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Check out the Video Game Book Source for books separated by discipline. Highly recommended!
Challenges for Game Designers (Shameless Self-Promotion)
Character Development and Storytelling for Games (Game Development Series), Lee Sheldon
The quintessential book on game writing by a very experienced designer and writer.
Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames, edited by Bateman
recommended for Narrative Content Design
Theory of Fun for Game Design, Raph Koster
A classic and a yearly read for me.
Understanding Comics
a favorite book among game designers
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
The seminal book on the zone that all designers want players to reach.
Patterns for Game Design, Bjork and Holopainen
required for Design Patterns
Game Design, 2nd Edition Bob Bates
an excellent and well written book that’s great for people new to game design. Cheap, too.
Game Design Workshop, 2nd Ed, Fullerton
Great Games for Parents & Kids to Play Together
Hey, That’s My Fish!
Dragon Parade
Great Games
1960: The Making of a President
4000 AD (Waddingtons Games)
The Creature That Ate Sheboygan (SPI)
Stellar Conquest (Avalon Hill)
Advanced Civilization (by Avalon Hill, I think)
Advanced Squad Leader
Betrayal at the House on the Hill
Blue Max
Bridge
Carabande (I forget the English version name of this).
Chess
Double Fanucci (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Fanucci).
Empires in Arms
Eurorails, Nipponrails, Iron Dragon, etc.
Ghost (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_(game) )
Hare & Tortoise (aka Hase und Igel).
King Me, Tsuro
Knizia’s Lord of the Rings
Liar’s Dice (aka Bluff)
Magic: the Gathering
Memoir ‘44 and/or Battlecry and/or Battle Lore
Nomic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomic)
OGRE/G.E.V (by Steve Jackson)
Piecepack (www.piecepack.org)
Poker
Republic of Rome (Avalon Hill)
Samurai Swords (aka Shogun)
Sanctuary (Mayfair)
221B Baker Street
Diplomacy (Avalon Hill/WotC)
History of the World (Avalon Hill)
Set, and/or Ricochet Robot.
Six Nimmt and/or Diamant
Spades
Spellcaster (http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~gc00/reviews/spellcaster.html)
Tales of the Arabian Nights (West End)
Star Trek: The Adventure Game (West End)
Voyage of the BSM Pandora (solo – Ares magazine #6)
Sorcerer’s Cave (Ariel) and its bemusing sequel, Mystic Wood (Avalon Hill)
Barbarian Prince (solo – Dwarfstar Games)
Source of the Nile (Avalon Hill)
King Arthur’s Knights (Chaosium)
Runebound (Fantasy Flight Games)
The Very Clever Pipe Game (CheapAss Games)
Ticket to Ride
Shadows Over Camelot
Pirate’s Cove
Cleopatra and the Society of Architects
Cosmic Encounter
Titan (Avalon Hill)
The Lords of Underearth (Metagaming)
Valley of the Four Winds (Games Workshop)
Borderlands (Eon)Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation (Fantasy Flight Games)
Werewolf
World in flames
X-Machina

love this book list! I would also recommend Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, it’s about the way the subconscious processes information in parallel with the conscious mind.