Serious Series
Back to Basics series
$20 Fox Chapel Publishing
The Missing Shop Manual series
$10–$13 Skills Institute Press
I’ve had a passion for instructional books for more than a
decade. I’ve bought out the
how-to section of nearly every
secondhand bookstore in
North America, and my attic is
weighed down by bookshelves
of “How To Do Anything”
books.
Far from jaded, I still think
there’s room for improving this
genre. My new standard has
been set by two series: Back to
Basics and The Missing Shop
Manual series.
Back to Basics includes
titles like The Woodworker’s
Guide to Joinery, Fundamentals
of Sharpening, and Setting Up
Your Workshop.
The Missing Shop Manuals
are handy little booklets on
everything from your router
to your table saw. Their clear
— almost comic-book —
images are perfect. They run
the fine line just this side of
condescending and didactic,
to successfully make a range
of manuals that help even the
most proficient craftspeople
learn a little more about their
tools and what’s possible.
Snake
Charmer
Invent Your Own Computer
Games with Python, 2nd Edition
by Al Sweigart
$25
inventwithpython.com
Python continues to grow
in popularity among makers
because it’s open source,
cross-platform, and well
maintained.
What dissuades many from
learning it as a second (or
third, or fourth) computer
language is finding a text with
a good learning curve. Either
they oversimplify and don’t
adequately cover complex
concepts, or they take a
theoretical approach and fail
to maintain reader interest.
161 Make:
