Notable Books of 2014(nytimes.com)
nytimes.com
Notable Books of 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/books/review/100-notable-books-of-2014.html
7 comments
I got my copy today! Ordered it after reading a related comment on a previous HN discussion. I have high expectations with this one especially after reading the reviews on Goodreads.
Honestly, I was quite disappointed with it. I thought the ending was really lacking and didn't fulfill the expectations the rest of the book set up.
If you like that kind of sci-fi I'd recommend Hōsuke Nojiri's books (the two Rocket Girls and Usurper of the Sun).
The audiobook was fantastic. Great reader.
For those of you who may have trouble viewing this, I hacked together a little Selenium script to scrape this for you[1].
[1] https://gist.github.com/anonymous/84449fe7860e292e904f
The list:
Category: FICTION & POETRY
1. 'All Our Names' by Dinaw Mengestu
2. 'All The Birds, Singing' by Evie Wyld
3. 'All The Light We Cannot See' by Anthony Doerr
4. 'American Innovations' by Rivka Galchen
5. 'The Assassination Of Margaret Thatcher: Stories' by Hilary Mantel
6. 'The Ballad Of A Small Player' by Lawrence Osborne
7. 'Bark: Stories' by Lorrie Moore
8. 'The Blazing World' by Siri Hustvedt
9. 'The Bone Clocks' by David Mitchell
10. 'The Book Of Strange New Things' by Michel Faber
11. 'The Book Of Unknown Americans' by Cristina Henríquez
12. 'Boy, Snow, Bird' by Helen Oyeyemi
13. 'A Brief History Of Seven Killings' by Marlon James
14. 'Can’t And Won’t' by Lydia Davis
15. 'The Cold Song' by Linn Ullmann. Translated by Barbara J. Haveland
16. 'Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki And His Years Of Pilgrimage' by Haruki Murakami. Translated by Philip Gabriel
17. 'Dept. Of Speculation' by Jenny Offill
18. 'The Dog' by Joseph O’Neill
19. 'Euphoria' by Lily King
20. 'Everything I Never Told You' by Celeste Ng
21. 'F' by Daniel Kehlmann. Translated by Carol Brown Janeway
22. 'Faithful And Virtuous Night' by Louise Glück
23. 'Family Life' by Akhil Sharma
24. 'Fourth Of July Creek' by Smith Henderson
25. 'A Girl Is A Half-formed Thing' by Eimear McBride
26. 'I Pity The Poor Immigrant' by Zachary Lazar
27. 'The Laughing Monsters' by Denis Johnson
28. 'Lena Finkle’s Magic Barrel' by tten and illustrated by Anya Ulinich
29. 'Let Me Be Frank With You: A Frank Bascombe Book' by Richard Ford
30. 'Lila' by Marilynne Robinson
31. 'Lovers At The Chameleon Club, Paris 1932' by Francine Prose
32. 'The Magician’s Land' by Lev Grossman
33. 'The Moor’s Account' by Laila Lalami
34. 'Motherland Fatherland Homelandsexuals' by Patricia Lockwood
35. 'My Struggle. Book 3: Boyhood' by Karl Ove Knausgaard. Translated by Don Bartlett.
36. 'The Narrow Road To The Deep North' by Richard Flanagan
37. 'Nora Webster' by Colm Toibin
38. 'Panic In A Suitcase' by Yelena Akhtiorskaya
39. 'The Paying Guests' by Sarah Waters
40. 'The Poetry Of Derek Walcott 1948-2013' by ected by Glyn Maxwell
41. 'Redeployment' by Phil Klay
42. 'Remember Me Like This' by Bret Anthony Johnston
43. 'A Replacement Life' by Boris Fishman
44. 'Song Of The Shank' by Jeffery Renard Allen
45. '10:04' by Ben Lerner
46. 'Thirty Girls' by Susan Minot
47. 'Those Who Leave And Those Who Stay: Book 3, The Neapolitan Novels: “middle Time.' by Elena Ferrante. Translated by Ann Goldstein
48. 'The Wallcreeper' by Nell Zink
49. 'We Are Not Ourselves' by Matthew Thomas
50. 'When Mystical Creatures Attack' by Kathleen Founds
Category: NONFICTION
1. 'American Mirror: The Life And Art Of Norman Rockwell' by Deborah Solomon
2. 'Being Mortal: Medicine And What Matters In The End' by Atul Gawande
3. 'Building A Better Teacher: How Teaching Works (and How To Teach It To Everyone)' by Elizabeth Green
4. 'Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant' by tten and illustrated by Roz Chast
5. 'China’s Second Continent: How A Million Migrants Are Building A New Empire In africa' by Howard W. French
6. 'Cubed: A Secret History Of The Workplace' by Nikil Saval
7. 'Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories Of 33 Men Buried In A Chilean Mine, And The Miracle That Set Them Free' by Héctor Tobar
8. 'Demon Camp: A Soldier’s Exorcism' by Jennifer Percy
