Linus Torvald’s biography, Just For Fun, is a great read. I liked that it’s both the history of Linux and also showcases his personality and how he thinks.
Linus has a good take on IP in general in his book http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_for_Fun Wonder if he's changed his mind since?
I definitely agree with your first exercise. It would give some kind of confidence and any newbie would feel at home to web apps. Reading SICP/git; add to that Data structure CS stuff is not at all mandatory to become hacker. Thats the "school" way or maybe it worked for some people. My gut feeling is you need to work on some part of your app every day. It would lead to html/css/JS and then get/post basics and common boilerplate routines for them in java/python/ruby etc.Unless until someone starts real programming; reading books wont do any good. Stumble across problem; Google; download…
Linus's biography, Just For Fun, is not bad. I have sentimental attachments to Man Out of Time, the Tesla biography. No Man Knows My History is about Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon church. It is naturally controversial to the LDS, for its depiction of Smith as a polygamist con man who fell sideways into a religious racket and never quite fell out. I found it very readable, full of color. It might depend on your interest in the period and the subject matter. Stephen King's On Writing is about half biography, half writing manual. I thought it was terrific. It's had several rereads…
I know only two from your list: - Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values These 2 is one of the best books about philosophy and the world of ideas I've ever read.