Could be about history of gaming, influence of gaming, violence/sex in gaming, childhood development, basically whatever. Just wondering if anyone has read anything worth while. i had to do a lot of research for a paper last semester and out of like 30 books i found on gaming only like 6 turned out to be of any help. Most of them are just very poorly written and have very little credible research. Thanks guys.

For the history of gaming, I would say give The Ultimate History of Video Games a read. It's probably one of the most complete histories and it's actually a fun read.

For design, two good books would be Game Design: Theory and Practice and Rules of Play. GD: Theory and Practice is a pretty easy read and isn't bad, just the guy who writes it (Ruchard Rouse, III) is so full of himself it isn't even funny. Rules of Play has some incredible information in it but it tries to be a little too acedmic and isn't exactly an easy read.

Making a Game Demo: From Concept to Demo Gold is another really good book. I know the guys that wrote it and they are both pretty awesome and the documentation chapter alone is worth the buy.

You don't need 30 books as long as you have four good ones. 

For game design, I'm gonna recommend the book that changed my life in that regard: Chris Crawford on Game Design. This guy practically invented video games; he worked at Atari before it went under and has such a sophisticated vision for what video games should be that you can't help but raise your standards. His vision is so lofty as to be neigh unattainable, but just aiming that high is bound to produce better games than you usually see on the shelves. He's cocky, but he's smart and funny.

Design books are the only ones I've bought about gaming, since game design is my career path. Can't help you outside of that.

Game Over is a good read. It gives you a lot of history and the seedy background of a former Nintendo. It's just old, so some of the information isn't current.

http://thewiikly.zogdog.com/author.php?author=8

that's all you need to know about gaming.

Not really looking for Game Design. Not really interested in the process, just the final results and how people/markets/society interact with them. I've read Game Over and it was one of the better ones i've come across. Thanks for the suggestions and if you have anymore please send them at me

The Ultimate History of Video Games sounds really good. I'm going to see if i can find it for a decent price and i might just buy it.