9. 'Duty: Memoirs Of A Secretary At War' by Robert M. Gates
10. 'Dying Every Day: Seneca At The Court Of Nero' by James Romm
11. 'Eichmann Before Jerusalem: The Unexamined Life Of A Mass Murderer' by Bettina Stangneth. Translated by Ruth Martin
12. 'Elephant Company: The Inspiring Story Of An Unlikely Hero And The Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives In World War Ii' by Vicki Constantine Croke
13. 'Embattled Rebel: Jefferson Davis As Commander In Chief' by James M. McPherson
14. 'The Empathy Exams: Essays' by Leslie Jamison
15. 'Factory Man: How One Furniture Maker Battled Offshoring, Stayed Local — And Helped Save An American Town' by Beth Macy
16. 'The Fame Lunches: On Wounded Icons, Money, Sex, The Brontës, And The Importance Of Handbags' by Daphne Merkin
17. 'Fire Shut Up In My Bones: A Memoir' by Charles M. Blow
18. 'Forcing The Spring: Inside The Fight For Marriage Equality' by Jo Becker
19. 'Gandhi Before India' by Ramachandra Guha
20. 'Geek Sublime: The Beauty Of Code, The Code Of Beauty' by Vikram Chandra
21. 'Hotel Florida: Truth, Love, And Death In The Spanish Civil War' by Amanda Vaill
22. 'The Human Age: The World Shaped By Us' by Diane Ackerman
23. 'The Invisible Bridge: The Fall Of Nixon And The Rise Of Reagan' by Rick Perlstein
24. 'The Invisible Front: Love And Loss In An Era Of Endless War' by Yochi Dreazen
25. 'The Invisible History Of The Human Race: How Dna And History Shape Our Identities And Our Futures' by Christine Kenneally.
26. 'Just Mercy: A Story Of Justice And Redemption' by Bryan Stevenson
27. 'Limonov' by Emmanuel Carrère. Translated by John Lambert
28. 'Little Failure: A Memoir' by Gary Shteyngart
29. 'The Madwoman In The Volvo: My Year Of Raging Hormones' by Sandra Tsing Loh
30. 'Napoleon: A Life' by Andrew Roberts
31. 'No Good Men Among The Living: America, The Taliban, And The War Through Afghan Eyes' by Anand Gopal
32. 'Not I: Memoirs Of A German Childhood' by Joachim Fest. Translated by Martin Chalmers
33. 'On Immunity: An Inoculation' by Eula Biss
34. 'On The Run: Fugitive Life In An American City' by Alice Goffman
35. '100 Essays I Don’t Have Time To Write: On Umbrellas And Sword Fights, Parades And Dogs, Fire Alarms, Children, And Theater' by Sarah Ruhl
36. 'The Parthenon Enigma' by Joan Breton Connelly
37. 'Pay Any Price: Greed, Power, And Endless War' by James Risen
38. 'Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life' by Hermione Lee
39. 'Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights' by Katha Pollitt
40. 'The Short And Tragic Life Of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark For The Ivy League' by Jeff Hobbs
41. 'The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History' by Elizabeth Kolbert
42. 'A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby And The Great Betrayal' by Ben Macintyre
43. 'Stuff Matters: Exploring The Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-made World' by Mark Miodownik
44. 'The Teacher Wars: A History Of America’s Most Embattled Profession' by Dana Goldstein
45. 'Thirteen Days In September: Carter, Begin, And Sadat At Camp David' by Lawrence Wright
46. 'This Changes Everything: Capitalism Vs. The Climate' by Naomi Klein
47. 'Thrown' by Kerry Howley
48. 'The Trip To Echo Spring: On Writers And Drinking' by Olivia Laing
49. 'The True American: Murder And Mercy In Texas' by Anand Giridharadas
50. 'World Order' by Henry Kissinger
[1] https://gist.github.com/anonymous/84449fe7860e292e904f
The list:
Category: FICTION & POETRY
1. 'All Our Names' by Dinaw Mengestu
2. 'All The Birds, Singing' by Evie Wyld
3. 'All The Light We Cannot See' by Anthony Doerr
4. 'American Innovations' by Rivka Galchen
5. 'The Assassination Of Margaret Thatcher: Stories' by Hilary Mantel
6. 'The Ballad Of A Small Player' by Lawrence Osborne
7. 'Bark: Stories' by Lorrie Moore
8. 'The Blazing World' by Siri Hustvedt
9. 'The Bone Clocks' by David Mitchell
10. 'The Book Of Strange New Things' by Michel Faber
11. 'The Book Of Unknown Americans' by Cristina Henríquez
12. 'Boy, Snow, Bird' by Helen Oyeyemi
13. 'A Brief History Of Seven Killings' by Marlon James
14. 'Can’t And Won’t' by Lydia Davis
