Chapter 0. How do you find your research interests/ideas/questions?

This is a common question for most graduate students struggling with writing a thesis. Fortunately, during my Ph.D. program, I can immerse myself in a specific field, public finance and urban economics, which allows me to spend most of my time digging into one topic, WHY CITY DECLINE?
Just like the old proverb says, "By writing, we learn to write, and by reading, we enrich the mind." It would be nice if you are also interested in the following books/papers, and it would be great if we could open a conversation about those topics. 

Reading by Topics

[A] Books for Everyone

[B] Books for You

[C] Academic Literature

[D] Other Topics

[A] Books for Everyone

[B] Books for You

[C] Academic Literature

2. Spatial Competition Literature by Ralph Braid
*Symmetric tax competition with multiple jurisdictions in each metropolitan area (1996)
*A spatial model of tax competition with multiple tax instruments (2000)
*The spatial effects of wage or property tax differentials and local government choice between tax instruments (2002)
*A three-input model of the spatial effects of a central-city wage tax (2003)
* Tax competition, tax exporting and higher-government choice of tax instruments for local governments (2005)
*The employment effects of a central city's source-based wage tax or hybrid wage tax (RSUE, 2009)

[D] Other Topics

1.Make it Clear: Speak and Write to Persuade and Inform
   by Patrick Henry Winston (Link)
2. Dark Matter
  by Blake Crouch
3. Make Something Wonderful
  by Steve Jobs
4. Becoming
  by Michelle Obama