At work recently, we’ve been having a small contest.   Each of our developers is allowed to select 5 technical books; we then merge all of the selections into one large list, and each developer votes for 8 books to purchase for the library.  Every developer can also add a brief description to his selections.  Here are 4 of my selections. 

Peer Reviews In Software
Are you Cuban and harboring an intense attraction to the rampaging mass of manly masculinity coding that text messaging application, but he just doesn't seem to notice you?  Looking for a good way that you can somehow get the two of you alone to make your big move?  Maybe you should try a "code review"!  Code reviews, in addition to spiking up the average developer's productivity, are a great social mixer and a way into someone's heart!  Who *hasn't* gotten hot and bothered when you recommend that they should perhaps refactor their class structure to incorporate the strategy design pattern?  Read this book and you'll no longer have to sing "I will always love you" at the top of your lungs…after a couple of code reviews, they'll be singing to you!   Karl E. Weigers has done it all - requirements books, code reviews, even your momma!!  Now let him do what we does best and guide you through topics like:

• Overcoming resistance to reviews
• Inspection teams and roles
• Inspection process stages
• Scheduling inspection events
• Analyzing inspection data
• Peer review training
• Critical success factors and pitfalls
• Relating peer reviews to process improvement models

The Art of Computer Programming, Parts 1-3
The feel-good book of 2005!  It will make you laugh, it will make you cry…it will make you *remember* what it was like to truly live.  Donald Knuth, the Santa Claus of Computer Science, dispenses his legendary wisdom on a variety of topics.  Knuth's multivolume work, widely recognized as the definitive description of classical computer science, is now available in an attractive, boxed set. The three volumes included in this set have each been revised recently to reflect developments in the field.  If you don't want this book with unrepentant lust, then you have no soul.

Bundle of Algorithms in C++, Parts 1-5

You wanted the best?   You've *GOT* the best!  Robert Sedgwick desparately wants your love - and you'll be made for loving him after you read *this* book!    Sedgewick has completely revamped all five sections, illuminating today's best algorithms for an exceptionally wide range of tasks.  If you're looking to experience a book that will change your life, the lives of your parents, and the lives of your children, YOU SHOULD VOTE FOR THIS BOOK.  After reading this, nothing will ever….*ever*…be the same!!   Robert Sedgewick is so hot right now.

Becoming A Technical Leader
Admit it - you want to be a technical lead.  You want to inspire people to new heights.  You want to one day crush people's hopes and dreams in your icy grip.  You want to lead the communist revolution against our proletariat masters!!  Or maybe you just want the groupies that come with being a technical lead.  You know what I'm talkin' bout!!  So let the pimp daddy himself, Gerald Weinberg, tell you were it's at!  Reviews on Amazon include the statements "if you ever want to be a technical lead, then read this book, or you are doomed.  Doomed to BURN.", “I have never gotten so much action”, and "Why does my used copy have the pages all stuck together?"

Now tell me – even if you aren’t a developer – aren’t *you* motivated to vote for these selections?