Design and Technology

MUST READ: Living with Complexity, Don Norman

MUST READ: Design Driven Innovation: Changing the Rules of Competition by Radically Innovating What Things Mean, Roberto Verganti (my review)

The Nature of Technology: What It Is and How It Evolves, W. Brian Arthur (my review)

The Language of Things: Understanding the World of Desirable Objects, Deyan Sudjic (my review)

Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century, P.W. Singer

From Concept to Consumer: How to Turn Ideas Into Money, Phil Baker

Simple and Usable Web, Mobile, and Interaction Design, Giles Colborn

The Laws of Simplicity, John Maeda

Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation, Steven Johnson (my review)

Smart Things: Ubiquitous Computing User Experience Design, Mike Kuniavsky

Designing Interfaces, Second Edition, Jenifer Tidwell (Not yet released, got an advance copy)

 

Fiction

MUST READ: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet: A Novel, David Mitchell

MUST READ: River of Gods, Ian McDonald

Appaloosa, Robert B. Parker

Shadow & Claw: The First Half of ‘The Book of the New Sun’ (Book of the Long Sun), Gene Wolfe

The Imperfectionists: A Novel, Tom Rachman

The Gone-Away World, Nick Harkaway

The Walking Dead: Compendium One, Robert Kirkman

Spook Country, William Gibson

A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 3), George R.R. Martin

 

Neuroscience

MUST READ: Proust Was a Neuroscientist, Jonah Lehrer

MUST READ: How We Decide, Jonah Lehrer

Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life, Winifred Gallagher

This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession, Daniel Levitin

Why We Make Mistakes: How We Look Without Seeing, Forget Things in Seconds, and Are All Pretty Sure We Are Way Above Average, Joseph Hallinan

Natural-Born Cyborgs: Minds, Technologies, and the Future of Human Intelligence, Andy Clark

 

Philosophy and Metaphysics

MUST READ: Gospel and the Zodiac: The Secret Truth about Jesus, Bill Darlison

How to Live on 24 Hours a Day, Arnold Bennett

The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America, Louis Menand

Meditations, Marcus Aureilus

 

Writing

MUST READ: On Writing, Stephen King

How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, Orson Scott Card

The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller, John Truby

Write Great Fiction – Plot & Structure, James Scott Bell

 

Dog Training

How to Housebreak Your Dog in 7 Days (Revised), Shirlee Kalstone

How to Raise the Perfect Dog: Through Puppyhood and Beyond, Cesar Milan

How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend: The Classic Training Manual for Dog Owners, The Monks of New Skete

 

Food

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, Anthony Bourdain

Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook, Anthony Bourdain

 

Miscellaneous Non-Fiction

Confessions of a Public Speaker, Scott Berkun

Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality, Scott Belsky

Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?, Seth Godin

The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion, John Hagel, John Seely Brown, and Lang Davison

The Book of Codes: Understanding the World of Hidden Messages, Paul Lunde

Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace, David Lipsky

For All the Tea in China: How England Stole the World’s Favorite Drink and Changed History, Sarah Rose