I came to this glorious realization after reading two books recently, "Managing Humans" and "Joel on Software." Two books written by managers about their theories on life, management, and other things.

Coincidentally, both books started out as published on the Web first, then gathered and edited into a more organized fashion as printed books. Some new material was added in spots. Sure, maybe you can read it all for free, but it's nice to have it in a portable form that doesn't require a wireless connection to read on the train.

Of the two, "Managing Humans" lets us more into the managerial thought processes of a guy who has chosen management as a career option and is doing it in Silicon Valley. "Rands" (his pseudonym) gives us an interesting set of essays linked together by section themes. I liked this book mainly because it gave me an idea of how managers can think, and maybe a set of benchmarks for how great managers should behave at all times. There is humour and some interesting stories in it, and you might recognize yourself in one or two of them. He also includes his thoughts on the interview process.

And if you can ever think of freshly baked bread as just freshly baked bread after reading this, you're a more disciplined person than I.

Joel Spolsky's book doesn't always stick to stories about management. It is more geared towards giving his thoughts on what makes a great software development environment. Perhaps it is more noticeable for the lack of management stories, instead preferring to say "hire great people, give them a good environment, and let them work". The other thing is that since the book goes over a wide date range from Joel's Web site, some of the references are a bit outdated (there's a lot of usage of the cutting edge Netscape browser, for example). However, the lesson being taught by using said browser as a reference is really timeless in the software industry.

Joel has some other nice stuff here, including his test for a good software development process, and an explanation of why technical writing often sucks. (Spoiler: It's really not the fault of the writer.) And he describes his interview process.

Both writers describe their method of interviewing for new candidates, which in itself made the purchase of both worthwhile for me.

"Managing Humans" by Michael Lopp, Published By: Apress, ISBN:9781590598443

"Joel on Software" by Joel Spolsky, Published By: Apress, ISBN:9781590593899