16 books on the list
Sort by
Latest Recommendations First
Layout
This is a copy of the first self-published copy of Leaves of Grass, published on July 4, 1855 in Brooklyn, NY. 795 copies were printed, although only 200 copies were bound with the green cover. The author's name did not appear on the cover, although it does appear in the poem on page 31 in this edition. Walt Whitman continued to work on this master...
Kevin Kelly
Also recommended by
Rolf PottsThe Sound of the One Hand
281 Zen Koans with Answers (New York Review Books Classics)
Goodreads Rating
When The Sound of the One Hand came out in Japan in 1916 it caused a scandal. Zen was a secretive practice, its wisdom relayed from master to novice in strictest privacy. That a handbook existed recording not only the riddling koans that are central to Zen teaching but also detailing the answers to them seemed to mark Zen as rote, not revelatory. F...
Kevin Kelly
Finite and Infinite Games
Goodreads Rating
There are at least two kinds of games, states James P. Carse as he begins this extraordinary book. One could be called finite; the other infinite. A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play.Finite games are the familiar contests of everyday life; they are played in order to be won, wh...
It is not my purpose to attempt a real autobiography. I simply want to tell the story of my numerous experiments with truth, and as my life consists of nothing but those experiments, it is true that the story will take the shape of an autobiography....Identification with everything that lives is impossible without self-purification; without self-pu...
Kevin Kelly
Also recommended by
Cory BookerSo Good They Can't Ignore You
Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love
Goodreads Rating
In an unorthodox approach, Georgetown University professor Cal Newport debunks the long-held belief that "follow your passion" is good advice, and sets out on a quest to discover the reality of how people end up loving their careers.Not only are pre-existing passions rare and have little to do with how most people end up loving their work, but a fo...
Kevin Kelly
The Qur'an
Goodreads Rating
One of the most influential books in the history of literature, recognized as the greatest literary masterpiece in Arabic, the Qur'an is the supreme authority and living source of all Islamic teaching, the sacred text that sets out the creed, rituals, ethics, and laws of Islam. Yet despite the growing interest in Islamic teachings and culture, ther...
Whether it’s tidying up or tiny-house living, the decluttering revolution is taking America by storm. In It’s All Too Much organizational expert Peter Walsh reveals the tools for taking control of your physical—and emotional—clutter in order to reclaim your life.Are you surrounded by papers? Overstuffed closets? Are you stepping over toys or search...
Kevin Kelly
What the Dormouse Said
How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry
Goodreads Rating
Most histories of the personal computer industry focus on technology or business. John Markoff's landmark book is about the culture and consciousness behind the first PCs--the culture being counter- and the consciousness expanded, sometimes chemically. It's a brilliant evocation of Stanford, California, in the 1960s and '70s, where a group of visio...
"It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured."So begins this epic, mesmerizing first novel by Gregory David Roberts, set in the underworld of contemporary Bombay. Shantaram is narrated by ...
Kevin Kelly
The Fountainhead
Goodreads Rating
The revolutionary literary vision that sowed the seeds of Objectivism, Ayn Rand's groundbreaking philosophy, and brought her immediate worldwide acclaim.This modern classic is the story of intransigent young architect Howard Roark, whose integrity was as unyielding as granite...of Dominique Francon, the exquisitely beautiful woman who loved Roark p...
Kevin Kelly
The Essential Rumi
Goodreads Rating
This revised and expanded edition of The Essential Rumi includes a new introduction by Coleman Barks and more than 80 never-before-published poems.Through his lyrical translations, Coleman Barks has been instrumental in bringing this exquisite literature to a remarkably wide range of readers, making the ecstatic, spiritual poetry of thirteenth-cent...
Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas R. Hofstadter
Regional Advantage by AnnaLee Saxenian
Future Shock by Alvin Toffler
The Ultimate Resource by Julian Lincoln Simon