What non-programming books should programmers read?

Question

This is a poll asking the Stackoverflow community what non-programming books they would recommend to fellow programmers.

Please read the following before posting:

• Please post only ONE BOOK PER ANSWER.

• Please search for your recommendation on this page before posting (there are over NINE PAGES so it is advisable to check them all). Many books have already been suggested and we want to avoid duplicates. If you find your recommendation is already present, vote it up or add some commentary.

• Please elaborate on why you think a given book is worth reading from a programmer's perspective.

This poll is now community editable, so you can edit this question or any of the answers.

Note: this article is similar and contains other useful suggestions.

Answer 1

The Inmates Are Running the Asylum

by Alan Cooper

It's about using the right language to talk about projects - using stories (and personas) instead of 'features' to talk about stuff that needs to be realized. Also a lot of emphasis on interaction design and related activities. Delivering what is needed instead of what is asked for.

Answer 2

I think this was covered pretty well in another question (Best non-development book for software developers).

Answer 3

The Mythical Man-Month

by Fred Brooks

Answer 4

How to Win Friends and Influence People

by Dale Carnegie

Although this was first published in 1936, the advice contained within is still as fresh and appropriate as ever. Don't be put off by the name. This isn't some underhand guide to having your way with unsuspecting victims, but rather common sense advice on how to get on with people, how to nurture relationships and make the most of yourself and your fellow man (and woman).

It is well known that technical folk (including programmers) are often thought of as not being terribly 'people oriented' (whether this is a justified stereotype or not is subject of another discussion) and so this book is an invaluable resource for teaching you the finer points of human interaction.

It's warm, heartfelt, sturdy, straightforward and timelessly written. Highly recommended.

Answer 5

Jeffrey K. Liker - The Toyota Way (Amazon link). A good if at times semi-boring read, but loads of information from the company which invented Lean.

Answer 6

My recommendation would be: read anything that is outside your usual scope.

Really - anything will broaden your horizon. This does not only apply to programmers and developers. I think everyone would do better having an interest in something that you don't already spend 8-12 hours a day.

Personally, I sometimes feel like a real world idiot because my personal library of books on all kind of topics related to computers is growing and growing and I can never relax - I mean, I spend roughly 10 hours a day with them and then I am reading a book on design patterns before I go to bed. How sick is that? ;)

My current refuge is my newspaper subscription, and various other magazines I pick up every so often when I go by a news stand. Most of them have nothing to do with technology and programming. I made a habit going out for a coffee in the morning, taking the newspaper along and reading something else, or meeting friends and just chatting away.

So, just to make it more clear - I know that a newspaper or any magazine is not as current and up to date as a website. But this allows me to not read it on a screen and do something outside the usual.

Answer 7

Getting Things Done

by David Allen.

Answer 8

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

by Edward Tufte

Discusses how to graphically represent different types of complex data

Answer 9

Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa gives some pretty good life lessons. The story is about a young Samurai in the 1600 that is at principle very angry and stubborn, but after commiting many crimes he gets imprisioned for 3 years, while locked away he regret his past and decide to go on a self improving journey to learn the way of the sword in order improve as a person. You can apply it to become a better professional yourself, through his journeys Musashi learned many thing, specially how people behave and how to lead by example.

Answer 10

Here's a strange one for you all to think about.

On The Road by Jack Kerouac.

It's a modern classic that everybody should read, and I'd be very surprised if English or Media Studies students weren't recommended to read it at some time. Reading should not only be informative and educational, but enjoyable as well. If you're not going to read a book for pure fun now and again then you'll only end up frustrated with the books you need to read as a programmer/developer.

This book is a real eye-opener; a book that'll really make you think about your own life, and for a programmer whom spends their day dealing with pure thought-stuff it's a great way to get you thinking on a different track.

Answer 11

Orbiting the Giant Hairball

Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace
by Gordon Mackenzie

A short well written book with some great illustrations - explains how most large organisations don't really understand how to deal with creative people, and how such places are usually run so that the creatives/engineers are powerless. Mackenzie recounts his (mostly positive) experiences at Hallmark.

Answer 12

Dealers of Lightning

by Michael Hiltzik

The story of Xerox PARC.

Answer 13

The Art of Deception

Kevin Mitnick explains social engineering attacks

Answer 14

The Explosive Child:

If you are a parent this is a must-read book. It will improve your life and how you relate to your family.

If you are not a parent, it will give you an insight into what we go through. Also, it gives great pointers of how to deal with chronically inflexible children or even adults.

Answer 15

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

by Douglas Adams

Life, the universe, and everything

"See first, think later, then test. But always see first. Otherwise you will only see what you were expecting. Most scientists forget that." -- Wonko the Sane

Answer 16

Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams

by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister

This classic book encourages us to think about the people instead of the process. It's full of practical advice on team building, productivity and office environments. It's a must read, not just for managers, but anyone related to software development.

Get two copies, one for you and one for your manager.

Answer 17

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Best book I ever read.

Answer 18

Pragmatic Thinking and Learning: Refactor Your Wetware

by Andy Hunt

It covers what's going on in your head while programming and learning, and states that this process is more important than what goes on in your IDE. Andy Hunt is also the writer of "The Pragmatic Programmer"

Answer 19

Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering

by Robert L. Glass

Answer 20

Brain Rules

by John Medina

This book explores, in a surprisingly concise and entertaining manner, how our brains work and how to make them work better. Medina is a master of practicing what he preaches and has produced a work that everyone can enjoy, particularly programmers and geeks. What makes this book particularly interesting is the holistic approach to delivery of the content. There is a fascinating website to compliment the book as well as an included film on DVD. There is also an audio book narrated by the author and a blog.

This is definitely a book I think all programmers - actually, everyone - should read. I reckon it could be the catalyst for some cool exercising while you work innovations.

Answer 21

Tolstoy's War and Peace. It's an immense (and immensely awesome) classic work of literature. Reading it and re-reading it, analyzing it time and again--all this will help you start thinking in terms of understanding instead of knowing, something we could all benefit from as developers.

