Books I can recommend

There's nothing like sitting with a cup o' joe and a good book in a quiet local coffee shop.

Perhaps Orchard Valley Coffee in Campbell, the Blue Rock Shoot (sadly, now closed) in Saratoga, or The Plantation in San Carlos. But only after the morning rush has gone by and the pace has slowed down.

All the books I list here are ones that I have enjoyed. I've put them into a few categories that I hope are useful to you.

Click on a link to the left, read a few, tell me what you think.

 

Side note: A number of the titles have links in association with Amazon.com Books. Buying the book here sends me pennies; I list the links not for the money but because when I first started this, back in 1997, it really was amazing. These days it is pretty passé. Ah well, so it goes. Read more about my Amazon experience .)

 

Off beat books

Looking for a good read that you may not find on anyone else's list? Want to surprise your friends with a recommendation? This list is for you. It spans my other lists, but these are worth repeating twice.

1. Disrupted by Dan Lyons. A 50 year old journalist is laid off and goes to work for a software "unicorn." He doesn't fit in and the place is a mess. His experiences are funny, sad, and enraging. A true story.
2. Bright Lights, Big City by McInerney A fast paced romp through a self destructive chemical dependency.
3. Thank You for Smoking by Christopher Buckley An other-world like look into the life of a tobacco industry lobbyist. Hilarious.
4. Jennifer Government by Max Barry A future where everyone is wired.
5. Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson An imposing three inches thick, I was enthralled. A very interesting jump between WWII and now.
6. The Story of Junk by Yablonsky Heroin junkie and dealer in New York goes crazy
7. Far Tortuga by Matthiessen An incredible stream of consciousness writing style that may drive you nuts.
8. Mama Makes Up Her Mind by Bailey White Beautifully written, hilarious down-home stories without the terminal drowsiness of Garrison Kiellor
9. Shooting the Boh A woman's adventure in rafting gets way, way out of control
10. Permanent Midnight A story of a television screen writer who is also a junkie. You get to watch him spin out of control as he writes for Alf.
11. My Year of Meats A fun little first person story about a woman who produces a Japanese television show about eating meat. Funny situations develop in her relationship with the head office as she starts to put her own influence into the show. Then in a major shift the story gets serious. Same pacing as Jennifer Government.
12. A Party of One by Anneli Rufus Don't call them loners! Anneli offers great insight to the psychology of those who like to spend time with themselves. (I met her at one of Richie's book parties and found her fascinating to talk with.)
13. Freakanomics A fun and fresh look at current problems. The author uses data from old studies to gain new insight into things we should know. Do school teachers cheat? What about sumo wrestlers?

Non-Fiction, Non-Novels

These provide an education into some niche of our world.

Society

1. Raising the Floor by Andy Stern This is a factual look at a coming fundamental shift in our society. If we aren't ready for it we will sink into a dark, dystopian future. I summarize the story in my own essay.
2. The Future of Ideas by Lawrence Lessig Absolutely brilliant man working to define a way to a better future.
3. Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky. I've enjoyed many of his writings on technology. In this book he tackles the question many non-programmers ask, "Why would anyone work on open source software when they don't get paid anything?" The answer will surprise you, and might apply to you.
4. The American Slave Coast: A history of the slave breeding industry by Ned Sublette. Be prepared to rethink your history of America. This well written history of our founding and forming does a scholarly job of explaining how much of our early moves were all about protecting the slave industry - and not just in the deep South.
5. The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama This was the first book I read on my Kindle 2. I just took the free sample to check out and bought the entire book five minutes later. If Obama only believes half of what he said, then we have made a superb choice for president.

Food

1. Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser The story of our modern society co-evolving with the food service industry. A very good read.
2. On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee. This is a comprehensive reference on the science behind everything you do in the kitchen. It took me, no kidding, four years to read it all. Every page was a discovery.
3. Modernist Cuisine by Nathan Myhrvold. A five volume set of the most unbelievable cooking recipes peppered with striking photographs. Make the perfect milkshake in just four days - using a rotovap, a centrifuge, and liquid nitrogen. There is also a one volume Modernist Cuisine at Home which has possible recipes. I read my way through both of them.

Business

1. Confessions of a Record Producer by Moses Avalon Well written and detailed, this book took me through the ins and outs of the financial side of the music industry. An excellent overview for outsiders and absolutely required reading for any musician who is thinking of signing with a label.
2. Engineering Your Startup by Michael Baird This is a must read for anyone who is starting their own company or joining one. It gave me tremendous insight into aspects of the process that I didn't know. Reading this will save you time, money, and perhaps your fortune.
3. The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell Small things can make a big difference. Almost like chaos theory in business. A fun read that raises some interesting questions.
4. What were they thinking? by Jeff Pfeffer I know Jeff, but you'd be wrong to question my review - this book is an excellent read. Jeff covers a range of business management topics in his open, conversational style. All of his observations ring true with my own experiences. It's like a one book distillation of many management classes I took at HP.

