# Reading

[Canonical page](https://jeffd.org/books/)

## Currently reading

[What Is Intelligence?](https://jeffd.org/books/what-is-intelligence)

[The Emperor of All Maladies](https://jeffd.org/books/the-emperor-of-all-maladies)

[A History of Western Philosophy](https://jeffd.org/books/a-history-of-western-philosophy)

[Maintenance of Everything: Part One](https://jeffd.org/books/maintenance-of-everything-part-one)

[Vivre dans la rue à Paris au XVIIIᵉ siècle](https://jeffd.org/books/vivre-dans-la-rue-a-paris-au-xviii-siecle)

## Books read

### 2026

#### [Maintenance of Everything: Part One](https://www.stripe.press/maintenance)

Stewart Brand

Rating: 4.5/5

I enjoyed the formatting of the book and the different stories.


#### [Grand Hotel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Hotel_%28novel%29)

Vicki Baum

Rating: 4/5

Tags: Addictive, Compelling, Timeless


#### [1929](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1929_%28book%29)

Andrew Ross Sorkin

Rating: 4.5/5

Tags: Eloquent, Fast paced


#### [A Year in Provence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Year_in_Provence)

Peter Mayle

Rating: 4.5/5

Tags: Charming, Vivid, Witty


#### [Triumphs of Experience](https://literal.club/book/george-e-vaillant-triumphs-of-experience-m13bz)

George E. Vaillant

Rating: 4/5

Tags: Educational, Meaningful


#### [Mountains Beyond Mountains](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountains_Beyond_Mountains)

Tracy Kidder

Rating: 2.5/5

Tags: Predictable

Not much of a driving narrative to keep it interesting. Would work as a long form article, but not a whole book.


#### [Blood Meridian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Meridian)

Cormac McCarthy

Rating: 1/5

Tags: Repetitive, Depressing

I don’t get why this book is highly regarded. Style over substance. It’s like a George Lucas prequel movie. Tons of action with no connection to the characters.


#### [The Power Broker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_Broker)

Robert Caro

Rating: 5/5

Tags: Addictive, Page turning, Timeless


#### [The Alchemy of Air](https://literal.club/book/thomas-hager-the-alchemy-of-air-robz3)

Thomas Hager

Rating: 4/5

Tags: Educational, Honest


#### [The Origins of Efficiency](https://press.stripe.com/origins-of-efficiency)

Brian Potter

Rating: 3.5/5

Tags: Contemplative, Educational


#### [The Vertigo Years](https://literal.club/book/philipp-blom-the-vertigo-years-fph6l)

Philipp Blom

Rating: 4.5/5

Tags: Intelligent, Thought provoking, Fast paced


### 2025

#### [Storm of Steel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm_of_Steel)

Ernst Jünger

Rating: 4.5/5

Tags: Dizzying, Intense, Honest, Testosterone-y


#### [Cassandra at the Wedding](https://www.nyrb.com/products/cassandra-at-the-wedding-1?variant=1094929365)

Dorothy Baker

Rating: 4/5

Tags: Original, Candid, Unpredictable


#### [Arabia Felix The Danish Expedition of 1761-1767](https://www.nyrb.com/products/arabia-felix)

Thorkild Hansen

Rating: 5/5

Tags: Eloquent, Charming, Insightful, Timeless


#### [A Mind at Play](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Mind_at_Play)

Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman

Rating: 3.5/5

Tags: Educational, Sweet


#### [The Double Helix](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Double_Helix)

James Watson

Rating: 3/5

Tags: Thought provoking, Obnoxious

An interesting insight into the competitiveness of science and probably very candid for its time. Watson clear is a huge sexist asshole and product of his time, but clearly doesn’t leave any doubt to his antiquated misogyny and arrogance.


