[russnewcomer]

- The Pragmatic Programmer - helped me see some common pitfalls and figure out how to avoid them. Also gave me some good language for working with others.

- Coders at Work - hearing how some very experienced people thought about software was perspective altering for me in a good way.

- Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks about - Knuth has a depth to him and his thinking that freed me to have depth in my own thinking. While not strictly a software engineering book, the integration of all areas of life was and is inspiring.