I normally excuse myself from internet memes on the grounds that I’m a grumpy old sod, but last I did find myself enjoying the #7books one where you have to nominate 7 books you love. As I was nominated by Richard Clarke of Cedrec, a sustainability contact, I thought I’d concentrate mainly on ‘work’ books during the working week, and then get a little more personal over the weekend.

Here’s my list (with the explanations I wasn’t meant to give under the meme):

1. Material Concerns by Tim Jackson. I came across this at the start of my first Sustainability job as a research associate at Newcastle University and reading it was the moment when a huge miasma of greenish stuff coalesced into something meaningful and concrete. It’s hard to get hold of now, but I will always treasure my copy.
2. Thinking Fast & Slow by Daniel Kahneman – if we want to change people’s outlook and behaviour, understanding a little decision making psychology is essential and this book has more than you’ll ever need.
3. Confessions of a Radical Industrialist by Ray Anderson. Every sustainability professional should read this. Full stop.
4. Switch by Dan & Chip Heath: a nice, simple, but powerful change management structure which underpins my work to this day.
5. Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart – brilliant on eco-design and the circular economy, this book was given to me by my last boss, Prof Graham Street, as a goodbye present when I left to set up Terra Infirma, so it has particular resonance.
6. The War of the End of the World by Mario Vargas Llosa. My dear late mother bought me this when I had glandular fever as a teen, and it opened up a world of magic realism and sparked an interest in the wider world.
7. The Onion Eaters by JP Dunleavy: a bawdy romp that showed that literature could be a lot of fun. It also put me in touch with my Irish side having grown up as a (very small ‘u’) unionist in Northern Ireland which can be discombobulating to say the least.