Deborah Berke

The original version of this indispensable guidebook, by Norval White and Elliot Willensky, was the first architecture-related book I received as a gift. That copy was much used and is now really beat-up. Fran Leadon did a great job with Norval White in creating this carefully updated version, still full of opinions as well as useful information. A must-own book for all New Yorkers.

I have enjoyed her stories and her essays, but connect best to Grace Paley’s poetry. Read anything by her.

Amy Hempel writes with such exquisite precision that one savors every carefully selected word and each elegantly constructed sentence.

This wonderful book examines all types of infrastructure. As a child my favorite part of trips headed out of New York was the industrial and infrastructural detritus along the New Jersey Turnpike. Perhaps because of this, this book really appeals to me. It’s a field manual for all that—old and new. The author is a scientist or maybe a scientific writer—I don’t know for sure—but he gets this stuff and he photographs it with real care and affection. Great images and descriptions.

This is a riff on, a tribute to, the word “blue.” It is really beautifully written. Reading it makes you focus on what you know, what you see, and how you think about it.

I always enjoy reading Hertzberg’s column in The New Yorker and find this collection of essays to contain some of his best.

This book is fun to read and covers a broad range of design-related subjects in some very brief essays—perfect for those with short attention spans or limited time to read. There are pieces in the collection that make you laugh. Can’t say that about very many design books.