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I've often thought that one of the best ways to know a person is to know what they've read. So, in the interests of edification, here is the "things I've read" list going back to 1997 or 1998. I also tend to read several different books at once, alternating between them, and try to fill in the ones I've finished on a regular basis. I'm also an avid reader of Scientific American and CIO (one of those crappy trade journals for IT executives).

Title	Author(s)	Comments
Smart & Gets Things Done	Joel Spolsky	A quick read by a leading software development blogger about how to find, hire, and retain the best and brightest technical people. Some repetition from his blogs and earlier book, Joel on Software, but overall pretty good.
Welcome to the Monkey House	Kurt Vonnegut	A collection of some of Vonnegut's earlier shorter writing, mostly articles and short stories. It's a bit uneven and honestly I do not think it's his best work, but there are a few good ones in the collection.
Galapagos	Kurt Vonnegut	An interesting exploration of the future of mankind by one of my favorite authors. I actually consider this to be one of his best books. There is a story behind me finishing it -- I started reading it on vacation almost a year before finishing, because I wound up leaving the book on a plane. Several months passed before I got another copy of it and finished it on a second vacation.
The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less	Barry Schwartz	I read an article by the author of this book in Scientific American a while back, and spotted the full book on Amazon. A good read on how people make choices, different types of choice-making personalities, and who suffers from the plethora of choices available in modern society.
Evolution	Stephen Baxter	I thought I would really like this one, and made an honest attempt to enjoy it. I usually like "natural science sci fi," and Baxter's own Vacuum Diagrams is a great example. Unfortunately, the thrilling lives of a constant stream of evolving rodent-like primates, well, aren't that thrilling.
Speaker for the Dead	Orson Scott Card	The sequel to Ender's Game, I didn't like this one was much as the original. It was not too bad, but the Portuguese cultural references were more stilted than authenticating, and the whole thing wound up with too much of a fantasy feel for my tastes. Portuguese explorers, smart pygmies, super-intelligent wasps? Unicorns, anyone?
What Is Your Life's Work?	Bill Jensen	One of those supposedly pithy books about meaning in work and life, as a collection of letters from people. It didn't really connect with me, perhaps most of the letters were from people who were workaholics and took too long to figure that out. A few of the letters were interesting, but not many.
The Forever War	Joe Haldeman	An interesting and gritty sci-fi war novel, in places amusingly anachronistic on topics relevant to someone writing in the 70's. It does redeem itself by not focusing on such issues and in the breadth of time covered in later chapters. It is also one of the few sci-fi novels I've read that has truly developed characters.
Ender's Game	Orson Scott Card	Another of my typical vacation books, this sci-fi classic was written in the 70's and still seems current and prescient. As is often the case, the wide-ranging, speculative epilogue-style final chapter was my favorite part.
The Productive Narcissist: The Promise and Perils of Visionary Leadership	Michael Maccoby	An insightful read about "real leaders," people who are driven by vision to change the world. According to the little quiz I am an obsessive narcissist, meaning I have many narcissistic traits but that I am also driven to systematically manage and execute things. According to Sigmund Freud these are the best leaders, although in my case that remains to be seen. It gets old after a while with a lot of repeated concepts and examples, but overall is definitely above average in the realm of leadership books.
Digital SLR Pro Secrets	David D. Busch	A good techniques book on digital SLR photography that gets past the elementary stuff covered in most similar books. Contains some genuinely insightful advice and covers some fundamental issues in good detail.
An Anthropologist on Mars	Oliver Sacks	I originally purchased this book after reading a reference to it in an article about Temple Grandin, an autistic Ph.D. studying animals. It took a long time to read, not because it was written poorly (just the opposite), but because the neurological case studies can be a bit dense and are not high on my interest list. The two chapters on autism and Asperger's Syndrome were the most interesting part and the real reason I bought the book.
