If you’ve seen my apartment, you know that I read lots of books. 95% of them are nonfiction. Because I have no soul, I suppose. The point is I feel qualified to share the following list with you:

1) EVERYTHING BAD IS GOOD FOR YOU by STEVEN JOHNSON

I know “Steven Johnson” sounds like a made-up name, but it isn’t. The guy is a very real, very clever (and, unfairly, very young George Clooney-looking) neurologist who makes a COMPELLING case that videogames, movies, and TV shows make you smarter. Or is he just telling me what I want to hear, validating my childhood…

2) SURVIVAL OF THE PRETTIEST by NANCY ETCOFF

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder? No it’s not. Says who? Says science. All documented by Etcoff.

3) JOKES by TED COHEN

This book which comes in at 86 pages explains why jokes are funny. Philosophers have been trying to do this for centuries, and Cohen succeeds where many others have failed. Plus, there’s a lot of funny jokes in here.

4) ABDUCTED by SUSAN A. CLANCY

Abducted sets out to answer the question, Why do some people think they’ve been abducted by aliens. And it answers it. No question about it. Explains every possible reason. And it’s got a kick-ass cover.

5) FLOPHOUSE: LIFE ON THE BOWERY by DAVIS ISAY and STACY ABRAMSON

This photo journal features the stories of several dozen of the hundreds of men who now live in the twenty-dollar per night rooms in the New York Bowery flophouses. Their stories are heartbreaking, simple, and real. Too real, sometimes, whatever that means.

6) WAS THIS MAN A GENIUS? by JULIE HECHT

Everybody seems to have lots of questions about Andy Kaufman, and Hecht seems to be the only one with any answers.

7) A TRIAL BY JURY by D. GRAHAM BURNETT

Right after this guy graduated from Princeton he’s called for jury duty in a murder trial and elected foreman. The guy takes really good notes during the trial, and here they are.

8) WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? by THOMAS NAGEL

Best introduction to philosophy book ever. 101 pages. Easy reading. Bad cover, though.

9) THREE USES OF THE KNIFE by DAVID MAMET

This book is a bit too smart for me. So I keep reading it year after year, and every year I pick something new up. It’s about life, drama, and why artists create art.

10) ON POLITICS AND THE ART OF ACTING by ARTHUR MILLER

Few random quotes from this 85-page book: “No differtly than with actors, the single most important characteristic a politician needs to display is relaxed sincerity,” “What we want from leading men is quite the same thing that we demand of our leaders, the reassurance that we are in the hands of one who has mastered events and his own uncertainties,” “The most perfect model of both star and political leader is hat smiling and implicitly dangerous man who likes you.”

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