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Recommended Reading
Technical
Despite being told how similar C# is to VB.Net, I decided to get a beginner's guide and walk through it from the beginning. I've been happy with this book which is suited to the complete beginner as well as the professional picking up a new language. It includes a CD with all of the exercise code from the book.
I've found this to be a good reference to the concepts behind .NET and the changes in one of the most popular programming languages. For those who have worked with past versions, it covers changes to familiar concepts such as error handling and console applications while introducing the new features of Visual Basic.Net.
MCAD/MCSD Training Guide (70-310): Developing XML Web Services and Server Components
with Visual Basic .NET and the .NET Framework
These books from Que provide a complete guide for those on the MCAD / MCSD certification tracks. The material is in-depth and includes exercises to help you master every section. The 70-306 book was my main study guide that helped me pass the first exam and I'm now using the 70-310 guide in preparation for taking the next one.
2000 Edition
2002 Edition
2003 Edition
2007 Edition
Osborne’s Complete Reference series offers a lot of detail on all the features of the software. The books are really big but they have everything you’ll need.
97 Edition
2000 Edition
2002 Edition
When you're ready to move on to more advanced design features, these books focus heavily on concepts of VBA programming and application design for workgroups. There's so much information here that, beginning with the 2000 edition, the series was split into two volumes; Desktop and Enterprise.
Code Complete, Second Edition,
These two books focus on general programming and design practices, independent of the actual language. After you have a good grasp on designing databases with Access, including the writing of code modules, these books will give you an extra perspective on designing and maintaining quality applications.
Non-Technical
Alan Alda's autobiography is an enjoyable mix of stories and insights beginning with his early life around the Vaudeville performers who inspired him through his work on The West Wing. Although only a single chapter is devoted to M*A*S*H, fans of Hawkeye Pierce might occasionally hear his voice as Alda shares the stories from throughout his life and the cherished lessons he's learned.
I can only say that having seen the HBO series and read the book both are excellent. As always, only the book can truly do justice to the history presented and the stories of the men involved.
In this thoroughly researched work, Mark Pendergrast details every aspect of the history of coffee, from the legends of its discovery in Ethiopia to its social, political and business influences throughout history. The author talks about the production of coffee as well as the lives of the people it has affected in one way or another throughout the world. This is a dramatic and sometimes amusing account of how coffee came to be one of the most popular beverages ever known.
This is actually two stories in one. The book combines the actor's memoir with the story of his battle with Parkinson's disease, starting with its onset in 1990. Beyond merely coping with the disease, Fox details how the disease has changed him as a person and contributed to what he calls the best ten years of his life.
This book is an excellent account of the lives of Americans during World War II. It is a
tribute to the courage and the dedication of those who served this country both
overseas and at home during this critical time in world history. Many
books have been written about this period from various historical perspectives
but this account is a priceless compilation of the stories of those who lived
through it from their own viewpoints.
This is an in-depth look at "Radio's Golden Age" when Americans turned to their radios instead of the TV for their news and entertainment. Leonard Maltin (Entertainment Tonight) spent 11 years compiling first-hand accounts and other material for this book in which he looks at every aspect of the radio industry from the first radio broadcast through the end of the radio era in the early 60's. Behind-the-scenes photographs and interviews with surviving radio personalities give the reader a feeling of almost being there to witness America's old-time radio days. As history and as entertainment, this book is definitely worth reading.