# Breath by James Nestor

6 Hacker News commenters recommended Breath by James Nestor and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Readers recommend it as a readable, practical guide to breathing, with habits that some found had a lasting positive effect. The most common caveat is that parts of it feel like woo.

## Why people recommend it

- Practical breathing and mouth habits (2 comments): "you can literally change the shape of your nose, palate, and jaw from just practice" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48243574)) "It made me always try to keep my mouth closed when i'm not eating or talking." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47876398))
- Lasting positive impact, top pop science (2 comments): "One of those rare books that had a noticeable, positive impact on my life." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47790821)) "The only health/pop sci book I'd recommend." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46331696))

## What people warn about

- Some parts feel like woo (1 comments): "a lot of it felt like woo, even though I know full well that the author is a well-respected journalist" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48243883))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter](https://hackerapproved.com/p/g-del-escher-bach.md): 47 recommend
- [Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/thinking-fast-and-slow.md): 17 recommend
- [Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows](https://hackerapproved.com/p/thinking-in-systems.md): 17 recommend
- [The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins](https://hackerapproved.com/p/selfish-gene.md): 14 recommend
- [Cosmos by Carl Sagan](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cosmos.md): 13 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593420217?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780593420218) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Breath by James Nestor", https://hackerapproved.com/p/breath/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).