EDIT

I recommend the Anne Dunigan (sp.?) translation especially.

Answer 22

Another one from a different angle from prior posts: Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid, by Douglas Hofstadter.

Answer 23

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

Totally unrelated to software development, but highly entertaining. Teaches a lot about human behaviour and interaction. Might help you out if your manager's a Nurse Ratched...

The movie was good too.

Answer 24

Snow Crash By Neal Stephenson

Answer 25

I used to read a lot of non-technical books ... what everyone would refer to as the classics, Who Moved My Cheese, Getting Things Done, One Minute Manager and so on.

One day I finally realized that all these books were trying to do was prevent me from making mistakes ... which is exactly the opposite of how me, and most people learn. Smart people make mistakes, and fail, quite frequently, but what makes them different is that they learn from their mistakes. How could I learn when the books I was reading were preventing my from some good life lessons?

So from that point on I stopped reading non-technical books ... save for the ones that related to technical management .. which there aren't many. Instead I started reading biographies on business owners, like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Steve Ballmer, Larry Ellison and so on. I learned more from these brillant, crazy, egocentric, often times failures that I learned from any of the business books I previously read!

That is where I would start ... read books from people who are successes and failures in the vertical industries you are interested in ... instead of some author who is speaking from second-hand experience.

With that aside, if I had to recommend some non-technical books, I would have to say these are a couple of my classics:

• Acres of Diamonds by Russell H. Conwell
• Obvious Adams: The Story of a Successful Businessman by Robert R. Updegraff
• The Art of War by Sun Tzu
• The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi
• Machiavelli's The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
• Bible, King James Version

Just my thoughts!

Answer 26

A little off the wall here but I would say "Pillars of the Earth" - Ken Follet.

Apart from being a gripping epic, the parallels you can draw between developing software and running a project, and the craftsmen and "managers" building a Cathedral (and the entire town) are very interesting.

(Also voted for "7 habits of highly effective people" - a classic.)

Answer 27

Joel Spolsky's list is quite good http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/FogCreekMBACurriculum.html. My favourites are Peopleware & Mythical Man Month

Answer 28

I easily think Cryptonomicon is a book everyone with a technical interest should read. It gives an intriguing look into the history of technology, cryptography and post-world-war tech development. As well as beeing filled with fantastic characters!

Answer 29

Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut

Answer 30

Nineteen Eighty Four

by George Orwell

Answer 31

The Dilbert Principle

Answer 32

I like the collection offered by PersonalMBA.com - I've made it about halfway through the list. They're books all about how business works, and I think that's an invaluable lesson for programmers to learn. Too often, people in IT can't see beyond the scope of the technology into how it can actually be used to grow the bottom line. Of note, the list includes most of the books already listed in the other answers to this question.

The books I've read from that list haven't made me a better programmer per se (aside from "Mythical Man Month" and a few others), but they have improved the quality of my work as far as the business is concerned. Now that I understand what really drives our company and can put my projects in the context of what other departments are trying to accomplish, I find that people are happier with my software since it helps them do their job, instead of just conforming to their spec.

Answer 33

Lessons Learned in Software Testing by Kaner, Bach, and Pettigrew. Brilliant book, easy to read.

Answer 34

The Design of Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman.

Answer 35

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

by Robert M. Pirsig

This book is many things, but you could say it's sort of a philosophical take on what it means to "grok" something.

---

Commentry from Garth Gilmore:

I credit this book with teaching me more about software development than any programming book I ever read.

The central thread in the book is how our romantic (artistic) and classical (technical/rational) perceptions of the world are both derived from how we perceive quality in the environment around us. This understanding is then applied to apparently mundane tasks like motorcycle maintenance.

To give some examples of how this applies to coding:

• The section on how to approach the motorcycle with a 'quality mindset' that leads to progress is just as applicable to reaching 'the zone' in programming.
• The section on 'gumption traps' that prevent progress and lead to you damaging the machine is priceless. The solutions that are presented work just as well when trying to modify legacy code without introducing bugs.
• The section on how a purely classical description of an engine part is useless (because it lacks any place for the user to stand) should be read by anyone involved in requirements analysis.

Long story short its a good read :-)

Answer 36

Cryptonomican, unquestionably. A little warped, but really hilarious.

Answer 37

After Dark

by Haruki Murakami

But the why is really more interesting than the what. I look at the suggestions above and they are very instrumental (if not blatantly horrific like the gentleman who recently suggested Atlas Shrugged, a tome of utterly abhorrent writing if there ever was one). The Mythical Man Month is indeed an interesting work but it's not that far removed from our daily business. And I am quite convinced that the imagination needs to be fed as well. Murakami is interesting in that he takes very recognizable situations and twists them around, turns them on their head and spits them back out. And sometimes that is just what we need. There's nothing wrong with winning friends and influencing people. But seriously. Is that the one book you should read when not pouring over some dry text about the benefit of some crap or the other. No. Remember what the door mouse said.

Answer 38

The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox

To elaborate: It is a book on how to approach problems. To identify bottlenecks in your system and work on them. So in short, it isn't a programming book, but shows (in novel format) how to problem solve -- and is thus very valuable to a programmer.

[Update Gishu] It's an eyeopener on how the throughput of your entire system depends on the bottlenecks. Optimizing other stages/operations will not produce any results. Although this is ingrained in developers who have had experience optimizing a scenario in their app; however zooming out to a more higher level and applying this can have profound gains. Beck's XP Book has a dedicated chapter on the Theory Of Constraints. Programmers who move onto Leads/PMs will find this a valuable addition to their toolkit.

Answer 39

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

by Stephen Covey

You are missing out on a lot of your potential if you have not read this book.

Originally taken from @John Channing's post

Edit: Now available as a free audiobook.

