My shelf.
As I mentioned, examining my bookshelf revealed to me some very strong trends in my growth as a magician.
Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
Art and Magic by S.H. Sharpe
Transformations by Larry Hass
Beyond Deception by Tobias Beckwith
The Five Points in Magic by Juan Tamariz
Strong Magic by Darwin Ortiz
Tangled Web by Eric Mead
Absolute Magic by Derren Brown
The Artful Mentalism of Bob Cassidy
13 Steps to Mentalism by Corinda
Mnemonica by Juan Tamariz
Astonishing New Twists by Twete McCabe
The Memory Book by Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas
Sneaky Uses for Everyday Things
The Golden Rule of Schmoozing
The Turk by Tom Standage
Reviewing this list showed me several trends.
Theory
The first is a focus on theory. The books by Beckwith, Hass, Tamariz, and Brown are all focused on taking magic from mere tricks into the world of Magic. This focus has fascinated me for a while, and was a tenet of my thesis at the MIT Media Lab.
Mentalism
13 Steps, The Artful Mentalism and to Mnemoica to some degree are all about mentalism for me. As I moved into the realm of hi-tech magic, the easiest material to convert has been telepathy and other similar effects. As I strive to create new effects, I’ve dug deeper into the history surrounding this branch of our art, trying to find ways to tweak the past into the future.
Mentality
Most of the other books are all about mentality. When I do consulting for companies, I try to get them into the mindset of the magician. This has made me try to stop and think about what the magician’s mentality is, and how to achieve it. The Sneaky Uses trilogy exemplifies the exact mindset I am talking about: How to take normal things, and make them amazing.
It is the mindset I use when trolling through the mentalism books again, however there, I am starting with something unusual (magic tricks), and trying to make it even more unusual (my magic tricks).
Not
Notably absent are any books on card tricks, coin manipulation, Tarbells, etc. I have all of those books too, they are just in storage elsewhere. Those other books have all been extremely important to me. I am not denegrating them at all. I just find it interesting to focus on which books are affecting me at the current moment.
In the future I’ll be describing each of these books in detail, and how they help make me a better magician.