The Effective Executive	Peter F. Drucker	A classic in the field of organizational management, this book was a gift upon my promotion to corporate officer (although I already had a copy that I had not read). It alternates between insightful observations and a recapitulation of common sense and "no brainers," although I suppose the insightful parts have been useful.
The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People	David Niven, Ph.D.	I saw this book out shopping once with my girlfriend, and she got it for me as a birthday gift. There are some insightful things in here -- such as how bad TV really is -- but also a lot of "people who don't worry about things are happier" type of advice. A quick read and of marginal value.
Ringworld	Larry Niven	Typical science fiction pulp that I sometimes read for fun. This book apparently won all sorts of awards when it was published in 1970, but frankly I don't know what the fuss is about. It is typical science fiction: interesting ideas combined with bad characters, sexism, a lackluster story, and stilted dialog. Perhaps that is my 2005 perspective judging a book written 35 years ago, but Ray Bradbury and Kurt Vonnegut don't seem to have problems like that.
Slaughterhouse Five	Kurt Vonnegut	Alternately funny and disturbing mixture of a science fiction story and a war memoir, about the Allied bombing of Dresden during WWII. Did you know that the Dresden air raid, using conventional bombs during a single night, killed more people than either of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan? Probably not.
John Shaw's Landscape Photography	John Shaw	I didn't really need this book, but I really enjoy reading Shaw's prose and I had a bonus coupon from Amazon. The requisite section on exposure was getting a bit old, since it was virtually a word for word copy of the same section from his other books, but other advice is solid and the pictures are inspiring.
John Shaw's Closeups in Nature	John Shaw	The definitive classic on nature macro photography by one of the masters. While Shaw's Nature Photography Field Guide includes a very solid section on macro photography, this book has a lot more detail and very practical suggestions, even if it is a bit more outdated than Paul Harcourt Davies' book (which does cover digital photography to a limited extent).
John Shaw's Nature Photography Field Guide	John Shaw	Fantastic overview of nature photography by one of the best in the field, who also happens to be a wonderful writer. Lots of pretty pictures, too, which never hurts.
The Complete Guide to Close Up & Macro Photography	Paul Harcourt Davies	My first more in-depth photography book, which I read following my purchase of the D70. Provides a lot of solid information and includes a decent amount of good reference data.
John Hedgecoe's Complete Guide to Photography	John Hedgecoe (duh)	The first photography book I read when I decided it was time to get a digital camera. Decent if shallow overview of a lot of basic concepts, with many pretty pictures, as might be expected from this type of book.
When Genius Failed	Roger Lowenstein	Fascinating story of the rise and fall of Long-Term Capital Management, the archetypical hedge fund of the 1990s. It's very well written, plus it showcases the failure of greedy, self-important Wall Street types, which is always good.
Manifold: Time	Stephen Baxter	Another sci-fi book, part of my recent re-discovery of the genre. This one is pretty good, although it is strictly technical, since the characters are as flat as the proverbial Euclidian plane.
Childhood's End	Arthur C. Clarke	Although I wasn't very happy with the ending, which seemed, for all intents and purposes, somewhat anticlimactic, this nevertheless is a truly remarkable book. It was written in 1953 and reads as if it were written yesterday. Fifty years of hindsight has shown Clarke's grasp of future technology and societal evolution to be amazingly accurate, and my respect for him as an author and a thinker has gone up considerably.
The Sirens of Titan	Kurt Vonnegut	A futuristic, philosophical tale that is equally comfortable with humorous details and wide-ranging questions. What do you want, it's Kurt Vonnegut!
Starfish	Peter Watts	A dark, atmospheric story about the deep sea of the future. Unfortunately, the ending turns out to be rather simplistic and cliched, but it's a good read nonetheless, and there is actually character development (a rarity for sci-fi, it seems).
Vacuum Diagrams	Stephen Baxter	Basically a "best of" compilation of many of the short works of this noted science fiction author, covering 5 million years of future human history. A few hiccups here and there, but overall a very impressive body of work, and also a quick read.