#### [Molecular Biology of the Gene](https://archive.org/details/molecularbiology0000wats_h4o8)

James D. Watson


#### [Paris Nineteenth Century: Architecture and Urbanism](https://archive.org/details/parisnineteenthc0000loye)

Francois Loyer


#### [Apprentice to Genius: The Making of a Scientific Dynasty](https://www.robertkanigel.com/apprentice_to_genius__the_making_of_a_scientific_dynasty_58017.htm)

Robert Kanigel

Rating: 5/5

Tags: Page turning, Delightful, Meaningful


#### [Skunk Works](https://literal.club/book/skunk-works-00j0f)

Leo Janos and Ben R. Rich

Rating: 4.5/5

Tags: Page turning, Fascinating, Charming


#### [Tokyo Express](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Points_and_Lines)

Seicho Matsumoto and Jesse Kirkwood

Rating: 3/5

Tags: Page turning


#### [The Wright Brothers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wright_Brothers_%28book%29)

David McCullough

Rating: 4.5/5

Tags: Easy read, Sweet, Simple


#### [The Right Stuff](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Right_Stuff_%28book%29)

Tom Wolfe

Rating: 5/5

Tags: Magnetic, Emotional


#### [The World of Yesterday](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_of_Yesterday)

Stefan Zweig

Rating: 5/5

Tags: Remarkable, Beautiful, Sophisticated, Eloquent, Vivid, Artistic

What a treat to read!


### 2024

#### [I Heard Her Call My Name](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Heard_Her_Call_My_Name:_A_Memoir_of_Transition)

Lucy Sante

Rating: 5/5

Tags: Powerful, Educational, Fast paced


#### [Be Ready When the Luck Happens](https://literal.club/book/ina-garten-be-ready-when-the-luck-happens-wbyg7)

Ina Garten

Rating: 3/5

Tags: Witty, Fast paced

So the Ina Garten book has an apt title “Be Ready When The Luck Happens”. It’s pretty much her rattling off how lucky she has been (apart from an abusive childhood). She comes off charming, but a little out of touch for someone who could just start flipping houses in her 20s and moving from one thing to another to relative ease. It also tries to be a self-help and business book at points, which I feel is something publishers must push on their writers these days. Not a bad book, but just more ‘golly gee wiz’ than deep.


#### [The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory](https://literal.club/book/tim-alberta-the-kingdom-the-power-and-the-glory-yimak)

Tim Alberta

Rating: 3.5/5

Tags: Educational, Thought provoking


#### [Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrow%2C_and_Tomorrow%2C_and_Tomorrow)

Gabrielle Zevin

Rating: 4/5

Tags: Charming, Playful

I liked how this captured the essence and complexity of creating something with friends and all the drama that can come with it. Also, the settings were very familiar. My only complaint would be that some of the verisimilitude in the book was hackneyed, hitting all the pop culture touchstones of each time period.


#### [The Journalist of Castro Street: The Life of Randy Shilts](https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p084263)

Andrew E. Stoner

Rating: 4.5/5

Tags: Contemplative, Thought provoking


#### [Just Kids](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_Kids)

Patti Smith

Rating: 5/5

Tags: Touching


#### [More Mouse Tales](https://bonaventurepress.com/home-10/)

David Koenig


#### [Madness and Civilization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madness_and_Civilization)

Michel Foucault

Rating: 1/5

Tags: Pretentious

I thought this book would be more historical and less of a rambling pretensions mess. Hard to get a clear picture of his source material and make a convincing argument. It felt very mystical in its writing. Maybe I just don’t get why this book is well regarded.


#### [The Colossus of Maroussi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Colossus_of_Maroussi)

Henry Miller

Rating: 4/5

Tags: Delightful, Artistic, Feel good, Heartwarming


#### [Lie With Me](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie_with_Me_%28novel%29)

Philippe Besson

Rating: 5/5

Tags: Beautiful, Heartbreaking, Sweet

Finished in a day. Rarely does a book choke me up. Beautiful.


