I was thinking recently about how I came to where I am in my career and life, oddly, one book had a biggest impact on how I approach this industry, Microserfsby Douglas Coupland. THis is a pretty odd book, ostensibly its' about a group of coders who leave Microsoft and form a startup company, but in reality its' about self-discovery, friendship, and I suppose the existence of a generation of people who chose to lose themselves int their work rather than face life. If you haven't read this, I really suggest you do, its' one of a small collection of books that I read many many times (as evidenced by its' currently sporting a fetching duck tape binding :-)). It isn't a 'geek' book and its' not sci-fi, it is a Douglas Coupland book - and thats' a pretty unique thing!