According to a discussion I had in the comments on this SO question, it seems that asking for a list of book recommendations is verboten on Programmers.
The site's FAQ gives me the opposite impression. To me, as long as it's asking for recommendations a topic like the ones listed in the bullet list under "What kind of questions can I ask here?":
- algorithm and data structure concepts
- design patterns
- developer testing
- development methodologies
- freelancing and business concerns
- quality assurance
- software architecture
- software engineering
- software licensing
then it seems like that should be fine. It seems to me like a constructive type of question, and doesn't seem to violate the guidelines on what counts as a "constructive subjective question". A good book recommendation would include some explanation for why it's being recommended, which would make it right in line with the list of 6 characteristics to look for in the kinds of answers that a constructive subjective question should inspire.
Apparently what's supposed to tell me that the opposite is true is the sentence, "Chatty, open-ended questions diminish the usefulness of our site and push other questions off the front page." That doesn't communicate it to me, either. To me, asking about books related to a certain topic doesn't seem open-ended at all. After all, there's a defined topic being asked about.
So I'd like to suggest that the FAQ be clarified a bit. Perhaps an extra bullet point could be added to the list of things a question should not be about up at the top of the page? Perhaps something along the lines of
- Recommendations for learning resources, technologies, etc.