If you're a creative professional looking for something to read, whether at the beach or on a comfy couch, here's a list, compiled by Julia Reich of JuliaReichDesign.com, of books recommended by speakers at this year's HOW Design Live.
Almost all of the design community luminaries I saw speak at the HOW conferences in Boston a few weeks ago (June 21-24) had books to recommend, in a broad swath of genres. Here's my compiled list of the books, their authors, and the speakers who recommended them:
- Strengths Finder by Tom Rath (recommended by Luke Mysse)
- The Most Human Human, by Brian Christian (recommended by Ilise Benun)
- David Baker’s next book (from his publishing venture, Rockbench Publishing) will be about intern management (recommended by David Baker)
- The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation by Matthew Dixon (recommended by Mark O’Brien, author of A WebSite That Works)
- 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami (recommended by Chip Kidd)
- The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier (recommended by Alina Wheeler)
- Incomplete Manifesto for Growth by Bruce Mau (an essay - well, more like a bulleted list, really - not a book; recommended by Alina Wheeler)
- In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed by Carl Honore (recommended by Kelly Goto)
- Debbie Millman quoted Daniel Pink - and while she did not recommend any specific book, it reminded me that I haven't read any of his stuff since A Whole New Mind. Maybe it's time to check out Drive, "a paradigm-shattering look at what truly motivates us and how we can use that knowledge to work smarter and live better."
- The Strategic Designer by David Holsten, and Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers - two books I purchased at the bookstore (it was so hard to limit my choice to just these!) that I look forward to diving into.
Were you at HOW? There were so many presentations to choose from, I'm sure many speakers I did not have a chance to hear also had books to recommend. What's on your list?
And, if you've read any of these books and have an opinion to share, pro or con, I'd love to hear them.
