Seven Languages in Seven Weeks[1]

[1] http://pragprog.com/book/btlang/seven-languages-in-seven-wee...

Good choice! I am hoping to get this for Christmas :-)

I have this one. It's excellent.

Computer related:

The Cuckoo's Egg, Clifford Stoll. A really nice description of his process to understand the system, and why something was wrong, and the progress to catching hackers.

If you want maximum inches of shelf space, then The Art of Computer Programming by Knuth is your best bet.

Myself, I love slim books that are high density yet well written. The C Programming Language by K& R and The AWK Programing Language by Aho, Weinberger and Kernighan are good examples. These books are just a joy to read.

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward R. Tufte.

If you ever need to give a presentation or write a report that uses any graphs or charts, this book gives simple guidelines that makes the visual information as clear as possible.

I received this as a gift literally yesterday (having asked for it). So far very impressed.

The Pragmatic Programmer: http://pragprog.com/book/tpp/the-pragmatic-programmer

It talks about what to do, in your life as a programmer, and how to approach it.

EDIT: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2004/10/a-pragmatic-quick-r...

"Hackers : Heroes of the Computer Revolution" (Steven Levy, first published in 1984 )

It's not really a programming book, mind you. It's a collection of stories that shaped the evolution of early home computer hardware and software.

Let Over Lambda, 50 Years of Lisp by Doug Hoyte

It is one of the most challenging and inspiring technical books I have ever read, covering macros in great depth.

Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software

Hackers & Painters, Paul Graham

Read it recently, now consider it required reading for hackers

Newton's Telecom Dictionary