Comments by Julie:
This book has universal value - not just for software developers. Whereas Getting Things Done helps you manage day-to-day activites, 7 Habits helps you keep a high-level vision of life and a general methodology that you need to turn into specifics. It's the perfect complement to Getting Things Done in that regard.

Answer 40

Lewis Carroll "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"

Answer 41

Timothy Ferris - The 4 Hour Work Week

The book you need if you are working hard saving for a retirement that may never come.

Originally taken from @John Channing's post

Answer 42

Daniel Gilbert - Stumbling Upon Happiness

The long version of Dan Gilbert's Ted Talk

Originally taken from @John Channing's post

Answer 43

Nassim Taleb - The Black Swan and Fooled By Randomness.

Explains the role of randomness in our lives and how humans tend to see patterns that don't really exist.

Originally taken from @John Channing's post.

Answer 44

Michael Neil - You Can Have What You Want

Densely packed with insights into how to be successful and happy.

Originally taken from @John Channing's post

Answer 45

Dan Lyons - Options: The Secret Life Of Steve Jobs

Fake Steve Jobs in print.

Originally taken from @John Channing's post

Answer 46

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!

This book will inspire anyone to think and be original.

Answer 47

Dale Carnegie - How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.

If you have read How to Win Friends, this should be next.

Originally taken from @John Channing's post.

Answer 48

Sensation & Perception by E. Bruce Goldstein will really pull a lot of software engineers out of their comfort zones. I found it to be fascinating when I started thinking about effective scientific visualization techniques with the user's physiology and psychology in mind. Issues with the user's potential for color blindness, visual acuity, attention span and information processing abilities are just some of the reasons why I keep going back to this book.

Answer 49

The Tipping Point is one of the best books that I have ever read.

Answer 50

The Timeless Way of Building by Christopher Alexander. This architecture book inspired the software design patterns movement.

Every individual act of building is a process in which space gets differentiated. It is not a process of addition, in which pre-formed parts are combined to create a whole: but a process of unfolding, like the evolution of an embryo, in which the whole predcedes in parts, and actually gives birth to them, by splitting.

Start by rembering the fundamental truth about the parts of any system which is alive.

Each part is slightly different, according to its position in the whole. Each brance of a tree has a slightly different shape, according to its position in the tree. Each leaf on the branch is given its detailed form by its position on the branch.

The patterns in a language have a certain order, so you have to understand which features are dominant, and which are secondary, and so the sequence of the patterns will become clear. It is not a sequence of putting parts together, but a whole, which expands, crinkles, differentiates itself. When the order of the patterns in the language is correct, the differentiating process allows the design to unfold as smootly as an opening flower.

Answer 51

Crossing the Chasm

by Geoffrey A Moore

If you ever think you will be working for a high-tech company, you should at least skim this book. It describes the lifecycle of a high-tech product (or company) and just knowing the terminology (and implications) from this book help immensely in figuring out if management has a clue or is drinking kool-aid. It's a fun read, too.

Answer 52

I would say that "Beyond Code - Learn to Distinguish Yourself in 9 Simple Steps" is quite a good and motivational book. It describes ways of working with people, being professional, motivating yourself, giving a good impression, ... For me, this is a book you can read again and again if you are in need of some pep talk. Besides that, it is cheap and very easy and enjoyable to read in 3 to 4 hours.

There is a little review over at my blog: http://www.herrodius.com/blog/54

Answer 53

Philip K. Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

And everything else he wrote, of course:)

His mind-bending stories sure help to think more out of the box.

Answer 54

The Screwtape Letters

by C. S. Lewis

Imagine a demon "programming" a human...

Answer 55

Pragmatic thinking and learning written by Andy Hunt.

One step further: The Pragmatic Programmer. Buy the PDF version, it is not expensive.

Answer 56

This is now an unnecessary entry and Garth's review has been merged into the main entry on Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Just to provide some more depth on Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

[snip]

Answer 57

Matt Ruff: Fool on the Hill

I love it!

Answer 58

Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey

The Elements of Style by Strunk & White

Answer 59

Juggling for the Complete Klutz

Juggling is mandatory. All programmers must juggle. Sorry, it's a rule.

Answer 60

The Soul Of A New Machine

by Tracy Kidder

Answer 61

The Age of Spiritual Machines by Raymond Kurzweil. I'll just quote from the linked page:

This extraordinary book by Raymond Kurzweil illustrates the exponential evolution of various technologies in the 21st century, as well as the speeding up of time as order increases. Ray Kurzweil explores a future where the processing power and capacity of the human brain will be inexpensive to purchase, conscious machines demand civil rights, and our ideas of self and spirituality evolve as we merge with technology and extend our lifespans.

Answer 62

The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. In many ways, this book changed the way I do my thinking. Not sure whether it is good or bad to completely distrust anything and everything, but at least it keeps ones mind critical instead of automatically accepting something as truth without questioning.

The book also introduced me to the concepts of discordianism, which I find having quite a few interesting points.

Answer 63

I agree with many of the titles listed here, and I'd add...

"Dynamics of Software Development" by Jim McCarthy.

I don't think it counts as a programming book, but it teaches quite a bit about how to be a good developer.

Answer 64

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Answer 65

The Economic Naturalist: Why Economics Explains Almost Everything - by Robert H. Frank

A great insight into why economics affect a lot of our everyday lives, including why the black Apple Macbook is more expensive than the white one.

Answer 66

Actually, a recommendation from Bill Buxton who I chatted to at Remix08 UK.

Designing For People, Henry Dreyfus, 1st Edition (1955)

... I decided to pass on his new book, and took his advice and now have a 1st Edition copy from a US bookseller and it looks wonderful; beautifully typeset and laid out (apparently later editions aren't faithful to the original).

Answer 67

Flight of the Old Dog - Dale Brown.

High tech planes and shit getting blown up. =)

Answer 68

This is similar to another question. Here is a link to my answer over there.

Now, Discover Your Strengths is my favorite personal/career development book. It teaches the most successful people become successful by focusing on building on their strengths, rather than covering up weaknesses. This book helps you find out where your strengths lie.

