good reads / a to z

The Company We Keep, by John Abrams (Chelsea Green Publishing) A leader of one of the more significant timber frame companies offers a way to look at the value of growth, as well as the need for community. History, philosophy, and how to run a business that intends to last 30, 60, 100 years.

Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash, by Elizabeth Royte. A lot of the material DTC salvages used to get land-filled, so books with the word 'garbage' in the title catch our eye. Follow as the author sets out to find out where, exactly, her family's trash goes once it 'goes away' on the trucks that rumble down the streets of America's cities.

Growing a Business, by Paul Hawken. The Co-founder of Smith & Hawken offers a very cool  and well-written look at his views of life and business. Groovy Zen biz thing without the la-la. The man can write and has something to say. 

Let My People Go Surfing, by Yvon Chouinard. The founder of Patagonia writes about his off-beat, down and dirty entry into entrepreneurial ventures. Like Paul Hawken (and Max, too) more vagabond renegade on entry into the world of commerce, forging his own path (and chrome-moly climbing pitons).

A Pattern Language, by Christopher Alexander—the bible of good, humanistic design; for some, not an easy read. For others, mesmerizing and worth the work/play/imagining of it.

Salmela: Architect, by Thomas Fisher. Serious Scandinavian/contemporary design by Minnesota’s renowned residential architect and our most prolific regional architect-customer. We just love this guy and his brain and vision and use of our wood. (Plus, we can see his house from where we work.)

Song for the Blue Ocean, by Carl Safina. Find out what’s happening to the lungs of the planet. You’ll never eat Blue-fin tuna again.

Unbuilding, ed. by Bob Falk and Brad Guy. Ground-breaking. Shattering. Stunning AND Gripping. This year’s must-read book. The title says it all. The most exciting book to come out of the Forest Products Laboratory in the last 25 years. Shocking new best-seller from the Forest Products Laboratory. You won’t believe p. 149.

The Wild Trees, by Richard Preston. Award-winning science author takes you along on a search for the tallest trees in the world. A chance to look at the old-growth forest from the top down, while hanging from a nylon rope. The real people profiled here are definitely not the usual suspects for a science book. Necessarily a quick read, given how much (or little) old growth forest remains.

 

Plus…
High Country News (a bi-weekly newspaper “for people who care about the West”). A great touchstone for economic and environmental news about all states West of the Rockies. Smart writing and clean design. A pleasure. www.hcn.org