There are a ton of impossibly great design books out there, and it's near impossible to boil them down to a small set. But if you've only got the money or the shelf space for a sacred handful, make them these. Great for gifts too!

Enter a caption (optional)

How to Make Sense of Any Mess
by Abby Covert

Thinking in Systems
by Donella Meadows 

Make Space
by Scott Doorley and Scott Witthoft 

Interviewing Users
by Steve Portigal

Designing Design
by Kenya Hara

Shop Class as Soul Craft
Matthew Crawford 

Dark Matter and Trojan Horses
by Dan Hill 

Design: The Invention of Desire
by Jessica Helfand

The Age of Earthquakes
by Douglas Coupland and Hans Ulrich Obrist

Now go fill your shelves: Core77 Book Reviews.