Books from a working library

Sennett defines craftmanship as the desire to do a job well for its own sake. In so doing, he frees it of the bounds of carpentry or metalwork and extends the work of craft to that of the programmer, the doctor, and the parent. And he restores materialism—long maligned as being complicit in capitalism’s ills—as that which looks to “cloth, circuit boards, or baked fish as objects worthy of regard in themselves” (page 7).

The Riverside Shakespeare

Shakespeare

The book I most dreaded carrying around when I was a student (because of its heft), but which I now profess the most nostalgia for. It’s not so much a collection of plays and sonnets as it is a record of days past.

How to be a graphic designer without losing your soul

Adrian Shaughnessy

Graphic Design

Adrian Shaughnessy

Shaugnessy’s irreverent guide—the ABC’s of design—addresses the underside of the designer’s life, with entries on banks (page 30), presentation skills (page 230), and sacking clients (page 268). Each post is short and discreet, making for a book that need not be read in the order it was made. Much to my surprise, the monospaced text font is entirely comfortable to read.

Here Comes Everybody

Clay Shirky

I’m late to the party on this, but Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody discusses the evolution of group collaboration in the age of social media, and, conversely, the increasing irrelevance of institutions. Required reading for anyone who thinks about the ways in which technology is changing human behavior.

Cognitive Surplus

Clay Shirky

In this follow-up to Here Comes Everybody, Shirky argues that we’re evolving from passive consumers of Seinfeld to creative makers of everything from lolcats to open source software to real-time news reporting. One can’t help but hope that the death of television is as nigh as he predicts.

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.

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.

The Creative Habit

Twyla Tharp

Tharp’s treatise on creativity applies as well to writing or design as it does to dance.

How to Tell When You’re Tired

Reg Theriault

A fabulous little book, written by a lifelong worker. Theriault came from a family of fruit tramps—migrant workers who travelled the country picking fruit wherever it came to harvest—and later became a longshoreman. His insight into the working life is profound and lovely—as relevant to those on the docks as to those at their desks.

The Form of the Book

Jan Tschichold

A collection of essays written between 1949 and 1974, the year of Tschichold’s death. Many describe archaic elements of book design, but as a whole the text is as relevant to design today as it was a half century ago.

While You’re Reading

Gerard Unger

Directed at the layman instead of the serious typographer, Unger’s book is a breezy overview of the science of reading.

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.

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.

The Art of Simple Food

Alice Waters

A beautifully designed book that has served me well in the kitchen. Especially helpful when you belong to a CSA and need to decide what to do with the week’s pound of turnips. Waters also includes helpful notes about stocking your pantry and what equipment to buy (or not buy, as the case may be).

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.

Proust and the Squid

Maryanne Wolf

Wolf addresses the ways in which the brain adapts—or fails to adapt—to reading. An excellent history, as well as a compelling glimpse at the ways in which reading on the screen may yet create a new kind of literacy.

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.