I collect books. The many hundreds of volumes that line the shelves in my office and home are testaments to the knowledge I have gained from reading. They are my most prized possessions.

I never sell books; I only buy them. Why? Because to sell a book is to sell a piece of your mind. To read a book and then get rid of it is to give back whatever you gained from reading the book.

Listed below are what I call Essential Books, the ones that have been pivotal in developing who and what I am. I encourage you to make a list for yourself. In so doing, you will get to know yourself a little better. And if you don't read...it's never too late to start.

Web Design

Creating Killer Web Sites, by David Siegel (1996, Hayden Books). Siegel is one of the premier web developers. This books explains what it takes to design third-generation web sites. It has a booksite as well: www.killersites.com

Secrets of Successful Web Sites, by David Siegel (1997, Hayden Books). Siegel analyzes some of the top sites, and tells how they were built. He also gives great tips for web developers and how to manage the developer/client relationship. Companion booksite: www.secretsites.com

Creating Killer Interactive Web Sites, by Sather, Ibanez, DeChant, and Pascal (1997, Hayden Books). The authors work at Adjacency, the award-winning web design firm. This book examines the sites that have made them famous, and tells aspiring developers how to do it. Companion booksite: www.adj.com/killer

HTML Artistry, by Ibanez and Zee (1998, Hayden Books). The authors showed me many things that I simply never knew before, little tricks and ideas that were overlooked when I started learning HTML. Some of their ideas appear in this site!

HTML3.2 with JavaScript, by Neou and Recker (1997, Prentice Hall). This was my first book on web design, and I go back to it regularly. I highly recommend it for its straightforward instruction.

Food For Thought

Deadly Feasts, by Richard Rhodes (1997, Simon and Schuster). Rhodes examines BSE ("mad cow disease") and its roots, and explains about how emerging prions could spell disaster. It makes the Oprah episode pale by comparison.

Mad Cow USA, by Rampton and Stauber (1997, Common Courage Press). The authors take Rhodes a step further and indict an industry they call callous.

Beyond Beef: The Rise and Fall of the Cattle Culture, by Jeremy Rifkin (1992, Dutton). Controversial author Rifkin challenges consumers to go beyond the beef mindset. This one will rattle your cage!

Diet For A New America, by John Robbins (1987, Stillpoint). Robbins is a descendant of the co-founder of one of the USA's largest ice cream retailers, yet he has turned away from what he calls "The Great American Food Machine." He is president of the EarthSave Foundation. This book was instrumental in causing me to re-evaluate my diet in 1993; I haven't had a burger since (or any other meat).

May All Be Fed, by John Robbins (1992, Morrow). Robbins' sequel to the above tackles the issue of why so few have so much to eat, and so many have so little to eat. He then goes on to show the irony of how commercial and political forces cause the affluent to suffer from all manner of diet-related diseases. Robbins demonstrates how our diet can be a social as well as health statement, and proposes that we make careful dietary choices that can effect change.

Diet For A Small Planet, by Frances Moore Lappe (1971, Random House). Lappe was one of the first authors to tackle the issue of diet and social justice. It's still a great read 27 years later.

Adventure

Pedaling the Ends of the Earth, by David Duncan (1985, Simon and Schuster). Great tale by a man who literally rode his bicycle around the world. More than just a travelogue, it inspired me to know no boundaries, and showed me that it's OK to color outside the lines.

The Lore of Running, by Tim Noakes, M.D. (1991, Leisure Press). This is the definitive resource for any athlete, even if you've never run a mile in your life. Inside is everything you need to know about training, nutrition, competition, and recovery.

Race Across America, by Michael Shermer (1993, WRS). This is the race that I now direct, and have competed in with my wife (read about us here!). Shermer is a great friend, and is one of the co-founders of the race, which, as he says, "is a metaphor of life."

Miles From Nowhere, by Barbara Savage (1983, The Mountaineers). Savage and her husband also rode around the world on bikes. This classic, hard-to-find book will inspire even the biggest couch potato. Savage sadly met her untimely demise back in the States in a car/bike accident.

Blue Highways, by William Least Heat Moon (1982, Ballantine Books). This masterpiece details the road trip (in a van) that LHM took following only the "blue highways" on the map. In years past, maps showed the less-travelled roads in blue. LHM went out of the way to see the sights and meet the people who live along these roads. Classic!

The Last Place on Earth, by Roland Huntford (1983, Atheneum). Huntford compares and contrasts the race to the South Pole that took place in 1911-12. The Norwegian Roald Amundsen handily beat the British Robert Falcon Scott, who paid the ultimate price for his lack of preparation. This book was used as a text in Org. Behavior at Indiana University (MBA level) in the mid-1980s.

Crossing Antarctica, by Will Steger and Jon Bowermaster (1992, Alfred A. Knopf). Steger is a modern era explorer and adventurer, and has traversed both poles. His stories will no doubt become legendary.

