Earlier in my development as a programmer, skimming books and hacking was standard. But, as programming became ingrained, reading on the topic became more and more enjoyable. Appreciating the intellectual approach, holding the ideas in my brain without needing a computer to figure out the concepts upped my appreciation of good writing rather than tutorials.

Books that I've really read and enjoyed:

JavaScript the Good Parts http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596517748

Coders at Work http://www.codersatwork.com/

Programming Erlang: Software for a Concurrent World http://www.pragprog.com/titles/jaerlang/programming-erlang

On Lisp http://www.paulgraham.com/onlisp.html

The common theme: the authors reflect on the wyhs not just the hows. Programmer personality matters.