How this was made
484 stories from 459 people about 173 books, selected by AI from 10,676 Hacker News comments.
No person read all of these comments. AI did the reading, and it makes mistakes. The quotes are copied word for word and link to the original comment, so you can always check.
- A script searched 10,676 Hacker News comments (2007–2026) that mention books together with words about life situations.
- Claude Sonnet (AI) picked out first-hand stories of a book that helped, with the book, the topic and a quote. A second, stricter AI pass removed hearsay and vague praise.
- Claude Opus (a different AI model) then re-read every story shown here in full and removed 57 more: sarcasm, self-promotion, or the wrong topic.
- Before that last step, Opus judged 93 of 100 randomly chosen entries correct. There was no human check.
- Books are ranked by how many different people say they helped. The numbers are small, so treat the order as a hint, not a verdict.
Search decides what can appear at all. Hacker News readers are mostly in tech, and many threads ask for “books that changed your life”, which favours well-known self-help books.
Written by AI: the one-line description under each title (based on the publisher’s description where available), the “What people got from it” summaries and the theme names. Full book descriptions are quoted from Open Library or Google Books.
Found a mistake, or want your comment removed? Write to the address in the Impressum. All stories as JSON or CSV.
Credits
Inspired by Andrej Karpathy’s HackerTube, a YouTube-style browser for videos recommended on Hacker News. Book descriptions and covers come from Open Library and Google Books. Comment text belongs to its authors and links back to the original comment. Built by Steffi Kieffer with Claude Code.
Questions people ask
What is Books that helped?
A collection of books that people on Hacker News say helped them, sorted by life situation. It is built from 10,676 public Hacker News comments written between 2007 and 2026. Each entry shows a quote, word for word, with a link to the original comment.
Who writes the stories?
Hacker News commenters, in their own words. The site only selects and arranges them. Hacker News is an online forum, run by Y Combinator, where many people in tech have discussed all kinds of topics since 2007.
Did a person read all the comments?
No. AI (Claude by Anthropic) did the reading and selection, and it makes mistakes. Because every quote links to its source, anyone can check it.
How are the books ranked?
By how many different people say the book helped them. The numbers are small, so the order is a hint, not a verdict.
What is the most mentioned book?
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. 37 people say it helped them.
Which books helped people become more creative?
The books mentioned by the most people: Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards (4 people); The War of Art by Steven Pressfield (2 people); Hackers by Steven Levy (2 people). See all of them.
Which books helped people think more clearly?
The books mentioned by the most people: Getting Things Done by David Allen (22 people); Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (12 people); Deep Work by Cal Newport (8 people). See all of them.
Which books helped people write better?
The books mentioned by the most people: On Writing Well by William Zinsser (6 people); Style by Joseph M. Williams (4 people); The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White (3 people). See all of them.
Which books helped people get along better with others?
The books mentioned by the most people: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie (36 people); Nonviolent Communication by Marshall B. Rosenberg (23 people); Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson et al. (10 people). See all of them.
Which books helped people with sleep, pain or fitness?
The books mentioned by the most people: Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker (12 people); The Easy Way to Stop Smoking by Allen Carr (10 people); Healing Back Pain by John E. Sarno (6 people). See all of them.
Which books help with burnout?
The books mentioned by the most people: Deep Work by Cal Newport (2 people). See all of them.
Which books help after losing a job or changing careers?
The books mentioned by the most people: What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard N. Bolles (3 people); An Elegant Puzzle by Will Larson (2 people); The Manager's Path by Camille Fournier (2 people). See all of them.
Which books help with anxiety and worry about the future?
The books mentioned by the most people: Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse (4 people); Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman (3 people); Rewire Your Anxious Brain by Catherine Pittman and Elizabeth Karle (3 people). See all of them.
Which books help with depression?
The books mentioned by the most people: Feeling Good by David D. Burns (15 people); The Feeling Good Handbook by David D. Burns (3 people); Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman (2 people). See all of them.
Is this site affiliated with Hacker News or Y Combinator?
No.
Does the site track visitors?
No. There are no cookies, no analytics and no third-party scripts. If you save books to your list, that list stays in your browser.
Can I use the data?
Yes. All stories are available as JSON and CSV under Open data, with links to the original comments.
I wrote one of the quoted comments and want it removed.
Write to the email address in the Impressum with a link to your comment. It is removed with the next update, usually within a few days.
Who made this?
Steffi Kieffer (steffikieffer.ai), with Claude Code.