What books are you guys reading or might recommend to fellow techies?

[samalex]

Hi,

Technical manuals excluded, what books are you guys reading, or what books have you read that you might suggest to others in the forum?

I generally have a few books going at once, here are the dog-eared books on my night stand right now:
- Jon Katz: Geeks (http://www.amazon.com/Geeks-Lost-Boys-Internet-Idaho/dp/0767906993/ref=sr_1_1), 2000
- A. C. Crispin: Yesterday's Son (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yesterday%27s_Son), 1983
- Rick Riordan: The Lightning Thief (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lightning_Thief), 2005

Some other books I thing others in here might enjoy are:
- Scott Rosenberg: Dreaming in Code (http://www.dreamingincode.com/), 2008
- Sam Williams: Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_as_in_Freedom:_Richard_Stallman%27s_Crusade_f or_Free_Software), 2002
- Steve Wozniak: iWoz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iwoz), 2006
- Cliff Stoll: The Cuckoo's Egg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cuckoo%27s_Egg_%28book%29), 1989
- Glyn Moody: Rebel Code (http://www.amazon.com/Rebel-Code-Linux-Source-Revolution/dp/0738206709), 2002
- Robert X. Cringley: Accidental Empires (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accidental_Empires), 1992 (plus follow-up series and books on PBS)
- Linus Torvalds: Just For Fun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_for_Fun), 2001
- Katie Hafner and John Markoff: Cyberpunk (http://books.simonandschuster.com/Cyberpunk/Katie-Hafner/9780684818627), 1995

I don't list many sci-fi books other than the one's I'm reading now, but most people have their favorite authors. Personally I like Orson Scott Card, Frank Herbert, and the classics like Asimov, Bradberry, Doyle, etc.

Anyone have other recommendations? What about comments on what I've listed? I do have to say out of all the non-scifi authors Cliff Stoll is one of my faves, and I attribute The Cuckoo's Egg to getting me into technology. I read it when it first came out, I was a sophomore in high school, and being I was already into BBSes this just sparked me to learn as much about Unix and networking as I could. Great book if anyone's never read it. I keep a copy of it on my desk at work :)

Sam

[bigsmitty64]

Currently reading,
-American On Purpose: Craig Ferguson

[ubunterooster]

"Manuals excluded"
Bummer, that's all I read these days

[VH-BIL]

Ordering "Linus Torvalds: Just For Fun" now... Thanks.

[VH-BIL]

"Manuals excluded"
Bummer, that's all I read these days

Me too :)

[Eldera]

My technical reading days are over, although they were chemistry manuals and anatomy books. Did not get into computers until I retired.


A. C. Crispin: Yesterday's Son, 1983

Cheers for the Trek books as light reading. The sequel to the above, "Time for Yesterday" is one of my favorites, as is "Uhura's Song" by Janet Kagan.

I am currently working through "The Story of Civilization" BY Will Durant and "The Outline of History" by H. G. Wells for a "keep learning new stuff" project. Just finished "Tour of Geologic Time Lines" on the website of UCMP, University of California Museum of Palentology. I don't know if that counts as reading, but I spent as much time as I would on a book. Even took notes.

I don't recommend the history for someone else. For fun, get Wells' "Time Machine".

[era86]

Hackers - Steven Levy

[standingwave]

Currently reading:
With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene Sledge
Recommend:
Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard Feynman

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan

[Bachstelze]

Currently reading: Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises.

Recommends: everything Hemingway.

[wkhasintha]

It's a shame you mentioned SciFi without Arthur C Clark. The grandmaster of science fiction. Finished his Hammor of God and Rendezvous with RAMA , currently reading RAMA II. brilliant writer ,I'm proud he lived in our country :)

[samalex]

I'm going to hit a few replies at once :)


Ordering "Linus Torvalds: Just For Fun" now... Thanks.

It is a great read, and honestly I think anyone who's a fan of Linux needs to check this book out. Torvalds is only one author, but another author David Diamond does a great job going to Helsinki and interviews Linus's sister and parents. Some neat insight into the mind that created Linux.


Cheers for the Trek books as light reading. The sequel to the above, "Time for Yesterday" is one of my favorites, as is "Uhura's Song" by Janet Kagan.

I don't recommend the history for someone else. For fun, get Wells' "Time Machine".

I have most of the Trek novels and love every generation (TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY, etc). I tried getting into the Star Trek Titan books, but the first one just didn't grab me. I'll probably go back at some point and pick it back up. Also I didn't realize "Time for Yesterday" is a sequal! I'll check it out as well since I'm almost done with "Yesterday's Son".