15. 'The Cold Song' by Linn Ullmann. Translated by Barbara J. Haveland
16. 'Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki And His Years Of Pilgrimage' by Haruki Murakami. Translated by Philip Gabriel
17. 'Dept. Of Speculation' by Jenny Offill
18. 'The Dog' by Joseph O’Neill
19. 'Euphoria' by Lily King
20. 'Everything I Never Told You' by Celeste Ng
21. 'F' by Daniel Kehlmann. Translated by Carol Brown Janeway
22. 'Faithful And Virtuous Night' by Louise Glück
23. 'Family Life' by Akhil Sharma
24. 'Fourth Of July Creek' by Smith Henderson
25. 'A Girl Is A Half-formed Thing' by Eimear McBride
26. 'I Pity The Poor Immigrant' by Zachary Lazar
27. 'The Laughing Monsters' by Denis Johnson
28. 'Lena Finkle’s Magic Barrel' by tten and illustrated by Anya Ulinich
29. 'Let Me Be Frank With You: A Frank Bascombe Book' by Richard Ford
30. 'Lila' by Marilynne Robinson
31. 'Lovers At The Chameleon Club, Paris 1932' by Francine Prose
32. 'The Magician’s Land' by Lev Grossman
33. 'The Moor’s Account' by Laila Lalami
34. 'Motherland Fatherland Homelandsexuals' by Patricia Lockwood
35. 'My Struggle. Book 3: Boyhood' by Karl Ove Knausgaard. Translated by Don Bartlett.
36. 'The Narrow Road To The Deep North' by Richard Flanagan
37. 'Nora Webster' by Colm Toibin
38. 'Panic In A Suitcase' by Yelena Akhtiorskaya
39. 'The Paying Guests' by Sarah Waters
40. 'The Poetry Of Derek Walcott 1948-2013' by ected by Glyn Maxwell
41. 'Redeployment' by Phil Klay
42. 'Remember Me Like This' by Bret Anthony Johnston
43. 'A Replacement Life' by Boris Fishman
44. 'Song Of The Shank' by Jeffery Renard Allen
45. '10:04' by Ben Lerner
46. 'Thirty Girls' by Susan Minot
47. 'Those Who Leave And Those Who Stay: Book 3, The Neapolitan Novels: “middle Time.' by Elena Ferrante. Translated by Ann Goldstein
48. 'The Wallcreeper' by Nell Zink
49. 'We Are Not Ourselves' by Matthew Thomas
50. 'When Mystical Creatures Attack' by Kathleen Founds
Category: NONFICTION
1. 'American Mirror: The Life And Art Of Norman Rockwell' by Deborah Solomon
2. 'Being Mortal: Medicine And What Matters In The End' by Atul Gawande
3. 'Building A Better Teacher: How Teaching Works (and How To Teach It To Everyone)' by Elizabeth Green
4. 'Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant' by tten and illustrated by Roz Chast
5. 'China’s Second Continent: How A Million Migrants Are Building A New Empire In africa' by Howard W. French
6. 'Cubed: A Secret History Of The Workplace' by Nikil Saval
7. 'Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories Of 33 Men Buried In A Chilean Mine, And The Miracle That Set Them Free' by Héctor Tobar
8. 'Demon Camp: A Soldier’s Exorcism' by Jennifer Percy
9. 'Duty: Memoirs Of A Secretary At War' by Robert M. Gates
10. 'Dying Every Day: Seneca At The Court Of Nero' by James Romm
11. 'Eichmann Before Jerusalem: The Unexamined Life Of A Mass Murderer' by Bettina Stangneth. Translated by Ruth Martin
12. 'Elephant Company: The Inspiring Story Of An Unlikely Hero And The Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives In World War Ii' by Vicki Constantine Croke
13. 'Embattled Rebel: Jefferson Davis As Commander In Chief' by James M. McPherson
14. 'The Empathy Exams: Essays' by Leslie Jamison
15. 'Factory Man: How One Furniture Maker Battled Offshoring, Stayed Local — And Helped Save An American Town' by Beth Macy
16. 'The Fame Lunches: On Wounded Icons, Money, Sex, The Brontës, And The Importance Of Handbags' by Daphne Merkin
17. 'Fire Shut Up In My Bones: A Memoir' by Charles M. Blow
18. 'Forcing The Spring: Inside The Fight For Marriage Equality' by Jo Becker
19. 'Gandhi Before India' by Ramachandra Guha
20. 'Geek Sublime: The Beauty Of Code, The Code Of Beauty' by Vikram Chandra
21. 'Hotel Florida: Truth, Love, And Death In The Spanish Civil War' by Amanda Vaill
22. 'The Human Age: The World Shaped By Us' by Diane Ackerman
23. 'The Invisible Bridge: The Fall Of Nixon And The Rise Of Reagan' by Rick Perlstein
24. 'The Invisible Front: Love And Loss In An Era Of Endless War' by Yochi Dreazen
25. 'The Invisible History Of The Human Race: How Dna And History Shape Our Identities And Our Futures' by Christine Kenneally.