#### [A Gentleman in Moscow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Gentleman_in_Moscow)

Amor Towles

Rating: 3/5


#### [Emergent Tokyo](https://literal.club/book/jorge-almazan-studiolab-emergent-tokyo-v2w8x)

Jorge Almazan and Studiolab

Rating: 4/5

Tags: Insightful


#### [The Twilight World](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twilight_World)

Werner Herzog

Rating: 3/5

Tags: Expressive, Unique


#### [Confessions of a Mask (Peter Owen Modern Classics)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confessions_of_a_Mask)

Yukio Mishima

Rating: 4/5

Tags: Intelligent, Gruesome, Candid


#### [Made in Japan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Made_in_Japan:_Akio_Morita_and_Sony)

Mitsuko Shimomura, Akio Morita, and Edwin M. Reingold

Rating: 4/5

Tags: Honest


#### [Burn Book](https://literal.club/book/kara-swisher-burn-book-gz51v)

Kara Swisher

Rating: 4/5

Tags: Witty, Offbeat, Refreshing


#### [Business Adventures](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Adventures)

John Brooks


### 2023

#### [The Allure of the Archives](https://literal.club/book/the-allure-of-the-archives-0pcgk)

Natalie Zemon Davis, Arlette Farge, and Thomas Scott-Railton


#### [Spy Who Came In From The Cold](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spy_Who_Came_in_from_the_Cold)

John le Carré

Rating: 5/5

Tags: Deceptive, Honest, Surprising


#### [A Murder of Quality](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Murder_of_Quality)

John le Carré

Rating: 2/5

Tags: Easy read, Predictable


#### [Call for the Dead](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_for_the_Dead)

John le Carré

Rating: 4/5


#### [Vivian Maier Developed](https://literal.club/book/ann-marks-vivian-maier-developed-rw9fy)

Ann Marks

Rating: 4/5

Tags: Easy read


#### [Disney's Grand Tour: Walt and Roy's European Vacation, Summer 1935](https://www.amazon.fr/dp/1941500102?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details)

Didier Ghez


#### [The Railway Journey](https://archive.org/details/railwayjourneyin0000schi/mode/2up)

Wolfgang Schivelbusch

Rating: 4/5

Tags: Contemplative, Intelligent

A dense book. Has some slow parts when it comes to discussing “shock” but overall an interesting read.


#### [Death In Venice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_in_Venice)

Thomas Mann

Rating: 4/5


#### [American Prometheus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Prometheus)

Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin

Rating: 5/5

Tags: Complex, Deep

A page-turner. Really well written and researched. Never got bored reading it.


#### [Means of Ascent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Years_of_Lyndon_Johnson)

Robert Caro

Rating: 4.5/5

Tags: Page turning, Complex, Expressive


#### [I, Claudius](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Claudius)

Robert Graves

Rating: 4/5

Tags: Inventive, Gruesome


#### [Tropic of Cancer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropic_of_Cancer_%28novel%29)

Henry Miller

Rating: 4.5/5

Tags: Edgy, Thought provoking, Original

It’s like if Bel-Ami didn’t make his way up the ranks by sleeping with women and probably more realistic a story of a writer who tries to make a name for himself after moving to Paris.


#### [The Story of French](https://archive.org/details/storyoffrench0000nade)

Jean-Benoît Nadeau & Julie Barlow

Rating: 3/5

Tags: Repetitive

This was an interesting book in the chapters where it dealt with the history and development of the language. However at other parts of the book it felt oddly dated and very early 2000s. Which is something I rarely come across. I get the feeling this book came out after the success of their previous book that sounds like it was popular during the Freedom Fries era of the Iraq War. This book had weaved into it what seemed like the parts a publisher wants to make a mass market book appealing. I wish the book stuck to the more timeless parts then interspersing it with facts from 2005.


#### [A Wilderness of Error](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Wilderness_of_Error)

Errol Morris

Rating: 4/5

I read this pretty fast over four days. The short chapters make it a page turner. Morris' commentary makes you think and is written in a way as if he were in the room with you. It makes one think about how the media and people perceive a suspect of a crime, even if they might be innocent. Trying to find some clue to maybe how they are guilty, even if they are not remorseful for a crime they didn't actually commit. The hardcover edition of this book is also designed beautifully, it's a shame they went for a more 'ripped from the headlines' for the paperback edition.


