Recommended Books
These are all books that I own and would recommend to other people. If you decide to buy one, please follow the link and order it from Amazon.Com, since I make money when you do! It's not a lot, but every little bit counts! Please let me know what you think of any books that you purchase based on my recommendation.
Picture Books
Photography
Computer Science/Mathematics/Physics
Fiction
Politics
Miscellaneous
Picture Books
The Naked & The Dressed
Richard Avedon
This book has inspired me more than any other book. It features photos of people
who are either wearing clothes designed by Gianni Versace ("The Dressed") or not
wearing anything at all ("The Naked"), all shot by Richard Avedon. With few
exceptions, the models are beautiful, and the clothes are outlandish, and the photos are
extraordinary. Unfortunately you folks in the puritan United States get a sanitized cover
featuring Elton John rather than this beautiful photo of Kate Moss.
Jeanloup Sieff 1950-1990: Time Will Pass Like Rain
Jeanloup Sieff
This collection of photos from master photographer Jeanloup Sieff is only 288
pages long but is over an inch thick and weighs a ton. There's not a single color photo to
be found in this book, but after looking through it, you'll wonder if maybe color is
necessary at all. Sieff's book is more intellectually engaging than Avedon's. If you like
reading the comments that I include with my photos on this site, then you'll enjoy this
book because each photo has a background blurb, written by Sieff in the first person. The
blurb for the cover photo, above, is: "'Harper's Bazaar', Palm Beach, 1964.
The beautiful Astrid, photographed for the series 'Chic is...' She had an aristocratic
profile and a very inspiring back."
Roy Stuart
Roy Stuart
Hide the children. In his first book, Roy Stuart walks the usual line between
erotica and pornography, presenting a collection of photos that are provocative and
wonderfully executed. There are the usual rubber-clad men and women, but the book focuses
mainly on sexuality as opposed to fetishism.
Photography
The Camera,
The Negative,
and The Print
Ansel Adams
If you're doing black and white photography and you don't have these books, then
stop whatever it is that you're doing, put away your camera, shut off your safelight, and
read these books! They are over 20 years old but remain the definitive texts on black and
white photography. The Camera will tell you everything you need to know about, well, your
camera. The Negative introduces the Zone System and tells you everything you might ever
need to know about exposure and film. The Print carries the Zone System to its logical
conclusion and covers darkroom techniques.
The Portrait: Professional Techniques and Practices in Portrait Photography
Kodak
As you'd expect from a book published by Kodak, this one is rather dry reading,
and it tends to focus on Kodak products (how many other books have you read which have the
names of all Kodak products in capital letters?), but if you want to take traditional,
formal portraits, this book will teach you how. It includes a chapter that goes into
excruciating detail about how to set up your lights in order to get a proper exposure.
Amazingly, you can do it all without needing a light meter, but you will need a
densitometer. You can't help but be inspired by the wonderful photos in this book, but
unfortunately they tend to have little relevance to text.
Computer Science/Mathematics/Physics
Effective C++
Scott Meyers
When I interview candidates for C++ programming jobs at work, I always ask them
whether or not they've read this book. Knowledge of the material therein is what separates
an ordinary C++ programmer from a master.
A Brief History of Time
Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking's best-seller is billed as physics for the layman. It's not. You
really have to be a science person to enjoy this book, but I am, and I do! It's a great
read for people who like science but who aren't physicists. Hawking has an excellent
writing style, making the book fun to read. The link takes you to the paperback version of
the book; if you'd rather have the hardcover, it's here.
Applied Cryptography
Bruce Schneier
The preface begins, "There are two kinds of cryptography in this world:
cryptography that will stop your kid sister from reading your files, and cryptography that
will stop major governments from reading your files. This book is about the latter."
Curiously for a book of 784 pages that includes printed source, this book does not have an
accompanying CD-ROM. Blame the US government; Mr. Schneier was denied an export license
for the CD-ROM, which, because it contains code that implements "strong"
encryption, the US government classifies as a "munition," a category that
includes tanks and missiles. This must be one of the most well-researched books in
history, with a bibliography that runs for 67 pages and lists 1,653 references. Mr.
Schneier's book will probably tell you all you want to know about cryptography, but if
you'd like to know more, it will tell you where to find it. If you'd like the hardcover
version, which costs twice as much, follow this link.
Fiction
There's a vast amount of popular fiction out there. There's no point in my telling you that you should read the latest Stephen King or Tom Clancy novel, since you're almost certainly aware of those books already. Instead, I've tried to select some books that you might not know.
Unintended Consequences
John Ross
You'll either love this book or hate it, and your reaction will depend more on
your political beliefs than the quality of the writing. This is a controversial book
because it is the story of a group of Americans who are driven to take up arms against the
US government. It is precisely the kind of story that makes Washingon establishment types
wring their hands and whine about how you can't love your country if you don't love the
government. The book is long, 863 pages; the first two thirds is essentially a slightly
fictionalized history of gun control in the US, while the last third is the story of the
uprising itself. Guaranteed to keep you up at night.
A Booke of Days
Stephen J. Rivele
This is the diary of Roger of Lunel, a minor French nobleman who embarks with his
lord on an "armed pilgrimage" (which we now call the First Crusade) in order to
atone for his past sins. He starts off full of enthusiasm, but as the months pass, the
Crusade bogs down, and the lords begin fighting with each other, and Roger becomes cynical
and morose. The book is very disturbing at times, and what happiness Roger finds is set
against a backdrop of despair. This novel only received an overall rating of 3 1/2 stars
from Amazon.Com customers, mostly due to the criticism from readers who, apparently not
realizing that this is a work of fiction, found historical nits to pick, and also from
some readers who really believed that the book was a translation of an actual medieval
diary and then felt cheated when they discovered that it wasn't.
Politics
Coming soon.
Miscellaneous
How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty
Harry Browne
Originally written in 1973 and republished in 1997, Browne's book is ostensibly a
self-help book. However, it's a lot different from most such books in that you won't find
anything in it about "positive thinking" or "how to say yes" or the
like. The theme of this book is that if you're not free, it's probably because you're not
being true to your own nature and are instead trying to live a life that others (your
parents, your priest, your spouse, etc.) have made for you. "But who made your life
complicated? You did, of course. It wasn't society, the economic system, the people you
consider to be nuisances, your parents, or anyone else. Every complication in your life
today is the result of something you've allowed to happen. You initiated it, or you
consented to it, or you've allowed it to continue. You are where you are today because
you've chosen to be there. And you can choose not to be there."
Last updated November 19, 2001