The Money Game	"Adam Smith" (George J. W. Goodman)	A Wall Street classic, this collection of essays was written in the 60's and seems just as relevant today.
A Random Walk Down Wall Street	Burton G. Malkiel	An excellent and clear-headed history and overview of market investing. The author's wife is the dean of Princeton, by the way.
The Illustrated Man	Ray Bradbury	A great collection of science fiction and fantasy short stories. Bradbury makes most science fiction writers look like rank amateurs.
The Light of Other Days	Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter	Some pulp I bought to read on vacation. Some interesting ideas and cool imagery, but the characters are bad caricatures.
Zen and the Art of Making a Living	Laurence G. Boldt	Can you tell I dig this guy? A long and well-written book about personal and career development.
The Tao of Abundance	Laurence G. Boldt	Thoroughly excellent book that examines modern global society and some of its downsides, with a look towards Taoism and Zen Buddhism for guidance and precedents in dealing with a complex commercial culture.
How to Find the Work You Love	Laurence G. Boldt	A short but very well-written primer on some of the less tangible aspects of career development.
Computer Science: an Overview	J. Glenn Brookshear	Exactly what it says, and fairly well written. Since I'd never taken a "real" computer science course, I wanted to make sure I hadn't missed anything.
The Truth About Managing People, and Nothing but the Truth	Stephen P. Robbins	A short but effective book that cuts through the BS and provides 63 fundamental issues in managing people. I don't usually go for this type of book, but this one was pretty good.
How to Win Friends & Influence People	Dale Carnegie	There are a few good points in here, but I would like to suggest some alternate titles. "How to Become a Sleazy Manipulator" is one. "How to Be Patronizing and Treat Other People Like Children" is another. How about "The Practical Guide to Being a World-Class Demagogue?" Your mileage may vary.
The 12 Bad Habits That Hold Good People Back	James Waldroop and Timothy Butler	Interesting book about 12 common personality traits (fatal flaws, as Shakespeare would say) that cause otherwise highly competent people to be less successful.
The Future of Success	Robert B. Reich	Alternately insightful and tepid examination of the larger forces shaping today's society.
Liar's Poker	Michael Lewis	The classic true story of one man's experience on Wall Street in the 80's. By the way, he went to Princeton.
Discovering Your Career in Business	Timothy Butler and James Waldroop	A book about personality, MBA's, and jobs, by the directors of the career development program at Harvard Business School. As such it is one of the more relevant career books I have read. I discovered that I have a very unusual combination of talents and I should be leading projects at a cutting-edge research institution.
Please Understand Me II	David Keirsey	Good reference about temperament, character, and intelligence based on the Myers-Briggs personality types. Better as a reference since it is rather long-winded and redundant.
When Elephants Weep	Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson and Susan McCarthy	Interesting treatise on the emotional lives of animals.
Immortality	Ben Bova	Well-written exploration of trends in medicine and biology that may extend human lifespans indefinitely.
The Art of Happiness	The Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler	Not my usual kind of book. Recommended by someone I met in the Bahamas. Very bland. If this is Buddhism, then McDonald's is gourmet cuisine.
On the Road	Jack Kerouac	Not as good as The Dharma Bums but still a good travel book.
Fahrenheit 451	Ray Bradbury	It's not just about burning books, but about where society is going. Excellent read.
Harvard Business Review on Change	Various	Probably what you'd expect given the title. Some good stuff in here but rather dry.
Beyond Humanity: CyberEvolution and Future Minds	Gregory S. Paul and Earl D. Cox	Interesting if somewhat wandering treatise on the future convergence of biology and artificial intelligence.
Rapid Development	Steve McConnel	Very good book on how to build good software quickly.
The Mythical Man-Month	Frederick P. Brooks, Jr.	A classic in the field of software engineering and project management. Much is no longer relevant, but some is intensely so.