Human Condition

1. Consciousness 101 by Susan Blackmore A survey of the current thinking (pun intended) about consciousness. The author goes into each theory to a good depth and does a lot of compare and contrast analysis. I loved it.
2. Men are from Mars , etc, etc You, me, them. Skip the Mars / Venus chapters at the beginning and get right to the heart of the matter
3. Making Miracles Happen by Gregory White Smith A friend who works in disease modeling recommended this to me. It's only available used, and everyone should read it. This story of one man's journey with a life threatening illness provides the reader with incredibly valuable tips about how to manage your own health care providers. You should read this now, while you are healthy.

How To

1. Gardening with a Wild Heart by Judith Larner Lowry She explains how to asses your own garden and take it back to what nature intended. And she tells you why it's such a good idea to do this.
2. Writing Dialog by Tom Chiarella Practical, straightforward guide for the aspiring writer. Full of tips, exercises, and great advice on making your own fiction writing come alive.
3. On Writing by Stephen King Stephen King takes you inside his own process for producing books. He's a master story teller and he uses those talents in this autobiography. I loved the book.

They could be true...

Stories patterned on real life or events. These let you pretend to be somewhere else.

1. Coal Run by Tawni O'Dell What is life like in a town when your industry runs away?
2. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden How does a man write about being a Geisha? I don't know, but this is engaging.
3. The Reader by Schlink A boy in post war Germany comes to grips with his country's past
4. On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon by Gibbons A fantastic story of an enlightened woman growing up on the home front of our Civil War
5. A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe. Written 50 years after the plague of 1664 that ravaged England. But written as a contemporary account. His distrust of government reports sounds a lot like today.
6. A Million Little Pieces Intimate story of one man's recovery from addiction. Now known to be highly embellished, I still found it to be a good story.
7. The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Carhart What a pleasant story of a man who finds himself again while pursuing his love of the piano.
8. The Bird Artist by Howard Norman Isolated life in a small Nova Scotia town
9. Charms for the Easy Life by Kaye Gibbons Such a nice, quiet story of life
10. Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons Captivating story of a young girl, alone among her relatives
11. Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner It took me a while to get into this. In fact I almost gave up - that would have been a shame. This is a fantastic story of a family living through the late 1800's, interwoven with a modern story line. A wonderfully warm read set in San Jose, Colorado, Utah, and Grass Valley.
12. Stonewalls Gold An interesting story about the end of the civil war.
13. A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain Lovely tales of mixing the old world with the new
14. Snow Falling on Cedars by Guterson Sensitive, well written story of xenophobia in W.W.II
15. Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier A deserter walks home from the Civil War
16. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent , Julia Alvarez

Real stories of life

These are good stories about someone's life. In each of these I found a look into a life or event or society that gave me a new perspective.

Psychology

1. And Then I Thought I was a Fish by Peter Welch. One mans journey through a complete mental freak out.
2. Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan. A memoir of a medical emergency that causes a well known journalist to lose a month of her life. It could happen to anyone.

Hard Lives

1. The Liars' Club by Mary Karr A woman grows up in the dysfunctional oil fields of Oklahoma
2. Finding Fish A young black boy grows up in the foster care system, that does not care for him. A heart wrenching story - it's amazing that he came out of this so well.
3. Makes Me Want to Holler by Nathan McCall The true story of a poor black man who grows up to be a well respected journalist. This is a peek into a world I know so little about. Very engaging.
4. Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt Growing up poor in Ireland, funny but oh so sad. It leaves me wondering how he made it... standby for the sequel
5. This House of Sky by Ivan Doig Marvelous descriptions of growing up in a ranching family in Montana, makes me want to spend time there. But the story, while warm and inviting, did not pull me along. It took me weeks to finish it.

Stories around War

1. The Unwanted by Kien Nguyen An Amerasian boy grows up in South Vietnam after the surrender to the North. A powerful tale told by someone who stood on top of the U.S. embassy in Saigon and watched the helicopters turn back.
2. To Destroy You is No Loss, the odyssey of a Cambodian Family , by Joan Criddle and Teeda Butt Mam First person story of the Khemer Rouge take over; riveting.
3. Red Azalea by Min Life through the Chinese Cultural Revolution
4. Inside Delta Force by Eric Haney. This is the story of the forming of the elite counter terrorist unit. I particularly enjoyed their process of creating this group from whole cloth.
5. Command and Control by Eric Schlosser. This is the story of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Creating it, using it, controlling it, maintaining it. This will scare the sh*t out of you.
6. Super Carrier by George Wilson Overall a nice read about the life of a journalist living aboard a carrier for a nine month deployment in 1983. It gave me an insight into how hard Navy life really can be.

