[azalemeth]

When I was 18, I read Gödel Escher Bach, an Eternal Golden Braid on Minds and Machines in the Spirit of Lewis Carol, by Douglas R Hofstader. It's a book that won a pullitzer prize in the 1970s and is about maths and formal logic, but really gives you a flavour of how consciousness might come about.

[kleer001]

Another vote for G.E.B.

I've come to realise that it's a bit long winded and winding, but it's pretty nice to go deep into. Like, just read it straight through.