Andypbrowne

Bookshelf

2024

14 total books
  1. Apparently the 48th A Book Apart Book with forward by Cassidy Williams

    Surviving Change at Work

    Find clarity as you drive toward the next step in your tech career.

    Vanessa Gennarelli

    Notes

    Great because it also has some practical exercises to complete. I frequently recommmend this title.

  2. A medal with ribbon that also looks like a speach bubble

    The Storytelling Hero

    Speaking for Powerful Communication

    Steward Bewley

    Notes

    Another title with practical exercises. Its also a very quick and quality read.

  3. An illustrated word Breath that makes it look like the letters are evaporating

    Breath

    The New Science of a Lost Art

    James Nestor

    Notes

    One of those Malcom Gladwell style books. Probably the best parts is how the reader can't help but practice breathing exercises while reading. It's like it has its own built-in

  4. Illustration of a nose

    Science of Breath

    A Practical Guide

    Swami Rama

  5. Simple cover graphic with 2 circles

    The Creative Act

    A Way of Being

    Rick Rubin

  6. A bridge and a glowing light

    Annabel Scheme

    And the Adventure of the New Golden Gate

    Robin Sloan

  7. Apparently the 33rd title from A Book Apart with a forward by Yasmine Mustafa

    Design for Cognitive Bias

    Understand the logic powering human bias and learn to start designing more consciously

    David Dylan Thomas

    Notes

    I highlighted this one so much. Will be worthy of it’s own culture moment or blog post.

  8. Apparently the 47th title from A Book Apart with a forward by Clarissa Redwine

    You Deserve a Tech Union

    By standing together, we can build a better version of the tech industry

    Ethan Marcotte

    Notes

    I enjoy this title because it really reinforces the themes of ethics and fairness that needs to be a part of all our work.

  9. A woman riding a bike while holding onto a van

    Other Means

    Various

  10. A simple cover with some quotes in some colorful circles, one has the sub title and the other has the phrase the co-creators of Axios and Politico

    Smart Brevity

    The Power of Saying More with Less

    Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, Roy Schwartz

    Notes

    I have mixed feelings. It’s important to communicate this way, but I very much miss good prose. So I plan to take what I need and leave the rest

  11. Some very distressed looking text that looks overlayed on some documentation about websites

    Multipage Version

    Issue #1: We Fucked Up Headings

    Various

  12. A scene of earth and sky with a gigantic rip in the clouds that exposes a moon. The letters on the book also glow in the dark!

    Moonbound

    A Novel

    Robin Sloan

    Notes

    The best part of Sloan’s books is all the extras you get with them. A pre-order means you get printed matter and the author website contains all kinds of hidden gems. All of the deep story makes you want to be part of the world.

  13. Just some very brutalist looking text witht he tile of the magazine repeated several times

    The Prompt Issue 2

    A Magazine by Figma

    Multiple

    Notes

    The physical copy is very difficult to read because of very small text and transparent pages. Totally read the online version of these articles.

  14. A simple design that also indicates the second edition

    San Francisco

    Wildsam Field Guides

    Multiple

    Notes

    This series is better than other guides. There are particular histories like cultural movements, timelines, and illustrated maps. Also fun, the cover is in International Orange, the same as the Golden Gate Bridge.

2023

16 total books
  1. Apparently the 7th book in the A Book Apart Series

    Design is a Job

    How to Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul

    Mike Monteiro

    Notes

    This now has to be purchased in Zine form and that is a really fun format. I have both editions.

  2. Illustration of a person studying and learning with books and a laptop

    The Upskilling Imperative

    How to Build a Future-Ready Workforce

    Shelly Osborne

  3. Apparently number 42 of the A Book Apart Series

    Inclusive Design Communities

    Build the Design Industry You Want to See

    Sameera Kapila

  4. A grid of squares with some hand drawn ones randomly included

    Radically Human

    How New Technology Is Transofrming Business and Shaping our Future

    Paul Daugherty, H. James Wilson

    Notes

    I was not able to get much past the first chapter of this book. I do hear that Chapter 8 is worth reading. So I will likely go back and read that.