26. 'Just Mercy: A Story Of Justice And Redemption' by Bryan Stevenson
27. 'Limonov' by Emmanuel Carrère. Translated by John Lambert
28. 'Little Failure: A Memoir' by Gary Shteyngart
29. 'The Madwoman In The Volvo: My Year Of Raging Hormones' by Sandra Tsing Loh
30. 'Napoleon: A Life' by Andrew Roberts
31. 'No Good Men Among The Living: America, The Taliban, And The War Through Afghan Eyes' by Anand Gopal
32. 'Not I: Memoirs Of A German Childhood' by Joachim Fest. Translated by Martin Chalmers
33. 'On Immunity: An Inoculation' by Eula Biss
34. 'On The Run: Fugitive Life In An American City' by Alice Goffman
35. '100 Essays I Don’t Have Time To Write: On Umbrellas And Sword Fights, Parades And Dogs, Fire Alarms, Children, And Theater' by Sarah Ruhl
36. 'The Parthenon Enigma' by Joan Breton Connelly
37. 'Pay Any Price: Greed, Power, And Endless War' by James Risen
38. 'Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life' by Hermione Lee
39. 'Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights' by Katha Pollitt
40. 'The Short And Tragic Life Of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark For The Ivy League' by Jeff Hobbs
41. 'The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History' by Elizabeth Kolbert
42. 'A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby And The Great Betrayal' by Ben Macintyre
43. 'Stuff Matters: Exploring The Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-made World' by Mark Miodownik
44. 'The Teacher Wars: A History Of America’s Most Embattled Profession' by Dana Goldstein
45. 'Thirteen Days In September: Carter, Begin, And Sadat At Camp David' by Lawrence Wright
46. 'This Changes Everything: Capitalism Vs. The Climate' by Naomi Klein
47. 'Thrown' by Kerry Howley
48. 'The Trip To Echo Spring: On Writers And Drinking' by Olivia Laing
49. 'The True American: Murder And Mercy In Texas' by Anand Giridharadas
50. 'World Order' by Henry Kissinger
Is Selenium better than other scrapers?
I can't speak on too many scrapers, but Selenium offers a whole lot over just Web scraping. It's a wonderful tool to automate functonal tests, perform monotonous tasks, and other handy things.
If you do any sort of Web development, I would recommend writing tests using it. It's quite easy to pick up, and is available in different languages, and for different browsers.
If you do any sort of Web development, I would recommend writing tests using it. It's quite easy to pick up, and is available in different languages, and for different browsers.
They forgot this one: http://www.orbooks.com/catalog/when-google-met-wikileaks/
Nassim Taleb said this about the NYT list: "There is close to ZERO probability that a "Notable book" in the NYT will be discussed in 5-20 years. Look at 1990-2009 lists."
OK, but what's the value in that statement–what does "discussed" mean for him? Looking at the 2009 list, there are plenty of books still circulating in discourse. Asterious Polyp and the Dan Chaon, Margaret Atwood and Jonathan Lethem novels are still quite talked about. Without context, I'm going to assume that is this just an acerbic, arms-crossed way to snub a popularly considered list.
That may be true, BUT I'd wager that the probability of a book not chosen by the NYT is even closer to zero.
It's not that the NYT is bad, it's that predicting fads vs. classics at the time of release is a hard problem.
It's not that the NYT is bad, it's that predicting fads vs. classics at the time of release is a hard problem.
My personal favourite: 'Information doesn't want to be free' by Cory Doctorow
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20763766-information-doe...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20763766-information-doe...
They should let you filter by genre.
It is well worth a read and I think HNers and fellow geeks will find it interesting