Pill #1

Effective C++: View C++ as a federation of languages
This is an interesting point of view. It really changes the way I approach each aspect of C++ and when I should use what convention. I think I need to really read "Design and Evolution of C++" (amazon) to find out how the language got here.

C++ Coding Standards: Don't sweat the small stuff
This item title is a little off. It should be more like, be consistent and know when to draw the line with standards. But, it wouldn't be as short or catchy. I'm a big offender of this because I can be inconsistent and I over analyze what standards I should use. I now know why Herb and Andrei put this one first.

Design Patterns: Abstract Factory (wikipedia)
This is a great pattern. It's really interesting to see so many languages and toolkits use this pattern. It looks like a lot of GUI toolkits use this pattern to enable cross platform capabilities.

By the way, I love how Addison Wesley attaches a cloth strip bookmark to their hardbound books. In my opinion, they are the best software development book publisher.