Guanxi

Guanxi, by Robert Buderi and Gregory Huang (both late of MIT's Technology Review) is a third-party view of the founding of Microsoft Research China and its effect on Microsoft's business in China. The book describes the people/personalities involved, the reasoning behind various decisions, and some of the cultural background relevant to succeeding in the country. The basic gist of it is: cooperate with the Chinese government and you'll get access to a huge market and lots of talent. Don't cooperate, and you'll get ignored and your competitors will get preferential treatment.

This tiny blurb reflects only my personal opinion.

Dreaming in Code

I just finished reading Scott Rosenberg's Dreaming in Code and as a software engineer, all I have to say is wow, did this hit home. It was a very accurate description of what can happen on a software project, even with talented programmers. There was also quite a bit of discussion about why we do what we do. If you want to manage a software project, read this book.