Dune by Frank Herbert
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
The Essential Rumi by Jalal al-Din Rumi
So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport
The Sound of the One Hand: 281 Zen Koans with Answers by Hau Hōō
Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse
The Ultimate Resource by Julian Lincoln Simon
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
My Experiments with Truth by M.K. Gandhi
Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas R. Hofstadter

Books Selected for the Manual for Civilization (source)

Other Manual for Civilization list - Stewart Brand​ & Neal Stephenson​
​
  1. “How-to” Build This Log Cabin for $3,000 by John McPherson
  2. 40 Principles: TRIZ Keys to Technical Innovation, Volume 1 by Genrich Altshuller, Lev Shulyak and Steven Rodman
  3. A History of Technology and Invention: Progress Through the Ages by Maurice Daumas
  4. A Reverence for Wood by Eric Sloane
  5. A Short History of Technology: From the Earliest Times to A.D. 1900 by T. K. Derry and Trevor I. Williams
  6. A Synoptic Classification of Living Organisms edited by R.S.K. Barnes
  7. American Flintknappers: Stone Age Art in the Age of Computers by John C. Whittaker
  8. Atlas of Human Anatomy by Frank H. Netter MD
  9. Atlas of the Year 1000 by John Man
  10. Backyard Sugarin’: A Complete How-To Guide by Rink Mann
  11. Basic Butchering of Livestock & Game by John J. Mettler
  12. Basketry: A World Guide to Traditional Techniques by Bryan Sentance
  13. Biosphere 2: The Human Experiment by John L. Allen
  14. Biospheres: Metamorphosis of Planet Earth by Dorion Sagan
  15. Building the Six-Hour Canoe by Richard Butz
  16. Century’s End: An Orientation Manual Toward the Year 2000 by Hillel Schwartz
  17. Civilizations of the World, Single Volume Edition: The Human Adventure (3rd Edition) by Richard L. Greaves, Robert Zaller, Philip V. Cannistraro and Rhoads Murphey
  18. Crystal Set Projects: 15 Radio Projects You Can Build by Philip Anderson
  19. Dowsing: A Journey Beyond Our Five Senses by Hamish Miller
  20. Five Kingdoms: An Illustrated Guide to the Phyla of Life on Earth (3rd Edition) by Lynn Margulis and Karlene V. Schwartz
  21. Future Perfect: Vintage Futuristic Graphics by Jim Heimann
  22. Future Shock by Alvin Toffler
  23. Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter
  24. Grand Design: The Earth From Above by Georg Gerster
  25. Hawke’s Special Forces Survival Handbook by Mykel Hawke
  26. How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built by Stewart Brand
  27. How to Make a Miniature Zoo by Vinson Brown
  28. How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren
  29. Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments: All Lab, No Lecture by Robert Bruce Thompson
  30. Infinite Worlds: The Fantastic Visions of Science Fiction Art by Vincent Di Fate
  31. Infrastructure: A Field Guide to the Industrial Landscape by Brian Hayes
  32. Language Acquisition Made Practical: Field Methods for Language Learners by E. Thomas Brewster and Elizabeth S. Brewster
  33. Letter Fountain by Joep Pohlen
  34. Libraries in the Ancient World by Lionel Casson
  35. Lightly on the Land: The SCA Trail Building And Maintenance Manual by Robert C. Birkby
  36. Limited Wants, Unlimited Means: A Reader On Hunter-Gatherer Economics and the Environment by John Gowdy
  37. Listening to Stone by Dan Snow
  38. Living on an Acre: A Practical Guide to the Self-Reliant Life by U.S. Department. of Agriculture
  39. Mammal Tracks & Sign: A Guide to North American Species by Mark Elbroch
  40. Manual of Formulas: Recipes, Methods & Secret Processes by Raymond B. Wailes
  41. Materials, Structures, and Standards: All the Details Architects Need to Know but can Never Find by Julia McMorrough
  42. Mathematics from the Birth of Numbers by Jan Gullberg
  43. Mirror Worlds by David Gelernter
  44. Mosque by David Macaulay
  45. Mushrooming without Fear: The Beginner’s Guide to Collecting Safe and Delicious Mushrooms by Alexander Schwab