Science

The Hot Zone, by Richard Preston (1994, Random House). Here's another one to scare the bejabbers out of you! It takes a close look at the ebola virus, and research being done in the USA. Ebola has wiped out entire communities in equatorial Africa; it has an incubation period of only 24 days, and has no known cure.

Why People Believe Weird Things, by Michael Shermer (1997, Freeman). Shermer, who is Director of the Skeptics Society, challenges people who never question what or why they believe things. No sacred cows are left untipped in this well-written book!

The Third Chimpanzee, by Jared Diamond (1992, Harper Perennial). Diamond explains how we share 98-percent of our genes with the chimpanzee, yet somehow the other two-percent difference has allowed us to found civilizations, religions, languages, art, and science. Diamond is an authority on the evolution of the human animal.

Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond (1997, Norton). The sequel to the above, Diamond proposes that many of our cultural and social inequities around the world are the result of a combination of geographic good fortune, and imperialism. But it is our own advanced development, says Diamond, that may ultimately be our demise. Even if you do not agree with his social premises, it is a great read.

Southwest

Desert Solitaire, by Edward Abbey (1968, Touchstone). This classic retelling of a season spent at what is now Arches National Park will make you want to drop everything and head to Moab to see what it's all about.

Four Corners, by Kenneth A. Brown (1995, Harper Collins). This is an excellent look at the history of the fabled Four Corners region, and the people who lived there. I am especially intrigued by the Anasazi ("the ancient ones," in the Navajo tongue). Go to Mesa Verde National Park to see what I mean.

In Search Of The Old Ones, by David Roberts (1996, Simon and Schuster). Here's a close-up on the Anasazi, the people who once thrived in the Four Corners area, and disappeared just as mysteriously as they arrived.

Route 66: The Mother Road, by Michael Wallis (1990, St. Martin's Press). What fun it was as a child to ride down The Mother Road with my parents! With a little perseverance, you can still find bits and pieces of the old road, and make your very own "Grapes of Wrath" adventure. This book is a trip down memory lane.

Light Reading

Dogs Never Lie About Love, by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson (1997, Crown). As the owner of 11 beautiful dogs, I can vouch for the title. While there's no science here, and mostly just observations and speculation about what goes on inside a dog's mind, it's a relaxing read about man's best friend.

The Firm, by John Grisham (1991, Doubleday). This is Grisham's best novel, bar none. Too bad they screwed up the movie! Every time I go to Memphis, I relive this book.

Don't Stand Too Close To A Naked Man, by Tim Allen (1994, Hyperion). Allen really has a funny outlook on life. His ability to find humor in everything, yet come to grips with his own shortcomings (he was once jailed on a narcotics charge), reveal a thinking man behind that comic mask.

Couplehood, by Paul Reiser (1994, Bantam). Reiser, actor, producer, songwriter, and star of "Mad About You," is one of the most talented people in Hollywood. His take on the married life is so funny I could hardly stop laughing.

Babyhood, by Paul Reiser (1997, Weisbach Morrow). Just as the Buchman's had a baby on TV, Reiser fathered one in real life. His second book takes an equally humorous look at being a Dad.

Leading With My Chin, by Jay Leno (1996, Harper Collins). Leno is America's premier late-night talk show host (sorry, Dave). His autobiography humorously tells how he made it to the big time.

Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs, by Dave Barry (1997, Andrews McMeel Publishing). Syndicated columnist Barry is arguably one of the funniest people in America. In this book he questions how all of those bad songs ever became so popular. Barry broaches the subjects of how "wo, wo, wo" winds up in so many songs, what the hell a "pompatus of love" is, and why birds suddenly appear every time you are near.

My Point...And I Do Have One, by Ellen DeGeneres (1995, Bantam). This book came out before Ellen came out, so there's nothing pushy about it. No kissy-kissy or huggy-huggy with other women; just lots of funny tales about the rise of this now-controversial comedienne.

Braindroppings, by George Carlin (1997, Hyperion). If you can overlook Carlin's penchant for naughty words, you'll laugh your socks off.

Current Affairs

The Road Ahead, by Bill Gates (1995, Viking). This is the man everyone loves to hate (along with his company, Microsoft). In spite of what we think, Gates is in the driver's seat, and Microsoft rules.

The Right to Privacy, by Ellen Alderman and Caroline Kennedy (1995, Knopf). This one will scare you a little and make you wonder just who's watching. Is privacy really one of our most basic rights, or is it an ideal that exists only in our minds?

Grave Secrets, by Cyril Wecht, M.D., J.D. (1996, Dutton). Wecht is one of the leading forensic pathologists in the country. In this book (his second), he examines the O.J. Simpson case, David Koresh, Vincent Foster, and others who took secrets to the grave.

The Heat Is On, by Ross Gelbspan (1997, Addison Wesley). The old Eagles' song is a great title for this look at global warming, and the highly irregular weather it has spawned.

To Be Continued...