SCJP: Sun Certified Programmer for Java Platform Study Guide: SE6 (Exam CX-310-065) by Richard F. Raposa
Here is a primer on Java that will be useful if you are getting certified. It includes material on recent improvements to Java such as generics. 500 pages, and a CD with test questions and the pdf book.
Database design : know it all / Stephen Buxton, Morgan Kaufmann /Elsevier, 2009
Here is a compendium of chapters by 17 authors, all of who are experts on databases. It is a mix of theory and practical information. 350 pages, hardcover.
Beginning ASP.NET E-Commerce in C# : from novice to professional / Cristian Darie, Apress 2009
You may recall ASP as a server-side scripting language, but this book has moved on from that. This book teaches C# and .NET, and practical business planning. It is well written, with much example code, and covers all the details you will have to think of in creating an e-commerce site. 700 pages.
Beginning the Linux command line / Sander van Vugt, Apress, 2009
Some of this is basic, but it gets interesting with yum, zypper, tunneling, samba, kernel modules, and bash scripting. 350 pages.
Beginning Portable Shell Scripting : From Novice to Professional / Peter Seebach, Apress, 2008
Many years ago I learned scripting by reading the boot time scripts in SunOS or System III. Life would have been so much easier with this excellent book! You need this book when you are writing an installer for a software product. Or automating something like backups with cron. Or checking that your machine is secure. Or…
GPS for dummies 2nd edition / by Joel McNamara, Wiley, 2008
Here is a book to help you use your GPS unit. This topic popped out at me: your cellphone uses ‘Assisted GPS’ which combines GPS signals with cellphone tower triangulation (if you have paid fees…). You will find other interesting topics here. 350 pages.
jQuery in Action / Bear Bibeault, Manning, 2008
If your web app involves lots of javascript, then you probably should be using the jQuery library. This book is a very readable introduction. 300 pages.
Apache cookbook / Ken Coar, O’Reilly, 2008
The Apache web server is a big, very configurable system. This book shows you how to best use it, by example. 250 pages, legendary ORA quality.
Spring in action / Craig Walls, Manning, 2008
Spring is a web app server framework for Java J2EE. This book covers version 2.0, and is a top-notch intro and reference.
700 pages
Practical API design : confessions of a Java framework architect / Jaroslav Tulach, Apress, 2008
All programmers should read this before designing any code. The book was written by the founder of NetBeans. 350 pages, hardcover.