Hackers - Steven Levy

Actually this is one I should've had on the list as it is a great read. Anything by Steven Levy is good :) Also Kevin Mitnick has two books that are good as well, though I like reading more about his past plus stories about the CCC. I love true life computer espionage stuff, especially back 'in the day' before computers were common place.


It's a shame you mentioned SciFi without Arthur C Clark. The grandmaster of science fiction. Finished his Hammor of God and Rendezvous with RAMA , currently reading RAMA II. brilliant writer ,I'm proud he lived in our country :)

Last night it dawned on me I forgot to mention Clark plus Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking. I could read Hawking and Sagan's books over and over again.

And to mention science books, The Elegant Universe by Brian Green is great if you're into that kind of stuff. I bought it in 2000 when it was first released, and though much of it was over my head, it was an amazing book! I've enjoyed following the wake behind it since String Theory is such a debated topic.

Sam

[andras artois]

I'm currently reading: Tom Holt - The Portable Door. Funny books and fiction books are the best.

[Xianath]

These are quite targeted but, without exception, each and every one of them is an excellent read:

Steve McConnell. Code Complete (2nd Edition)
Steve McConnell. Rapid Development: Taming Wild Software Schedules
Steve McConnell. Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art
Frederick Brooks. The Mythical Man-Month: 20th Anniversary Edition
Mike Cohn. Agile Estimation and Planning
Mike Cohn. Succeeding with Agile: Software Development Using Scrum
Lyssa Adkins. Coaching Agile Teams: A Companion for ScrumMasters, Agile Coaches, and Project Managers in Transition
Jeffrey Liker. The Toyota Way
Jeffrey Liker. The Toyota Way Fieldbook
Jeffrey Liker. Toyota Culture: The Heart and Soul of the Toyota Way
Jeffrey Liker. Toyota Talent
Taiichi Ohno. Taiichi Ohno's Workshop Management
James P. Womack. The Machine That Changed the World: The Story of Lean Production -- Toyota's Secret Weapon in the Global Car Wars That Is Now Revolutionizing​ World Industry
Ken Blanchard. The One-Minute Manager
Tom DeMarco. Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams (Second Edition)
Mary Poppendieck. Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit
Mary Poppendieck. Implementing Lean Software Development: From Concept to Cash

And for a bit of techie fiction, "F2f (R)" by Phillip Finch. It's got to be the best cyberpunk I've ever read (yes, better than Gibson IMHO, though not many would share this sentiment)

[dca]

"I Am America And So Can You" by Stephen Colbert

[piousp]

The name of the Wind by Rothfuss Patrick

[alphaniner]

The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps by Marshall Savage

Hyperspace by Michio Kaku

[John.Michael.Kane]

Currently reading: The Aeneid by Virgil Robert Fagles (Translation)

[eriktheblu]

Book of Five Rings, Miyamoto Musashi

[mamamia88]

+1 for just for fun. book is a great read and i bought mine for about $2 with shipping on amazon

[Keith_K]

I don't read as much as I used to, unfortunately because I did enjoy it when I had more me time but my kids really tear through them. Last year I discovered a resource for used books at betterworldbook.com and felt compelled to share it. They have new and used books and many I've gotten for around $3 a book in excellent shape. The shipping is also free in the US and only like $3.97 world wide so you can explore books that you can't find in the library without breaking the bank.

I apologize if this is considered spam and will accepted any consequences if it is. I am not affiliated with them in any way except as a multi time satisfied customer.

[jetsam]

I'm enjoying Life: A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years of Life on Earth by Richard Fortey, a paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London. Bio books sometimes defeat me; they can often seem pedantic if they're oversimplified or text bookish if they're too systematic, but Life finds a good middle ground. The writing style is excellent. The author knows his material specifically and well, and has interesting stories about field research to enliven the narrative. He somehow manages to keep a huge topic, prone to being over-ridden with details, flowing nicely.

High on my endless to read list: Wonderful Life by Gould, Trilobites by Fortey (his specialty), and something about cell biology, maybe the old Thompson book if I can't find an appealing up to date alternative.

I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations along the same lines: mid-level life sciences books?

I tend to avoid any of the faddish enthusiasms: i.e. I'm not likely to pick up books that feature Gaia, chaos theory, anything overly enthusiastic about either finding or destroying religion in nature, and AI people spouting about social insects and epiphenomena. (Nothing against Godel, Escher, Bach; it just had too many imitators.)

[kaldor]

book of five rings, miyamoto musashi

+1