what are the best books in our field?

[Mark Gellis <mgellis -at- KETTERING -dot- EDU>]

Friends,

I'd like your advice.

I recently joined the faculty of Kettering University, a small, private
institution that specializes in educating engineers, scientists, and
business professionals.  They have provided me with a truly generous
"new faculty development grant" and I've decided that one of the best
things I can do with this money is to build my collection of works in
rhetorical theory, composition studies, technical and professional
communications, and related areas.  I already have a pretty good list of
books I think I should be getting, but I figured it could not hurt to
get some advice from my colleages.

This is my question.  If you had the money, I mean really had the money,
like a thousand dollar budget, and then some, to spend on books, what
books would you get?  What are the best new books that have come out
recently, the five or ten volumes published during the last decade that
everyone in our field should read?  And what are the classics of our
field, and the most important reference volumes, the books everyone in
composition or rhetoric or technical and professional writing should own
if they have the money to get their own copy?  What do you consider the
"bibles" of rhetoric?

I'm looking forward to your answers.  I know everyone has their own
favorites and I'm interested in hearing what different people are going
to recommend.  I think we may get some very interesting discussion out
of this question.

Mark