I very rarely finish books, but here is a list of books I have started recently, and have at least vague aspirations of finishing:

The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology, by Jack Kornfield. Jack Kornfield is an amazing American Buddhist teacher. I found him first through the work of Joe Frank, who is one of my absolute favorite artists of any kind, and who is not exactly a Buddhist. Do yourself a favor and look up Joe Frank. And Jack Kornfield, if you are into Buddhism.

The Department of Mad Scientists: How DARPA Is Remaking Our World, from the Internet to Artificial Limbs by Micahel Belfiore. I haven't gotten too far into this one, but DARPA is pretty fascinating.

The Mind and Art of Henry Miller, by William A. Gordon. This is a pretty dated book on Miller, written during his lifetime, but seems pretty good. It notes interesting connections between Miller and Nietzsche, and Miller and Anarchism. I got it at the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur when we were there last week. That is a very cool little place, definitely worth visiting if you are in the neighborhood.

Catching The Big Fish, by David Lynch. According to the text on the cover-flap of this book, David Lynch (the film guy) promises to discuss the way that he develops his creative and artistic ideas, at least partially through transcendental meditation. It sounds really promising, but so far the book does not seem to be about that so much as about Lynch's ideas about film in general. But I haven't finished it yet, so I'll just shut up about it now.

It's Not How Good You Are, Its How Good You Want to Be: The World's Best Selling Book by Paul Arden. This is a little gem of a book, from what I can tell. It's basically a collection of advice about how to succeed in just about any artistic pursuit. Got it at the SF MOMA.

SolidWorks 2009 Tutorial by David C. Planchard and Marie P. Planchard. I am going to attempt to teach myself Solidworks. The driest book on the list, I suppose.

The last book I can actually remember finishing was Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West, by Hampton Sides. Wow, that was a good book. Even though it is somewhere around 500 pages long, I could not put it down. It's about the area where we live, but my brother, who lives in NYC, read it on my recommendation and he couldn't put it down either. Extremely readable.