Hoftstadter is fairly near standard isn't it? Assuming you mean actually reading GEB and not The Mind's I or I Am A Strange Loop. Not generally a course text bu

Hoftstadter is fairly near standard isn't it? Assuming you mean actually reading GEB and not The Mind's I or I Am A Strange Loop. Not generally a course text but very common reading among CS/AI students. Some of whom even read all the way to the end instead of just pretending to! The book I would most recommend software developers read is Mindstorms: Children, Computers and Powerful Ideas by Seymour Papert. It's a lot shorter. And probably more valuable. And one random side recommendation: The Daughter Of Time by Josephine Tey. It's a narrative exploration of how to challenge consensus belief, explore gut instincts and follow research leads, expressed as a perception-challenging historical review of Richard III by a fictional detective. The BBC audio book is worth a go. My copy of this book (which was my mum's copy) is one of the few things I'd rescue from the hypothetical fire. It stays with you.