  5. Illustration of illustrated people engaging in various games and rituals

    Rituals for Work

    50 Ways to Create Engagment, Shared Purpose and a Culture that Can Adapt to Change

    Kursat Ozenc, Margaret Hagan

  6. Illustration of a forested sea with a full moon in the background

    Sea of Tranquility

    Emily St. John Mandel

  7. Illustration of a forested sea with a full moon in the background

    Castle of the Cursed

    The House is Always Haunted

    Romina Garber

  8. The title of the book written in a very swash-like watercolor

    Creative Confidence

    Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All

    Tom Kelley, David Kelley

  9. 3 tropical fish

    Org Design for Design Orgs

    Building and Managing In-House Teams

    Peter Merholz, Kristin Skinner

  10. Big block and shadowed letters

    AI and UX

    Why Artificial Intelligence Needs User Experience

    Gavin Lew, Robert M. Schumacher Jr.

  11. A tea pot with the handle on the wrong side that would make the thing dangerous to pour

    The Design of Everyday Things

    Gavin Lew, Robert M. Schumacher Jr.

  12. Illustration of digital devices with accessibility symbols

    Inclusive Design for a Digital World

    Designing with Accessibility in Mind

    Regine M. Gilbert

  13. Over 40 Million Copied Sold

    The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

    Stephen R. Covey

  14. A very illusrated word that looks like it is dancing

    Design for Belonging

    How to Build Inclusion and Collaboration in Your Communities

    Susie Wise

  15. Illustrated groups of people doing everyday activites together

    The Power of Ritual

    Turning Everyday Activities into Soulful Practices

    Casper ter Kuile

  16. Illustrated groups of people doing everyday activites together

    Rituals for Virtual Meetings

    Creative Ways to Engage People and Strengthen Relationships

    Kursat Ozenc, Glenn Fajardo

2022

8 total books
  1. Illustration of a pink bird wearing a smart hat

    Cultivating a Creative Culture

    Human-Centered Interaction, Design, & Inspirationl

    Justin Dauer

    Notes

    This one talks about the new day one experience and how we can apply a human-centered design process to ourselves.

  2. A book cover that looks like a warm glowing fire

    Cultivating a Creative Culture

    How to Build a Community With Your People

    Bailey Richardson, Kevin Huynh, and Kai Elmer Sotto

    Notes

    Packed with case studies about special communities and how they got their start.

  3. 1 green parot

    Articulating Design Decisions

    Communicate with Stakeholders, Keep Your Sanity, and Deliver the Best User Experience

    Tom Greever

  4. An abstract cover that looks like a water color painting of flowers

    The Art of Gathering

    How We Meet and Why It Matters

    Priya Parker

    Notes

    This book shows you how to intentionally design gatherings that will make your friends and loved ones feel special and taken care of.

  5. Bright bold text on top of a crashing wave

    Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

    A Novel

    Gabrielle Zevin

  6. A man smoking and drinking coffee

    Standart Issue 26

    Rivers, waves, and coffee

    Various

  7. A siloette of a man

    The Fable of the User-centered Designer

    The Small Book That Has Big Results

    David Travis

  8. A siloette of a man

    The Explorers Journal

    Close Encounters

    Various

    Notes

    Please don't tell my hipster barber shop that I like to steal these issues, they have multiple copies.

2019 to 2021

12 total books
  1. A misty scene of a hiker standing on top of a mountain peek wearing a headlamp that is shining downward and illuminating the dark scene

    Think Like a UX Researcher

    How to Observe Users, Influence Design, and Shape Business Strategy

    David Travis, Philip Hodgson

  2. A small golden keyhole

    What We See When We Read

    Peter Mendelsund

    Notes

    This is in the style of an experimental paperback. The illustrations are very clever and its nice to have around.

