There are a lot of books that have made it into the "hacker culture." Reading them is a fun way to get better at programming. I will give you up to 20 points of extra credit if you read any of the following books and discuss it with me:
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(free) Eliezer Yudkowsky's Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
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Douglas Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, and Bach.
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Peter Seibel's Coders at Work
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Jessica Livingston's Founders at Work.
You may also suggest another book that you think has hacker value. If I agree, I'll add it to the list.
IMPORTANT: If you've already read one of these books, that doesn't count. Read a different one.