Adventure

1. On the Road by Kerouac Live the life of a dharma bum
2. Cry of the Kalahari by Owens Life among a pride of lions, far away from civilization.
3. Running the Amazon : Kane A kayak trip down the length of Amazon
4. The Panama Hat Trail : Miller Did you know that all Panama hats come from Ecuador?
5. Into Thin Air , Jon Krakauer Enough has been said about this in the press. You all know someone who's read this account of climbing Everest. Some loose fingers, some loose toes, they all go back again. They are addicts; to be pittied I think.
6. The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger Third person recreation of a killer storm off Nova Scotia. Chilling tale.

Documentary

1. A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay by Watkin Tench. Maria the librarian turned me on to this. A diary of how England moved in and took over Australia.
2. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain A well written peek behind the scenes of many commercial kitchens. Read how they really work to prepare your food. Hilarious.
3. Diamond by Matthew Hart A factual story of the diamond trade. An interesting read.
4. Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowel I wasn't sure what to expect and found this quite scholarly. Sarah drags her family and friends to visit places involved in presidential assassinations. She weaves a story through it all. When I was done I wanted to visit some of these places myself. Thanks to Paul for the recommendation.
5. Lost Mountain One man documents a mountain as a Virginia coal mining company rips its top off to get at a coal seam. The whole area is destroyed. So very sad.

Financial Health

These books taught me a lot. A lot about investing, a lot about how to look at my life.

1. Cashing in on the American Dream : Terhorst Man, retire as soon as you can. This is a beauty of a book, but out of print. If you want to get your life plan together, find this book. It changed my life.
2. Your Money or Your Life A good beginners book to sorting out your relationship to money and life. Too hippie-like philosophical for my tastes, but I list it here because if you can get past the preaching it does ask the right questions. For those who don't like the style, try Cashing In On The American Dream, listed above.
3. A Random Walk Down Wall Street : Malkiel Why common wisdom about technical stock market analysis is bunk. Lesson? Buy value.
4. Portfolio Selection : Markovitz This is the only way to invest. I have pages on my site about how to do retirement planning , this is the guy who invented efficient portfolio theory and won a Nobel Prize for it. If you want to know the details of how EPT works, this is the book for you.
5. The Millionaire Next Door : Stanley and Danko Who has all that money? It's not the guy with the Rolex or the BMW.
6. Fortune's Formula by William Poundstone From illegal off track betting to the guys who counted cards in Vegas to the collapse of Long Term Capital Management, the story weaves them all into a fast paced history of risk management mathematics.
7. The Intelligent Asset Allocator Nothing earth shattering in this one, but a good solid review of the investment strategy that has made me independent. This is an easy read.

Other books I've read and enjoyed..

1. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith I felt like I was back in Kenya. Warm stories told in a simple way.
2. Mother Tongue by Demetria Martinez The life of Salvadorian refugees in an underground railroad
3. Moo by Jane Smiley A bit tongue in cheek on the life at a Midwest University
4. Stormy Weather by Carl Hiaasen Just crazy
5. The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
6. The O'Henry Awards (2001) A collection of short stories. The first one didn't grab me, but the rest did. They got me so much that I bought a bunch of other years too. (and made me want to write my own short story .)
7. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett Watch a church being built over the course of 300 years.

Luke Warm: I read 'em but...

Books I've read that I don't feel strongly enough about recommending or dissing. These might appeal to you.

1. The Gridlock Economy by Michael Heller Interesting idea that multiple owners of a single asset or different aspects (rights) to a single asset can cause an ownership gridlock. Too many people having partial ownership of some real estate. Or too many people owning different rights to a book or a song. Or too many patents all covering a slightly different aspect of some area. All interesting. But he tends to defend all use as good without regard to the negative consequences. It seemed to me that if someone wasn't building on the land then Michael considered it under utilized. I think that in some cases of unrepairable harm, some amount of gridlock acts to put brakes on otherwise unrestrained, harmful exploitation. Not all gridlock is bad.
2. Crypto by Levy A history of modern cryptography
3. Beat Until Stiff by Clair Johnson A murder mystery that takes place against the backdrop of the restaurant business. A fun little book.
4. Into the Buzzsaw by Borjesson A collection of essays on what's happened to freedom of the press. Each is a first person account of the suppression of some investigative reporting. A sad statement about where our country is today.
5. In Code by Sarah Flannery A nice story about a young woman who enjoys math. The cover photo tells it all - she's a bit too self-absorbed.
6. The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. A science fiction future where nano-technology is pervasive. Interesting reading right up until the last part when he tries to bring it all together in one monumental grokking of the entire universe; that finish bored me.
7. World Without End by Ken Follett A nice fast read, but so formulaic that I got tired of it. Oh look, they've solved that situation; oh no, Mr. X is back; end of chapter.

