A working library is an exploration of—and advocate for—
the reading experience. by Mandy Brown

Limbo

Bernard Wolfe

A bizarre dystopia in which the elite voluntarily amputate their limbs and have them replaced with high performing machines. Deeply misogynistic and perverse; the B-film version of 1984.

Linchpin

Seth Godin

Godin’s newest work argues that what the economy needs are artists—“people with a genius for finding a new answer, a new connection, or a new way of getting things done.” These people are linchpins—indispensable people that hold organizations together. A spirited yet pragmatic call to arms for workers everywhere.

Literary Theory

Terry Eagleton

The classic introduction to literary theory and a capable and somewhat subversive argument for Marxism.

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.

Made by Hand

Mark Frauenfelder

A chronicle of one man’s attempt to become a DIYer. Frauenfelder learns that making things yourself means mostly making mistakes, but those mistakes can be a source of joy. He also charmingly demonstrates the old adage that the best way to learn is to get in way over your head.

Making Ideas Happen

Scott Belsky

Reductively, this is GTD for the Photoshop set. But Belsky, like others working in this space, defines creativity expansively, as something that people of all vocations are not only capable of, but naturally inclined to. And his work at Behance to catalog the habits of successful people makes for a wealth of advice that is both practical and grounded. Less lyrical than Twyla Tharp’s Creative Habit, it nonetheless deserves its space on the shelf.

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.

Man’s Search for Himself

Rollo May

A work of existential psychology—a movement which I make no claims to understanding. But May’s text is intelligent and engaging, with prose as lovely as the insights are profound. Written in the middle of the 20th century, his guidance is no less relevant today.

Manual of Typography

Giambattista Bodoni, Stephan Füssel

A reproduction of Bodoni’s lifelong project to document as many typefaces as possible, complete with the dedication by his widow, and an essay from Stephan Füssel placing the book in historical context. The labor required to painstakingly produce such a work is lost in a modern reprint, but the extraordinary love of type persists. The exhaustive exploration serves as a reminder of the attentiveness to detail that marks all great type.

Mediated

Thomas de Zengotita

de Zengotita investigates the ways in which our experience of the world is mediated both through traditional media (television, newspapers) but also the ways in which we self-mediate—whether through photographs or status updates, we’ve come to think of our lives as a narrative, with ourselves always at the center. Written before Twitter came along, but relevant nonetheless.

Minima Moralia

Theodor Adorno

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.

Modern typography

Robin Kinross

A rare object—a book on typography that is as beautifully written as it is designed.

My Bread

Jim Lahey, Rick Flaste

Lahey’s simple method for bread making (which trades kneading for time) is worth the hype. Once you get a feel for how the dough should come together, it’s foolproof and absolutely delicious.

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.

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.

1984

George Orwell

The classic novel of authoritarianism. Also, the Bush administration’s how-to manual.

Nudge

Cass R. Sunstein, Richard H. Thaler

A compelling little book arguing for “libertarian paternalism,” a doctrine that nudges people towards the decisions most likely to improve their lives, while maintaining their freedom to do as they choose. Most interesting for their discussions of “choice architecture,” which describes how we create the conditions under which people make choices, with obvious parallels to usability design.

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.

Orality and Literacy

Walter J. Ong

Ong’s is perhaps the only book I’ve discovered that carefully and thoroughly addresses the differences between oral and literate cultures. In pointing out that Plato used writing to deliver his objections to the written word, he says “Once the word is technologized, there is no effective way to criticize what technology has done with it without the aid of the highest technology available” (page 79).