Answer 69

What is the name of this book?, by Raymond Smullyan. It is a wonderful book of puzzles about the intricacies of logic.

Answer 70

If you live on the Unix side of the world, The Art of UNIX Programming by Eric Raymond (see also here). Despite its title, it is not a programming book, and it contains very few lines of code indeed. It's the best book I know about the Unix philosophy.

Answer 71

I would recommend: "Code" by Charles Petzold.

It completely opened my eyes on how computers actually work, explained and illustrated clearly. I learned that computers have no inherent understanding of numbers, letters, words or anything like that. These were human concepts and it was up to the computer programmer (at a very low level) to present they patterns of bits from computer memory to something users would find meaningful.

Despite its title, "Code" has nothing to do with coding, but explains how computers work at the electrical level.

Answer 72

Walter Murch's "In the Blink of an Eye"

Answer 73

Don't laugh... I'd recommend Dostoyevsky's books. The ones he wrote after the exile in Siberia. They'll make you change the way you see life -- really. You'll see things from a different perspective.

So... "Crime and Punishment", "The Brothers Karamazov", "House of the Dead", or maybe "The Idiot".

Answer 74

My personal opinion is, apart from programming, in life we need to find a balance, about everything (or keep striving for it). Many times, I have found myself getting too immersed in one aspect of life (frequently programming/work) at the cost of others. Over the years I have learnt to recognize this and act accordingly.

In work, sometimes I have come across pretty difficult people, making it hard to work with them (not just my opinion, but also of other team members). Previously I used to try hard to convince them, make them more helpful, etc. and get frustrated when I don't succeed.

But this book Tigana, by Guy Gavriel Kay helped me understand that sometimes a person can be inherently complex, hard to work with, without he/she helping it. It is a science fiction novel, and it may not be completely appropriate here, but it helped me work better with my team, so I am linking to it here. It helped me become more objective in dealing with people I work with.

-Omer

Answer 75

The Bible.

Answer 76

Language, Truth, and Logic by AJ Ayer.

Why? Because it will help you avoid saying things that don't mean anything in a literal sense, and get you thinking about the meaningfulness of claims.

Don't take it too strongly - the author has an extensive introduction qualifying his claims.

Answer 77

I think everyone should read 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close' by Jonathan Safran Foer. It's awesome and I really love the way how he plays with the lay-out. It really is both literature and visual art.
Apart from that, the kid who has the lead role is super awesome.

Answer 78

The Humane Interface by Jef Raskin.

You can see some of the effects of these ideas in Aza Raskin's (Jef's son) Enso project and the Ubiquity Firefox add-on.

Answer 79

The Thermodynamics of Pizza by Harold Morowitz.

This could have all kinds of morals, depending on how you take it. 1. You can use science to improve EVERYTHING! :-) 2. Make sure you choose the right level of abstraction when designing and coding. 3. You can really improve your life if you just take a few minutes to think about it.

etc.

Answer 80

Written in 1950, Dianetics: The Evolution of a Science describes the optimum computer as an introduction to a science of the mind.

Answer 81

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. Atlas Shrugged is already on this list, but the Fountainhead deals more with craftsmanship and integrity, rather than supply-side economic theory. Definitely worth a read for anyone in a creative field.

Answer 82

Masters of Doom !!

God programmer meet God marketing guy, and no it's not Steve Woz and Steve Jobs, but it's the Johns, Carmack and Romero.

Business, gaming and programming all rolled into one. a definitely page turner all the way until the end.

Answer 83

One Minute Manager whether you're a manager or you have one.

Answer 84

One hundred years of solitude

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Answer 85

Joel Spolsky's "Best Software Writing I"

Answer 86

The Cuckoo's Egg by Clifford Stoll.

Answer 87

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

I just bought it on Audible last week and I can't stop listening to it. It goes through the factors of successful people (ex: Bill Gates, Bill Joy, The Beatles). Fascinating!

Answer 88

Eli Goldratt's The Goal - Sounds like a cliche, but it changed my life.

Answer 89

My indication:

The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman

Great book for understand how information changed the world.

Answer 90

I've grouped a few books by one author there - they're pure fiction books and won't help your career. I just think most software developers will like them.

All programmers should read the fiction by Charlie Stross - he writes about all the stuff most programmers are in to.

Just a few examples:

• Halting State - Tells the tale of a bank robbery inside a World of Warcraft style game.
• Atrocity Archives - IT expert/spy is up against Lovecraftian horrors.
• Accelerando - (free download) High tech future where your PDA and internet presence is part of your personality and online kudos/rep is as important as money.

Answer 91

I recommend Steven Pinker's "How the Mind Works" - he outlines how our brains have evolved to work the way they do. It's a fascinating insight into our own personal "thinking machines" - the root of every computer program.

Answer 92

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Every scientist/programmer should read this book. It tells you to know your limits and be bold at the same time.

Answer 93

I can't believe I didn't see this already listed:

Dune

by Frank Herbert

Dune is the pinnacle of Sci-Fi novels!

Answer 94

Everybody Poops

Answer 95

Life of Pi: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_of_Pi

Answer 96

You shouldn't read any non-programming books!

Answer 97

If you give a mouse a cookie or any other kids books.
Really, spend more time with your children, whenever you can. It's shockingly enjoyable, and you'll be pleasantly surprised at their viewpoints - and how much sense they usually make, even for your own job.
And that specific book? Funny, and explains a LOT about why programmers are the way they are :-) .

Answer 98

21st Century Jet: The Making of the Boeing 777, by Karl Sabbagh

From coffee cup holder to three-hundred-foot wing, this book is the story of how a group of people came to build a brand new aeroplane.

The book describes the development of the Boeing 777, from initial concept, through requirements gathering, design, development, testing, production, and delivery. The engineers and management implemented a new development system, overcame changing requirements, met strict safety requirements, and continually optimized the solution. It describes how the designers and engineers worked to make the aircraft easier, safer, and more intuitive for everyone who would come in contact with it (air crew, maintenence crews, and passengers).