#### [The Looking Glass War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Looking_Glass_War)

John le Carré


### 2022

#### [A Certain Idea of France: The Life of Charles de Gaulle](https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/178767/a-certain-idea-of-france-by-jackson-julian/9780141049533)

Julian Jackson

Rating: 4/5

Tags: Eloquent, Layered, Insightful

A long, but insightful biography of de Gaulle, his times, and his country as a whole.


#### [The Best-Kept Boy in the World: The Life and Loves of Denny Fouts](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13586983-the-best-kept-boy-in-the-world)

Arthur Vanderbilt

Rating: 3/5


#### [Working](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_%28Caro_book%29)

Robert Caro


#### [Bel-Ami](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bel-Ami)

Guy de Maupassant

Rating: 4.5/5


#### [Doctor Fischer of Geneva or The bomb party](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Fischer_of_Geneva)

Graham Greene


#### [Disenchanted Night](https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520203549/disenchanted-night)

Wolfgang Schivelbusch

Rating: 5/5


#### [The Guns of August](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guns_of_August)

Barbara Tuchman

Rating: 4.5/5


#### [They Thought They Were Free The Germans, 1933-45](https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/T/bo27509064.html)

Milton Mayer


#### [In Cold Blood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Cold_Blood)

Truman Capote

Rating: 5/5


### 2021

#### [Dream Story](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_Story)

Arthur Schnitzler

Rating: 4.5/5

Tags: Offbeat, Original

I didn’t realize how closely Eyes Wide Shut follows this book.


#### [The Cave Painters: Probing the Mysteries of the World's First Artists](https://openlibrary.org/books/OL23240934M/The_cave_painters)

Gregory Curtis


#### [The Mismeasure of Man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mismeasure_of_Man)

Stephen Jay Gould


#### [A Study in Scarlet](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/arthur-conan-doyle/a-study-in-scarlet)

Arthur Conan Doyle


#### [Murder on the Orient Express](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_on_the_Orient_Express)

Agatha Christie


#### [The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Volume I)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_History_of_the_Decline_and_Fall_of_the_Roman_Empire)

Edward Gibbon


#### [For Whom The Bell Tolls](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/For-Whom-the-Bell-Tolls/Ernest-Hemingway/9781476787817)

Ernest Hemingway


#### [How I Conquered Your Planet](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/529646.How_I_Conquered_Your_Planet)

John Swartzwelder


#### [Kalki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalki_%28novel%29)

Gore Vidal


#### [Names on the Land](https://www.nyrb.com/products/names-on-the-land?variant=1094930481)

George R. Stewart


#### [Dead Wake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Wake)

Erik Larson


#### The Premonition

Michael Lewis


#### [Vincent Van Gogh: A Life in Letters](https://thamesandhudson.com/vincent-van-gogh-a-life-in-letters-9780500094242)

Nienke Bakker, Leo Jansen, and Hans Luijten


#### [Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography Of Ida B. Wells](https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo49856620.html)

Ida B. Wells


#### [Vile Bodies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vile_Bodies)

Evelyn Waugh


#### [Bird By Bird](https://archive.org/details/birdbybirdsomein00lamo)

Anne Lamott


#### [The Other Paris](https://bookshop.org/books/the-other-paris-9780374536459/9780374536459)

Luc Sante


#### [Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants](https://bookshop.org/books/ignition-an-informal-history-of-liquid-rocket-propellants)

John Drury Clark


#### [Vincent’s Books](https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/V/bo51205258.html)

Mariella Guzzoni


#### [A People’s History of the French Revolution](https://www.versobooks.com/books/2263-a-people-s-history-of-the-french-revolution)

Eric Hazan


#### [Twilight of Democracy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_of_Democracy)

Anne Applebaum


#### [In Search of Lost Time: The Guermantes Way](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Search_of_Lost_Time#Volume_Three:_The_Guermantes_Way)

