Books I Like

What I'm Currently Reading

• The 99% Invisible City by Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt
• Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

What I've Already Read (and Like)

What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

by randall munroe

What If? is a hilarious book that perfectly combines humorous stick figure cartoons with sound scientific calculation. The author is the same guy who authored some other books on this list as well as the XKCD Webcomic, which has made me laugh for many hours. (The book is actually the continuation of a web series by the same name).

In the book, Munroe uses his skills as an ex-NASA scientist to answer fan-submitted questions like, what happens if you pitch a baseball at 99% the speed of light? It turns out that the baseball stadium and surrounding city get vaporized in a nuclear explosion. Long story.. He makes the calculations understandable (if you want to follow along), but keeps it concise enough that the book is very entertaining to read. The commentary and storytelling never feels slow or unnecessary. Of course, his comedic illustrations, featuring many of the XKCD characters, are a cherry on top.

Overall, I had a lot of fun reading What If, and can easily recommend it to anyone with even the slightest interest in science.

Practical Typography

by matthew butterick

This book absolutely changed the way I think of documents. I'm a design geek, and a calligrapher, but this book is what put together my love of design and writing and really got me into typography. When I found the book, I was so entranced I read the entire thing in one sitting (homework? what's that?).

Reading and following Butterick's guide has significantly improved the appearance of my school work, presentations, and any other documents I make. Now, when I show people my work (whether it be an essay, presentation, or something else) the first thing almost everyone says is how good it looks - which is powerful, because people are more inclined to read beautiful documents.

I can't recommend this book enough. It's essential. It makes your documents beautiful - you'll notice it, and your colleagues will notice it. And the best part?

It's completely free and online.

How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems

by randall munroe

Yet another hilarious book from the XKCD author. With the same playful yet scientifically sound motivations as What If, this book focuses on "How do I do X" instead of "What if X happens". The result is is a pure joy to read, and made me chuckle a lot! I've already discussed what I like about Munroe's writing above, so I won't repeat myself. This book is easily recommendable to anyone of any age.