bookshelf
when visiting a house of someone new, and noticing shelves heavy with books, movies, or music, i can’t help but browse and quietly compare them to my own. it almost always opens the door to a good conversation.
these are the books you’d find on my shelves. like breadcrumbs along the path of my life, they mark the influences and obsessions i’ve followed. these are the books that have stood the test of time for me, and i still look back on them with a great deal of affection.
early tech
commodore 64 user's guide
commodore computer • 1982
growing up with a commodore 64, this book and the compute!'s gazette magazine, were how i first started to program. sitting at the computer and typing in programs. great way to learn (and often frustrating) because i'd introduce typos and have to work out what i did wrong.
further this book had the schematics to the computer and it inspired me to learn electronics.
the personal robot book
texe marrs • 1985
nothing more than a brief look at all levels of robots in the 80's. for me it was like the sears christmas catalog , i carried this book around for years, dreaming of robots.
fiction
the hobbit, or there and back again
j.r.r. tolkien • 1937
this was the first fiction book i bought for myself as a kid (mostly for the cover, but i digress), and made me excited to seek out new authors and stories.
jonathan livingston seagull
richard bach • 1970
my fourth grade teacher gave me a copy of this book, and it wasn't until re-reading it much later in life that i realized what she saw in me. a book can be a powerful gift.
neuromancer
william gibson • 1984
dune
frank herbert • 1965
breathing
breath: the new science of a lost art
james nestor • 2020
running on air: the revolutionary way to run better by breathing smarter
budd coates, claire kowalchik • 2013
the oxygen advantage: the simple, scientifically proven breathing techniques for a healthier, slimmer, faster, and fitter you
patrick mckeown • 2015
the science of breathing
yogi ramacharaka • 1903
physical
balance is power: improve your body's balance to perform better, live longer, and look younger
jim klopman, janet miller • 2016
kettlebell simple & sinister
pavel tsatsouline • 2013
relax into stretch: instant flexibility through mastering muscle tension
pavel tsatsouline • 2001
super joints: russian longevity secrets for pain-free movement
pavel tsatsouline • 2001
the maffetone method: the holistic, low-stress, no-pain way to exceptional fitness
philip maffetone • 1999
viking warrior conditioning: the scientific approach to forging a heart of elastic steel
kenneth jay • 2011
ageless spine, lasting health: the open secret to pain-free living and comfortable aging
kathleen porter • 2006
existential
finite and infinite games
james p. carse • 1986
running
born to run: a hidden tribe, superathletes, and the greatest race the world has never seen
christopher mcdougall • 2009
spirituality
prometheus rising
robert anton wilson • 1983
the power of now: a guide to spiritual enlightenment
eckhart tolle • 1997
the untethered soul: the journey beyond yourself
michael a. singer • 2007
the surrender experiment: my journey into life's perfection
michael a. singer • 2015
a beginner's guide to constructing the universe: the mathematical archetypes of nature, art, and science
michael s. schneider • 1994
other
desert solitaire
edward abbey • 1968
the grid: the fraying wires between americans and our energy future
gretchen bakke • 2016
the hidden life of trees: what they feel, how they communicate: discoveries from a secret world
peter wohlleben • 2015
moonwalking with einstein: the art and science of remembering everything
joshua foer • 2011
how music works
david byrne • 2014
merle's door: lessons from a freethinking dog
ted kerasote • 2007
cooking
how to cook everything: simple recipes for great food
mark bittman, alan witschonke • 1998
the ultimate instant pot cookbook: 200 deliciously simple recipes for your electric pressure cooker
coco morante • 2018
history
my thoughts be bloody: the bitter rivalry that led to the assassination of abraham lincoln
nora titone, doris kearns goodwin • 2010
tech
on lisp: advanced techniques for common lisp
paul graham • 1993
revolution in the valley: the insanely great story of how the mac was made
andy hertzfeld • 2004
mathematical illustrations: a manual of geometry and postscript
bill casselman • 2004
hacker's delight
henry s. warren jr • 2002
lisp in small pieces
christian queinnec • 1996
paradigms of artificial intelligence programming: case studies in common lisp
peter norvig • 1991
gnu emacs manual
richard m. stallman • 1993