https://www.amazon.de/QBASIC-Example-Special-Programming-Que/dp/1565294394

This is the first time I realised I could learn programming by myself. Before that, I learned only through parents/teachers. I've had better books, and better programming environments. but this book was a treasure to me as a kid. Later on, I would save up my allowance to buy anything published by QUE that made it to my local computer store. (No amazon/internet back then). And no "computers" shelf at the regular bookstores.

I really liked the fact that this book was teaching through examples rather than theory. Even today, I try to incorporate this teaching style when I have to organise a seminar about some new technology.

I'll bet that this is bound to change, but the Alchemist and Invisible Man both had a pretty big impact on me, though I'm not sure if that's translated into professional life stuff haha.

4 hours ago, Scouting Ninja said:

For me it would be The Wheel Of Time. It's a series but from the first book, the magic system is what drove me to make games in the first place.

I've got that series on my to read list, but that list is so gigantic at this point that I'm not sure when I'll get around to reading it.

It's hard to pick a single work, but I'd say either Earthsea or The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. I read both at a relatively young age, and they both cut pretty aggressively against the grain of fantasy tropes. They were a good entry into the wider realms of (non-Tolkien inspired) fantasy epics...

Hate to beat a dead horse but I'd have to go with Masters of Doom, simply because the events I was familiar with, and remembering small details like the comments in the Wolfenstein3D hint manual.  I've read it more than any other book, to the point where my friends at work, during breaks,  have commented "you've been reading that book for years! Havent you finished it yet?".  It has shaped me as a programmer and provided so many life lessons that have helped me make the right decisions and even moments of "told you so!".  David Kushner is a fantastic author who managed to shape the story into what could have easily been adaptated into a hollywood blockbuster.  My copy - from 2003 - is so worn now that I've selotaped the cover as I cannot give it up...its as important to me as my copies of SOTN and Panzer Dragoon Saga. LOL, I nearly murdered my brother when I found out he'd used my original copy of SOTN as a tea coaster, but thats a story for another time...

My second, most valued book, has to be An Animated Life by Ray Harryhausen and Tony Dalton, both whom signed my copy - and my brother's back in 2004.  As much as I am grateful to be of that generation that saw CGI storm into our daily lives with Jurassic Park, I have always had more love for the work of Harryhausen, who quite frankly was the ILM of his day.  The book is a magnificient tome that charts his entire life work and although I had boasted having seen all his films, one had evaded me, save for having seen it when I was a small child in the 80s...Mighty Joe Young - but I couldnt remember much, not even the name of the film.  For the life of me I could not find that film on DVD at the time and it always bothered me.  The book spoke of that movie where he finally got the opportunity to work with his beloved mentor - Willis O'Brian - on another Gorilla picture, and somehow I recalled a B&W movie where a large Gorilla fought a gang of lions...could it be the same one?  Sadly Ray passed away back in May 2013 and it upset me so much that I went the extra mile to obtain a copy of the film.  For a film made in the late 40s, it was bloody amazing...and yes, the fight with the lions was as amazing as I remembered it!  But for the connection to my creative hero, that book and that movie, it resulted in a turning point in my life - my hopes and dreams of more Harryhausen movies were gone with Ray.  I guess it was time to accept the world had changed, and at the age of 33( now 38 ), I was no longer a young person.  I feel An Animated Life is like the Wardrobe leading to Narnia - to a time long passed, before I was born, and Ray is my guide.

Theres more to tell but I dont think you'll find it interesting...

You know, I have this disturbing feeling I've made a similar post before...?  It must be old age setting in! o_O

So nobody has OpenGL Game Programming on their list? (I kid :))

This is a tough question. So many books having different impacts at different times, but here's a few that have had a major impact at various phases of my life:

• Jonathan Livingston Seagull - read it as a kid, again in college
• The Alchemist
• A Mapmaker's Dream
• Coach
• The Mental Game of Baseball (for the days I played baseball)
• The Last Lecture
• Execution (business)
• Agile Management for Software Engineering (scientific approach to sw dev)

And not really a book you read, but a long time ago I used to kill a few minutes reading through quotes in a mini-book from the Quote-a-Page series called "Positive Thoughts" (here it is: http://amzn.to/2BglHpJ). Sounds obvious what it's about, but reading through quotes like that seems to have an effect on mental state and well-being.. and eventually I discovered I came to think of some quotes as I encountered different situations.

I'm sure there will be more to the list in the future.

If I had to narrow it down to one of the above, probably Jonathan Livingston Seagull, just because it had such an early life impact.

Dream Park (Niven and Barnes)