This is a list of UNIX books that one should have around to get better at UNIX. The initial list below is started with recommendations from [Avdi Grimm](twitter.com/avdi). The idea is to have more people recommend books that need to be added to the list.

unix_books.md

Beginner/Intermediate:

• UNIX in a Nutshell
• UNIX Power Tools
• UNIX and Linux System Administration Handbook
• From Bash to Z Shell: Conquering the Command Line
• Working with UNIX Processes

Advanced

• Advanced Programming Unix Environment(http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Programming-UNIX-Environment-2nd/dp/0201433079/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329768694&sr=8-1)
• The Art of UNIX Programming - I like the first chapter (available freely on Amazon) that talks about the UNIX Philosophy as it is applicable to software development in general. The first chapter is definitely useful for people with all backgrounds. I cannot attest for the remainder as I myself have not read through it. You can find the electronic version of the whole book here. H/T Ryan Briones

Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment by Stevens is my #1

The Linux Programming Interface is one of the really good newer books.

TCP/IP Illustrated. All 3 Volumes.

"Working With Unix Processes": http://workingwithunixprocesses.com/

@mmangino @emboss @SeanTAllen @s2k Thanks guys! Would you recommend the books that you have listed for beginner level people trying to understand UNIX as well or is it mostly for advanced users?

I found "Working With Unix Processes" easy to understand (What's a process/process ID…), but is assumes some knowledge of Ruby.

👍 for http://workingwithunixprocesses.com

@tundal45 APUE is definitely not for the beginner. It's a book aimed at reasonably experienced C programmers. Once you have the basics of UNIX, it's a great way of getting down into the details so that you understand why things work the way they do. Over the course of my career, my deep knowledge of UNIX has been invaluable for debugging and performance purposes.