book pickings

a visual way to explore the brain pickings book archive :: otlet's shelf theme :: back to brain pickings

CREATIVITY :: DESIGN :: SCIENCE :: HISTORY :: PSYCHOLOGY :: ART

  1. Letters to Ms., 1972-1987 Three decades before the golden age of social media, feminist magazine Ms. allowed women to connect and raise their voices together, its remarkable archive of reader letters itself a powerful early form of “social media” – read the best here:

    Letters to Ms., 1972-1987

    Three decades before the golden age of social media, feminist magazine Ms. allowed women to connect and raise their voices together, its remarkable archive of reader letters itself a powerful early form of “social media” – read the best here:
  2. Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler “The test of a writer is whether you want to read him again years after he should by the rules be dated.” Raymond Chandler’s collected insights on writing, culled from 20 years of his letters:

    Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler

    “The test of a writer is whether you want to read him again years after he should by the rules be dated.”

    Raymond Chandler’s collected insights on writing, culled from 20 years of his letters:
  3. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us Daniel H. Pink “The best use of money as a motivator is to pay people enough to take the issue of money off the table: Pay people enough so that they’re not thinking about money and they’re thinking about the work. Once you do that, it turns out there are three factors that the science shows lead to better performance, not to mention personal satisfaction: autonomy, mastery, and purpose.” Fantastic read

    Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

    Daniel H. Pink

    “The best use of money as a motivator is to pay people enough to take the issue of money off the table: Pay people enough so that they’re not thinking about money and they’re thinking about the work. Once you do that, it turns out there are three factors that the science shows lead to better performance, not to mention personal satisfaction: autonomy, mastery, and purpose.”

    Fantastic read
  4. Virtually Normal Andrew Sullivan “Silence, if it does not equal death, equals the living equivalent.” Excerpts from Andrew Sullivan’s seminal 1993 essay “The Politics of Homosexuality,” which changed the discourse on LGBT rights:

    Virtually Normal

    Andrew Sullivan

    “Silence, if it does not equal death, equals the living equivalent.”

    Excerpts from Andrew Sullivan’s seminal 1993 essay “The Politics of Homosexuality,” which changed the discourse on LGBT rights:
  5. Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World Mark Pendergrast “In the form of a hot infusion of its ground, roasted seeds, coffee is consumed for its bittersweet bouquet, its mind-racing jump start, and social bonding.” How coffee changed the world

    Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World

    Mark Pendergrast

    “In the form of a hot infusion of its ground, roasted seeds, coffee is consumed for its bittersweet bouquet, its mind-racing jump start, and social bonding.”

    How coffee changed the world
  6. Cosmic Apprentice: Dispatches from the Edges of Science Dorion Sagan “A good scientific theory shines its light, revealing the world’s fearful symmetry. And its failure is also a success, as it shows us where to look next.” Dorion Sagan, son of Carl, considers the vital relationship between science and philosophy

    Cosmic Apprentice: Dispatches from the Edges of Science

    Dorion Sagan

    “A good scientific theory shines its light, revealing the world’s fearful symmetry. And its failure is also a success, as it shows us where to look next.”

    Dorion Sagan, son of Carl, considers the vital relationship between science and philosophy
  7. Life Doesn’t Frighten Me Maya Angelou Maya Angelou’s courageous children’s verses, illustrated by Basquiat – a priceless primer on poetry and contemporary art for little ones, and a timeless reminder of the power of courage in all of us.

    Life Doesn’t Frighten Me

    Maya Angelou

    Maya Angelou’s courageous children’s verses, illustrated by Basquiat – a priceless primer on poetry and contemporary art for little ones, and a timeless reminder of the power of courage in all of us.
  8. Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History-Making Race Around the World Matthew Goodman “No female reporter before her had ever seemed quite so audacious, so willing to risk personal safety in pursuit of a story.” The remarkable tale of pioneering Victorian journalist Nellie Bly, who set out to race around the world in 80 days, featuring wonderful illustrations of her packing list by Wendy MacNaughton:

    Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History-Making Race Around the World

    Matthew Goodman

    “No female reporter before her had ever seemed quite so audacious, so willing to risk personal safety in pursuit of a story.”

    The remarkable tale of pioneering Victorian journalist Nellie Bly, who set out to race around the world in 80 days, featuring wonderful illustrations of her packing list by Wendy MacNaughton:
  9. Women Writers at Work: The Paris Review Interviews Margaret Atwood “No male writer is likely to be asked to sit on a panel addressing itself to the special problems of a male writer.” Margaret Atwood on gender in writing

    Women Writers at Work: The Paris Review Interviews

    Margaret Atwood

    “No male writer is likely to be asked to sit on a panel addressing itself to the special problems of a male writer.”

