Well over twenty years ago I decided I wanted to be a web developer. I've always learned best on my own an at my own speed, so I bought myself a copy of Welling & Thomas's book, PHP and MySQL Web Development (https://repository.unikom.ac.id/32751/1/php%20and%20mysql%20web%20dev.pdf). The book was just over 800 pages long, covering database design, security, e-commerce and so on. I read that thing cover to cover and returned to it many times in my first years starting out as a freelancer - it is probably the most useful book I've ever read in terms of what it unlocked for me "career" wise, though much of what I do in front of a screen is also a hobby for me.

Now, I'm looking for that experience again, I'd like a fat book on some new topic - could be web adjacent or something more obliquely related to programming. For context, I've just started running a Linux homelab and I'm finding gaps in my bash and sysadmin knowledge, I've also recently started dabbling with audio DSP in Rust - those might be good areas for suggestions - but I'm happy to hear any random recommendations!

Let this thread to be a space for both recommendations (preferably modern-ish editions) and publications that were pivotal for you in work and life.

One of the main reasons for posting is I'm seeing more and more content move online, but paging through digital books / websites and/or watching YouTube videos is just not the same as flipping through a good book for me.