  3. The Inevitable City

    The Resurgence of New Orleans and the Future of Urban America

    Scott Cowen with Betsy Seifter

    Notes

    I went to school in New Orleans. The topic of designing a city and supporting its history is always a good read for me. In particular the generosity of New Orleans itself is shared in this read.

  4. A simple color wheel showing red green bule and white

    A *New* Program for Graphic Design

    A toolkit for visual literacy in the 21st century

    David Reinfurt

  5. A greek or roman statue heading a soccer ball

    What We Think About When We Think About Soccer

    Simon Critchley

    Notes

    A super nerdy take on the sport and its history

  6. A ladder built out of number 2 pencils

    The Gift of Failure

    How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed

    Jessica Lahey

  7. Three dimentional and pixelated block letters surrounded by human characters

    The LSP Method

    How to Engage People and Spark Insights Using the LEGO® Serious Play® Method

    Michael Fearne

  8. A ladder built out of number 2 pencils

    The Phoenix Project

    A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win

    Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Spafford

  9. Just the title of the book in block letters

    Inspired

    How to Create Tech Products Customers Love (Silicon Valley Product Group)

    Marty Cagan

  10. An illustration of a balance scale

    Fair Play

    A Game-Changing Solution for When You Have Too Much to Do (and More Life to Live)

    Eve Rodsky

  11. An illustration of a girl surrounded by carnivorous plants

    Wolves of No World

    Undocumented. Unprotected. Unbreakable

    Romina Garber

  12. A stylized typeface with

    Brooklyn Magazine

    Various

    Notes

    Late in the pandemic I was buying masks at a dry cleaning place. There was this whole stack of Brooklyn Magazines that she was just willing to give me. Its very cool that the relaunch issue had about 4 different covers and I got all of them.

2016 to 2018

10 total books
  1. A classic graphic of the evolution of man except the last step is a man pushing a stroller

    Working Dad's Survival Guide

    How to Succeed at Work and at Home

    Scott Behson, PhD

    Notes

    This is a title that I received as a gift from a new parent networking group at work. I found this book and that group equally useful when navigating a big life change.

  2. A classic graphic of the evolution of man except the last step is a man pushing a stroller

    Offscreen Magazine

    The Human Side of Technology

    Scott Behson, PhD

    Notes

    I first found several issues of Offscreen left out on the sidewalk. What a find because it is an elegant mixture of print design and stories about building digital products – which are not available in digital form.

  3. Just big block text that displays the book title

    How to Make Sense of Any Mess

    Information Architecture for Everybody

    Abbyy Covert

  4. Sprint in big friendly letters

    Sprint

    How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days

    Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, Braden Kowitz

  5. A cover that looks like a number 2 pencil

    How to Sharpen Pencils

    A Practical & Theoretical Treatise on the Artisanal Craft of Pencil Sharpening for Writers, Artists, Contractors, Flange Turners, Anglesmiths, & Civil Servants