  46. Mushrooms Demystified by David Arora
  47. Nature’s Garden: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants by Samuel Thayer
  48. On Growth and Form by D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson
  49. Origins of Futuristic Fiction by Paul K. Alkon
  50. People’s Almanac Presents: The Book of Predictions by David Wallechinsky, Amy Wallace and Irving Wallace
  51. Powers of Ten: About the Relative Size of Things in the Universe by Phylis Morrison and Phillip Morrison
  52. Primitive Technology: Volumes 1-2 edited by David Wescott
  53. Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe by Peter D. Ward and Donald Brownlee
  54. Re-search: Pranks! & Pranks 2 edited by V. Vale and Andrea Juno
  55. Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables by Mike Bubel
  56. Sailboats You Can Build by Peter Stevenson
  57. Sailmaker’s Apprentice by Emiliano Marino
  58. Secret Museum of Mankind by David Stiffler
  59. Seeds: The Definitive Guide to Growing, History, and Lore by Peter Loewer
  60. Sky Atlas 2000.0 Companion by Robert Strong and Roger Sinnott
  61. Stephen Biesty’s Incredible Cross-Sections by Richard Platt
  62. Stephen Biesty’s Incredible Explosions: Exploded Views of Astonishing Things by Richard Platt
  63. Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow
  64. Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee
  65. Systemantics: The Underground Text of Systems Lore by John Gall
  66. Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of California’s Natural Resources by M. Kat Anderson
  67. The Annotated Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott
  68. The Art and Craft of Natural Dyeing: Traditional Recipes for Modern Use by J.N. Liles
  69. The Art of Computer Programming, Volumes 1-4A by Donald E. Knuth
  70. The Art of Fermentation: An In-Depth Exploration of Essential Concepts and Processes from Around the World by Sandor Ellix Katz
  71. The Ashley Book of Knots by Clifford W. Ashley
  72. The Barefoot Architect by Johan van Lengen
  73. The Book of Bamboo: A Comprehensive Guide to This Remarkable Plant, Its Uses, and Its History by David Farrelly
  74. The Boy Electrician by Alfred Morgan
  75. The Cartoon History of the Modern World by Larry Gonick
  76. The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volumes 1-11
  77. The Compleat Meadmaker : Home Production of Honey Wine From Your First Batch to Award-winning Fruit and Herb Variations by Ken Schramm
  78. The Complete Illustrated Guide to Everything Sold in Hardware Stores and Garden Centers (Except the Plants) by Steve Ettlinger
  79. The Complete Modern Blacksmith by Alexander Weygers
  80. The Complete Works of William R. Corliss
  81. The Discoverers by Daniel J. Boorstin
  82. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction by John Clute and Peter Nicholls
  83. The Faber Book of Utopias edited by John Carey
  84. The Forager’s Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Wild Edible Plants by Samuel Thayer
  85. The Foraging Spectrum: Diversity in Hunter-Gatherer Lifeways by Robert L. Kelly
  86. The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments: How to set up a home laboratory: Over 200 simple experiments by Robert Brent
  87. The Heritage of World Civilizations: Brief Edition by Albert M. Craig, William A. Graham, Donald Kagan, Steven Ozment and Frank M. Turner
  88. The History of Science and Technology: A Browser’s Guide to the Great Discoveries, Inventions, and the People Who Made Them from the Dawn of Time to Today edited by Bryan Bunch and Alexander Hellemans
  89. The Humanure Handbook: A Guide to Composting Human Manure (2nd Edition) by Joseph Jenkins
  90. The Lore of Still Building by Kathleen Howard
  91. The Lost Art of Towel Origami by Alison Jenkins
  92. The Memory Book: The Classic Guide to Improving Your Memory at Work, at School and at Play by Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas
  93. The Merck Manual by Robert S. Porter
  94. The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps by Marshall Savage
  95. The New Create an Oasis with Greywater: Choosing, Building and Using Greywater Systems: Includes Branched Drains by Art Ludwig
  96. The New Horse-Powered Farm: Tools and Systems for the Small-Scale, Sustainable Market Grower by Stephen Leslie
  97. The New Lifetime Reading Plan: The Classical Guide to World Literature by Clifton Fadiman and John S. Major
  98. The New Way Things Work by David Macaulay
  99. The Past From Above by Georg Gerster
  100. The Penguin Companion to Food by Alan Davidson
  101. The Reef Set: Reef Fish, Reef Creature and Reef Coral (3 Volumes) by Paul Humann and Ned Deloach
  102. The Scientific American Book of Projects for the Amateur Scientist by Clair L Stong
  103. The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
  104. The Septic System Owner’s Manual by Lloyd Kahn
  105. The Stars by H.A. Rey
  106. The Story of Writing: Alphabets, Hieroglyphs & Pictograms by Andrew Robinson
  107. The Structure of Evolutionary Theory by Stephen Jay Gould
  108. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas S. Kuhn
  109. The Traditional Bowyer’s Bible by Jim Hamm
  110. The Traditional Crafts of Persia: Their Development, Technology and Influence on Eastern and Western Civilizations by Hans E. Wulff
  111. The Ultimate Resource 2 by Julian Lincoln Simon
  112. The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation by Jonathan Hennessey
  113. The Universal History of Numbers: From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer by Georges Ifrah
  114. The Universe Story: From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era: A Celebration of the Unfolding of the Cosmos by Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry
  115. The Way to Make Wine: How to Craft Superb Table Wines at Home by Sheridan Warrick
  116. The Wonderful Future that Never Was: Flying cars, mail delivery by parachute and other predictions from the past by Gregory Benford and the Editors of Popular Mechanics
  117. The Year 2000: A Framework for Speculation on the Next Thirty-Three Years by Herman Kahn and Anthony J. Wiener
  118. Third Views, Second Sights: A Rephotographic Survey of the American West by Mark Klett, Kyle Bajakian and William L. Fox
  119. Today Then: America’s Best Minds Look 100 Years into the Future on the Occasion of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition compiled by David Walter
  120. Uncommon Fruits and Vegetables: A Commonsense Guide by Elizabeth Schneider
  121. Understanding Wood: A Craftsman’s Guide to Wood Technology by R. Bruce Hoadley
  122. Water Storage: Tanks, Cisterns, Aquifers, and Ponds for Domestic Supply, Fire and Emergency Use by Art Ludwig
  123. We Came in Peace for All Mankind: The Untold Story of the Apollo 11 Silicon Disc by Tahir Rahman
  124. Wheels, Clocks, and Rockets: A History of Technology by Donald Cardwell
  125. Where There is No Dentist by Murray Dickson
  126. Where There Is No Doctor: A Village Health Care Handbook by David Werner and Jane Maxwell
  127. Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences by Edward Tenne
  128. Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up and Maintain a Worm Composting System by Mary Appelhof
  129. Writing Systems of the World: Alphabets, Syllabaries, Pictograms by Akira Nakanishi
  130. Yesterday’s Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future by Joseph J. Corn and Brian Horrigan
  131. Your Memory: How It Works and How to Improve It by Kenneth L. Higbee Ph.D
About:
  • ​​Kevin Kelly is the founding executive editor of Wired magazine, and a former editor/publisher of the Whole Earth Review. He has also been a writer, photographer, conservationist, and student of Asian and digital culture. Wikipedia
Sources: Image Source: 
  • Christopher Michel / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
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