To develop and advance our trees we need proper knowledge on the subject.As a bookworm and a bonsai enthusiast i love to read books about bonsai. some books are truly golden and some are not. the books i really found important are,
Has anyone read āModern Bonsai Practice: 501 Principles of Good Bonsai Horticultureā by Larry Morton? Itās published in 2016 so the information should be up to date with todayās knowledge. Iām especially curious if the horticulture is correct and in line with what Ryan teaches on Mirai Live.
Horticulture is founded in science. The practice of horticulture is founded in art. I have never known artists to be in line with each other.
My recommendations (in order of when I got them and loved them):
āThe Bonsai Workshopā - Herb L. Gustafson
āBonsai Techniques Iā - John Naka
āBasic Bonsai Designā - David DeGroot
āBald Cypress: The Tree Unique, The Wood Eternalā - Clair A. Brown and Glen N. Montz
āBloody Bonsaiā - Peter Abresch
āFicus The Exotic Bonsaiā - Jerry Meislik
āThe Living Art of Bonsaiā - Amy Liang
āMan Lung Artistic Pot Plantsā - Wu Yee-Sun (1974 edition)
āBonsai: Its Art, Science, History and Philosophyā - Deborah R. Koreshoff
āBonsai Techniques for Satsukiā - John Naka
āIntroductory Bonsai (and the care and use of bonsai tools)ā - Masakuni Kawasumi
āPrinciples of Bonsai Designā - David DeGroot
I have a shelf full, howeverā¦
Principles of Bonsai Design, Dave Detgroot !
Bonsai Workshop, Gustafson
Knarly Branches, Ancient Trees, Robinson
And of courseā¦Bonsai Design 1&2, John Yoshio Naka!
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I have a 1963 printing of the 1957 Japanese Art of Miniature Trees and Landscapes, Yoshima and Halford . I see great photos of trees I recognise; and techniques.
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BILLS list is spot onā¦ maybe add Hagadornā¦
I have way too many books but for somebody fairly new to the hobby I always suggest āBonsaiā by Peter Warren. A DK book.
Next time I see Dave, Iāll call him Dr Detroit.
Love Auto spellcheck!
I learned a lot of basics from The Secret Techniques of Bonsai, by Masakuni Kawasumi. It has a lot of good basic information for beginners, like watering, and design, but actually explains some basic tool maintenance and other topics that usually go unmentioned.
I recommend The Art of Bonsai Design, by Colin Lewis, for case studies and info on elms, junipers, pines, and larches.
If you havenāt perused Harry Harringtonās Bonsai4me web site then I suggest you do that. Heās published lots of his articles that appear there in his Bonsai Inspirations 1 and Bonsai Inspirations 2 books.
Lots of good suggestions above, but I have always liked Peter Adamās books. His discussion of bonsai design and case studies are very good in my opinion.
Iām curious if anyone here has purchased or read Dan Robinsonās book āGnarly Branches, Ancient Trees: The Life and Work of Dan Robinson - Bonsai Pioneerā. Looks like a great book, and I love Danās trees and contributions to the art. Anyone?
Iām also wondering if anyone has ever come across a book by Robert Steven called āVision of My Soulā. A guy I followed on YouTube, who has since mysteriously disappeared, highly recommended it and showed a brief clip of the book. Seems to be impossible to find unless you want to spend $400 on Amazonā¦
I recently bought the Dan Robinson book but havenāt read it yet. A flick through looks good though.
here is my list:
For the ones who like other form of Japanese floral art - and french speaking (havenāt checked if there is a EN version)
By the way, I am in search of a good book on Kusamonos: if anyone has a good reference, please share!
ah! last but not least: Pinterest is a good tool to get a lot of ideas on design(s)
Hi @MartyWeiser, which one or top2 would you recommend among Peter Adamās list? Thanks!
bought! thank you @el_cheezer.
Unfortunately there arenāt many good books on kusamono in the west.
āBonsai, Kusamono & Suisekiā by Willi Benz - has been recently translated to French, check LR Presse 
āFour seasons of bonsaiā by Kyuzo Murata
āFour seasons of modern bonsaiā by Kaori Yamada (who also has a book or two on kokedama)
Kyosuke Gun has a book on kusamono in his āillustrated bonsai practiceā series (volume 6) and 4 books on the culture of wild grasses/flowers to use as kusamono or shitakusa. Unfortunately Guy Maillot didnāt buy the rights to that series. Maybe he could be convinced if enough people askedā¦ but he still needs to finish the āMini Bonsaiā series first
KinBon has a seasonal off-shoot called āSanyasou to mini-bonsaiā (wild grasses and mini bonsai) that is all about kusamono and shitakusa. Iāll take a few issues at the congrĆØs so you can have a look.
thank you @Michael_P! all references noted down in my wish list! very much appreciated! Cheers,
Youāre welcome 
For the sake of completenessā¦
Kyouke Gun:
Illustrated Bonsai Practice Volume 6 - grasses
Illustrated introduction to wild grasses culture
Illustrated tips to grow 100 wild grasses
Potted wild grasses
Making a wild grasses garden
I totally forgot Esprit Bonsai - Hors-SĆ©rie No 4.
I would also recommend all the Kaori Yamada books on āsaikaā. Itās a cross between ikebana and bonsaiā¦ ikebana with living plants, which looks a lot like kusamono.