What kind of book should I use next?

[Meden]

I am teaching myself C++ as a hobby out of a 2001 book I had bought for a class around that time which I did not give enough attention to. I have recently picked it back up and am really loving writing programs now. Even though the book is over a thousand pages long and I am doing all the exercises and writing all the programs, I am really going through it pretty fast. I'll probably be done with it in just another three weeks, so I am thinking ahead now for when I will be finished with it. I know Amazon can sometimes take a couple weeks to mail me a book, and I do not want to be stuck that long without my programming fix. Doing work out of a book has been very helpful to me, and it is the route I would like to continue on, but what kind of book should I be looking at next? The name of the book which I am working out of now is "STANDARD VERSION of Starting Out with C++, Third Edition, by Tony Gaddis." Doing a quick search on Amazon I have found that the most recent edition of the book is called "Starting out with C++, Early Objects, seventh edition." That recent version has its table of contents available online. It is a bit different than this third edition but seems to end with the same material.

I really have no idea where to go once I reach the end of this book. I guess I am just asking what kind of book should I look into next, and what might be a good book for that kind of book?

If it is necessary to assess my interests to answer that question, I can only say that my interests are all over the place. I'd be interested in improving the crappy software I use at work. I'd be interested in maybe making my own personal programs for the things I do at home. I'd maybe be interested in making a few small but creative games. I'm not terribly ambitious though. I just like to create stuff.

[JLBorges]

> Doing work out of a book has been very helpful to me, and it is the route I would like to continue on

http://www.amazon.com/Primer-5th-Edition-Stanley-Lippman/dp/0321714113

http://www.amazon.com/Accelerated-C-Practical-Programming-Example/dp/020170353X