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50 Books Every Geek Should Read

50 Books Every Geek Should Read

Eric Dahl / InsideTech

Ever find out one of your friends hasn’t read “Neuromancer” or doesn’t know what a Babelfish is or why it’s important to keep a towel handy at all times? Did you have that brief moment where you thought, “Man, it’s like I don’t even know you?”

If you’re gonna work in tech, write code, or just spend way too much time on Engadget, Lifehacker, and BoingBoing, there’s a certain amount of reading that goes with the territory. And I’m not just talking about O’Reilly books here. Discovering “Snow Crash” or geeking out on crypto history teaches us part of the language we all share in tech. (Plus, it’s just really fun.)

From classic sci-fi to programming bibles and productivity hacks, we’ve collected the best of the best. See how many of the 50 Books Every Geek Should Read you’ve polished off, or pick your favorite category and start working your way through the rest. And be sure to let us know if we’ve missed any.

Sci-Fi Classics 1, 2, 3

Biographies

Design

Tech History 1, 2

Crypto

Software Development

Tech Philosophy 1, 2

How STUFF Works

Productivity

Online Reading


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    yoddel

    2 days ago

    232 comments

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    maidioljoin

    10 days ago

    56 comments

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  • Photo_user_blank_big

    sbxt185

    about 1 month ago

    6 comments

    Nice List, I need to read up.

  • Ima42_max50

    mitchster

    about 1 month ago

    6 comments

    What an excellent list. Thank you. I scored pretty good too. Hmmm.
    Many of these classics can be had for free on the internet.
    Shameless plug coming up...
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    Before Dec. 10th use the coupon code ...
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    and it's free.

  • Ca75_helena_max50

    usshelena

    2 months ago

    2 comments

    Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is a must. Not a lot of useful, current techn advice but fun as hell!

  • Vong4_max50

    TheDragonDo2009

    2 months ago

    10 comments

    Anyone tried ExamForce.com owned by Adaptive Learning calims to be owner of the Exam Cram books. Well I bought into their three of their lifetime package which has no money back gaurantee. I have not used any of it so far but they claim that their education program is the best way to get certified in anything that is out there from CCNA, MCSE, Comptia A+, etc. It cost me a lot of dough. i don't what possessed me to go with the marketers pitch. Maybe I didn't care if my credit goes rock bottom at the time and I am sitll unemployed and semi-self-employed or at least lightly working on it.

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    tbbrick

    2 months ago

    2 comments

    Remove Hitchhikers Guide, what a long, slow, miserable slog that was. Replace with Dune or 2001: A Space Odyssey.

  • Fullimg

    PureEvil

    5 months ago

    196 comments

    its not a book, but its awhole lot of comic books, but read transformers.

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    dodland

    7 months ago

    18 comments

    Neuromancer was really cool, and weird as hell. Loved it!

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    Jmachado

    7 months ago

    10 comments

    i study java as well.. in our class we are using a book called starting out with java and its written by dan gaddis. the book is explains things well but it keeps changing its programming style and it throws me off big time. im so confused..

  • Untitled_max50

    danman1453

    7 months ago

    26 comments

    i would like to suggest the book: "Physics of the Impossible", by Michio Kaku. Published by DoubleDay.

  • Photo_user_blank_big

    dandoocha

    8 months ago

    6 comments

    Hi,
    im new to java programming!
    this is the 3rd semester (starts tomorrow!!)
    and last semester i took data structures and algorithms and this semester
    i have to write a game and im not good in java programming but i really llike it!! i know its a bit weird but what books could really help me get into it ( the programming i wanna program as if im writing my name) ????

    what really works with me is practice soo????????

    thanks for the great article!!!

  • Photo_user_blank_big

    Mentatstrategy

    11 months ago

    2 comments

    I would like to add DUNE the the must reads

  • Photo_user_blank_big

    larry_blac

    11 months ago

    4 comments

    peteyv, there are many excellent tutorial books for C++ available, and as it is not used en masse for development, many of them are availailable at super super discounted prices. You can get something like "master C++ in 21 days' (ha ha ha ha ha...let me know how that works for you, should you try it), but there are legit programming references such as the C++ Developers Bible, which are excellent syntatical and vocabulary references; however, if you are a true novice programmer, it would be wise to first 'get your head' around the concepts of OOA&P as the language and syntax will avail you nothing if you do not understand the fundamental concepts of OOP....you will be able to write code, but should anyone ever have to come behind you to perform modifications or updates to your code, they will likely seek you out and shoot your porch light out each year for the remainder of your life!!!! A word to the wise from an old SE...take it for what it is worth.

  • Photo_user_blank_big

    peteyv

    11 months ago

    2 comments

    Hi. I'm a novice at programming. Can any of you suggest a book that will help me to get my head around the thinking process/logic that is necessary to really know what I'm doing? I feel like much of what I do is guess work or trial and error. My current challenge is C++. Thanks for any suggestions.

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