Books I've read, but either didn't finish, or did but didn't like

1. The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard First person historical account of Scott's Antarctic expedition. If you really want to know what the trip was like, this will provide all you need to know. I just couldn't hang in there for all those details.
2. The Price of Loyalty by Ron Suskind The book itself seemed fabulous. I read the first two chapters and it scared me to death. Really. I knew it was going to end bad so I dropped it. I highly recommend reading it if you have a strong stomach.
3. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki Good lessons on how to deal with money, but I found it repetitive and I didn't care for the teaching device of calling his biological dad Poor Dad. Too often his points were stretched out over several pages of storytelling when one to-the-point page would have done the trick.
4. Yak Butter and Black Tea (Carl, where do you find these?) An adventure trip through China to reach an isolated valley of people. Along the way this self centered adventurer shows himself to be less of a heroic figure and more of an insensitive opportunist. A guy who feels that his right to adventure outweighs the rights of people living in his way. When he cut the telephone lines to an outpost village, eliminating their only way to contact the outside world, I thought: another ugly American. Yuck.
5. One Dry Season by Caroline Alexander A modern day adventurer follows the mid-1800s trip of Mary Kingsley. Too slow. The unending quotes from Mary's journals are distracting. Often the author quotes Mary and then repeats the same story herself. Told without suspense or wonder.
6. Accordion Crimes by Annie Proulx Man, I snoozed. I kept waiting for something to happen. This is wonderfully written, but it's a collection of sad times that all revolve around this little green accordion as if it was Christine. But the accordion never talks.
7. Guns, Germs, and Steel A lot of people like this history of the evolution of society. I just couldn't get into it. Sorry.
8. The Yiddish Policeman's Union. Several friends said it was the funniest of books. I read about half and then I just couldn't keep going. I might not have the right background to understand the jokes.

Authors I Know

These are books from people I know. Listed here for your enjoyment.

1. Black Nightingale by Julia Buss. About a contemporary of Florence Nightingale working at the Crimean War.
2. The Hazing Tower by Leland Roys. I worked with Leland at HP and this book is his personality in words. Fast paced and wild.
3. Bulletproof Putting by Mike McTeigue. Mike and I worked together at Audible Magic, after he gave up being a golf pro - and a flight steward, but that's another story. At company picnics he'd bring a 9 iron and we'd try to chip a ball into a trash can. Mike would work the outfield, deftly knocking our errant balls back to our feet. His advice would immediately improve each person; pretty incredible.
4. Homo Cosmiens by David Millett. Dave's science fiction look at the future evolution of man - and woman.
5. The Creature: Forgotten Prometheus by David Millett. I was lucky enough to read a pre-release copy of this. David said he wanted feedback so I attacked it like an editor, no holds barred. David was true to his word and graciously accepted a bunch of comments from me. I like being an editor!
6. Caring from Afar: A Guide to Home Sensor Systems for Aging Parents by Richard Caro. Ever think you might need to instrument your parent's house so you can be sure they're ok? This book gives you a solid model for evaluating solutions that are on the market today.
7. Zen and the Art of Christmas Lettersby Chuck Storla Chuck let me read an early draft and I laughed out loud at some parts. He took my feedback and that of others to really improve the flow of the book. "A great book to sit on the back of your toilet," says the author.
8. The Reluctant Trader by David Robinson. I met David in 2016 at a talk he gave in Cambridge. "Not great literature," he said, "but a fast paced spy novel like I used to read when traveling on business." I have to agree. Nicely done.

My friend Chris supplied her book club's list, here it is:

Book List:

• Behind the Scenes @ the Museum, Kate Atkinson
• English Patient - Michael Ondaatje
• Map of the World or Book of Ruth, Jane Hamilton
• Rocking the Babies, Linda Raymond
• Stones from the River, Ursula Hegi
• Smiles Sense of Snow, Peter Hoag
• House of Spirits AND The Stories of Eva Luna , Isabel Allende
• How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent AND Yo! , Julia Alvarez
• Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil, John Berendt
• Invisible Life, E. Lynn Harris

Our bookclub members recommend:

• Hope in the Unseen by Ron Suskin
• The God of Small Things by A. Roy
• Licking Our Wounds by Elise D'Haene

Books that are in my reading pile:

I am listing them here in the hope that this will shame me into reading more often.

• Don't Think of an Elephant
• The Two Percent Solution
• Radical Surgery
• The World is Flat
• On the High Wire
• The Crystal Desert
• Confessions of a Dangerous Mind