Great Mambo Chicken & the Transhuman Condition	Ed Regis	A bit uneven, but an interesting walk through future directions in today's technology.
The Elegant Universe	Brian Greene	A very good, fairly deep but not very mathematical treatment of quantum mechanics and the emerging field of superstring theory.
Visions	Michio Kaku	Not as good as Kaku's other book (see below), but still a fairly thorough and interesting look at logical trends in different technologies and their possible implications.
Data and Databases	Joe Celko	Good solid introduction to the fundamentals of databases, by one of the leading experts in the field.
The Fabric of Reality	David Deutsch	Fascinating but sometimes dry look at how disparate fields of science may combine to give us a much better understanding of the universe and how it works.
The Matter Myth	Paul Davies and John Gribbin	A somewhat standard if well-written review of modern theories in physics.
The Demon-Haunted World	Carl Sagan	Very good, if somewhat preaching examination of man's embrace of irrationalism in the past and present.
Pale Blue Dot	Carl Sagan	Well-written exploration of what may lie ahead for the human race as it explores outer space.
Engines of Creation	K. Eric Drexler	The classic manifesto on nanotechnology and its potential by its leading proponent. Gets a little long-winded towards the end.
Cat's Cradle	Kurt Vonnegut	Great book. A story about hubris and how things can go wrong unexpectedly. Vonnegut is the man.
The Age of Spiritual Machines	Ray Kurzweil	Great book on the potential of artificial intelligence and the rapid advances in computational technology that could make it a reality.
The Old Man and the Sea	Ernest Hemingway	I think this is the book that won Hemingway the Nobel in literature. What do they say -- short and sweet?
The New Pioneers	Thomas Petzinger, Jr.	A Wall Street Journal columnist collects his thoughts on an emergent business model based on evolutionary theory. Kind of bland but better than the average business book.
Death March	Edward Yourdon	Great book about why software development is difficult, why lots of projects fail, and I suppose why software professionals deserve their lofty compensation.
Atlas Shrugged	Ayn Rand	For quite a while this was my favorite book. Speaks to anyone who has ever fought against mediocrity and apathy.
Dynamics of Software Development	Jim McCarthy	Varied discourse on some of the intricacies of programming, by an old gunslinger in the field.
Reengineering the Corporation	Michael Hammer and James Champy	Better than average business book about process engineering and efficiency. I eat this stuff up.
Software Project Survival Guide	Steve McConnel	Rather long-winded but thorough guide to succeeding in software projects.
The Ten-Day MBA	Steven Silbiger	A lot of good basic information, but maybe not the best writing. Pretty much what I expected.
Managing for Dummies	Bob Nelson and Peter Economy	It's... a dummies book about managing people. Some good tips but also a lot of the same old stuff.
What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School	Mark H. McCormack	Interesting business book with a lot of varied material. Some of it useful, some of it seems like rubbish, but there you go.
The End of Science	John Horgan	Very interesting book postulating that most of the basic knowledge about the universe is already known, which is kind of a pessimistic view when you think about it.
Debugging the Development Process	Steve Maguire	Great book about software development and project management. Lots of relevant and very true examples.
The E-Myth Manager	Michael E. Gerber	I don't remember why I read this. I think it was referenced in some other book. "Motivational" garbage from some business consultant, and the writing sucked.
The Portable Nietzsche	translated by Walter Kaufmann	Either you like the philosophies of Nietzsche or you don't. I do.
In Search of Schroedinger's Cat	John Gribbin	Very good overview of quantum mechanics.
Theories of Everything	John D. Barrow	Kind of a bland catch-all book about competing theories of... yes, everything... in physics.
Hyperspace	Michio Kaku	Optimistic, wonderful, almost breathtaking book about advances in superstring theory and its potential applications by humans. Read it and you will wish you lived a thousand years from now.
Basic Teachings of the Great Philosophers	S. E. Frost, Jr.	It's a book... about... basic... teachings... of the great philosophers. Kind of like Encyclopedia Britannica.