Post-hype, Sapiens worth reading? Where to get modern recommendations?

Question

Sapiens is the most hyped text in my memory; I haven't read it. I tend to think I could've died any time in at least the last century with access to more worthwhile literature than I had time for, and so the bar gets higher every year.Now the hype has passed, is 'must-read' still a sober review? In general, what's a good source for not this year's 'bestsellers', but perhaps last decade or so, contemporary works with signs of staying power I suppose?

surprisetalk · Accepted Answer

I really enjoyed Sapiens, and learned a lot from it. It offers quite a few micro-frameworks for understanding the history of the human world. I particularly liked the explanation of the birth of religions.For me, it served as an excellent companion to Guns Germs and Steel. GGS and Sapiens are great starting points for learning about history and the humanities.---Since you're on HackerNews and interested in non-fiction, I'd recommend reading anything by Steven Johnson or James Gleick. Walter Isaacson's The Innovators is also very good.As for other recommendations, you can never go wrong with works that have stood the test of time.[1] https://taylor.town/eschew-the-new[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_top_book_lists[3] https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/127723.The_Greatest_Book...Feel free to email me if you want any other specific recommendations.[4] hello@taylor.townI've found that ChatGPT is also quite good with recommendations if you list authors/books that you like and ask it to list uncommon suggestions that aren't included in your original list.

rerdavies · Answer

Probably better to ask one question per post.It's an awful book. Don't read it.