The Passionate Programmer contains a really insightful mix of advice, it manages to tell developers how to "be", without being preachy or patronising. There are some great stories in there, but mostly it talks about how to frame your thinking such that you can't help succeeding.

She notes that the pieces of advice in the book make for a good, engaging read and that can give the reader some directions to move to better themselves and their career. Her personal favorite section dealt with mentors/mentoring and how we as developers should constantly be both - always providing the "younger" generations the input they need while looking to the leaders of our communities to grow even more.