Fans pick 19 books like Trashed

By Derf Backderf,

Here are 19 books that Trashed fans have personally recommended if you like Trashed. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth

Kirsten Menger-Anderson Author Of Doctor Olaf Van Schuler's Brain

From my list on love, loss, and logic in 1930s Vienna.

Why am I passionate about this?

I first learned about life in 1930s Vienna from my grandfather’s memoir: Reminiscences of the Vienna Circle and the Mathematical Colloquium. I was fascinated by the time and place and began to read more about the era, which ultimately served as a setting for my forthcoming novel, The Expert of Subtle Revisions.

Kirsten's book list on love, loss, and logic in 1930s Vienna

Kirsten Menger-Anderson Why did Kirsten love this book?

In the mood for a graphic novel starring Bertrand Russell and a supporting cast of famous thinkers like Whitehead, Frege, Gödel, and Wittgenstein? Logicomix is for you!

Flip to Chapter Six, “Incompleteness,” for a peek of Vienna in the 1930s. The logic and philosophy illustrated throughout provide a great context for the work of Vienna’s famous philosophical circle led by Moritz Schlick, whose 1936 murder provides a chilling contrast to the intellectual pursuits of that time.

By Apostolos Doxiadis, Christos Papadimitriou,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Logicomix as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This brilliantly illustrated tale of reason, insanity, love and truth recounts the story of Bertrand Russell's life. Raised by his paternal grandparents, young Russell was never told the whereabouts of his parents. Driven by a desire for knowledge of his own history, he attempted to force the world to yield to his yearnings: for truth, clarity and resolve. As he grew older, and increasingly sophisticated as a philosopher and mathematician, Russell strove to create an objective language with which to describe the world - one free of the biases and slippages of the written word. At the same time, he…


Book cover of Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

Ali Almossawi Author Of An Illustrated Book of Loaded Language: Learn to Hear What's Left Unsaid

From my list on other subjects that will teach you how to think.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I was in middle school, I’d spend much of my time in class daydreaming. Imagining myself in, say, a debate with someone I disagree with and going through a litany of scenarios where I’d try to convince that other person to change their mind. It’s a lot of fun. (My teachers would likely disagree.) When I grew older, I did more of that on my daily walks, and then about 11 years ago, I decided to start writing about creative ways to teach someone something they’re vehemently opposed to or just ambivalent about. I’ve published four books since then on this topic.

Ali's book list on other subjects that will teach you how to think

Ali Almossawi Why did Ali love this book?

I bought this book when I first got into the field of data visualization. I wasn’t planning on learning how to create comics; I just wanted to see how someone from a different discipline—a comic artist—thought about position, color, meaning, and communicating a whole lot of things in a compact format.

By Scott McCloud,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked Understanding Comics as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The bestselling international classic on storytelling and visual communication "You must read this book." - Neil Gaiman Praised throughout the cartoon industry by such luminaries as Art Spiegelman, Matt Groening, and Will Eisner, Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics is a seminal examination of comics art: its rich history, surprising technical components, and major cultural significance. Explore the secret world between the panels, through the lines, and within the hidden symbols of a powerful but misunderstood art form.


Book cover of Max and Moritz

Uta, Chris, and Alex Frith Author Of Two Heads: A Graphic Exploration of How Our Brains Work with Other Brains

From my list on explaining things that matter via graphics.

Why are we passionate about this?

Science is a way to make sense of the world, whatever the subject, and so are Comics. We are British and reserved, but passionately love science and comics. There are some excellent comics that tell stories about people - Maus, Persepolis, Fun Home. But, there are fewer that try to explain ideas without a strong biographical bent. Here are five comics that are, we think, just a little bit more about ideas than people. They're also fabulous examples of how well comics can communicate sophisticated information, without hype. and in a way that reaches any thinking person, whatever their age or place in life. We are, respectively, two retired neuroscientists, a children's non-fiction author, and an artist. We've all grown up reading, and continue to read, comics from Germany, Britain, France, Belgium, Japan, and even the USA.

Uta's book list on explaining things that matter via graphics

Uta, Chris, and Alex Frith Why did Uta love this book?

