the thought of not having them around is tough. Will check out both recommendations. I've never heard of Bhagavad Gita and it seems incredibly interesting.

[bwb]

You might like these btw:

I run this site and we have authors pick their favorite books around topics/themes, here are a few that were inspirational/uplifting that might hit the right spot.

The best books on actually living before you die https://shepherd.com/best-books/actually-living-before-you-d...

The best uplifting contemporary novels https://shepherd.com/best-books/uplifting-contemporary-novel...

The best uplifting climate fiction books https://shepherd.com/best-books/uplifting-climate-fiction

The best fantasy books that are the most uplifting https://shepherd.com/best-books/fantasy-that-are-the-most-up...

My personal rec is Killer of Men by Christian Cameron. I LOVE this book and it really hit me at the right time. I love it as it is written by a Greek warrior looking back over his life as an older man, and it is a great story based on a really interesting time in history. As he walks you through his life I loved his attitude and the way he navigated it, I got a lot of inspiration and lessons from it.

[kashyapc]

This sounds a bit clichéd, but bear with me:

Definitely check out Leonardo da Vinci's biography by Walter Isaacson. It gives a delightful account of da Vinci's life and his exploits. It's hard not to feel inspired after reading it. (It also has 120+ illustrations of da Vinci's drawings and notes. They're all digitized; you can flip through them here[0].

A random teaser from a recent comment[1]: da Vinci spent a lot of time dissecting human corpses and horses and made many draft drawings. Then he declares in his notebook, "I'm going to write a treatise on human anatomy; it will be better than those created by surgeons because I can draw exploded views of arms and muscles from different angles." He never finishes it. But, he discovered[2] the functioning of the aortic valve in the heart!

[0] http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=arundel_ms_263

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29495779

[2] https://www.rct.uk/collection/919082/the-aortic-valve

[ttanev]

I'd strongly suggest Simon Sinek:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7108725-start-with-why

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16144853-leaders-eat-las...

presently reading:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38390751-the-infinite-ga...

Before these, I've really appreciated:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_7_Habits_of_Highly_Effecti...

Someone already suggested Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4069.Man_s_Search_for_Me... ...and I absolutely agree!

Next in my queue is Flow by prof. Mihai Csikszentmihalyi:

https://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_flow_the_s...

Happy reading! :)

Edit: formatting

[human_person]

Hope in the dark by Rebecca Solnit[0] is helpful for thinking about your own actions in a larger context

The mindful self compassion workbook[1] is a cbt like guidebook to treating yourself well (mentally/emotionally)

Brene Brown’s books [2] help mentally reframe shame and give you an added awareness to how your past experiences/mental patterns influence your current experience/interpretation of events. She also has a ted talk on Netflix for a short intro to her overall approach.

Braiding Sweetgrass[3] by Robin Wall Kimmerer is currently one of my favorite books. Some aspects are depressing particularly around our current culture but I found it also gave me hope by laying out an alternative and healthier way of interacting with the world.

[0] - https://bookshop.org/books/hope-in-the-dark-untold-histories...

[1] - https://bookshop.org/books/the-mindful-self-compassion-workb...

[2] - https://bookshop.org/books/daring-greatly-how-the-courage-to...

[3] - https://bookshop.org/books/braiding-sweetgrass-3e12996d-ea04...

[BlasDeLezo]

"There's no such thing as a dragon" by Jack Kent. It's a short story written for children with a very good message for all ages. Here's a very young Dr. Jordan B. Peterson going through it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J54FMA895OA

[eatonphil]

Reading history always makes me feel better. For example the periods after the founding of the US or the period after the end of the US civil war. Turns out we've been doing stupid stuff for a long time. And yet I generally agree with the way we've progressed, even though there's still more to improve.

[2snakes]

Autobiography of a Yogi and Yogananda's Man's Eternal Quest are pretty good as far as inspirational goes...

[apricot13]

I’ve been searching for a book that helps me identify some goals for myself for yearsss. Once i get some I’ll have read enough books to know what to do with them but nothing so far has helped me become inspired.

Closest I’ve come so far is to read books that make me cry with laughter! I feel at my best after reading these kinds of books and more inspired than any self help book has ever made me feel.

My no 1 recommendation is “let’s pretend this never happened” by Jenny Lawson (aka the bloggess) of all her books it’s hands down the best and the funniest and i reread it regularly because it’s so unpredictable and unlikely! (Though the randomness does feel forced at times)

The only other book that springs to mind is getting things done by David Allen it helped me sort things out of my head to make room to be inspired.

[Saleshooman]

I highly recommend two books:

Awareness by Tony Dmello and The greatest salesman in the world by Og Mandino

Some context: Last year was an awful year, lost my entire net worth and got super depressed- work lost its meaning and took sometime to recover- I wrote about it here: https://www.vice.com/en/article/bvnn3a/i-lost-dollar400000-a...

But a friend recommended both of those books and they helped me get back on track- PS. I am very much an atheist, so the recommendations might seem offtrack but both of the books carry remarkable advise.

[in9]

holy crap man. What a story. Glad to hear you are bouncing back from that. Will read those with a lot of respect since they helped you go through such a difficult time.

[misiti3780]

Enlightment Now + The Better Angels of Our Nature by Pinker

Factfulness