I gave up and wandered around some more and landed in the computer section. Turns out tech books haven't gotten any better over the years. There are entire shelves dedicated to things I want to know the least about: Excel, Vista, Myspace, AJAX. I haven't bought a tech reference book in ages for the simple reason that they all suck. Sure, they've got useful information, but my questions are answered much more quickly by a few quick Google searches.
Something in me said "get a book" - which is strange, becuase I usually can't find the time to read. Excluding one book, I haven't read anything in full since high school.
That one book was Silence on the Wire, a great book on passive reconnaisance. It wasn't a novel, it was a technical book. Rather, it was a technical narrative. It read like a novel, but the content was similar to a reference manual. It was well written, and enjoyable to read. If you're a technical guy, and have some interest in security, then check the book out. Totally worth the read, and bonus that I learned a few things.
Anyway, back at Borders. I was out of place here among the stacks of Excel, Myspace, and AJAX for Dummies. Blah. On the top shelf was "Code 2.0" the 2nd edition of Lawrence Lessig's original. I read the preface, and it looked interesting. I'll post a review when (if?) I finish it.
Back at my original thought - am I the only one who fails to find real value in most tech books? I had bad experiences with "learn this programming language" books. I just can't get into them. Most of them fail for various reasons. Most programming books have the first 6 chapters filled with the same data as all the rest:
Chapters 1-3: Computers are not scary. Chapters 4-5: You can make computers do things! Chapter 6: This is a variable. This is an if statement. Chapter 7: Oh, you're still here? Hmm, Guess I should start talking about how to use Python. Chapter 8: Hello World! Chapter 9: Thanks for your $50.
Speaking of python. I highly recommend diveintopython.org if you want to learn it and are already familiar with programming. Buy the book or read it online - choice is good.
I've found the most value from pocket-type references. The same reason short papers are often more well written and more informative than longer ones. You've got to cut everything that isn't absolutely necessary. I wish more books did this. Who wants a 1200 page book on Microsoft Word anyway?