[EltonJ]

uh . . .
The Art of War by Sun Tzu . . . I have to read this book.  This book applies to both players and GMs alike.
The Prince by Michiavelli.  Geeze. I played the video game based on this book. Politics up to the wahazoo.
Neuromancer by that author that hates Shadowrun.  Read it.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick. Another read. Inspired Bladerunner.

More books to add to the Shadowrun reading list.

[farothel]

Tom Clancy's netforce: it gives good explanations on VR in case you want to describe this in more detail.

Mother of Storms by John Barnes: it has descriptions of simsense and AIs, as well as being quite entertaining.  It might even serve as plot idea.

[Club]

Are you seriously recommending one of the 'Tom Clancy brand' books? Admittedly I haven't read netforce, but the couple I did read (they were available, I was indisposed) were amateurish crap.

John Walter Williams wrote a book called "Hardwired,' the genesis of the cyberpunk rigger.

'Next,' by  Michael Crichton. You just see the edges of the shadowrun; only the face shows in person.

Pattern Recognition, by Gibson. It's got a good description of primitive, contemporary AR

[farothel]

Are you seriously recommending one of the 'Tom Clancy brand' books? Admittedly I haven't read netforce, but the couple I did read (they were available, I was indisposed) were amateurish crap.

If you want deep, involved plots and strange plot twists, don't read them, that's true.  But for light reading, for instance on a plane or while waiting in the airport, they're not bad.  And I think it earlier work (like Hunt for the Red October and Patriot Games) isn't all that bad.

And concerning Netforce, I recommend it mostly for the VR descriptions and it can also give some insight for a hacker as how to avoid police attention, which is not a bad idea for a shadowrunner.  These are also books not written by Tom Clancy alone.  In fact, some (espeically the later ones) are not written by Tom Clancy at all, they just have his name to sell better.

Also a book can be not a top book but still provides many ideas for a GM.

[Spooky]

Armor by John Steakey for military/security armor descriptions and what it might be like to be in a suit for extended periods of time.
The Bolo Series for military tanks and (at the higher mark numbers) rigging with an AI assist. (deus ex along for the ride... )

[Club]

And I think it earlier work (like Hunt for the Red October and Patriot Games) isn't all that bad.

I'll agree that Clancy was a decent author at the beginning of his career. Beginning in the early 90's he started believing his own hype and the quality went down fast. At the same time he started to franchise his name, like you mentioned, and put his label on other people's glop. I'm rather sorry I read Teeth of the Tiger, HIS last book. It read like a bad wish-fulfillment fantasy full of plot, legal, and professionalism holes. 

The Sten series, by Cole and Bunch. Protagonist guy is a professional terrorist / government agent, depending on how you look at it. Think militant CIA.

 Richard Marcinko's Rogue Warrior series. This stuff reads reads like mediocre Clancy, but it's still about a small team of military infiltrators. I liked it as a teen, but my attempt to re-read it a few years back left me unpleasantly surprised. But the guy was a big name in the SEALs for years, apparently.

[farothel]

Richard Marcinko's Rogue Warrior series. This stuff reads reads like mediocre Clancy, but it's still about a small team of military infiltrators. I liked it as a teen, but my attempt to re-read it a few years back left me unpleasantly surprised. But the guy was a big name in the SEALs for years, apparently.

If you want books about military infiltrators, try Andy McNab's books.  It's about the British SAS mostly.  I haven't read any of them, so I can't account for quality or accuracy, but he's apparently been a member of the SAS himself, so the technical details will probably be correct (even if the main plot is fiction).

[ScytheKnight]

This one is a bit left field, but for those writing their own campaigns - The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. A really good outline of the typical "Heroes Journey", now yes it's something not necessary a good one for Shadowrun. But IS an in-depth analysis of the most common story format in the world. Something handy to know for ways to prop up a flagging story, or common pitfalls and cliches to try and work around.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

David Drake's Hammer's Slammers books and short stories; good military fiction.
Miyamoto Musashi's Book of Five Rings; Sun Tzu pared down.
Matthew (Woodring) Stover's Acts of Caine.  The first one especially has a very groovy SF/Fantasy mix.
Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, of course, though the more current stuff is getting to the 'quite-a-bit-of-karma' stage...

[biotech66]

Felt this was necessary....
http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-essential-cyberpunk-reading-list-1714180001

[witchdoctor]

Another good read is Shadow Ops since it feels like an alternate universe version of Shadowrun for me. Magic comes back and you've got the shadowy mega-corp pulling strings behind the scenes to make profits through decidedly morally questionable means.

[CraterShip]

Any of the Cassandra Kreznov novels by Joel Shepherd are great for a different perspective on AI and hacking on the fly. I would recommend any of the original three, but have yet to read the follow-ups. William Gibson's Mona Lisa Overdrive was pretty good as well for the Sci FI side. I have also read both sun Tzu and Machiavelli, but neither have really inspired me as far as the universe goes, they are a bit too big picture to match with my small unit tactics ideal of SR.

Out of curiosity, anyone read any good fantasy that meets the awakened side of SR? Seems like most posts have been on the Sci Fi cyberpunk side.

[MijRai]

The Subterrene War trilogy is one of my absolute favorite dystopic near-future science-fictions, complete with some cyberware and plenty of the bio in limited directions. 

As far as the Fantasy aspect goes, I can't think of many.  The Witcher series, perhaps.  Alexey Pehov's Shadow series.  Kelly McCullough's Blade series.  Steven Erikson's Malazan Books of the Fallen.  Glen Cook's Instrumentalities of the Night and Black Company books...  Basically, aim for Dark Fantasy over anything else.  It get closer to the dystopic vibe of Shadowrun. 

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Matthew Stover's Acts of Caine kind of works on both sides of the coin ... just not (usually) both at once ...

[The Anchorite]

Norman Spinrad's "Little Heroes" especially if you're dealing with corps and rock & roll. Kibble for teh win.

https://books.google.com/books/about/Little_Heroes.html?id=IHkgAQAAIAAJ