Waqas Younas
Software engineer and essayist who writes about programming, formal methods, philosophy and literature at thoughts.wyounas.com.
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Recommends rcmnd
rcmnd What they recommend 10 things — each backed by an exact quote.
Compiled by rcmnd.app, not by them: the quotes are theirs, and each links to the post it was copied from.
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Loved Human, All Too Human
I have never read a philosopher who had more penetrating thoughts in a book. Some of his ideas hit you like a thunderbolt.
thoughts.wyounas.com 30 Dec 2024
Liked The argumentative Indian
It's stimulating work as well as easy to read. Although parts of South Asia are not commonly known to have an argumentative gene, Amartya Sen convincingly shows that Indian history is deeply rooted in an argumentative tradition. He masterfully weaves evidence and tales to make his point.
thoughts.wyounas.com 30 Dec 2024
Loved The Strangest Man
I found this an engaging biography and thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
thoughts.wyounas.com 30 Dec 2024
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Liked The Best of Tagore
Some of his essays are thought-provoking. His reflections on education, nationalism, and other topics are not only stirring but also showcase literary brilliance. The man could write.
thoughts.wyounas.com 30 Dec 2024
Liked A Wizard of Earthsea
I picked this book up, and I liked it. On the surface, it's about wizards and magic, but there's more to it. Every now and then, Ursula Le Guin sprinkles in some wisdom.
thoughts.wyounas.com 30 Dec 2024
Liked Less Than One
This book is a collection of essays, and some of them are quite profound. One of his essays on Dostoevsky is particularly insightful; it left such an impression on me that I reflected on it and wrote an essay of my own.
thoughts.wyounas.com 30 Dec 2024
Liked Born Standing Up
It's a nice, short, and moving memoir by the comedian and actor Steve Martin. The book details his early working days at shops and clubs, his relationships, and eventually his rise to fame. He shared his struggles, his failures, long hours of practice, his reflections to refine his craft, and his efforts to find his own unique voice as a comedian. Any memoir that only talks about successes and never discusses struggles, rejections, or weaknesses is suspect. This one is not. What I like about his writing is that it feels candid and, at times, funny.
thoughts.wyounas.com 30 Dec 2024
Liked Principles of the SPIN Model Checker
This book gave me both insight and a deeper curiosity about the subject. This book introduces the SPIN model checker and exposes the reader to the nuances of verifying programs using SPIN. A nice feature of the book is how it explains concepts using thoughtfully developed, freely available tools (such as jSpin) that the author created for pedagogical purposes. It's a demanding book, but the content was interesting. The book presents details about concurrency, temporal logic, non-determinism, advanced SPIN topics, and even case studies. I've already written a few blog posts about the topics I explored while reading this book, and I plan to write more. Overall, it's a good book. I'm sure I'll revisit the latter half again.
thoughts.wyounas.com 30 Dec 2024
What others say about Principles of the SPIN Model Checker →
Loved Oresteia
His thoughts on human psychology and the way he crafted his stories are why I liked this book. I have to admit, there is a lot in it that I need to absorb. I'll surely be re-reading this one sometime soon. It's one of those books that one ought to read multiple times in life because I'm certain that every time we read it, it will offer something new.
thoughts.wyounas.com 30 Dec 2024
Loved Philosophy as a Way of Life
I came across this book accidentally, but I'm so glad I did. Pierre Hadot was a French philosopher who could not only philosophize but also write simply—an ability not common among top-tier philosophers, if I may say so with respect.
thoughts.wyounas.com 30 Dec 2024
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Newsletter Thoughts of an imprint His essay newsletter: literature, philosophy and a yearly books post.
Link verified 5 Sept 2026.
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