“You may have noticed that the books you really love are bound together by a secret thread. You know very well what is the common quality that makes you love them, though you cannot put it into words...”
— C.S. Lewis

On Attention

Gravity and Grace by Simone Weil Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport The Digital Fast by Darren Whitehead A Mind at Peace by Joshua Hochschild Notes on the Next Attention by Fran Shaw The 40-Day Social Media Fast by Wendy Speake

Poetry / Poetic Life

Rules for the Dance by Mary Oliver Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver Swan: Poems and Prose Poems by Mary Oliver Long Life: Essays and Other Writings by Mary Oliver Our World by Mary Oliver, photographs by Molly Malone Cook

On Reading Well

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler Such Stuff as Dreams by Keith Oatley

Science Fiction

The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson I, Robot by Isaac Asimov

Technology, Design, Learning

The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell The Art of Doing Science and Engineering by Richard Hamming Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows Games: Agency as Art by C. Thi Nguyen The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin Getting Real by Jason Fried The Shallows by Nicholas Carr Stuff Matters by Mark Miodownik Ways of Seeing by John Berger Understanding Michael Porter by Joan Magretta Optionality by Richard Meadows Invent and Wander by Walter Isaacson / Jeff Bezos

Philosophy and Ethics

Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke Every Good Endeavor by Timothy Keller Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig A Monk's Guide to a Clean House and Mind by Shoukei Matsumoto Acedia and Its Discontents by R.J. Snell Gravity and Grace by Simone Weil Taking Our Places by Norman Fischer The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life by Thomas Moore

Friendship, Society, Relationships

Collaborative Circles by Michael P. Farrell Alone Together by Sherry Turkle The Soul of Care by Arthur Kleinman On Caring by Milton Mayeroff Care of the Soul by Thomas Moore Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance Tolkien and C.S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship by Colin Duriez Appetites by Caroline Knapp The Moral Narratives of Hayao Miyazaki by Eric Reinders

Psychology with a Specific Lens

Focusing by Eugene Gendlin Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy by Eugene Gendlin The Power of Gentleness by Anne Dufourmantelle Dignity by Donna Hicks Your Resonant Self by Sarah Peyton

Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science

The Emotion Machine by Marvin Minsky Tell Me a Story: Narrative and Intelligence by Roger Schank

Mathematics and Invention

The Psychology of Invention in the Mathematical Field by Jacques Hadamard Récoltes et Semailles by Alexander Grothendieck How to Solve It by George Polya

Literature, Fiction, and Strange Wonders

The Tempest by William Shakespeare Paradise Lost by John Milton Comus by John Milton Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Hygge, Maintenance, and Household Design

How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis An Everlasting Meal by Tamar Adler Make Space for Happiness by Trace McCubbin Home: Design for a Cozy Life by Christiana Coop & Aimee Lago

Sensory Delight

A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman Perfumes: The A-Z Guide by Luca Turin & Tania Sanchez

Papers & Essays

PAPERChildren’s Path to Reality from Fantasy: Contrary Thoughts about Curriculum Foundations PAPERAmbient Meaning: Mood, Vibe, System(have not read it all, but do think of it!) PAPERThe Dearth of the Author in AI-Supported Writing ESSAYErrors vs. Bugs and the End of Stupidity ESSAYResearch Debtby Chris Olah and Shan Carter ESSAYLayers of Contextby Will Larson

Poems

“Hope” is the thing with feathersEmily Dickinson Wild GeeseMary Oliver On Being HumanC.S. Lewis May We Raise Children Who Love The Unloved ThingsNicolette Sowder GhazalAgha Shahid Ali In the BeginningDavid Whyte The Peace of Wild ThingsWendell Berry Air and AngelsJohn Donne

Blogs

Ashley D. Zhang Starting from Nix PG’s Essays Will Larson Blake Masters, CS 183 Escaping Flatland