People sometimes ask me for book recommendations... here's a bunch. Maybe in time I'll add more, plus ratings, brief reviews, cover images, etc. (The current selection is skewed towards books I've read in the past few years, as I kept records of them and only had to paste the better ones in here.)

These are all books I've read and enjoyed, although some of the textbooks I've only studied parts of.

Science, Nature, and Math

Abelson and di Sessa, Turtle Geometry

Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species

Richard Dawkins, The Extended Phenotype

Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene

David Deutsch, The Fabric of Reality

Jared Diamond, The Third Chimpanzee

K. Eric Drexler, Nanosystems

Freeman Dyson, Infinite in All Directions

Freeman Dyson, Origins of Life

George Dyson, Darwin Among the Machines

Feynman and Leighton and Sands, The Feynman Lectures on Physics

Richard Feynman, The Character of Physical Law

Richard Feynman, QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter

J. E. Gordon, The New Science of Strong Materials

G. H. Hardy, A Mathematician's Apology

Douglas Hofstadter, Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies

Douglas Hofstadter, Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

Douglas Hofstadter, Le Ton beau de Marot: In Praise of the Music of Language

Douglas Hofstadter, Metamagical Themas

Douglas Hofstadter and Daniel Dennett (editors), The Mind's I

Evelyn Keeler, A Feeling for the Organism

Imre Lakatos, Proofs and Refutations

Lakoff and Johnson, Metaphors We Live By

Marvin Minsky, The Society of Mind

Roger Penrose, The Emperor's New Mind

Steven Pinker, How the Mind Works

Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct

William Poundstone, Labyrinths of Reason

Mitchel Resnick, Turtles, Termites, and Traffic Jams

Mark Ridley, The Cooperative Gene

Claude Shannon, A Mathematical Theory of Communication

Lee Smolin, The Life of the Cosmos

Lee Smolin, Three Roads to Quantum Gravity

Steven Weinberg, Dreams of a Final Theory

Amotz Zahavi and Avishag Zahavi, The Handicap Principle

Lofty Visions of the Future

K. Eric Drexler, Engines of Creation

Grant Fjermedal, The Tomorrow Makers

Hans Moravec, Mind Children

Hans Moravec, Robot: From Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind

Ted Nelson, Computer Lib and Dream Machines

Ted Nelson, Literary Machines

Ed Regis, Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition

Memoirs

Annie Dillard, An American Childhood

Freeman Dyson, Disturbing the Universe

Richard Feynman, ``Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!''

Richard Feynman, ``What Do You Care What Other People Think?''

