Ask HN: Most interesting, mildly impractical, well-written books on software?

Pragmatic Programmer

I agree that this is a great book, but I think it fails the "impractical" test

I agree it's well written but for me that's way more on the side of required reading.

Designing Data-Intensive Applications: The Big Ideas Behind Reliable, Scalable, and Maintainable Systems

Both Code and the course covered very similar topics. I really enjoyed and appreciated how clear and concise and friendly of a read it was

Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software

The contents of TAOCP are very well edited, just massive in scope

Programming Pearls and More Programming Pearls by Jon Bentley

maybe Crafting Interpreters?

I wonder if it really is one of the best books on interpreters

I highly recommend Bob Nystrom's "Crafting Interpreters". One of the best written programming books I've read.

Algorithm Design Manual

Concepts, Techniques, and Models of Computer Programming

Added both to my personal lists! Thank you!

Expert C Programming (Deep C Secrets) (Peter van der Linden) goes into some fascinating technical (and historical) tidbits related to C.

Purely Functional Data Structures

Purely Functional Data Structures by Chris Okasaki.

Why’s (Poignant) Guide to Ruby

Programming Erlang by Joe Armstrong