We can’t resist adding a historical first, published in German in 1865 by Wilhelm Busch, the father of countless other comics that present the pranks of naughty boys. And it features in Two Heads because it inspired psychologists, including ourselves, to study the remarkable ability to mindread. In a single panel Busch reveals that the reader can infer that what is in the mind of the terrible duo is different from what’s in the mind of Widow Bolte, and different from what’s in the mind of her dog. It allows us readers to get the contradictions between these different views and makes us laugh. So although this book doesn't set out to explain anything, it ends up doing a marvelous job of explaining the psychology of intention, interaction and reputation management - in the tradition of great comic strips from Crazy Kat to Peanuts to Calvin & Hobbes.

By Wilhelm Busch, Stefan Hollos (translator), J. Richard Hollos (translator)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Max and Moritz as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Based on the classic German children's story Max und Moritz by Wilhelm Busch, this dual language German-English version includes the original German verse and color illustrations with a new English translation. Contains a biographical timeline of Wilhelm Busch's life. Includes Wilhelm Busch's "Diogenes and the Bad Boys of Corinth".


Book cover of What It Is

Jesse Schell Author Of The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses

From my list on for game designers.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always loved game design – I love doing it, reading about it, thinking about it, and helping others do it. As you can see in the list, I’ve learned that sometimes what helps game designers most is getting inspiration from other fields. I hope these books help you as much as they helped me.

Jesse's book list on for game designers

Jesse Schell Why did Jesse love this book?

All game designers struggle with what it means to be creative, and whether they are doing it properly. What It Is and its companion book, Picture This are very personal guides to what it means to be a creative person, and are full of inspirational stories and very practical tips to create your best work and not get in your own way. 

By Lynda Barry,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked What It Is as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Deliciously drawn (with fragments of collage worked into each page), insightful and bubbling with delight in the process of artistic creation. A+" -Salon

How do objects summon memories? What do real images feel like? For decades, these types of questions have permeated the pages of Lynda Barry's compositions, with words attracting pictures and conjuring places through a pen that first and foremost keeps on moving. What It Is demonstrates a tried-and-true creative method that is playful, powerful, and accessible to anyone with an inquisitive wish to write or to remember. Composed of completely new material, each page of Barry's first…


Book cover of Rubbish! The Archaeology of Garbage

Shannon Lee Dawdy Author Of American Afterlives: Reinventing Death in the Twenty-First Century

From my list on by archaeologists for people who don't dig.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was a quiet kid who had trouble understanding people. I preferred being on my own, exploring remnants of logging camps and abandoned mines in the woods that surrounded my small town. In archaeology, I found a way to improve my comprehension of humans and still go exploring the object world. For me, archaeology is not about the distant past, nor about a set of methods. Rather, it is a way of seeing the world. As I write, I try to help the reader train their own archaeological eye in order to re-calibrate their ideas about what is possible in the past, present, and future.

Shannon's book list on by archaeologists for people who don't dig

Shannon Lee Dawdy Why did Shannon love this book?

If we have gotten better at recycling waste in the last few decades, it is in part thanks to Bill Rathje's invention of garbology. His innovative application of archaeological excavation and analysis techniques on American landfills proved that an archaeology of contemporary life is not only possible, but can contribute to solving today's problems. Before Rathje, who knew of our disposable diaper problem, or the fact that 'compostable' waste lingers a long time in the urban dump, or that landfills ooze toxic sludge? While archaeologists of antiquity love to find a good midden full of old bones and potsherds, Rathje digs us and tells us, in an amusing and accessible fashion, shocking things about American consumer habits and the waste landscapes that our economy continues to create.

By William Rathje, Cullen Murphy,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Rubbish! The Archaeology of Garbage as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

It is from the discards of former civilizations that archaeologists have reconstructed most of what we know about the past, and it is through their examination of today’s garbage that William Rathje and Cullen Murphy inform us of our present. Rubbish! is their witty and erudite investigation into all aspects of the phenomenon of garbage. Rathje and Murphy show what the study of garbage tells us about a population’s demographics and buying habits. Along the way, they dispel the common myths about our “garbage crisis”—about fast-food packaging and disposable diapers, about biodegradable garbage and the acceleration of the average family’s…


Book cover of The Zero Waste Solution: Untrashing the Planet One Community at a Time

Sara Barkat Author Of Earth Song: A Nature Poems Experience

From my list on eco for the practical to the poetic heart.

