Here is a list of books that I personally think are the essential reading on each of these subjects.
That's not to say you shouldn't read in more detail than these recommendations, but I can personally vouch for each of these as being both well-written and full of great inspiration and information.
Plus, if you buy using the links provided, you're also helping to support this website.
Many thanks.
If you only own one instructional book on the technique of animation - this is the one to get.
If you want to be an animator and you don't own this book: buy it immediately. If you own the book and haven't worked through the examples: do it immediately.
Every time I've looked back at mistakes I've made in my own animation I can pretty much point to the chapter where Richard Williams explains why I made my error and what I could have done differently.
Even though Eric Goldberg's book has an emphasis on hand-drawn animation, the principles are the same for 3D.
This book is a great companion to the Richard Williams classic, with very little overlap and a similar practical how-to style.
For the longest time, this was considered the only book on animation technique.
It still stands as a classic, if for no other reason that it defined what we now call the 12 principles of animation.
If you're going to take advice - you might as well hear it directly from two of the nine old men.
This book was instrumental in my own journey to becoming a professional animator. While it doesn't cover animation technique, it covers a lot of the other "soft skills" it takes to get your foot in the door at your dream animation studio.
It is not an exaggeration to say this book changed my life.
When selecting an instructional book, at the top of the list of my selection criteria is: has the author actually done what he is written about.
Here is David B Levy speaking with authority on pitching animation concepts from a man who has done it many times and been met with successes and failures. And he writes candidly about both.
If you're at the point in your animation career where you want to bring your own characters to the screen - this is definitely the best place to start.
What belongs in a pitch bible? How much artwork should I show? Do I need full episode lists and scripts? Every conceivable question is answered, including what doesn't work.
The next time you're angry at your animation supervisor, take a minute to put yourself in their shoes.
Directing Animation gives a first-hand, warts-and-all account of what it takes to be at the helm of an animation production.
Similar to David B Levy's other books - he does not sugarcoat his own experiences. Expect to hear disaster stories as well as triumphs.
If you have any desire to direct animation some day - grab this book and once you stop quaking and sweating you will be significantly more prepared for the challenges that await.
Despite the title, this book will not tell you what you should do with your life.
It does not contain a foolproof seven step plan to reach your life's purpose.
What it does contain is over one hundred interviews with people who genuinely asked themselves that question.
If you are considering a career change - this book is essential: if for no other reason that it can show you that every person's path is different.
Do you quit your job? Or do you follow your passion as a side-hobby?
Buy the book. Read it. And then figure out your own path.
Hugh MacLeod is an artist. He's not an academic or a theoretician. He's not an overnight success.
This short book is a manifesto of someone who understands that life (and art) is hard work.
The overwhelmingly sense I got from this book was that someone else really understood how I felt about being creative for a living and what you can do to make the process as anxiety-free as possible.
The two most difficult things in the world to do are:
And what no-one tells you is: number 1 is often more difficult than number 2.
Brilliant book that spoke directly to me about directing my ambition into productive areas and how to select a path to begin with.
I was lucky enough to have Dan Heisman as a chess coach while I was living in Philadelphia.
After reading your first book that teaches you how to play chess (and there are many to choose from) - this should be the second book on your list.
It is one of the few books I've seen that addresses important information on tournament play, such as: how to use a chess clock and how best to use your time, thought process, tournament ettiquette, taking notes and how to improve quickly.
Heisman has a natural knack for instruction and he is still the voice I hear in my head when I play chess.
Tactics are the bread and butter of chess, and there is no better book on basic tactics than Bain.
The only thing I would suggest, is to do what I did:
Then: drill these exercises until you can complete the entire book without mistakes in an hour or so.
These basic positions are the multiplication tables of chess and must be learnt by rote. Worry about strategy later once you have these basics sorted out.
Part two of the tactical approach to chess improvement involves working through a more advanced tactics book.
One of the best ways to learn tactics like these is to work through the book in a concentric circles method.
Complete the first cycle of the book in 32 days, then 16 days, then eight, four, two and finally: complete the entire book of chess puzzles in a single day.
In the first few cycles, you are trying to figure out the details, but by the end, you are using instinct and memory to find brilliant solutions. This process mimics the way true Grandmasters view a board - first looking for warning signs and instinctive moves before analyzing a position more deeply.
One of my favorite party tricks was to have someone turn to a random page of this 750+ page monster, read out the algebraic chess notation and see how long it would take me to guess the opening by name.
