Featured books

Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering by Robert L. Glass
Provides 55 facts and 10 fallacies all backed up by references and data, with the (sometimes controversial) background behind each one.

On Writing by Stephen King
A fascinating insight into the mind - and writing process - of one of the greatest modern horror writers.

Featured authors

Katherine Kurtz and Deborah Harris - creators of Sir Adam Sinclair, Scottish Laird, investigator and Knight Templar, authors of: The Adept , The Lodge of the Lynx , The Templar Treasure , Dagger Magic and Death of an Adept

Laurell K. Hamilton - creator of the incredibly absorbing character of Anita Blake - Vampire Hunter, author of: The Laughing Corpse , Circus of the Damned , The Lunatic Cafe , Bloody Bones , The Killing Dance , Burnt Offerings , Blue Moon , Obsidian Butterfly and Incubus Dreams

Hot technical books

Refactoring to Patterns by Joshua Kerievsky
Building on both the Gang of Four "Design Patterns" book and Fowler's seminal "Refactoring" this is essential reading!

Generative Programming by Krzysztof Czarnecki and Ulrich Eisenecker
Destined to become a classic work on domain engineering and generic programming.

Recommended ColdFusion books

ColdFusion MX Web Application Construction Kit by Ben Forta, Ray Camden, Leon Chalnick and Angela Buraglia
The classic book on ColdFusion, now updated to MX 7.

Fusebox 4 & FLiP: Master-Class ColdFusion Applications by Jeff Peters
Everything you need to learn Fusebox 4 and the Fusebox Lifecycle Process.

Programming ColdFusion MX by Rob Brooks-Bilson
A great reference book - updated for ColdFusion MX 6.1.

ColdFusion MX Developer's Cookbook by Pete Freitag, Brad Leupen and Chris Reeves
A practical approach to learning more advanced ColdFusion MX programming.

ColdFusion MX Bible by Adam Phillip Churvis, David Churvis, Hal Helms and Charles Arehart
A comprehensive reference book.

ColdFusion MX: The Complete Reference by Jeffry Houser
Another extensive reference book on ColdFusion MX.

Recommended books on architecture and design

Building Application Frameworks by Mohamed E. Fayad, Douglas C. Schmidt and Ralph E. Johnson
A fascinating but extremely dense tome on designing, building, evaluating and using object-oriented application frameworks. The authors have based the book on their own real-world experiences.

Core J2EE Patterns: Best Practices and Design Strategies by Deepak Alur, John Crupi and Dan Malks
Although this book focuses on Java / J2EE, many of the patterns are more widely applicable. It's also a very pragmatic text about design patterns that will be valuable to all programmers.

Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object Oriented Software by Erich Gamma, John Vlissides, Ralph Johnson and Richard Helm
The seminal book on design patterns - hard to believe it's nine years old!

Java Modeling in Color with UML by Peter Coad, Eric Lefebvre and Jeff de Luca
This is a very approachable book about UML with some great hints and tips that will help you design better systems.

Object-Oriented Project Management with UML by Murray R. Cantor
This is one of my favorite books on the benefits of UML. Cantor shows how a systematic approach to modeling projects using UML helps you keep a grip on project management.

Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture by Martin Fowler, David Rice, Matthew Foemmel, Edward Hieatt and Robert Mee
An introduction to the complexities of writing enterprise applications and a catalog of forty design patterns to help you manage that complexity.

Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler, Don Roberts, Kent Beck, John Brant and William Opdyke
This ground breaking book discusses the problem of poorly designed and poorly implemented code and how to go about improving it without breaking things. The book has seventy proven refactorings with step-by-step instructions on how - and when - to apply them.

Streamlined Object Modeling: Patterns, Rules and Implementation by Jill Nicola, Mike Mayfield, Michael Abney and Mike Abney
An excellent book giving practical advice on modeling business systems and refactoring.

The Unified Modeling Language User Guide by Grady Booch, James Rumbaugh and Ivar Jacobson
The definitive tutorial on UML from its creators.

Recommended books on miscellaneous technology

Essential XML by Don Box, John Lam and Aaron Skonnard
Explore the possibilities of XML - highly recommended!

Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes by Ben Forta
I normally don't like these "Teach Yourself..." books but Ben's is a great little desk side reference that you can dip into whenever you have, well, ten minutes! Full of little gems that taught me a lot.

XML and PHP by Vikram Vaswani
This book taught me everything I needed to know about processing XML in PHP so I could drive this bookstore using XML!

Recommended C++ books

Modern C++ Design by Andrei Alexandrescu
Recommended by a friend of mine, this book explores advanced C++ techniques and how they affect design.

C & C++ Code Capsules by Chuck Allison
Based on Chuck's insightful C/C++ Users' Journal columns - see Chuck's web page for errata.

Generic Programming and the STL by Matthew H. Austern
I haven't read this, but Beman Dawes - C++ Library Working Group chair - says "I have read [this] and recommend it strongly. The combination of 70+ pages of introductory discussion and examples with nearly 500 pages of reference material works very well."

Scientific and Engineering Programming in C++ by John J. Barton and Lee R. Nackman
Ignore the introductory 100 pages but learn all you can about abstraction and templates in the remainder of this book!

Designing Components with the C++ STL by Ulrich Breymann
Using STL in anger.

Designing and Coding Reusable C++ by Martin D. Carroll and Margaret A. Ellis
I haven't read this but have heard good reports from folks I respect.

Advanced C++ Programming Styles and Idioms by James O. Coplien
A little out of date now but still worth reading.

Industrial Strength C++ by Mats Henricson and Erik Nyquist
A thorough reworking of the authors' public domain "Rules & Recommendations" coding standard to incorporate new ISO C++ features and real-world experience of applying previous coding standards.

Accelerated C++ by Andrew Koenig
The best book for beginners to learn C++.

Ruminations on C++ by Andrew Koenig
Based on his brilliant "C++ Report" column.

A C++ Primer by Stanley Lippman and Josee Lajoie
A good place to start learning.

Effective C++ by Scott Meyers
50 pearls of wisdom.

C++ Strategies & Tactics by Robert B. Murray
A broader base of hints and tips than Meyers' book - treat it as a follow-on.

C++ Programming Language, 3rd Ed. by Bjarne Stroustrup
The definitive book on C++.

Design and Evolution of C++ by Bjarne Stroustrup
Why C++ is the way it is - essential reading for C++ programmers!

Non-technical books

Rheingold by Stephan Grundy
An epic re-telling of the Germanic legends on which Wagner's "Ring Cycle" is based. Stylish and engaging.

Attila's Treasure by Stephan Grundy
The sequel to Rheingold, this novel recounts the life and times of the legendary Attila the Hun.

Gilgamesh by Stephan Grundy
After the stylish adaptation of the Germanic legends behind Rheingold and Attila's Treasure, Grundy turns to the Sumerian legend of the warrior-king Gilgamesh.

Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham
A great introductory book for anyone interested in Wicca who doesn't know any practicing Wiccans!

The Jesus Mysteries by Tim Freke and Peter Gandy
A fascinating look at the origins of Christianity and the background of Pagan Mystery religions in which it evolved.

Other subjects that interest me...

Books on paganism, bodyart, sports cars and cats.