Software developers can learn a lot from this book. It's very well written, it reads like a novel. I've read it twice and highly recommend it.

Boeing Computer Services president John Warner said, the Boeing 777 is "three million parts flying in close formation." Sounds like software to me.

Answer 99

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

by Timothy Ferriss

The author gives many tips how to more productive, how to change attitude to work, earning money and life. I really recommend it for everyone.

Comments from duplicate answer by David Robbins:

The message: ratchet down email, use Occam's razor on everything you do by sticking with the 80/20 rule. Your quest is to focus on the necessary and realize that much of what is "required" of us is a smokescreen.

Answer 100

Herodotus - The Histories - because a bloke at the other end of time still tells a good'n. Seriously.

Answer 101

The Selfish Gene

by Richard Dawkins

A great book about evolution and strategies. In this book he also coins the concept about memes

Richard Dawkins was a friend to Douglas Adams and is appointed Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science in the University of Oxford.

Answer 102

The Holy Bible

Because you can't program forever and you shouldn't program just for yourself. Glorify God with your work. He can see your code.

Answer 103

"A Thousand Acres" by Jane Smiley.

A modern retelling of King Lear, set on an Iowa farm. There isn't a word wasted. I read it five times, and I think there's still more I could get out of it.

The world she paints is a vista of color and emotional depth. It makes techy stuff look shallow and monochrome. We coders could learn there's a bigger world than bits & bytes.

Answer 104

Short stories by Alice Munro.

Each one is an intricate puzzle, just as the most satisfying short programs are intricate puzzles.

Answer 105

"My System" by Aron Nimzowitsch.

It is the best chess manual ever.

Most world chess champions were geniuses. Nimzowitsch was a Guru.

Answer 106

If you're into science fiction then anything by Ian M. Banks and Peter F. Hamilton. Genius...it's like they've been there.

Answer 107

Just about anything by Michael Crichton. He researched his subject matter so thoroughly reading one of his novels was also a crash course in whatever he was writing about, whether it was nanotechnology, reconstituting DNA from fossils or airline crash investigations.

Answer 108

Isaac Asimov's Foundation Series is brilliant!

Answer 109

Mimsy Were the Borogroves It's actually a short story, not a book, by Lewis Padgett. Challenges the way you think about thinking, and how the way we learn can actually pre-dispose us to a certain way of thinking and interpreting the world around us.

EDIT: And no, seeing the movie is not a substitute.

Answer 110

Neuromancer

By William Gibson. He coined the term cyberspace, and the sprawl triology is the reason I wanted to be a code cowboy.

Answer 111

The Non-Designer's Design Book by Robin Williams

An excellent introduction to visual design and typography. It's a nice short concise book, but if you read it and follow its principle of CRAP (Contrast, Repetition, Alignment and Proximity) then you will vastly improve your ability to produce well-designed documentation, reports, resumes, business cards and letterheads.

Jeff Atwood is a fan too and he has far more to say about it than I want to post here.

Answer 112

One of his books was already mentioned, but I'd like to add this:

The Hidden Connections: A Science for Sustainable Living

by Fritjof Capra

This is a highly ambitious attempt to bring together research from various disciplines, and especially apply complexity theory ideas ("non-linear dynamics") in fields ranging from molecular biology to social interactions in large organisations, to networks of global capitalism. Towards the end, it goes on to outline how we could make our communities and technologies more ecologically sustainable.

For me, even though all of it may not have been thoroughly convincing, it was still one of the most inspiring books I've read, and it gave a lot to think about.

Some reviews: one (good summary; all praise), two, more critical ones: three, four.

Answer 113

I am really surprised to see the classic "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen not posted yet!

It's a must read for every one.

Answer 114

The Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris. [Content removed - was merged with another entry.]

Answer 115

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation

by Lynne Truss

Becoming a better communicator in people language, I believe, makes you a better communicator in code. Punctuation is a very good place to start improving your writing.

Answer 116

Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince. After wondering why people acted so strangely at work, this book was the first of many, that taught me why.

Answer 117

The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe

Amazon

Answer 118

Stranger in a strange land because every programmer should grok the word "GROK".

Answer 119

JR by William Gaddis

The story is almost entirely dialog. No narration or explanation. It's like code without comments, but written so well that after a few pages, you don't even notice. Each person's way of speaking is unique and you can tell who is speaking by what they are saying. There is no need for 'JR said ...'

Forcing everything to come through dialog is very similar to writing code within the constraints of the compiler/interpreter and still produce the desired result.

And its a good story.

Answer 120

My favorite book:

The Glass Bead Game

by Hermann Hesse

Only reason I can find why I would recommend it to other programmers is that
I'm a programmer myself and I really enjoyed it.

Answer 121

Digital Fortress by Dan Brown, very interesting.

Answer 122

The Singularity Is Near

by Ray Kurzweil

Surprised there hasn't been as many readers of this book as I initially thought. This book is about the Singularity, how AI will play into our future, and what we can do to be one with it. It challenges religion (please don't start any wars over it) and how ultra-intelligence will integrate with our race. Truly an amazing piece of literature, and so far I'm only about 100 pages in. great read if you want to think more "exponentially" and less "linearly".

Answer 123

Not a book really, but you should read The Last Question by Isaac Asimov.

Answer 124

Happiness

by Will Ferguson

This is a really great read, although you might not learn anything, however I like to put it next to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on my bookshelf, and I think that says it all ;)

Answer 125

Little Brother

by Cory Doctorow

This is a great book for readers of any age. Think 1984 mixed with Stealing the Network.

Answer 126

Dealers of Lightning

by Michael Hiltzik

A fantastic history of PARC and a time when we made progress instead of money.

Answer 127

Chaos: Making a New Science

by James Gleick

Anybody unfamiliar with chaos theory would definitely enjoy this book.

