In addition, I have also read a lot of research papers, some of which are shown in the bibliography for my Ph.D. dissertation.

You may also be interested in some online full-text books. Drop me email if you find other good books. :-)

• The Holy Bible

  Life-time read. I read both NIV (New International Version) and NRSV (New Revised Standard Version).

• Mere Christianity: The Case for Christianity, Christian Behaviour, and Beyond Personality by C. S. Lewis, edited by Walter Hooper, Collins, London, 1988.

  I love this book! It is said to be one of the great classics of the twentieth century and C. S. Lewis is called ``one of the most influential spokesmen for Christianity in the English-speaking world.''

  You can read the first chapter of the book and hopefully you will find it interesting to carry on.

  More information is available from my web page on Christianity.

• Lin, Yutang's works

  He warrants a separate page. :)

• A computer network engineer's bookshelf

  What I want to appear in my bookshelf, :)

• Screwtape Letters by Lewis, C. S. (Clive Staples), New York, The Macmillan company 1961.

  Humorous letters that remind us of our own pitfalls. -- circa 2004.

• A Ph.D. Is Not Enough: A Guide to Survival in Science by Peter J. Feibelman, Perseus Books Group (January 1, 1994).

  A nice pocket book for PhDs in science. -- Jan 2005 ( link to Amazon for reviews)

• Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

  So far I have read the first four books (the philosopher's stone, the chamber of secrets, the prisoner of Azkaban and the goblet of fire) in the 7-book series.

  They are amazing, no wonder the author has become the second wealthiest woman in Britain, only next to the Queen.

• The tale of the bamboo cutter = Taketori monogatari modern rewriting by Yasunari Kawabata; translation by Donald Keene ; illustrations by Masayuki Miyata: Tokyo : Kodansha International, 1998.

  It includes both Japanese and English texts, useful for practising reading in Japanese with the help of English.

  The heartlessness of the heroine (Kaguya-hime) and gods impresses me most. Sigh, I almost shed a few tears. ;-)

• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

  A nice overview of this novel can be found at http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gatsby/.

  The novel is the favorite of the protagonist/narrator Mr. Watanabe in the novel Norwegian Wood by the Japanese contemporary writer Haruki Murakami. How I came across this book, please visit the link for more information. :-)

  I read the book due of curiosity after reading Norwegian Wood and conclude that some dreams on one's life indeed do not live to one's expectations.

• Unix system administration handbook by Evi Nemeth et al., Upper Saddle River, NJ : Prentice Hall PTR, 2001.

  One of the authors is glad to do without Unix machines finally. :)

• Programming embedded systems in C and C++ by Michael Barr, Sebastopol, Calif. : O'Reilly, c1999.

  A gentle introduction to the subject. -- June 2004.

• C++: The Core Language by Gregory Satir and Doug Brown, O'Reilly & Assoc., Inc., 1995.

  A nice introductory book to C++ for C programmers. -- Aug 2004

• Managing projects with make by Andy Oram and Steve Talbott, O'Reilly & Assoc., Inc., 1993.

  Short and well-written book on make. -- Sept. 2004 (2nd reading, link to Amazon for reviews)

• Agile software development ecosystems by Jim Highsmith, Boston : Addison-Wesley, c2002.

  Very high level description. ( Link to Amazon for reviews)

• Professional software development : shorter schedules, higher quality products, more successful projects, enhanced careers by Steve McConnell, Addison-Wesley Professional 2003.

  A nice book that advocates software engineering. -- Oct 2004.

• Embedded software development with e-Cos by Anthony J. Massa, Upper Saddle River, NJ : Prentice Hall, 2003.

  A nice book. Though not sure about how popular eCos is. -- Oct 2004 ( Link to Amazon for reviews)

• Spidering Hacks (online) by Tara Calishain, Kevin Hemenway, O'Reilly, Oct 2003.

