HackerBooks
Learning and science
book directory
SHOW HN2026
1,242points
221comments
#6of 4,366 in 2026
Top 1%of 2026 by points
How HN took it
DebatedReal support and real criticism
43 positive, 40 neutral or asking, 5 mixed, 33 critical, out of 121 comments about the project. Thread score +0.10.
Idea: 18 for, 11 againstExecution: 3 for, 11 againstDesign: 2 for, 7 againstPerformance: 5 for, 1 againstDocs: 1 for, 0 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Fast, responsive site
From 3 comments
I like the responsiveness of the website. But there's no way Vanity Fair by Thackeray so high on "top all-time" list. It turns out that a lot of comments are about Vanity Fair…
Erlangen on HNLove the site! It loads so fast that it actually survived the initial HN hug of death, which is already a miracle for any side project.
no1guangming on HNThe site is really fast. I see HTTP/3, OpenGraph, and Cloudflare. Can you expand on the technologies used? Also... "Each book links back to the comments that mentioned it." >…
jchook on HN
Useful resource for finding books
From 3 comments
This is absolutely fantastic and a much more worthwhile resource than hackertube, which feels more like a graveyard of bygone thinking.
mvkel on HNThank you so much. It's incredibly useful for many people
kieojk on HNGood for me. Thank you!!!
blcsntb on HN
Nice companion to HackerTube
From 2 comments
This is the best HN day EVER since I stumbled on the site 10 years ago: first HackerTube and now this! Thank you SO much, both of you!
bookofjoe on HNCompared to HackerTube, this is pure gold! Design books, it is!
lcnmrn on HN
Objections
Counts mentions, so praise and criticism both count as recommendations
From 3 comments
I like the idea, but the wording might need to change as to how it counts a recommendation. As it stands Mein Kampf has been "recommended" by 651 HNers, a troubling statistic!
drayfield on HNThe “mentions since” picker appears to be broken, nothing in the list changes as far as I can see. Also I wish it wouldn’t add another page to my history.
vigilantpuma on HNI like the responsiveness of the website. But there's no way Vanity Fair by Thackeray so high on "top all-time" list. It turns out that a lot of comments are about Vanity Fair…
Erlangen on HN
Some book metadata is wrong (wrong author or covers, bad dates, wrong matches)
From 4 comments
Add a way to suggest the correct author, sometimes just reading the first comment linked in the page has the right one, for example: https://hackerbooks.org/#/book/OL999456W >…
DuncanCoffee on HNThe cover page for The Three Body Problem is from some other author than the one recommended.
boxed on HNIt seems the published dates need tidied up. Brave new world is showing as published in the 2000s. Very cool though and love seeing all of the covers in various forms of condition.
aunty_helen on HNI like the responsiveness of the website. But there's no way Vanity Fair by Thackeray so high on "top all-time" list. It turns out that a lot of comments are about Vanity Fair…
Erlangen on HN
Too many books and no way to sort by least mentioned
From 2 comments
Same problem as last time somebody made one of these: what I want to see is not most recommended, but least recommended, like books mentioned exactly twice. But there's no button…
card_zero on HNhaving 16.5k recommendations is the same as having 0 recommendations
drsalt on HN
Requests
Fiction-only filter and more filter options
From 3 comments
Yes, could you please add a filter for fiction only? Since HN strongly leans towards nonfiction, the fiction ones are just interspersed, and I would like to see just them…
lynguist on HNwould be nice to select multiple radio buttons , as well as filter by nonfiction or fiction and genre
guest__user on HNMore filter options please? ``` # Author # Date published (like enter a from-date and/or to-date) # License # Free download available y/n # Sample chapter available # Format:…
RetroTechie on HN
Links to libraries and alternative sources such as Anna's Archive or LibGen
From 1 comment
This is great! I love to see the aggregated comments of HN users next to each book. Besides linking to bookshop and amazon (weird choices in my opinion), you could also link to…
enriquto on HN
Suggest-a-correction for book metadata
From 1 comment
Add a way to suggest the correct author, sometimes just reading the first comment linked in the page has the right one, for example: https://hackerbooks.org/#/book/OL999456W >…
DuncanCoffee on HN
Open source the repo
From 1 comment
Why not open source the repo ? People find something interesting and will built on top of it.
rushil_b_patel on HN
Questions
How is HN monitored for new books?
From 1 comment
Hah, good job, mate. I love it. I've given one credit tp HackerBooks on VibeVoted https://vibevoted.com/hacker-books. It should get a review alongside 11 other projects within…
stanislavb on HN
Which tools and technologies were used?
From 1 comment
The site is really fast. I see HTTP/3, OpenGraph, and Cloudflare. Can you expand on the technologies used? Also... "Each book links back to the comments that mentioned it." >…
jchook on HN
Is the matching classification and counting method accurate?
From 2 comments
Impressive work! I wonder if there's any plan for refining the classification based on user feedback? I.e. Martin Klepman's the wild boar book is currently being shown in…
lubitelpospat on HNI see some books where the same person recommended it many times. I think you should account for that.
gloomyday on HN
Alternatives named
HackerTube
From 2 comments
This is absolutely fantastic and a much more worthwhile resource than hackertube, which feels more like a graveyard of bygone thinking.
mvkel on HNThe next stage is "HackerTime", a startup providing enough time to watch all the video and read all the books and play all the game and read all the news on "HackerZ for Z in…
phtrivier on HN
hackernewsbooks.com
From 1 comment
I used https://hackernewsbooks.com/ for years, it was fantastic for personal buys and gifts. But then it disappeared a few months a go. Glad someone has created a new one.
pipes on HN
Goodreads
From 1 comment
I have recently tried to check around goodreads alterantives and I came face to face with these ISBNs and ASINs and how these are a hot mess. There's really no truly open…
justauserid on HN