Answer 128

Fahrenheit 451

by Ray Bradbury

Answer 129

Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution

A good read about the genesis of Linux and the Open Source movement.

Answer 130

Anything for Charles Stross - enjoyed them all but want to point to halting state.

Charles Stross - Writers Site which includes Writings On Linux.

Answer 131

Betty Edwards - Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

If you're like me, thinking that drawing is an absolute no- go, this book is the answer. It opens up a complete new viewpoint on drawing in general and helps training your creative "brain mode".

Answer 132

Claude Steiner - Scripts People Live

If you are interested in the social factor and how people are ticking this book provides a good background. It is very entertaining if you start observing some of these patterns in real life, and more important if you start working on your own shortcomings.

Answer 133

Good to Great

by Jim Collins

Good to Great is a fascinating look at some of the factors that contribute to very successful companies. Jim Collins' definition of 'great' is exacting; companies that did at better than the market at least three times over a 15-year period (of a 40-year stretch) even when their markets were depressed. It is a refreshing text because at its core the message is well known to most software developers; its not enough to have an intelligent and passionate workforce, you also need the management flexibility in order really grow a company.

Full of data but an easy read, this is one of my favourite books and one I always recommend. If you have any interest in the process of business, I highly recommend it.

Answer 134

H.P. Lovecraft complete works.

Answer 135

Blink:

This is an amazing book that details some very counter-intuitive conclusions about the LACK of THINKING actually predominates our decision process.

Answer 136

I'd recommend the Chinese classic "Outlaws of the Marsh". Aka "Water Margin". In particular, I found the Sidney Shapiro translation to be enjoyable.

Now, why would I recommend this for programmers? Well, what programmer doesn't have a bit of an outlaw side? And who among us is all that fond of management?

Broadly viewed, this book is about a bunch of people getting screwed over by authority, and going off to form their own society in a fortress while the government is busy running itself into the ground.

Many obstacles are thrown at them, but through cleverness and brotherhood they continually overcome them. Sound familiar?

Answer 137

The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

by Bobby Henderson

(Wiki link)

An elaborate spoof on Intelligent Design, The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is neither too elaborate nor too spoofy to succeed in nailing the fallacies of ID. It’s even wackier than Jonathan Swift’s suggestion that the Irish eat their children as a way to keep them from being a burden, and it may offend just as many people, but Henderson, described elsewhere as a 25-year-old “out-of-work physics major,” puts satire to the same serious use that Swift did. Oh, yes, it is very funny.

Answer 138

Ok, I didnt see it here but the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.

Answer 139

Maybe any kind of motivation books, articles will do the job for me :)

Answer 140

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

Answer 141

I recommend

The Emperor's New Mind

by Roger Penrose

Somehow in the line of Godel, Escher, Bach but, I think, easier to read.

Answer 142

http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155/ref=sr%5F1%5F1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256028309&sr=8-1

for those more into game development.

Answer 143

The Cuckoo's Egg

by Cliff Stoll

Shows how important the traits like : perseverance, keeping log of things, innovative ways to try out various options are useful while tackling a problem

Answer 144

Reasoning about Knowledge.

Highly mathematical, highly rewarding.

Answer 145

Harry Potter! It'll give you insight into another arcane discipline practiced by weird and eccentrically-dressed people.

Answer 146

The Drunkard's Walk by Leonard Mlodinow
A very good history of probability and statistics; the biographical pieces on the "founding fathers" are very entertaining, and a good part of the book also discusses the inadequacies of the human brain when dealing with randomness, which makes it a very useful guidebook on how to avoid dumb mistakes...

Answer 147

I believe Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich is a must read.

Answer 148

37 signal's Getting Real is an absolute must read. Its common sense stuff that many people ignore.

Answer 149

Labyrinths, Jorge Luis Borges
This collection of short stories contains, among others, "The Library of Babel". Lifted from Wikipedia, I think this explains well how Borges' mind could appeal to the software engineer...

Borges's narrator describes how his universe consists of an endless expanse of interlocking hexagonal rooms, each of which contains the bare necessities for human survival—and four walls of bookshelves. Though the order and content of the books is random and apparently completely meaningless, the inhabitants believe that the books contain every possible ordering of just a few basic characters (letters, spaces and punctuation marks). Though the majority of the books in this universe are pure gibberish, the library also must contain, somewhere, every coherent book ever written, or that might ever be written, and every possible permutation or slightly erroneous version of every one of those books. The narrator notes that the library must contain all useful information, including predictions of the future, biographies of any person, and translations of every book in all languages. Conversely, for many of the texts some language could be devised that would make it readable with any of a vast number of different contents. Despite — indeed, because of — this glut of information, all books are totally useless to the reader, leaving the librarians in a state of suicidal despair. However, Borges speculates on the existence of the "Crimson Hexagon", containing a book that contains the log of all the other books; the librarian who reads it is akin to God.

Answer 150

Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norrell has absolutely nothing to do with programming on the surface, but I think it expresses exactly what it is like to be a software engineer.

The story is about magicians in England during the Napoleonic Wars. There has ceased to be any 'practical' magicians in England, and there are only 'theoretical' magicians. The plot centers around these two men who become 'practical' magicians. They are surrounded by people who do not understand anything about magic, and make ridiculous requests. When they try to explain why a certain piece of magic cannot be done, how long it would take, or that it has not been done for hundreds of years no one takes any notice. They are forced to dig deep, find what the root problems are and develop solutions and take decisive action. Usually their action is wrong in some way and always seems to upset some and please others.

I believe as software engineers we are very much like these men. Surrounded by business people that have problems, all of which seem to think they know the best way to solve them, but want you to do it. You must wade through all their proposed solutions and half explained problems in order to find the root issue solve it.

If you want to know what it is like being a software engineer, read this book.