Marcel Proust


#### [Anna Karenina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Karenina)

Leo Tolstoy

Rating: 5/5


### 2020

#### [Promise Me You'll Shoot Yourself](https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/314041/promise-me-you-ll-shoot-yourself/9780241399248.html)

Florian Huber

Quite interesting. It's about a suicide epidemic that occurred at the end of the Third Reich. The second half drew from memoirs and diaries from the time and dealt with topics such as how ordinary citizens became more and more radicalized, the aftermath of the war, and the self-delusion of believing they were victims as well. The scariest part of the book is not the obvious one, the descriptions of death and suffering, but the descriptions of a slow erosion of morals and decency.


#### [Dune](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_%28novel%29)

Frank Herbert


#### [To The Lighthouse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_the_Lighthouse)

Virginia Woolf

It was done, it was finished, it was tedious, it was boring.


#### [The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Mistook_His_Wife_for_a_Hat)

Oliver Sacks


#### [The Great Influenza](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Influenza)

John M. Barry

Rating: 5/5


#### [Towns and Buildings](https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/towns-and-buildings)

Steen Eiler Rasmussen


#### [The Color of Law](https://bookshop.org/books/the-color-of-law-a-forgotten-history-of-how-our-government-segregated-america/9781631494536)

Richard Rothstein

I just finished this on the recommendation of Ryan Reed. I found it very insightful into how government policy, indifference, and outright bigotry can distort our perspectives on racially segregated areas, how policies have held back African Americans from breaking out of poverty, and possible remedies for the future. It's also very relevant since Trump tweeted about AFFH the other day, essentially promoting segregation in housing.


#### [Regarding the Pain of Others](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regarding_the_Pain_of_Others)

Susan Sontag


#### [The Art of Doing Science and Engineering](https://press.stripe.com/#the-art-of-doing-science-and-engineering)

Richard Hamming

Rating: 5/5


#### [The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell)

Bertrand Russell


#### [French and Germans, Germans and French](https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/309459/french-and-germans--germans-and-french/9780241351314.html)

Ricard Cobb


#### [Meditations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditations?wprov=sfti1)

Marcus Aurelius


#### [The Plague](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Plague)

Albert Camus


#### [It Can't Happen Here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Can't_Happen_Here)

Sinclair Lewis


#### [On The Move](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24972194-on-the-move)

Oliver Sacks

Rating: 5/5


#### [The Invention of Paris: A History in Footsteps](https://literal.club/book/the-invention-of-paris-a-history-in-footsteps-dphv6)

Eric Hazan


#### [Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinker_Tailor_Soldier_Spy)

John le Carré

Rating: 3/5


#### [Anti-Intellectualism in American Life](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-intellectualism_in_American_Life)

Richard Hofstadter


### 2019

#### [On Photography](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Photography)

Susan Sontag


#### [Marx and Marxism](https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/295493/marx-and-marxism/9780141983486.html)

Gregory Claeys


#### [The Arcades Project](https://archive.org/details/BenjaminWalterTheArcadesProject/)

Walter Benjamin


#### [The Origins of Totalitarianism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Origins_of_Totalitarianism)

Hannah Arendt


#### [All the President's Men](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_the_President's_Men)

Carl Bernstein & Bob Woodward


#### [Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://thamesandhudson.com/catalog/product/view/id/2807/s/cartier-bresson-9780500290521/category/2/)

Pierre Assouline

Rating: 4/5


#### [The Time Machine Did it](https://literal.club/book/the-time-machine-did-it-8adbc)

John Swartzwelder

Rating: 5/5


#### [The uncensored picture of Dorian Gray](https://literal.club/book/oscar-wildethe-uncensored-picture-of-dorian-gray-o400o)

Oscar Wilde

Rating: 4/5


#### [Ghosts of St. Vincent's](https://literal.club/book/ghosts-of-st-vincents-q4do8)

Tom Eubanks

Rating: 5/5


#### [Henri Cartier-Bresson, Interviews and Conversations, 1951-1998](https://literal.club/book/henri-cartier-bresson-interviews-and-conversations-1951-1998-190r7)