Martin Gray, For Those I Loved

Joe Jackson, A Cure For Gravity

Doris Lessing, Particularly Cats

Robert Sapolsky, A Primate's Memoir

Robert Paul Smith, Where Did You Go? Out. What Did You Do? Nothing

Stanislaw Ulam, Adventures of a Mathematician

Graphic Design, Info Design, Usability

Donald Norman, The Design of Everyday Things

Edward Tufte, Envisioning Information

Edward Tufte, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

Edward Tufte, Visual Explanations

Robin Williams, The Non-Designer's Design Book

Writing

Lawrence Block, Telling Lies for Fun and Profit

Ursula K. Le Guin, Steering the Craft

Mary Oliver, A Poetry Handbook

Poetry

T. S. Eliot, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

Don Marquis, archy and mehitabel

Vikram Seth, The Golden Gate

Smith, The Faber Book of Children's Verse

Religion

Malaclypse the Younger, Principia Discordia

Raymond Smullyan, The Tao is Silent

Self Help

Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, Your Money or Your Life

Grace Llewellyn, The Teenage Liberation Handbook

Kenny Werner, Effortless Mastery

General Nonfiction

Elizabeth Barber, Women's Work

Susan Blackmore, In Search of the Light

Stewart Brand, The Clock of the Long Now

Leah Hager Cohen, Train Go Sorry: Inside a Deaf World

Hernando de Soto, The Mystery of Capital

Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel

Slavenka Drakulic, How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed

David Friedman, The Machinery of Freedom

Francis Fukuyama, Trust

Judith Rich Harris, The Nurture Assumption

Daniel Hillis, The Pattern on the Stone

Darrell Huff, How to Lie With Statistics

Robert Jourdain, Music, the Brain, and Ecstasy

Steven Levy, Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution

Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

Farley Mowat, The Boat Who Wouldn't Float

Farley Mowat, Never Cry Wolf

Paco Underhill, Why We Buy: the Science of Shopping

Science Fiction and Fantasy

Poul Anderson, Brain Wave

Poul Anderson, Fire Time

Poul Anderson, The High Crusade

Kage Baker, In the Garden of Iden

Iain Banks, Against a Dark Background

Iain Banks, The Bridge

Iain Banks, Consider Phlebas

Iain Banks, Feersum Endjinn

Iain Banks, Inversions

Iain Banks, The Player of Games

Iain Banks, Use of Weapons

John Barnes, One For the Morning Glory

Barrington Bayley, The Garments of Caean

Barrington Bayley, Star Winds

Greg Bear, Queen of Angels

Steven Brust, Agyar

Steven Brust, 500 Years After

Steven Brust, Jhereg, et seq

Steven Brust, The Phoenix Guards

Steven Brust, The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars

Steven Brust, To Reign in Hell

Steven Brust and Emma Bull, Freedom and Necessity

Steven Brust and Megan Lindholm, The Gypsy

Lois McMaster Bujold, Shards of Honor, et seq

Lois McMaster Bujold, The Spirit Ring

Emma Bull, War for the Oaks

C. J. Cherryh, Cyteen

C. J. Cherryh, Wave Without a Shore

Pamela Dean, The Secret Country

Pamela Dean, The Hidden Land

Pamela Dean, The Whim of the Dragon

Pamela Dean, The Dubious Hills

Pamela Dean, Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary

Pamela Dean, Tam Lin

L. Sprague de Camp, The Best of L. Sprague de Camp

Thomas Disch, Camp Concentration

Candas Jane Dorsey, Black Wine

Gardner Dozois (editor), A Day in the Life

Greg Egan, Axiomatic

Greg Egan, Diaspora

Greg Egan, Distress

Greg Egan, Permutation City

Greg Egan, Quarantine

Silvia Louise Engdahl, Enchantress from the Stars

John M. Ford, Casting Fortune

John M. Ford, Growing Up Weightless

John M. Ford, The Last Hot Time

Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Good Omens

Richard Garfinkle, Celestial Matters

Randall Garrett, Takeoff!

William Goldman, The Princess Bride

William Goldman, The Silent Gondoliers

Barbara Hambly, Dragonsbane

Barbara Hambly, Traveling with the Dead

Robert Heinlein, Citizen of the Galaxy

Robert Heinlein, Have Spacesuit -- Will Travel

Robert Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

Robert Heinlein, The Star Beast

Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

Robert Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

Robert Heinlein, The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag

P. C. Hodgell, God Stalk

Fred Hoyle, October the First Is Too Late

Barry Hughart, Bridge of Birds

Barry Hughart, The Story of the Stone

Diana Wynne Jones, Howl's Moving Castle

Diana Wynne Jones, The Tough Guide to Fantasyland

Patrice Kindl, Owl in Love

Donald Kingsbury, Courtship Rite

Donald Kingsbury, Psychohistorical Crisis

Rosemary Kirstein, The Outskirter's Secret

Rosemary Kirstein, The Steerswoman

Damon Knight, A for Anything

C. M. Kornbluth, The Syndic

Ellen Kushner, Swordspoint

Ellen Kushner, Thomas the Rhymer

R. A. Lafferty, The Devil Is Dead

Tanith Lee, The Silver Metal Lover

Stanislaw Lem (translated by Michael Kandel), The Cyberiad

Megan Lindholm, Cloven Hooves

Ken MacLeod, The Sky Road

Ken MacLeod, The Stone Canal

Maureen McHugh, China Mountain Zhang

Patricia McKillip, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

Daniel Keys Moran, The Long Run

Patrick Nielsen Hayden (editor), Starlight 1

Patrick Nielsen Hayden (editor), Starlight 2

Pohl and Kornbluth, The Space Merchants

Robert Reed, An Exaltation of Larks

Robert Reed, Black Milk

Robert Reed, Beyond the Veil of Stars

Robert Reed, Beneath the Gated Sky

Robert Reed, Down the Bright Way

Robert Reed, The Dragons of Springplace

Robert Reed, The Leeshore

Robert Reed, The Remarkables

Keith Roberts, Pavane

J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Rudy Rucker, The Hollow Earth