    David Rees

    Notes

    I bought this as a gift and I had to get the kindle version for myself

  6. A very 1970s looking illustration of a home

    Vacationland

    True Stories from Painful Beaches

    John Hodgman

  7. Three dimentional and pixelated block letters surrounded by human characters

    Blood, Sweat, and Pixels

    The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made

    Jason Schreier

  8. Three dimentional and pixelated block letters surrounded by human characters

    Group Glue

    The connective power of how simple questions lead to great conversations

    Jeffrey T Cook

  9. A loaf of floating bread that kinda looks like a spaceship

    Sourdough

    A Novel

    Robin Sloan

  10. An illustration of a realistic human heart with buildings growing out of it

    Nonstop Metropolis

    A New York City Atlas

    Rebecca Solnit, Joshua Jelly-Schapiro

Older Notable Reads

20 total books
  1. Illustration of a futuristic cityscape with digital elements

    Snow Crash

    A Novel

    Neal Stephenson

  2. An illustration of a chamaeleon or maybe an iguana

    Adaptive Web Design

    Crafting Rich Experiences with Progressive Enhancement

    Aaron Gustafson

  3. An illustration of a chamaeleon or maybe an iguana

    Modern Romance

    Aziz Ansari with Eric Klinenberg

  4. A futuristic city, but its made out of trailors stacked on top of each other

    Ready Player One

    Ernest Cline

  5. A cut-up collage that looks futuristic

    The Electric Information Age Book

    McLuhan/Agel/Fiore and the Experimental Paperback

    Jeffrey Schnapp, Adam Michaels

    Notes

    Sometimes I want to put books on here because the cover looks cool. Interestingly I also have the record soundtrack that this one comes with. It's weird too.

  6. A photograph of a woman recliing and looking up

    The Great Discontent

    Issue 1

    Various Authors

  7. A headless man in a coat and tie

    We Are Anonymous

    Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec, Anonymous, and the Global Cyber Insurgency

    Parmy Olson

    Notes

    This was on the top of my reading list when I started in the cybersecurity department. It really helped me undestand a lot of the lingo. So something that sounded silly, like script kiddie or DDoS, actually made scense. its also a really good narative – why isn't it a movie yet?

  8. A film reel looking set of portraits of famous people

    100 New Yorkers

    A guide to the Illustrious Lives & Locations

    Julia Holmes

    Notes

    When I first moved to NYC I read a lot of local history. There is so many great titles in the genre. You should have seen the evening that our local pub trivia had a round on NYC History. My teammates lost their mind with what I knew. They did not know how many books a podcasts I had consumed.

  9. Illustration of a traveler's journey through historical and cultural landmarks

    The Sinner's Grand Tour

    A Journey Through The Historical Underbelly of Europe

    Ian Thomson

    Notes

    I used to go to this travel writer meetup called Restless Legs. A friend of mine, Josh, and I would watch the website and meet up in the basement of a bar. These writers would read from their novel. The best ones wouldn't read but just tell us one of the stories of travel. I really miss that series and I'm going to google it now to see if it is ever coming back. This is another great example of how meeting the author

  10. A cover that looks like a secret document folder, the stamp Declassified is on the front

    The Official C.I.A. Manual of Trickery and Deception

    H. Keith Melton, Robert Wallace

  11. Illustration of a runner standing on a trail with a scenic background

    Born to Run

    A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Ha Never Seen

    Christopher McDougall

    Notes

    I once did a meetup with the author and ran barefoot around prospect park. It wasn't that bad!

  12. An arial shot of a highway artery

    How They Got There

    Interviews with Digital Designers About Their Career Journeys

    Khoi Vinh

  13. Illustration of a cityscape with artistic and experimental elements including arrows and military figures

    The Situationist City

    Simon Sadler

    Notes

    I was gifted this book, or more like long-term borrowed, when I was doing an art show called Caught Mapping. A lot of the elements of that show like navigation and mapping of urban landscapes.

  14. An illustration of a nebula in space with the constallations of cancer and Aries

    Zodiac Series

    Beware the 13th Sign

    Romina Garber

  15. A simple illustration of circles that looks like an atom with one nucleus and one electron

    Atomic Design

    Brad Frost

    Notes

    I picked up my signed copy of this book at an event with the author. When I had him sign it I asked for him to mention that my copy would be for corporate libary use only and he got a really big kick out of that.

  16. Apparently the 12th A Book Apart title with a forward by Austin Kleon

    You’re My Favorite Client

    Mike Monteiro

  17. Apparently the 16th A Book Apart title with a forward by Frank Chimero

    Going Responsive

    Karen McGrane

  18. Apparently the 22nd A Book Apart title with a forward by Kim Goodwin

    Practical Design Discovery

    Dan Brown

  19. A collage

    In the Blink of An Eye

    A Perspective on Film Editing

    Walter Murch

  20. Stacks of books arranged both horizontally and vertically

    Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

    A Novel

    Robin Sloan