Knowing your French Defence from your Dragon Sicilian isn't super critical in your early chess career, but once you start playing tournaments, looking up the first six to ten moves in this invaluable reference book will tell you where you diverted from moves that a Grandmaster would make.
Anyone can play like a Grandmaster for ten moves. And so can you, after you work through this book.
This is the best book written on the endgame of chess because it tells you when to stop reading.
Until you reach a certain level of tactics, worrying about the difference between knights or bishops in the endgame is almost irrelevent because most of your tournament games will be decided by a blunder at move 16, rather than some strategic subtlety in the endgame.
Use your chess rating to determine how much of this book to read.
Perfect.
I wish more self-help books could be so instructive and honest.
This book changed my life.
It planted the seed that I could run a marathon.
It was a powerful idea that would not have taken root if not for the lucid explanation of our human ancestory and how trainable our bodies are to endurance exercise.
Survival Of The Fittest can be a hard book to find, but if you see a copy: buy it and read it and pass it on.
Without a doubt, this is the book I've recommended to more people than any other. It enabled me to run two marathons and reinforced my idea that anyone can run a marathon.
Whitsett and his colleagues set themselves a challenge: Could they set up a college subject with no pre-requisites where the only assessment was whether or not students completed a 42km marathon.
To their surprise, the course had a 100% success rate. (Only one person dropped out due to ingoring instructions to drink water during the race.)
This book is the result of their remarkable experiment: to train non-runners to complete a marathon in four months.
Each chapter represents a week of training, and is broken up into three sections:
Once you've read this book and completed a marathon, your entire mindset changes on what you think is possible and impossible.
For a science geek like me, I loved going deep into the physics and biology of running.
This book is truly the bible of running. Every significant study on running technique, training, nutrition and racing is contained in this huge volume.
I'll admit I read it from cover to cover while training for a marathon, but you could easily use it just as a reference.
Knowledge workers need to pay attention to this gem by the prolific and brilliant Seth Godin.
In a marketplace where everyone has competence, only the truly extraordinary can charge a premium for their service.
I personally love how he stresses bringing emotion and craftsmanship back into the workplace.
This might be the first "self-help" book I ever read. And it's still one of the best.
Acting in ways that are consistent with what you truly hold to be important is the most critical thing you can do. And this classic helps you define what is key and encourages you to act accordingly.
Blow up your organization by buying ten copies of Rework and leave them lying around.
Meetings are toxic. ASAP is poison. Pick a fight. Planning is guessing.
Rethinking the organization and reworking the workplace.
On the surface, this book is about developing web applications, but the lessons learned apply well beyond the field of software development.
Ideas like making a working prototype, shipping with limited features and iterating rapidly instead of having endless meetings have great parallels in almost every discipline you could think of.
Probably not how you'd design a space shuttle, or an artificial heart valve, but for everything else - less talk and more creating is almost always a better approach.
George Leonard has not only written a classic book why it's difficult to achieve mastery, he also lays out a convincing case as to why mastering a skill may well hold the meaning of existence.
To give some sense of how much I love this book, when I lost my copy (or more likely lent it to someone) I did not hesitate to buy a replacement.
Leonard approaches the topic of mastery from a martial arts point of view, but it equally applies to any skill.
I'm biased about this book because I once worked for Larry Bossidy when he was the President and CEO of Honeywell.
Bossidy states what ought to be obvious, but sadly needs to be pointed out: coming up with ideas is not an executive's job.
An executive's job is to execute.
Results matter. Everything else is just posturing.
Here's the secret: The product and the marketing are the same thing.
You can't save a crummy product or service with slick advertising.
Making a purple cow means making a product that is so different it sticks out and does it's own marketing. Just like one purple cow in a herd of black and white.
It also happens to be one of George Miller's guiding principles when making films.
I've read this book at least four times. How do I know? Because there are four different colored highlighter pens marking up this book, which tells you two things:
Don't be put off by the term executive in the title. In Drucker's definition he defines any member in an organization required to prioritize and make decisions. An executive in his mind is anyone whose work is defined by results.
So unless you're working on an assembly line or digging ditches - he means you.
For 18 months, I clung to this book like a drowning man clings to a life-preserver.
If your organization feels like a giant hairball (and "tangledness" is the natural eventual state of all organizations) then finding a way to make a significant contribution without being ensnared is critical.
This is another candidate to buy multiple copies and deposit strategically around the office.