http://www.amazon.com/Color-Magic-Discworld-Terry-Pratchett/dp/0062225677
I have been a huge fan of Pratchetts writing since I bumped into "The colour of Magic" many moons ago. He writes about a fantasy world whose origins are so clearly rooted in our own that his irreverent writing style and technical and scientific indulgences makes his stories feel far more real than they should. Whether he writes about insurance fraud, moratlity, equal rights, finance systems or the invention of the steam engine he consistently parodies reality in such a way that he makes some poignant social comments rooted in such an absurd and fantastic environment that you first think that it is ridiculous but closer examination reveals some striking parallels between this inconceivably chaotic imaginary world and our own.
The books have nothing to do with LabVIEW or Software engineering at all but I still find myself recommending them to anyone who appreciates the ability to tell hugely entertaining stories with sufficient peppering of scientific information to make those in the know unable to resist a smile.
I still gain joy from the moment where a troll character (silica-based lifeform) who is normally pretty dim-witted and slow thinking suddenly surprising everyone by become quite intelligent due to a sudden decrease in ambient temperature.
