Some Favorite Books
(in no particular order)

Buckmenster Fuller is one notch from being the ranting lunatic at the bus station you pray doesn’t sit next to you.  The scariest thing about his ideas is that me just might be right.

Fuller is the guy who invented the geodesic dome.  I look forward to reading more of his books.

The book starts with the large-scale design of cities, and ends with how many shelves to put in your closet.  The writers clearly articulate a strong intuitive sense we all have about the design of spaces.  Written in 271 chapters, this book is very accessible and very easy to jump around.  The "Zen View" chapter is worth the price of the book.

Picked it up, read page one and had to read page two.  Read page two and had to read page three.  Read page three and had to read page four.

while (pageIsInteresting()) readNextPage();

Be prepared to change how you think about birds.

I took six months off between high-school and college.  I delivered pizza and read this book. 

Around the penultimate page I finally understood what was going on, and it was like reaching that hard to reach itch. Mmmmm.

A book on how doorknobs work, and why some are better than others.  After reading this book, you too will be able to spot the difference.

Where poetry and product design meet. Extraordinary analysis of everyday objects, rituals, and emotions.  Anything by Nicholson Baker is worth reading.

Incredible story spanning multiple generations. It’s amazing to think this book wasn’t even written in English.

While the nation has been preoccupied with the Middle East and oil, this book convinces you the real battle is about water. Reisner clearly states all civilizations that depend upon irrigation ultimately die out – and Los Angeles is no exception.

One of those books you’re supposed to read in college or high-school but never do. I felt guilty and read it. So should you.

Too bad Skinner gave that whole behavioral thing such a bad name. This book acknowledges our complexity as humans, but also reveals some pretty basic conditioned responses that can explain a variety of otherwise paradoxical behavior. Pay special attention to variable reinforcement. It’s very big.

"Bobo" means "Bourgeoisie Bohemian", and it's what he calls the new generation of the highly educated upper class.  "The typical bobo engagement occurs either hot-air ballooning or he hides an engagement ring in her mask while scuba diving endangered coral reefs off the sayschell islands".

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