Many "must-read" books are not well-written. I try to read a lot, but I still have a low tolerance for bad writing and bad editing. I write this post both to discourage thoughtless recommendations and to encourage the receivers of bad recommendations.
For software developers, Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs is a prime example. Written for freshman at MIT, it is ostensibly an entry-level text. But it requires such a level of competence in math and physics, and the prose itself is so dense and archaic, that I couldn't imagine suggesting it to anyone.
And yet it is one of the most recommended books for developers.
This is not to say that SICP is a bad book or that you should not read it. I just don't think it should ever be suggested to anyone.
Goal
The core goal of a book recommendation is for the reader to get enjoyment or education from it. If you can't continue or finish a book, you get nothing from it.
You, the recommender, diminish your impact if you can only recommend books that people won't continue or finish.
Non-goal
Some people have the capacity to read and love challenging books. If that is you, you are not the audience of this post. I don't think you'd disagree that most people are not like you.
Why
I have a few, not-mutually-exclusive guesses why "must-read" books are often poorly written.
One guess is intelligence signalling. That it is human nature for a person to suggest a book in an attempt make herself look smart rather than to best assist the person asking for a suggestion.
Another guess is that most people don't read enough to have a good feel for better or worse writing and editing.
And a final guess is that books that are worth reading might not always be well-written. This is the most unfortunate guess of all. I don't disagree that sometimes it is necessary to learn from poorly-written books. But I begrudge this because of how much joy I get from reading well-written books, fiction and non-fiction.
I have a feeling my guesses apply to recommendations in general: music, art, film, musicals, restaurants, etc.
Instead
My suggestion then to folks who are in the position of giving recommendations:
- If you had a hard time reading a book or it took you too long to read it (yes, this threshold is different for everyone), don't recommend it
- Don't be scared to recommend nothing, or to recommend against (rather than for) a certain book
- Read more books
And definitely don't recommend books you haven't read.
Mea culpa
I've definitely done a bad job recommending books in the past, including recommending books I haven't read. I've been trying to do better in the last 5 years or so.
What do you think?
I wrote a new blog post: a bit of flame bait on how to recommend books and why so many must-read books are impossible to read.
— Phil Eaton (@phil_eaton) January 31, 2022
Or: stop recommending SICP.
If you love challenging books, you are neither the norm nor the audience of this post. 😀https://t.co/ZU92kgr4Kf