The best books of 2024

This list is part of the best books of 2024.

Join 1,116 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2024

Book cover of Deep Learning

Ernest P. Chan ❤️ loved this book because...

Written by some of the most important figures in AI research, this book is indispensable for anyone trying to understand what AI is all about. Despite written by true experts, it is a surprisingly understandable and lucid guide to the subject - accessible to anyone with rudimentary understanding of machine learning at the high school level.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Teach 🥈 Writing
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Ian Goodfellow, Yoshua Bengio, Aaron Courville

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Deep Learning as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An introduction to a broad range of topics in deep learning, covering mathematical and conceptual background, deep learning techniques used in industry, and research perspectives.

“Written by three experts in the field, Deep Learning is the only comprehensive book on the subject.”
—Elon Musk, cochair of OpenAI; cofounder and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX

Deep learning is a form of machine learning that enables computers to learn from experience and understand the world in terms of a hierarchy of concepts. Because the computer gathers knowledge from experience, there is no need for a human computer operator to formally specify all…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2024

Book cover of The Smallest Lights in the Universe: A Memoir

Ernest P. Chan ❤️ loved this book because...

Written by a MacArthur "genius", it reveals the human side of scientific research and some life practicalities that have to be solved before we can literally reach for the stars.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Writing 🥈 Teach
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Sara Seager,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Smallest Lights in the Universe as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Science and Technology in 2020

'A stunningly original memoir ... her most human tale of love, loss and redemption is illuminated and given meaning by this backdrop. A beautiful and compelling read' Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone

In The Smallest Lights in the Universe, MIT astrophysicist Sara Seager interweaves the story of her search for meaning and solace after losing her first husband to cancer, her unflagging search for an Earth-like exoplanet and her unexpected discovery of new love.

Sara Seager has made it her life's work to peer…


My 3rd favorite read in 2024

Book cover of The Catalyst

Ernest P. Chan ❤️ loved this book because...

Explains how our cells are essentially programmer computers, and RNA is the language.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Teach 🥈 Writing
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Thomas R. Cech,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Catalyst as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Over the last half century, a quiet revolution has taken place. In a series of breathtaking discoveries, biochemist Thomas Cech and a diverse cast of brilliant scientists have revealed RNA at the centre of biology's greatest mysteries, from how life began to what makes us human to why we age. At last, The Catalyst pulls back the curtain to show how RNA-long sidelined as the passive servant of DNA-defines life from its very origins to our future in the twenty-first century. Recounting his own paradigm-shifting discovery that RNA can catalyse biochemical reactions, as well as his work on the "fountain…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Quantitative Trading: How to Build Your Own Algorithmic Trading Business

By Ernest P. Chan,

Book cover of Quantitative Trading: How to Build Your Own Algorithmic Trading Business

What is my book about?

Ernie’s timely update to his classic Quantitative Trading is extraordinary in that, despite the modernization of the content, all the fundamentals remain unchanged and have clearly stood the test of time since the first edition. If you want to be a competitive swimmer, you need to learn the fundamentals of swimming first. Trading is no different; Ernie makes the fundamentals as simple as possible, but no simpler (as Einstein would say) and strikes the perfect balance between intuition and technical depth. Those specifically interested in trading, and anyone generically interested in understanding how modern financial markets work, will benefit from reading the Second Edition of Quantitative Trading.