Which programming book you just couldn’t stop reading from start to end?
_The Little Schemer_, _The Seasoned Schemer_, _The Little MLer_. Those are made to be burned through, though. Probably not one sitting (many ideas need time to sink in), but only a couple sessions each.<p>More recently, _Land of Lisp_. I already knew much of the material, but a very fun read. (Nice stickers, too!) I'd suggest this as a starting point for people new to Lisp, maybe even before _The Little Schemer_ (!).<p>I read most of chapters 3, 4, and 5 of SICP in one night and the following morning. (I'm on the second pass, doing most of the exercises, and nearly done with chapter 2. I'm taking a break, though.)<p>_Thinking Forth_, by Leo Brodie et al.<p>_The Awk Programming Language_ by Aho, Weinberger, and Kernighan.<p>_Programming Pearls_ and _More Programming Pearls_ by Jon Bentley.<p>I couldn't put _CTM_ (<a href="http://www.info.ucl.ac.be/~pvr/book.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.info.ucl.ac.be/~pvr/book.html</a>) down, either. It took a while to get through, though - It's quite large. I tend to read two or three books in tandem and switch between them, but I was on that sucker 100% cover to cover. What a wonderful book!<p>I'm currently reading _Erlang and OTP in Action_ by Logan, Merritt, and Carlsson. I just got it in the mail yesterday, but quite good so far.<p>Also: When you're reading hard programming books, <i>do the exercises!</i> You don't have to do them all, though at least half is a good idea. It reinforces what you've read, and shows you what you actually know vs. what you just think you do. I tend to read the book first, then do exercises on the second pass.