Answer 151

I would heartily recommend Jennifer Government to any software developer. Amazon Wikipedia

It's a very fast paced action story that's excellent to clear your head with. It's a fun book to read (will make you laugh), and the characters are rather tragic (will make you feel more satisfied at work). This is one of those books that is hard to explain the content without fear that people will think you different and odd, but all the same you must tell everyone about (I.e. makes you talk to people).

Answer 152

Peak Performance by Jon R. Katzenbach

Answer 153

Could not put this one down, The Evolution of Cooperation by Robert Axelrod. Its a fascinating read and as game theory books go it's pretty accessible.

Answer 154

Bill, the Galactic Hero

by Harry Harrison

Simply the funniest Science Fiction book ever written.

Answer 155

The Road To Reality by Roger Penrose.

An undergraduate physics degree in a book written by one of the most important mathematicians alive.

Answer 156

The Blind Watchmaker, Richard Dawkins.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blind-Watchmaker-Richard-Dawkins/dp/0141026162/ref=sr%5F1%5F1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260799850&sr=8-1

Because Life is just another branch of Information Technology....

Answer 157

Bleak House - Charles Dickens

Because I think everyone should read at least one Dickens novel in their life, and in my opinion this is his best.

Answer 158

Reading popular science in general is thoroughly enjoyable, and gives you new ideas through different perspectives. This book, a story of the active study of evolution over decennia in the Galapagos, is one of the best in this genre.

Answer 159

Genius: Richard Feynman and Modern Physics

by James Gleick

This very well written biography of Richard Feynman is inspirational.

Answer 160

xkcd volume 0

by Randall Munroe

It doesn't claim to offer any sound advice on anything, but it brings the day-to-day monotony down quite a bit and provides a great center piece on the coffee table; or you could just save your money and go to http://xkcd.com and find all the same content for free. :)

Answer 161

Dealing with people you can't stand:

http://www.amazon.com/Dealing-People-You-Cant-Stand/dp/0071379444

Dealing with People You Can't Stand: How to Bring Out the Best in People at Their Worst (Paperback) ~ Dr. Rick Brinkman (Author), Dr. Rick Kirschner (Author), Dr. Rick Kirschner (Author), Dr. Rick Brinkman (Author)

Answer 162

The Trial By Franz Kafka

This question of yours, Sir, about my being a house painter — or rather, not a question, you simply made a statement — is typical of the whole character of this trial that is being foisted on me. You may object that it is not a trial at all; you are quite right, for it is only a trial if I recognize it as such. But for the moment I do recognize it, on grounds of compassion, as it were. One can't regard it except with compassion, if one is to regard it at all. I do not say that your procedure is contemptible, but I should like to present that epithet to you for your private consumption.

Mindblowing!

Answer 163

The Mind's I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul

Answer 164

This one is my Favorite :

Answer 165

The Peter Principle.

If you've ever wondered why your management hierarchy gets less competent as you go up the chain, this is a satirical but thought-provoking take on it. And if you find yourself in the (usually) unenviable position of making promotion decisions, it's a doubly-important read.

If you're not convinced yet, I'll set forth the book's central thesis:

In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.

Answer 166

"The Seven Habits of the Highly Effective People" by Stephen R Covey.... This book is relavant to all people especially professionals

Answer 167

If you don't want your job to be outsourced (as have happened to many programmers) then you need to read this book, A Whole New Mind - Why Right-Brianers Will Rule The Future, actualize it, and put it into practice yesterday!

Answer 168

The Effective Executive

by Peter Drucker

A foundational and prescient work, from 1967, about the problem of time management in the modern information age.

Written for programmers, not [just] managers: The word "executive" in the title essentially means, to Drucker, any knowledge worker who manages multiple responsibilities within limited time and resources.

One famous principle emphasized by Drucker--that every programmer will recognize as critical--is the ability to maintain focus on a given task for a sufficient period of time, without being interrupted. Thus managing one's interruptions is a key part of effectiveness for the programmer-executive.

Answer 169

Physics of the Impossible

A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel

by Michio Kaku

Answer 170

Speed Reading, by Robert L. Zorn:

Or any other Speed Reading text. Learning my own quirks about how I read has helped me to be conscious of other aspects of how I think. Having the ability to control my reading speed has proven to be invaluable. I still choose to read books for pleasure at my previous reading speed with all its flaws.

Answer 171

The Stand by Stephen King

Answer 172

A Brief History of Everything by Ken Wilber.

In the ambitiously titled A Brief History of Everything, Wilber continues his search for the primary patterns that manifest in all realms of existence. Like Hegel in the West and Aurobindo in the East, Wilber is a thinker in the grand systematic tradition, an intellectual adventurer concerned with nothing less than the whole course of evolution, life's ultimate trajectory—in a word, everything. . . . Combining spiritual sensitivity with enormous intellectual understanding and a style of elegance and clarity, A Brief History of Everything is a clarion call for seeing the world as a whole, much at odds with the depressing reductionism of trendy Foucault-derivative academic philosophy.

Answer 173

Games People Play by Eric Berne.

IMHO it is a very useful aid to understand and deal with office politics (among others).

We think we’re relating to other people – but actually we’re all playing games.

Forty years ago, Games People Play revolutionized our understanding of what really goes on during our most basic social interactions. More than five million copies later, Dr. Eric Berne’s classic is as astonishing–and revealing–as it was on the day it was first published. This anniversary edition features a new introduction by Dr. James R. Allen, president of the International Transactional Analysis Association, and Kurt Vonnegut’s brilliant Life magazine review from 1965. We play games all the time–sexual games, marital games, power games with our bosses, and competitive games with our friends. Detailing status contests like “Martini” (I know a better way), to lethal couples combat like “If It Weren’t For You” and “Uproar,” to flirtation favorites like “The Stocking Game” and “Let’s You and Him Fight,” Dr. Berne exposes the secret ploys and unconscious maneuvers that rule our intimate lives. Explosive when it first appeared, Games People Play is now widely recognized as the most original and influential popular psychology book of our time. It’s as powerful and eye-opening as ever.

