Book/Essay List

A list of books and essays that anyone involved in the software/web development industry should read, understand and learn from.

Books

• The Art of project Management (Scott Berkun)
• The Best Software Writing I: Selected and Introduced (Joel Spolsky)
• Joel on Software: And on Diverse and Occasionally Related Matters That Will Prove of Interest to Software Developers, Designers, and Managers, and to Those Who, Whether by Good Fortune or Ill-Luck, Work with Them in Some Capacity (by Joel Spolsky)
• User Interface Design for Programmers (Joel Spolsky and Dave Winer)
• Information Architecture: Blueprints for the Web (Christina Wodtke)
• Getting Real (37 Signals) Free Download
• Defensive Design for the Web: How to Improve Error Messages, Help, Forms, and Other Online Crisis Points (37signals)
• The Tipping Point (Malcolm Gladwell)
• Blink (Malcolm Gladwell)
• Understanding Comics (Scott McCloud)
• Coder to developer (Mike Gunderloy)
• Design of everyday things (Don Norman)
• Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things (Don Norman)
• The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High-tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity (Alan Cooper)
• About Face 2.0: The Essentials of Interaction Design (Alan Cooper)
• Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams (Tom DeMarco, Timothy Lister)
• Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction (Steve McConnell)
• Rapid Development (Steve McConnell)
• The Mythical Man Month and Other Essays on Software Engineering (Frederick P. Brooks)
• How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built (Stewart Brand)
• The facts and fallacies of software engineering (Robert Glass)
• Don't make me think (Steve Krug)
• Utopian Entrepreneur (Brenda Laurel)
• The Elements of User Experience - User-Centered Design for the Web (Jessy James Garrett)

Anything to add, recommend, Email me. In addition take a look at:

• Don Norman's reading list
• Joel Spolsky's reading list
• Donna Maurer's reading list

Essays

Don Norman

• Human-Centered Design Considered Harmful
• Ad-Hoc Personas & Empathetic Focus
• Cautions Cars & Cantankerous Kitchens

Joel Spolsky

• Getting Things Done When You're Only a Grunt
• The Joel Test: 12 Steps to Better Code
• Painless Bug Tracking
• The Development Abstraction Layer
• The Guerrilla Guide to Interviewing
• Human Task Switches Considered Harmful

Scott Berkun

• Advice for new managers: part 1 & part 2
• How to make a difference
• How to survive a bad manager
• Why smart people defend bad ideas
• Why you must lead or follow
• Why smart people defend bad ideas

Ivan Towlson

• The parable of the managers
• Passion in the workplace

 As it is my website I'd like to suggest a couple of my articles too. :)

• User Experience in a software development team (Read Ivan's reply to this article)
• Personal Development
• Is being a generalist really a good thing?
• Wear sunscreen! (Advice for aspiring developers)