On: What books would you recommend reading? Why?

[ericb]

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. It is arguably the most useful book I've ever read, albeit with the most embarassing title.

As inklesspen mentioned, Elements of Style is a must.

Code Complete and the Mythical Man Month by Fred Brooks. Timeless coding wisdom.

For a laugh, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, or Hitchhiker's Guide.

Body Language, Julius Fast. Kitschy but fascinating insights into body language.

Fabric of the Cosmos, Brian Greene. Brian is a fluke of nature--a physicist who can explain things realy well!

Anything by Phillip K. Dick. Sci-fi stories that make you think.

[ericb → ericb]

Oh, one more: A Clockwork Orange. The book is much better than the movie. It's nicer if you haven't already seen the movie and got Stanley Kubrick's acid-trip biasing your perceptions..

[Jd → ericb]

All excellent suggestions. Altho I am unfamiliar w/ Body Language I will check it out. Just working through the Carnegie book now.

Also, I believe Code Complete is by Steve McConnnell.

[ericb → Jd]

Oh sorry, didn't mean to imply Brooks wrote Code Complete. I just accidentally left the author out of the sentence...