Our .net user group at UTDallas came up with the following reviews from the summer book club
1. Windows power shell in action, second edition: I am not sure if Manning was the first published to come up with a book on Windows power shell but all I know is that everytime I need a comprehensive book on a new topic like power shell Manning would have one coming up pretty soon. I am a fan of 'in action' books and Windows powershell in action covers the foundation as well as the advanced concepts like security. Being a .net developer power shell and dot net is my favorite chapter and I am amazed with what all I can do after reading this book. Must Read - Josh Perry
2. Hadoop in Action: Been in Microsoft technology stack for more than 5 years, I had been looking for an open source alternative for Big data and Hadoop caught my attention. Hadoop in action was the only resource I used to learn Hadoop and I know enough to be dangerous :) I recommend the book for anyone who wants to get into distributed systems and get a great understanding of map reduce algorithms: Chris Coley
3. Android in action, second edition: If you are looking for a book that is promising enough to take you not only the through the basics of Android but to the next level, this is it. Android in action, covers graphics, multimedia, bluetooth and sensors, localization and app widgets apart from the quintessential fundamentals of android programming. Android development has been fun and easy after reading the book. Abhay Gupta