A working library is an exploration of—and advocate for—All books
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Books as History
David Pearson
If you can get past the absolutely reprehensible cover design, Books as History is a smart study of books’ physical form, and a defense of its value independent of the words on the page. Whether or not the printed book “survives” is a less interesting question to me than what we can learn from books as they have been and are now becoming, and Pearson’s text is a succinct tale of the former. As for the latter, we’ll all know in time.
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The Lifecycle of Software Objects
Ted Chiang
As a novel, The Lifecycle of Software Objects suffers from expository writing, flat characters, and uninspired prose. But as a thought experiment, it’s surprisingly (if incompletely) compelling. Chiang explores how we might teach an artificial intelligence, and what happens when (or if) it grows up. The ideas outshine the story.
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Community and Privacy
Christopher Alexander, Serge Chermayeff
A precursor to Alexander’s A Pattern Language, in which he and Chermayeff define what’s wrong with the design of the suburbs, and outline the principles behind a more human (and urban) environment. As interesting for its approach to the problem as it is for any of the proposed solutions.
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The New Brooklyn Cookbook
Brendan Vaughn, Melissa Vaughn
I use this less as a cookbook than as a guide for where to eat; but the recipes and photography are as lovely as the neighborhoods. A few favorites: the celery salad from Prime Meats; pickled eggs with jalapeño from Beer Table; and the pecan pie sundae from Buttermilk Channel.
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Living and Eating
Annie Bell, John Pawson
A minimalist’s manifesto, with simple recipes and beautiful, spare photography. Keeping it on my coffee table for perusing before heading to the farmer’s market.
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On Writing Well
William Zinsser
I’m only just now reading this book, but it was a bit like discovering an old friend you didn’t know you had. Zinsser’s is the kind of casual, unassuming writing that sounds effortless, but isn’t. I tend not to read (or recommend) books on writing, as the best education you can have is just to read great books. But I’ll make this an exception.
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Mobile First
Luke Wroblewski
The sixth book from A Book Apart features data-driven techniques and best practices for designing for mobile from the inimitable Luke Wroblewski. It also represents the best kind of short book: packed with information and a delightful read.
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Designing for Emotion
Aarron Walter
Aarron Walter joins the A Book Apart rainbow of knowledge with this short book on designing for humans. A mix of psychology and case studies show how designing for emotion works, with guidance on the small or large steps you can take to start doing it. Aarron’s enthusiasm is charming, and a compelling example of the book’s principles in action.
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Working
Studs Terkel
Terkel interviewed people of all walks of life (though mostly the working kind) about what they do and how they feel about it. The result is a massive collection of failed dreams, despair, hope, and pride. Each of us wants to work and work hard, but so much of modern American life thwarts that simple need.
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I Read Where I Am
Geert Lovink, Mieke Gerritzen, Minke Kampman
A collection of short reflections on the future of reading, including those from Ellen Lupton, James Bridle, Erik Spiekermann, and N. Katharine Hayles. Independently, none of the essays are especially compelling; but collectively, they reveal our shared unease (the loss of print, increased distraction, information overload) and make clear that none of us has any idea what the future will bring. Which, of course, is what makes the future interesting. Unfortunately, the typesetting (words are colored in different shades of gray depending on their frequency of use) is interesting in theory but incredibly annoying in practice; perhaps it is an attempt to prove that a stubborn reader will suffer through even the worst of reading experiences in order to get at the words?
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Trickster Makes This World
Lewis Hyde
Hyde exceeds the terrain of “creative nonfiction” (a term I always find slightly disparaging) to write academic tomes that feel alive, unlike the usual ivory tower fare. Trickster shows how our most playful, devious stories are also (perhaps not surprisingly) our most revealing.
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The Information
James Gleick
Glieck’s loosely organized tome details the many ways we’ve organized and communicated information over the ages; or, as is more often the case, failed to do so. Less a catalog of solutions than a long, unfinished tale of struggle.
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Managing Oneself
Peter F. Drucker
An essay turned pamphlet, short enough to reread regularly. Drucker’s advice comes down to knowing yourself well enough to make the right decisions: your strengths, your relationships, and your environment all add up to success or failure. Perhaps the smartest counsel he gives is to start a second career before you’ve completed the first. Less a backup plan than a means of succession.
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The Names
Don Delillo
A dense novel, concerning a small group of American ex-patriots and a series of cult murders. Strange and beautiful. I intend to read it again.
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Responsive Web Design
Ethan Marcotte
It was my privilege to edit this, the fourth book from the nascent publishing empire that is A Book Apart. Ethan’s methods are smart, and his storytelling and guidance even smarter. This book will change the way we design for the web—for the better.
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What Technology Wants
Kevin Kelly
Kevin Kelly (one of the founders and a former executive editor of Wired, and a veteran of the Whole Earth Catalog) argues that technology (or, as he calls it “the technium”), has evolved into something like a co-dependent existence—an extension of humankind, with as much if not more intelligence. Kelly is an apologist for many of the same things that Jaron Lanier warns about, and I find myself disagreeing with much of what they both have to say. But where the first two parts of What Technology Wants prattle on at length, the latter half is more than worth the cover price: Kelly’s analysis of technology’s needs vis-à-vis our own is an insightful approach to making choices about technology in our own lives, now and into the future.
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Glut
Alex Wright
Alex Wright shows the many ways we have endeavored to manage an abundance of information, beginning with libraries and encyclopedias, running through taxonomies and folksonomies, and into networks which both eschew formal organization and evolve governing structures as they mature. The final chapter addresses the tensions between the old, literate cultures, and the new (or newly revived) oral culture of the the web, echoing the writings of Walter Ong.
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The Elements of Content Strategy
Erin Kissane
The third title from A Book Apart, and the one closest to my heart. Kissane explores the roots of content strategy, as well as the methodologies behind the work. You won’t find exhaustive examples of deliverables, but you will learn what makes good content, and why we do the things we do to make it better. And her writing is so charming and engrossing, you almost regret the book is so short. Relevant to anyone who works with content—from editors to strategists to designers and developers.
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How to Write a Sentence
Stanley Fish
Fish argues that the building blocks of writing are sentences, and that if you want to write a good one, you first have to learn how to read it. An approach to close reading, but instead of attending to literary illusions, you listen to the rhythm, structure, and art of the sentences themselves.
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A Week at the Airport
Alain de Botton
A slim document observing the place most of us strive to avoid. The perfect lazy travel book.