  A very nice book. It opens up one's mind how far web automation can do. If you use Perl, then the WWW::Mechanize module can definitely help you lot. Enjoy it. :) -- Oct 2004.

  You may also be interested in visiting my scripts' web page which provides some helpful Perl and C/C++ programs.

• IP switching and routing essentials : understanding RIP, OSPF, BGP, MPLS, CR-LDP, and RSVP-TE by Stephen A. Thomas, New York : Wiley, c2002.

  A very gentle and clear introduction to the subject. -- Jun 2004.

• Radius by Jonathan Hassell, Beijing ; Cambridge [Mass.] : O'Reilly, 2002, c2003

  A nice book on this subject. -- Jun 2004 (2nd reading).

• Data networks, 2nd ed. by Dimitri Bertsekas and Robert Gallager, Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Prentice Hall, 1992.

  Only for people who have strong interest in theory. -- circa 2003.

  Chapters 3 and 4 are mostly useful for my work. -- Aug 2004 (nth reading)

• 3G Wireless Networks by Daniel Collins and Clint Smith, New York : McGraw-Hill, c2002.

  A lot of details and practical knowledge. -- Aug 2004.

• IPSec : securing VPNs by Carlton R. Davis, New York : Osborne/McGraw-Hill, c2001.

  An OK introduction because it covers a lot of grounds, though somewhat wordy and (small) errors abounding. -- Sept. 2004

• The IEEE 802.11 handbook : a designer's companion by Bob O'Hara and Al Petrick, IEEE Press, 1999.

  Very well-written book.

• 802.11 Wireless Networks: The Definitive Guide -- Creating and Administering Wireless Networks by Matthew Gast, O'Reilly, Apr 2002.

  Very well-written book too.

• 802.11 Wireless LAN fundamentals by Pejman Roshan and Jonathan Leary, Indianapolis, Ind. : Cisco, 2004

  Nice introduction. Some contents are more updated than the earlier two books. To know more about 802.11i (security) and 802.11e (quality of service, QoS), one needs to read corresponding standard or draft. -- Sept. 2004

• John Bogle on investing : the first 50 years by John C. Bogle, New York : McGraw Hill, c2001.

  Investment through index fund, though not sure about its versatility. -- circa 2003.

• The Warren Buffett way : investment strategies of the world's greatest investor by Robert G. Hagstrom, Jr. ; [foreword by Peter Lynch], New York : J. Wiley, 1997.

  It is fun to know more about the Warren Buffett way, though it is even more worthwhile to read the Berkshire Hathaway Inc's annual reports. -- circa 2003.

  You can also see Warren Buffett's influence in Google Inc's prospectus. -- Apr 2004.

  Investment is hard, and investment in improvement one's vocational skills may be even better/reliable than investment in money alone. -- circa 2003.

• Rich dad, poor dad : what the rich teach their kids about money that the poor and middle class do not! by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter, New York, NY : Warner Books, 2000, c1998

  The book must be a best-seller, because people like me who is stuck in the academic research dungeon for the most of his waking life heard of this book and read it. :-P -- circa 2003.

  The book strongly advocates investment in real-estate. Well, after the stock market bubble, people are looking for new ways of investment, or people have always been looking for magical ways of investment and getting rich. Maybe it is more important to do what you are truly interested in. Besides, spend more time with your family and friends. -- circa 2004.

• The great 401(k) hoax : why your family's financial security is at risk, and what you can do about it by William Wolman and Anne Colamosca, Cambridge, MA : Perseus Pub., c2002.

  Alternate opinion on 401(k) and also question about investment in the stock market. -- circa 2003.

• The Da Vinci hoax : exposing the errors in the Da Vinci code by Carl E. Olson and Sandra Miesel, San Francisco : Ignatius Press, c2004.

  A good rebuttal to ``The Da Vinci code'' and it helps to defend Christian faith. It will be better if the authors can give an annotated bibliography. -- Jan 2005. ( Link to Amazon for reviews)

For a list of these books, please visit my web page on Japanese language.