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Rating: 5/5


#### [A Single Man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Single_Man_%28novel%29)

Christopher Isherwood

Rating: 5/5


#### [On Her Majesty's Secret Service](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Her_Majesty%27s_Secret_Service_%28novel%29)

Ian Fleming

Rating: 4.5/5


#### [Figuring](https://www.brainpickings.org/2018/11/01/figuring/)

Maria Popova


#### [History of Violence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Violence_%28novel%29)

Edouard Louis


#### [The Path to Power](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/24311/the-path-to-power-by-robert-a-caro/hardcover/)

Robert A. Caro

Rating: 5/5


#### [Tools for Thought](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tools_for_Thought)

Howard Rheingold


### 2018

#### [12 Rules for Life](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_Rules_for_Life)

Jordan B. Peterson

Rating: 0/5

My father gave me this book to read. I'm wondering why now. I hated it. It's pseudo-philosophical, surprisingly religious, and goes on tangents for each of its "rules." It seems to be aimed at an audience of straight men. This book is a waste of time.


#### [Leonardo da Vinci](https://www.simonandschuster.net/books/Leonardo-da-Vinci/Walter-Isaacson/9781501139154)

Walter Isaacson

Rating: 4/5

It gave a good description and analysis of Leonardo as a normal person, as much as one can say that of the quintessential Renaissance man. I enjoyed the book.


#### [The Mind's Eye](https://www.penguinrandomhouseretail.com/book/?isbn=9780307473028)

Oliver Sacks

Rating: 5/5

I read this in April 2018, right after my mom was diagnosed with ocular melanoma, a rare eye cancer. It is the same cancer that eventually took Dr. Sacks's life. The book talks about interesting cases of visual impairment, like people who can't recognize objects or see stereoscopically. He then writes about his own experience with ocular melanoma. This book helped me deal with my mom's cancer diagnosis. Luckily, she had radiation and had the best prognosis one can get for this type of cancer, and it had not spread.


#### [An Anthropologist on Mars](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/159601/an-anthropologist-on-mars-by-oliver-sacks/)

Oliver Sacks

Rating: 5/5

It's been a fascinating read. It talks about a painter who becomes colorblind, a blind man seeing again and the difficulties with that, a surgeon with Tourette's, and more fascinating cases. They show how varied human experience can be and raise deeper questions about consciousness and our own perceptions of reality.


#### [Twenty Minutes in Manhattan](https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/T/bo6899780.html)

Michael Sorkin

Rating: 4.5/5

I picked up this book after reading a few pages of Edward Morris's copy in New York City. The author writes about his experience of living in Greenwich Village, with musings on city life, urban planning, architecture, politics, and more. I've really enjoyed this book, which is right up my alley.


### 2017

#### [The Oglethorpe Plan](https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/4249/)

Thomas D. Wilson

Rating: 3/5


#### [Awakenings](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/159603/awakenings-by-oliver-sacks/)

Oliver Sacks

Rating: 4/5

I started it last summer, picked it up again this summer, and finished it. Sacks goes on a lot of tangents, and the book is very jargon-filled. However, it shows how people who might not seem alive, who have severe Parkinson's, might just be like a panther trapped behind bars, unable to get out. The documentary and movie are also great.


### 2016

#### [Infinite Jest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_Jest)

David Foster Wallace


### 2015

#### [Too Much to Know](https://literal.club/book/too-much-to-know-djxlm)

Ann Blair


#### [Memory Machines](https://literal.club/book/memory-machines-zjxc9)

Belinda Barnet

Rating: 4/5


#### [Becoming Steve Jobs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Becoming_Steve_Jobs)

Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli

Rating: 5/5


#### [Technopoly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technopoly)

Neil Postman

Rating: 5/5


#### [The Demon-Haunted World](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Demon-Haunted_World)

Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan

Rating: 4/5


#### [Science is Not Enough](https://literal.club/book/vannevar-bush-science-is-not-enough-01jde)

Vannevar Bush

Rating: 4/5

A little dated in some parts. Chapter on Memex and Management were good. Science essays good as well, he's got a very positive outlook on things, The chapter on Baseball physics and statistics was dated.


