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

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).

Oryx and Crake

Margaret Atwood

A Pattern Language

Christopher Alexander, Murray Silverstein, Sara Ishikawa

A collection of architectural patterns, fascinating for their grasp and depiction of the social experience of a town. But perhaps more compelling is the process of design that it proposes: one which considers the environment and well-being of the user not as a means to an end but as the end itself.

The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work

Alain de Botton

A lengthy and wonderful photo essay with stories of various kinds of work, from biscuit manufacturer to rocket scientist; a welcome companion to Theriault’s How to Tell When You’re Tired. Alas, de Botton finds many more sorrows than pleasures in the modern workplace.

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.

A Reader on Reading

Alberto Manguel

A series of essays from the author of A History of Reading that explores the reader’s perspective. The section called “Memoranda” approaches the politics of reading and is worth the cover price alone. Manguel’s skill at connecting true events with their fictional counterpart—and so making them both appear more clearly—is both keen and profound.

Reading Pictures

Alberto Manguel

Manguel—author of A History of Reading—turns his eye to how we “read” art. A welcome correlative to Berger’s Ways of Seeing.

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.

Rework

David Heinemeier Hansson, Jason Fried

On making work better, from the founders of 37Signals. If you’ve been reading Signals vs. Noise, there’s not much new here. But the combination of short, well-written chapters, large type, and clever illustrations make for a charming and persuasive read.

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.

The Shock Doctrine

Naomi Klein

Klein expertly and devastatingly reveals the history behind a model of capitalism that first fed on disaster, then fomented it.

Slow Learner

Thomas Pynchon

Pynchon’s early stories are facile at best, but the introduction to the collection—in which Pynchon addresses his readers and talks about his writing—is invaluable.

Small Is Beautiful

E.F. Schumacher

Schumacher brilliantly interrogates modern economics, revealing its philosophical underpinnings to be relentless supporters of goods over people. He proposes an alternative—a Buddhist economics—that takes as its imperative the quality of human life, not the quantity of profit. An excellent companion to Rushkoff’s Life Inc. in the argument that economics is not a natural science.

Standard Operating Procedure

Errol Morris, Philip Gourevitch

The book companion to Errol Morris’ movie of the same name. Where Morris tells the story with video and photography, Gourevitch communicates with words alone. The effect is less emotional or tactile than the film, but it’s indictment of the war is more strident.

The Subversive Copy Editor

Carol Fisher Saller

Carol Fisher Saller’s irreverent guide to copy editing has helpful advice for working with writers, as well as guidance for writers about working with their editor. Her expert (and often hilarious) responses to The Chicago Manual of Style Online’s Q&A are an excellent reminder that editing is as much art as science.

Summertime

J.M. Coetzee

Of Coetzee’s last few works of fiction (this, Diary of a Bad Year, Elizabeth Costello), I can draw only a few, tentative conclusions: that he feels compelled to explore the structure of the novel itself (for reasons I cannot yet articulate), and that he is wise enough to get out ahead of the biographers who will no doubt pounce on his grave while still warm.

There’s nothing funny about design

David Barringer

A clever (and, yes, funny) collection of essays. Sidebars pepper the text with sources and commentary; the latter often reveal less about the subject matter than the nervous and endearing habits of the writer.