Jay Levitt wrote:
> Yet I know I have much to learn, because I approach too many problems with
> an iterative, loop-based approach, when Ruby has such nice tools for
> parsing and list-processing and analysis.
> 
> So - any recommended reading?  What books will help me change the way I
> think about data?

It's worth going back to basics and watching the MIT SICP lectures. 
They got a lot of ideas I thought I knew straight in my head, and a lot 
of things that I thought were complicated turned out to be really 
simple.  There's also a free copy of the textbook that goes with it online.

The book: http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/
The lectures: 
http://swiss.csail.mit.edu/classes/6.001/abelson-sussman-lectures/

-- 
Alex