• Rabiner & Juang: Fundamentals of Speech Recognition (1993)
• Huang, Ariki, & Jack: Hidden Markov Models for Speech Recognition (1990)
• Young & Bloothooft: Corpus-Based Methods in Language and Speech Processing (1997)
• Jelinek: Statistical Methods for Speech Recognition (1998)
• O’Shaughnessy: Speech Communications: Human and Machine (1999)
• Huang, Acero, Acero, & Hon: Spoken Language Processing: A Guide to Theory, Algorithm, and System Development (2001) [I have]
• Chou & Juang: Pattern Recognition in Speech and Language Processing (2003)
• Schroeder: Computer Speech: Recognition, Compression, Synthesis (2004)
• Rabiner & Schafer: Introduction to Digital Speech Processing (2007)
• Jurafsky & Martin: Speech & Language Processing (2008) [I have]
• Deller, Hansen & Proakis: Discrete Time Processing of Speech Signals (1999)

Machine Learning

• Mitchell, Carbonell, & Michalski: Machine Learning: A guide to current research (1986)
• Hastie, Tibshirani, & Friedman: The Elements of Statistical Learning (2001)
• Bishop: Pattern Matching and Machine Learning (2006)
• Duda, Hart, & Stork: Pattern Classification (2006)
• Haykin: Neural Networks (1999)

Signal Processing

• Rabiner & Shafer: Digital Processing of Speech Signals (1978)
• Proakis & Manolakis: Digital Signal Processing: Principles, Algorithms, and Applications (2006)

Algorithms & General Computer Science

• Stark & Woods: Probability, random processes, and estimation theory for engineers (1986)
• Sedgewick: Algorithms in Java (2003)
• Aho: Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools (2007)
• Grune & Jacobs: Parsing techniques: A Practical Guide (2008)
• Cormen, Leiserson, Rivest & Stein: Introduction to Algorithms (2nd Edition) (2001) [I have]

Natural Language Processing / Computational Linguistics

• Winograd: Language as a Cognitive Process (1983)
• Allen: Natural Language Understanding (1995)
• Young and Bloothooft: Corpus-Based Methods in Language and Speech Processing (1997)
• Manning & Schütze: Foundations of statistical natural language processing (1999)
• Mitkov: The Oxford Handbook of Computational Linguistics (2003)

Speech UI Design

• Chafe: Discourse, Consciousness, and Time: The Flow and Displacement of Conscious Experience in Speaking and Writing (1994)
• Bullinger & Ziegler: Human-computer Interaction: Ergonomics and User Interfaces (1999)
• Weinschenk & Barker: Designing Effective Speech Interfaces (2000)
• Jacko & Sears: The Human-Computer Interaction Handbook: Fundamentals, Evolving Technologies, and Emerging Applications (2003)
• Kotelly: The Art and Business of Speech Recognition: Creating the Noble Voice (2003)
• Cohen & Giangola: Voice User Interface Design: User Interface Design (2004)
• Harris: Voice Interaction Design: Crafting the New Conversational Speech Systems (2004)
• Sims: Berkshire Encyclopedia of Human-computer Interaction: Volume 1 (2004)
• Dahl: Practical Spoken Dialog Systems (2005)
• Nass & Brave: Wired for Speech: How Voice Activates and Advances the Human-computer Relationship (2005)

i just finished reading this book and i’m already looking into buying their next book “Why Do Men Fall Asleep After Sex?”. it was a very interesting book, full of answers and simple facts on many questions you have asked yourself at least once but never bothered finding out. the subtitle is spot on: “Hundreds of Questions You’d Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini”.

Leyner is a writer, he can be spotted in the New Yorker and GQ, and Golberg is a doctor in New-York. you’ll love the mix of humor and scientific explanations on questions such as: “why do old ladies grow beards?”, “does coffee stunt your growth?”, and “can lip balm be addictive?”. when the authors write “we expect it to be toilet reading”, they are probably right, but i still think that it makes for a very entertaining read.

• Ernst Mayr: What Evolution Is
• Steve Jones: Darwin’s Ghost: The Origin of the Species Updated
• (Or Charles Darwin: The Origin of Species directly if you have the patience and the wits…)

I’ve tried to give a certain order to the following list. The most influencial writers in comtemporary evolution theory come first. For example, Maynard Smith and Ernst Mayr are two very good writers and researchers from the 20th century. Super important stuff. One interesting note here, Niles Eldredge was the co-inventor of the theory of Punctuated equilibrium, on which you can read a really interesting article from Stephen Jay Gould’s free online archive.

• John Maynard Smith: Evolution and the Theory of Games
• John Maynard Smith: Evolutionary Genetics
• Ernst Mayr: Toward a New Philosophy of Biology: Observations of an Evolutionist
• Carl Zimmer: Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea.
• Stephen Jay Gould: Ontogeny and Phylogeny
• Richard Dawkins: Climbing Mount Improbable
• Richard Dawkins: The Selfish Gene
• Niles Eldredge: Reinventing Darwin
• Niles Eldredge: The Natural History Reader in Evolution
• Jared M. Diamond: Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
• Jared Diamond: The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal
• Daniel C. Dennett: Darwin’s Dangerous Idea
• Michael T. Ghiselin: Metaphysics and the Origin of Species
• P.J. Greenwood, et al.: Evolution
• Matt Ridley: The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature
• Daniel C. Dennett: Freedom Evolves
• Nils L. Wallin, et al.: The Origins of Music

I finally ended up in the Design section and I decided to get Kimberley Elam’s book on the Geometry of Design. Only then did I decide to also get Jeffrey Zeldman’s book Designing with web standards. So here I am now. Two new books and a whole lot to learn.

I’ve only started to read the book by Kimberley Elam and it is really good. I mean, I’m almost done already and I’ve owned it for only two hours. The topic is really interesting, touching how mathematics can be applied to beautiful design or, in fact, how mathematics potentially explain why we prefer some designs to others. It’s a real eye-opener and I suggest it to anybody who would like to read a little on this subject. Great buy!

As for the book by Zeldman, it is basically a bible in terms of how to respect web standards when developping on the web and a little introduction to the main topics surrounding the web development of today. I haven’t really started to read this one, but the couple lines I’ve read here and there were really promising. I will let you know officially what I thought when I am done. For now, I have some reading to do.