Answer 174

Raymond Smullyan's other book is already on the list, but I couldn't find its sequel, The Lady or the Tiger?.

"Another scintillating collection of brilliant problems and paradoxes by the most entertaining logician and set theorist who ever lived." — Martin Gardner.

Inspired by the classic tale of a prisoner's dilemma, these whimsically themed challenges involve paradoxes about probability, time, and change; metapuzzles; and self-referentiality. Nineteen chapters advance in difficulty from relatively simple to highly complex.

Answer 175

Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea Quartet. Her chain of stories about Earthsea is deep and philosophical, refreshingly different from the average slash-dragons style fantasy stories.

A superb four-part fantasy, comparable with the work of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, the "Earthsea" books follow the fortunes of the wizard Ged from his childhood to an age where magic is giving way to evil. As a young dragonlord, Ged, whose use-name is Sparrowhawk, is sent to the island of Roke to learn the true way of magic. A natural magician, Ged becomes an Archmage and helps the High Priestess Tenar escape from the labyrinth of darkness. But as the years pass, true magic and ancient ways are forced to submit to the powers of evil and death.

Answer 176

The Game

Every programmer should read this book to learn how to pick up women.

Answer 177

"Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

Answer 178

I cast my vote for "Treatise on Efficacy: Between Western and Chinese Thinking" by Francois Jullien

This is a pretty accessible "philosophy" text on how Chinese and Western minds approach the concept of "efficient" and "effective". I found it very interesting and I think it would give some new insights to how manage complex processes.

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: University of Hawaii Press (July 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0824828305
• ISBN-13: 978-0824828301

Amazon Blurb:

In this highly insightful analysis of Western and Chinese concepts of efficacy, Francois Jullien subtly delves into the metaphysical preconceptions of the two civilizations to account for diverging patterns of action in warfare, politics, and diplomacy.

He shows how Western and Chinese stategies work in several domains (the battle-field, for example) and analyzes two resulting acts of war. The Chinese strategist manipulates his own troops and the enemy to win a battle without waging war and to bring about victory effortlessly.

Efficacity in China is thus conceived of in terms of transformation (as opposed to action) and manipulation, making it closer to what is understood as efficacy in the West. Jullien's brilliant interpretations of an array of recondite texts are key to understanding our own conceptions of action, time, and reality in this foray into the world of Chinese thought. In its clear and penetrating characterization of two contrasting views of reality from a heretofore unexplored perspective, Treatise on Efficacy will be of central importance in the intellectual debate between East and West.

Answer 179

Answer 180

Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

Thoughts about honor, bravery and commitment from a Samurai perspective. When I had to go to talk/demo to a big audience and was nervous and wasn't that sure that everything works as it should, I used to quote the book to myself: "A samurai must consider himself already dead".

Answer 181

The Night's Dawn Trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton

Peter F. Hamilton depicts a fascinating future, and takes Sci-Fi to a whole new level! Technology, Theology, Philosophy, Politics - it's got it all! this trilogy is a must-read!

Answer 182

I hope I can post a few books. If not, the first one is Johnathan Livingston Seagull

It's a really neat story about a seagull that decides there must be something more important than just bickering, squawking and fighting over food.

From wikipedia:

Jonathan Livingston Seagull, written by Richard Bach, is a fable in novella form about a seagull learning about life and flight, and a homily about self-perfection.

Answer 183

Happiness is a Choice by Barry Neil Kaufman

It's a great book that can help you understand you can choose how to feel. Turns out you can be responsible for a lot more of your emotions than you think.

Answer 184

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. Not only is the title an allusion to William Shakespeare's MacBeth, but the story is intriguing as well.

Basically, you become a better person by reading Ray Bradbury. That's why his novels are still around.

Answer 185

For Whom The Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway. An excellent novel set in the Spanish hills during the Spanish Civil War. There's love, war, and death. It's beautiful and tragic. Reading this book helps you expand your ideas about that particular triad.

Answer 186

I can't believe this one isn't posted yet!

The Princess Bride by William Goldman - it's one of the most hilarious books I have ever writtenread (Doh!), and much better (in ways) than the movie. Seriously, you haven't read this yet? Go now!

Answer 187

For God, Country & Coca-Cola.

It is an inspiration of how something so random and so controversial had found a way to grow and become it's own market. It makes you think of how many things in life are "projects", and how poor/amazing decision making in design & management can change the whole course of an industry.

Answer 188

This might not be a popular one, but

Gravity's Rainbow

by Thomas Pynchon

Gravity's Rainbow is my favorite book of all time. I read through the whole thing last summer, and I'm in the process of reading it again. From a writer's point of view, it's pure, beautiful art. However, I recommend it here because it really forces the reader to think and make a lot of mental connections.

Of course, this book has a reputation for being impossible to finish. It's definitely the hardest book I've ever read. Pick it up at your own risk.

Answer 189

The entire Aubrey Maturin Series.

Answer 190

Fortune's Formula

Information theory, betting, value of information, etc.

Fantastic read.

Answer 191

The Dirty Dozen

An analysis of the 12 worst Supreme Court decisions

Great and interesting book about how our liberties are being trodden on by the government. Libertarian viewpoint, but objective.

Answer 192

Flirting for Dummies

Seriously — great book on communication and body language, a nice complement to How to Make Friends and Influence People.

Answer 193

John R. Taylor, Classical Mechanics, is a very accessible text on classical mechanics. If you are to read only one book in physics, then this is a good choice (if you have basic knowledge in calculus and algebra).

Mathematics and physics are valuable to everyone working with computer simulations. But even if you aren't, logical thinking is always good, and it is always good to know a thing or two about the universe we live in.

Answer 194

Neuromancer was a bit long for me. William Gibson's Burning Chrome is a collection of early short stories by him; fifteen sideways views into a future social dystopia built on technology.

Answer 195

A phenomenally easy read on how to invest money, and more specifically, how not to invest money. It's a fun, quick read that will make the money you make from programming go farther.