On a large number of ‘best of’ or ‘books that changed my life’ lists I always spot Gödel, Escher, Bach (GEB), the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Douglas Hofstadter.
When my copy arrived at my door recently I was taken aback by this tome and realised that it was going to be a dense read that will need—and hopefully reward—all of my attention. As with similar books, I will undertake background research and reading first so that I can fully appreciate all the concepts contained within.
This is when I found MIT’s ‘special programme’ specifically based on the book. While it doesn’t provide a wealth of useful, supplementary material (much like the Wikipedia entry), it does mention some good Bach pieces to accompany your reading.