Why am I passionate about this?

A children's DK book presented green clubs and made sustainability fun: of course, I started a club with my friends. In college, an Environmental Justice class professed methods for cooperation but focused only on devastation—so depressing that change seemed pointless; every story went: "1) horrible thing, 2) drawing attention, 3) corporations erode results." The class catalyzed my interest in changing the climate narrative. There are always triumphs to celebrate, stories of vision and excitement; that's what matters to me. It's what the DK book I loved as a child gave me, and what I hope to be able to give to others as an editor at PoeticEarthMonth.com. 

Sara's book list on eco for the practical to the poetic heart

Sara Barkat Why did Sara love this book?

Paul Connett talks about his experiences with towns and cities in helping them go zero-waste—that is, where the entire town reduces their landfill use. Includes fascinating systemic observations and heartening stories about how change can happen and how sustainability on the city level is possible.

Connett also discusses what kind of messaging works to get people on board, what flops, and all in all this is a great book for people who want to get into the nuts and bolts of making positive change.

By Paul Connett,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Zero Waste Solution as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Waste is something we all make every day but often pay little attention to. That's changing, and model programs around the globe show the many different ways a community can strive for, and achieve, zero-waste status.

Scientist-turned-activist Paul Connett, a leading international figure in decades-long battles to fight pollution, has championed efforts to curtail overconsumption and keep industrial toxins out of our air and drinking water and bodies. But he's best known around the world for leading efforts to help communities deal with their waste in sustainable ways-in other words, to eliminate and reuse waste rather than burn it or…


Book cover of What a Waste: Trash, Recycling, and Protecting Our Planet

Erin Dealey Author Of Dear Earth...from Your Friends in Room 5

From my list on making Earth Day every day.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a teacher, author, & parent, determined to help keep our earth healthy for future generations. A few Earth Days ago, my students asked why we only set aside one day a year to practice eco-healthy habits. Good question! As a teacher, I know how crucial it is for authors to get our facts right. Before writing Dear Earth… I read stacks of books and articles on our environment. I am indebted to science expert & author Melissa Stewart, and my friend Patricia Newman (Plastic Ahoy!; Planet Ocean / Lerner), as well. I sincerely hope Dear Earth… and the books on my list inspire Earth Heroes everywhere--every day.

Erin's book list on making Earth Day every day

Erin Dealey Why did Erin love this book?

What a Waste is the perfect nonfiction pairing for Dear Earth, packed with in-depth information, not only on everyday habits that hurt our environment, but super important (and simple) actions Earth Heroes, young and old, can take to change these habits. I can just see the kids in Room 5 using this book as a reference each month for their eco-friendly projects.

By Jess French,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked What a Waste as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 7, 8, and 9.

What is this book about?

In this informative book on recycling for children, you will find everything you need to know about our environment. The good, the bad, and the incredibly innovative. From pollution and litter to renewable energy and plastic recycling.

This educational book will teach young budding ecologists about how our actions affect planet Earth and the big impact we can make by the little things we do.

Did you know that every single plastic toothbrush ever made still exists? Or that there is a floating mass of rubbish larger than the USA drifting around the Pacific Ocean?

It is not all bad…


Book cover of The Tin Forest

Sara Barkat Author Of Earth Song: A Nature Poems Experience

From my list on eco for the practical to the poetic heart.

Why am I passionate about this?

A children's DK book presented green clubs and made sustainability fun: of course, I started a club with my friends. In college, an Environmental Justice class professed methods for cooperation but focused only on devastation—so depressing that change seemed pointless; every story went: "1) horrible thing, 2) drawing attention, 3) corporations erode results." The class catalyzed my interest in changing the climate narrative. There are always triumphs to celebrate, stories of vision and excitement; that's what matters to me. It's what the DK book I loved as a child gave me, and what I hope to be able to give to others as an editor at PoeticEarthMonth.com. 

Sara's book list on eco for the practical to the poetic heart

Sara Barkat Why did Sara love this book?

Finish your eco-book collection with this darkly whimsical fairy tale by Helen Ward, illustrated by Wayne Anderson.

The story is about a man whose house is on a trash heap, and how he changes his environment for the better by creating a forest out of what he has on hand. A perfect metaphor for the principles of change, illustrated with beautiful colored pencil that creates a shimmering otherworldly space—a story for both kids and adults to cherish.