Rudy Rucker, Software

Rudy Rucker, White Light

Fred Saberhagen, The Holmes-Dracula File

Karl Schroeder, Ventus

John Sladek, Tik-Tok

Michael Marshall Smith, Only Forward

Norman Spinrad, Little Heroes

Olaf Stapledon, Star Maker

Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash

Neal Stephenson, The Diamond Age

Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon

Neal Stephenson, Zodiac

Bruce Sterling, Distraction

Bruce Sterling, Holy Fire

Caroline Stevermer, A College of Magics

Caroline Stevermer, When the King Comes Home

Marc Stiegler, David's Sling

Michael Swanwick, Stations of the Tide

Michael Swanwick, Vacuum Flowers

J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

Joan D. Vinge, The Outcasts of Heaven Belt

Vernor Vinge, The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge

Vernor Vinge, A Deepness in the Sky

Vernor Vinge, A Fire Upon the Deep

Vernor Vinge, Marooned in Realtime

Vernor Vinge, The Peace War

Vernor Vinge, True Names

Vernor Vinge, Tatja Grimm's World

Jo Walton, The King's Peace

Walter Jon Williams, Aristoi

Walter Jon Williams, City on Fire

Walter Jon Williams, House of Shards

Walter Jon Williams, Metropolitan

Gene Wolfe, The Fifth Head of Cerberus

Gene Wolfe, Peace

Gene Wolfe, The Shadow of the Torturer, et seq

Jack Womack, Ambient

Jack Womack, Random Acts of Senseless Violence

Roger Zelazny, Isle of the Dead

Roger Zelazny, Lord of Light

David Zindell, The Broken God

David Zindell, Neverness

General Fiction

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Dave Barry, Big Trouble

Francesca Lia Block, Dangerous Angels

William J. Brooke, A Telling of the Tales

A. S. Byatt, Possession

Italo Calvino, If On A Winter's Night A Traveler

Gilbert K. Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday

Alasdair Gray, Ten Tales Tall & True

Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Books

Patricia McKillip, Stepping from the Shadows

Patrick O'Brian, Master and Commander, et seq

Daniel Pinkwater, 5 Novels

Daniel Pinkwater, Four Fantastic Novels

Daniel Pinkwater, The Muffin Fiend

Mary Renault, The Bull From the Sea

Dorothy Sayers, Gaudy Night

James Thurber, The Thirteen Clocks

Donald Westlake, What's the Worst That Could Happen?

Patricia Wrightson, The Ice is Coming

Other

Douglas Adams and John Lloyd, The Meaning of Liff

Robert Bakker, Raptor Red

Nick Bantock, Griffin and Sabine

Alison Bechdel, Dykes To Watch Out For

Alison Bechdel, Dykes to Watch Out For: The Sequel

Alison Bechdel, Hot, Throbbing Dykes To Watch Out For

Alison Bechdel, New, Improved Dykes To Watch Out For

Alison Bechdel, Post-Dykes To Watch Out For

Alison Bechdel, Spawn of Dykes To Watch Out For

Alison Bechdel, Split-Level Dykes To Watch Out For

Alison Bechdel, Unnatural Dykes To Watch Out For

A. K. Dewdney, The Planiverse

Ian Frazier, Coyote vs. Acme

Geoffrey James, The Tao of Programming

Dave Langford, The Silence of the Langford

Dori Seda, Dori Stories

Dennis Shasha, Codes, Puzzles, and Conspiracy

Shel Silverstein, Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book

Raymond Smullyan, Satan, Cantor, and Infinity

Art Spiegelman, Maus I

Art Spiegelman, Maus II

Mark Twain, Roughing It

Computing

Abelson and Sussman, Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs

Phil Agre, Computation and Human Experience

Aho and Weinberger and Kernighan, The AWK Programming Language

Andrew Appel, Compiling With Continuations

Andrew Appel, Modern Compiler Implementation in ML

Jon Bentley, More Programming Pearls

Jon Bentley, Programming Pearls

Jon Bentley, Writing Efficient Programs

Tim Berners-Lee, Weaving the Web

Bird and de Moore, Algebra of Programming

Leo Brodie, Thinking FORTH

Frederick Brooks Jr., The Mythical Man-Month

W. H. Burge, Recursive Programming Techniques

Carriero and Gelernter, How to Write Parallel Programs

Cormen and Leiserson and Rivest, Introduction to Algorithms

A. K. Dewdney, The New Turing Omnibus

Edsger Dijkstra, A Discipline of Programming

Richard Feynman, The Feynman Lectures on Computation

Fraser and Hanson, A Retargetable C Compiler: Design and Implementation

Friedman and Felleisen, The Little Schemer

Friedman and Felleisen, The Seasoned Schemer

Friedman and Wand and Haynes, Essentials of Programming Languages

Gamma and Vlissides and Helm and Johnson, Design Patterns

David Gelernter, Programming Linguistics

James F. Gimpel, Algorithms in Snobol4

Goldberg and Robson, Smalltalk-80: The Language and its Implementation

Paul Graham, On Lisp

Philip Greenspun, Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing

Hennessey and Patterson, Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach

Daniel Hillis, The Connection Machine

Paul Hudak, The Haskell School of Expression: Learning Functional Programming through Multimedia

Kernighan and Pike, The Practice of Programming

Kernighan and Pike, The Unix Programming Environment

Kernighan and Plauger, Software Tools in Pascal

Kernighan and Ritchie, The C Programming Language

Donald Knuth, Literate Programming

Glenn Krasner (editor), Smalltalk-80: Bits of History, Words of Advice

Susan Lammers, Programmers at Work

Wm Leler, Constraint Programming Languages

Liskov and Guttag, Abstraction and Specification in Program Development

Henry Massalin, Synthesis: An Efficient Implementation of Fundamental Operating System Services

Peter Norvig, Paradigms of Artificial Intelligence Programming

Chris Okasaki, Purely Functional Data Structures

Richard O'Keefe, The Craft of Prolog

P. J. Plauger, Programming on Purpose I. (and II and III)

P. J. Plauger, The Standard C Library

Jef Raskin, The Humane Interface

Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig, Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach

Toffoli and Margolus, Cellular Automata Machines

Winston and Shellard (editors), Artificial Intelligence at MIT: Expanding Frontiers. Volume 1

Niklaus Wirth, Project Oberon: The Design of an Operating System and Compiler