    Margaret Atwood on gender in writing
  10. A Natural History Of Love Diane Ackerman “What a small word we use for an idea so immense and powerful it has altered the flow of history, calmed monsters, kindled works of art, cheered the forlorn, turned tough guys to mush, consoled the enslaved, driven strong women mad, glorified the humble, fueled national scandals, bankrupted robber barons, and made mincemeat of kings. How can love’s spaciousness be conveyed in the narrow confines of one syllable? If we search for the source of the word, we find a history vague and confusing, stretching back to the Sanskrit lubhyati (“he desires”). I’m sure the etymology rambles back much farther than that, to a one-syllable word heavy as a heartbeat. Love is an ancient delirium, a desire older than civilization, with taproots stretching deep into dark and mysterious days.” A natural history of love:

    A Natural History Of Love

    Diane Ackerman

    “What a small word we use for an idea so immense and powerful it has altered the flow of history, calmed monsters, kindled works of art, cheered the forlorn, turned tough guys to mush, consoled the enslaved, driven strong women mad, glorified the humble, fueled national scandals, bankrupted robber barons, and made mincemeat of kings. How can love’s spaciousness be conveyed in the narrow confines of one syllable? If we search for the source of the word, we find a history vague and confusing, stretching back to the Sanskrit lubhyati (“he desires”). I’m sure the etymology rambles back much farther than that, to a one-syllable word heavy as a heartbeat. Love is an ancient delirium, a desire older than civilization, with taproots stretching deep into dark and mysterious days.”

    A natural history of love:
  11. What is Remembered Alice B. Toklas “It was Gertrude Stein who held my complete attention, as she did for all the many years I knew her. I knew her until her death, and all these empty ones since then. She was a golden brown presence, burned by the Tuscan sun and with a golden glint in her warm brown hair. She was dressed in a warm brown corduroy suit. She wore a large round coral brooch and when she talked, very little, or laughed, a good deal, I thought her voice came from this brooch. It was unlike anyone else’s voice — deep, full, velvety, like a great contralto’s, like two voices.” How Alice B. Toklas met Gertrude Stein and one of literary history’s greatest loves began:

    What is Remembered

    Alice B. Toklas

    “It was Gertrude Stein who held my complete attention, as she did for all the many years I knew her. I knew her until her death, and all these empty ones since then. She was a golden brown presence, burned by the Tuscan sun and with a golden glint in her warm brown hair. She was dressed in a warm brown corduroy suit. She wore a large round coral brooch and when she talked, very little, or laughed, a good deal, I thought her voice came from this brooch. It was unlike anyone else’s voice — deep, full, velvety, like a great contralto’s, like two voices.”

    How Alice B. Toklas met Gertrude Stein and one of literary history’s greatest loves began:
  12. How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer Debbie Millman “If I get up every day with the optimism that I have the capacity for growth, then that’s success for me.” Legendary graphic designer Paula Scher on why creativity works like a slot machine:

    How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer

    Debbie Millman

    “If I get up every day with the optimism that I have the capacity for growth, then that’s success for me.”

    Legendary graphic designer Paula Scher on why creativity works like a slot machine:
  13. How to Find Fulfilling Work (The School of Life) Roman Krznaric Fantastic read on the art-science of “allowing the various petals of our identity to fully unfold.”

    How to Find Fulfilling Work (The School of Life)

    Roman Krznaric

    Fantastic read on the art-science of “allowing the various petals of our identity to fully unfold.”
  14. Daily Rituals: How Artists Work Mason Currey Hemingway wrote standing, Nabokov on index cards, Twain while puffing cigars, and Sitwell in an open coffin – a fascinating inside peek at the creative routines of famous writers:

    Daily Rituals: How Artists Work

    Mason Currey

    Hemingway wrote standing, Nabokov on index cards, Twain while puffing cigars, and Sitwell in an open coffin – a fascinating inside peek at the creative routines of famous writers:
  15. The Secret History of Vladimir Nabokov Andrea Pitzer Nabokov and Homeland Security – how Russia’s most revered literary émigré became an American

    The Secret History of Vladimir Nabokov

    Andrea Pitzer

    Nabokov and Homeland Security – how Russia’s most revered literary émigré became an American
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