By Helen Ward, Wayne Anderson (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Tin Forest as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 3, 4, 5, and 6.

What is this book about?

Winner of The National Art Library Award!

Helen Ward's tale of The Tin Forest follows an old man who tidies the rubbish in a junkyard and dreams of a better place. With faith, ingenuity and hard work, he transforms it into a wonderland in this poetic modern fable.


Book cover of Waste and Want: A Social History of Trash

John H. Sibley Author Of Being and Homelessness: notes from an underground artist

From my list on understanding homelessness and existentialism.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a Chicago-based artist, author, veteran, and teacher. I studied at the American Academy of Art in Chicago before enlisting in the United States Air Force in 1968 during the bloody Tet Offensive during the Vietnam era. Upon my discharge I got my BFA in 1994. I got convicted for a crime I did not commit, and I became a homeless-existential artist on Chicago’s mean streets for six months. I got hired by an Acoustic company, and I married and worked for twenty-seven years while raising a family. I now work as an art teacher. All my nonfiction books chronicle different episodes in my life. 

John's book list on understanding homelessness and existentialism

John H. Sibley Why did John love this book?

Years ago, I was a janitor. When I would take a shower, it was like I could never get the stench off my body. I like Susan Strasser’s book because it reminds me of the waste I use to clean up daily. She examines the most unprecedented commonplace act of throwing things out and how it has transformed American society.

Her classic book about trash world culture is fascinating to me because, in the last hundred years, the way of life has been replaced by mass consumption, disposable goods, and waste on an unimaginable scale. Her book could easily be used as a metaphor for the ‘homeless,’ whom some view as “disposable’ goods. Her book illustrates that what counts as trash depends on who counts it, and what we throw away defines us as much as we keep it.

Strasser argues that in Western society, popular understanding of cleanliness, gender,…

By Susan Strasser, Alice Austen (photographer),

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Waste and Want as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An unprecedented look at that most commonplace act of everyday life-throwing things out-and how it has transformed American society.

Susan Strasser's pathbreaking histories of housework and the rise of the mass market have become classics in the literature of consumer culture. Here she turns to an essential but neglected part of that culture-the trash it produces-and finds in it an unexpected wealth of meaning.

Before the twentieth century, streets and bodies stank, but trash was nearly nonexistent. With goods and money scarce, almost everything was reused. Strasser paints a vivid picture of an America where scavenger pigs roamed the streets,…


Book cover of Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash

Sarah Winkler Author Of Recycling For Dummies

From my list on challenging our understanding of waste.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a youngster I used to drive my parents crazy because I was so passionate about recycling. I rekindled this passion about five years ago and started Everyday Recycler. Through my website I help people improve their recycling habits by offering actionable instructions with a focus on explaining how recycling works and its intrinsic value. I also advocate strongly for recycled products. I believe that by purchasing recycled products, we can help generate demand for the materials we toss in our recycling bin and contribute to the overall success of recycling. These works have educated and inspired me over the years. I hope they inspire you as much.

Sarah's book list on challenging our understanding of waste

Sarah Winkler Why did Sarah love this book?

Garbology is the wake up call we all need! It’s shocking and eye-opening and because of this it's an excellent place to start reassessing our own understanding of waste.

Despite being published in 2013, it remains extremely relevant. Unfortunately, the stats reported in the book have not improved all that much over the last decade. Not only does the author highlight the issues of our waste but he introduces you to the reality of the political, economic, and logistical nightmare that is waste management.

It's really important that we understand these challenges in order to accept the imperfections of waste management and recycling. Doing so saves us from getting discouraged when things don’t always work and feeling like giving up recycling altogether. 

By Edward Humes,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Garbology as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist takes readers on a surprising tour of America’s biggest export, our most prodigious product, and our greatest legacy: our trash


The average American produces 102 tons of garbage across a lifetime and $50 billion in squandered riches are rolled to the curb each year. But our bins are just the starting point for a strange, impressive, mysterious, and costly journey that may also represent the greatest untapped opportunity of the century.

In Garbology, Edward Humes investigates trash—what’s in it; how much we pay for it; how we manage to create so much of it; and how…


Book cover of Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth
Book cover of Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
Book cover of Max and Moritz

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