Simplify, Simplify

A great introduction to "lean UX". Very accessible — if you keep a copy at work, get more than one in case you want to refer to it when it's out on loan.

Nothing terribly new here, but clear writing and good thinking on a variety of topics. Not a "how to" book though.

My current favorite pen.

This is a good source of ideas and inspiration, more of the "firing up your energy" sort than offering specific solutions. It's the kind of book I think of as "professional fun", which despite the word "fun" is a very helpful thing.

Not for everybody, but reading this book is for me a wonderful experience. You don't read it all the way through; it's more of a workbook/reference. One of five books that make up the Center for Environmental Structure Series. I've not looked (yet) at the last three in the series because I think they become increasingly focused on architecture, building, and urban planning, and simultaneously get less generalizable. But the writing of the first two is so good that I plan to eventually read all five even if the last three contain very little a software guy can make use of!

Alexander is writing about architecture and building, not UX design and software, but somehow almost everything he says resonates with almost everything I do.

Tog has a wonderful gift for clear thinking, formulating testable hypotheses, and designing tests. I can't measure how much I learned from him at Apple and Healtheon.

His books are great resources, and don't miss Tog's long-running website either: AskTog.

After trying any number of software tools for wireframes and diagrams, OmniGraffle is my favorite; it's a tool that makes you (or me, at least) more productive! The Pro version is worth the extra cost because it interoperates with other popular formats like Visio (which is pretty good too, particularly if your production process involves Windows PCs).