I doubt this compares to Jimmy Durante or The Velvet Crooner, but occasionally I get asked what I would recommend to those with some philosophical background who wish to read more philosophy. Here are a few suggestions.
John Stuart Mill, "On Liberty." http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/jsmill-lib.html
George Orwell, 1984. http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/1984/
These are among the most relevant works in philosophy and literature for our political crisis. What are the bounds to government authority? Is truth subject to government dictate? Is there a sphere of activity that is off limits to government control? Is there a solution to the problem of tyranny? What are the rules a liberal democracy should follow? Is the future really a boot stomping on a human face forever? Do we have choices? I guarantee this will leave you feeling even more concerned about current events than you already are....
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, tr. W. D. Ross. http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.html
Epictetus, Discourses and Enchiridion, tr. W.A. Oldfather. http://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/discourses.html; http://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/epicench.html -- other translators.
Aristotle and Epictetus are fascinating exemplars of philosophy. By defining what's up to us and what's not up to us in radically different ways, these two powerhouses spin conceptions of philosophy and the good life that are in some respects identical, in others diametrically opposed. Can a philosopher also be a politician? Aristotle says yes, with some compromises, Epictetus says no. Does luck affect happiness? Again, Aristotle yes, Epictetus no. What role does philosophy play for happiness? You'll have to read them to find out -- and I guarantee that your personal relationship with philosophy will emerge transformed.....
Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy. http://www.ditext.com/russell/russell.html
This modern classic, composed while Russell was spending hours every day writing out the derivations for Principia Mathematica, distills into a few chapters some of the major epistemological, ontological, and linguistic problems that have occupied philosophers for centuries. You may not agree with Russell's suggestions, but if you want an eminent introduction to some of the problems (and proposed solutions) that have inspired philosophers recently, look no further. Some trivia: Bertrand Russell was John Stuart Mill's Godson ... and the reading list for San Francisco State University Philosophy Dept.'s graduate exam was lifted directly from this book's bibliography, FYI....
Bertrand Russell, Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy.
Friedrich Waismann, Introduction to Mathematical Thinking: The Formation of Concepts in Modern Mathematics.
Okay, if you want a state-of-the-art, philosophically-friendly introduction to metamathematics, read the latest edition of Boolos and Jeffrey's Computability and Logic. But if you want a thoughtful yet opinionated examination of the implications mathematics has for philosophy, by one of history's greatest mathematicians, logicians and philosophers, at the height of his powers -- this is the schtuff, as they say.
Russell explains his perspective on the revolution in philosophy, logic and mathematics ushered in by German mathematician/philosopher Gottlob Frege in the last half of the 19th century. And he does this very well, given that he wrote this book while imprisoned during World War I for being a pacifist! Who says philosophers aren't activists? Russell himself was the great synthesizer who not only pointed out problems with Frege (such as the so-called "Russell's paradox") but united Frege's approach with the work of other pioneering mathematicians such as Guiseppe Peano. This was a tremendous creative achievement, indicative not only of premiere philosophical acumen, but also the creativity of a first-rate artist. Like Frege, Russell advocates logicism, the view that all mathematics can be derived from axioms that are not themselves mathematical but rather logical, meaning all of mathematics can be reduced, as it were, to logic. Regardless of your reaction to logicism, which many consider doomed by the work of Kurt Godel, Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy is a worthy read, even though it was written before Godel's results. (Come to think of it, what was Russell's reaction to Godel? Somebody recommend a book on that!) When I recently surveyed some friends who do academic work in the sciences, this was a philosophy book everyone seemed to have read.
Less well known is Waismann's book, but I choose it for three reasons. First, Waismann nicely complements Russell and was writing after Godel's results, so that he provides an epilogue to Russell. Second, Waismann was at one time or other a colleague of Wittgenstein, Schlick, Godel, Carnap, and other members of the Vienna Circle, and claims to have been influenced by Wittgenstein's philosophy of mathematics. This in itself makes for good reading, IMHO. Third, he asks the very interesting (though potentially misleading) question, are mathematical.truths discovered or invented? And he opts for the latter, after considering a variety of topics from 'natural number' to 'ultrareal' and 'hypercomplex number'. This should interest any Wittgensteinian number theorists lurking about, though personally I'm suspicious of any alleged dichotomy between invention and discovery in mathematics....
Both books are published by Dover, so they're cheap! But they are not for the fainthearted: if functions, numbers, relations and sets make you poop your pants, steer clear!
(Okay, so my list is nowhere near as sexy as Borges or Debord, but at least we agree on Orwell....)
Of course there are so many more books to read ... this is just a sample I thought people here might find interesting....
Peas,
-paul

Can anyone offer any solace as to the closings of these outstanding and favorite bookstores? I hadn't heard yet about Acorn books. Distressing to see these gems disappear. I can't help but wonder how one will come across the accidental, possibly life changing great read while perusing those bookshelves? I still miss card catalogues in libraries, perhap I'm anachronistic.

I have been reading (but have not yet finished) Jonathan Haidt's book, The Happiness Hypothesis (Basic Books). It is really, really interesting--well-written, thougthful, and philosophically insightful. Jonathan is an Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Virginia. Many years ago (too many to admit), he took an introductory ethics course from me at Yale University. He was a wonderful student!

I'd also recommend a work by Soren Kierkegaard; Either/Or is a hefty read, but is extremely rewarding. Fear and Trembling, The Present Age, and Works of Love are also fine reads. Cheers!

I always love hearing and talking about books, but being a former independent bookseller, I was disapointed that the links to all the books listed go to Amazon.com. Your guest was from Powell's. Couldn't you have linked to their site or at least BookSense.com? It just seems a bit crass to have a guest from one of the truly fine independent bookstores that still survive and then link to one of the big mass marketers. Is this perhaps an ethical question or just one of good manners?

"I have taken one of his sentences as a personal motto: "The true is a moment of the false." Whether that's insight, obfuscation, or high horse blow hardness, I will leave you, gentle reader, to judge."
Isn't that just Hegel? Sounds like Hegel. Of course that doesn't answer our question....

Debord, Society of the Spectacle: "In a world that is upside down, the true is a moment of the false."
Hegel, Phenomenology of Spirit (?): "In a world that is upside down, the false is a moment of the true."
If I recall correctly, Hegel was talking about philosophy as the upside-down world, while Debord was talking about the spectacle, which permeates all activity, including philosophy itself.

One of my favorite philosophical books that also tells a pretty intriguing human drama (thus making it decent summer reading) is Wittgenstein's Poker, by David Edmonds and John Eidinow. It follows the lives of two of the 20th century's greatest thinkers, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Popper, from their origins in Vienna to their legendary confrontation at Cambridge University.

My spring read, which could be a summer read too, was A Distant Mirror, The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbara Tuchman. Great rolicking ride through (mostly) France during the great plague outbreaks, the schism in the Catholic Church, the downfall of chivalry... not strictly philosophical but plenty of historical info on religion and other spiritual matters. Right now I'm not quite halfway through The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James. Another fun read full of first person recountings of, you guessed it, various religious experiences! Ah, summer!