#### [Lufthansa and graphic design](https://literal.club/book/lufthansa-and-graphic-design-9oeef)

Jens M Ller and Karen Weiland


### 2013

#### [The Devil in the White City](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/98115/the-devil-in-the-white-city-by-erik-larson/)

Erik Larson

Rating: 5/5


### 2012

#### [Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible](https://literal.club/book/dieter-rams-as-little-design-as-possible-ax6o1)

Sophie Lovell


#### [Make Space](https://literal.club/book/make-space-3agil)

Scott Witthoft, Scott Doorley, and Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University


#### [Mindstorms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindstorms_%28book%29)

Seymour A. Papert


#### [The James Bond Bedside Companion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_James_Bond_Bedside_Companion)

Raymond Benson


#### [Wabi-sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers](https://literal.club/book/wabi-sabi-for-artists-designers-poets-and-philosophers-m964q)

Leonard Koren


#### [What is a Masterpiece?](https://literal.club/book/what-is-a-masterpiece-cj2ik)

Kenneth Clark


### 2010

#### [Amusing Ourselves to Death](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/297276/amusing-ourselves-to-death-by-neil-postman/)

Neil Postman

Rating: 5/5


#### [Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surely_You%27re_Joking,_Mr._Feynman!)

Richard P. Feynman

Rating: 5/5


#### [The Act of Creation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Act_of_Creation)

Arthur Koestler

Rating: 5/5


#### [Walt Disney and the Quest for Community](https://literal.club/book/walt-disney-and-the-quest-for-community-6uhgh)

Steve Mannheim


#### [What Do You Care What Other People Think?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Do_You_Care_What_Other_People_Think)

Richard P. Feynman

Rating: 5/5


### 2009

#### [The Visual Display of Quantitative Information](https://www.edwardtufte.com/book/the-visual-display-of-quantitative-information/)

Edward R. Tufte

Rating: 5/5


### 2008

#### [Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs](https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262510875/structure-and-interpretation-of-computer-programs/)

Harold Abelson and Gerald Jay Sussman with Julie Sussman

Rating: 5/5


#### [The Creative Habit](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Creative-Habit/Twyla-Tharp/9780743235273)

Twyla Tharp

Rating: 5/5


### 2007

#### [Pale Blue Dot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_Blue_Dot_%28book%29)

Carl Sagan

Rating: 5/5


#### [The Origins of Knowledge and Imagination](https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300024098/the-origins-of-knowledge-and-imagination/)

Jacob Bronowski

Rating: 5/5


### 2006

#### [Revolution in the Valley](https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/revolution-in-the/0596007191/)

Andy Hertzfeld

Rating: 5/5


### 2005

#### [Hackers](https://openlibrary.org/books/OL3964146M/Hackers)

Steven Levy

Rating: 5/5


### 2002

#### [Die Another Day](https://literal.club/book/die-another-day-i7q8m)

Raymond Benson, Neal Purvis, and Robert Wade


#### [Doubleshot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DoubleShot)

Raymond Benson


#### [High Time to Kill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Time_to_Kill)

Raymond Benson


#### [Ian Fleming's James Bond in Zero Minus Ten](https://literal.club/book/ian-flemings-james-bond-in-zero-minus-ten-m2k3d)

Raymond Benson


#### [Never Dream of Dying](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Dream_of_Dying)

Raymond Benson


#### [The Facts of Death](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Facts_of_Death)

Raymond Benson


#### [The Man with the Red Tattoo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_with_the_Red_Tattoo)

Raymond Benson


### 2001

#### [Alive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alive:_The_Story_of_the_Andes_Survivors)

Piers Paul Read