Below is my main list.
Aspects of the novel - E. M. Forster.
George Orwell - Politics and the English Language.
Materials and Methods of Fiction - Clayton Meeker Hamilton.
Stephen King - On Writing.
Sol Stein - Solutions for Novelists: Secrets of a Master Editor
Elements of Style - E B White & William Strunk Jnr
Writers on Writing - Walter Allen.
Reading a Novel - Walter Allen.
The Short Story in English - Walter Allen.
The English Novel - Walter Allen
Tradition and Dream - Walter Allen
Well can I go against the trend here, I enjoyed Stephen Kings book, On Writing
The first part is all about how he started and I found that really interesting, I never knew he taught courses on creative writing, or that he always writes his books for his wife, she is his muse
The only thing I learnt about writing from his book - his pet hate is adverbs ! and he works very, very hard at it.
I recommend "Reading like a Writer" by Francine Prose.
Donkeys years ago I bought Dianne Doubtfire's 'The Craft of Novel Writing' and wrote one-and-a-bit novels on the back of it. The fact they were both rubbish wasn't the book's fault - I thought it gave a pretty good grounding.
Most recently (ie. about 5 or 6 years ago) I bought Nick Daws' 'Write a Novel in 28 Days.' Anything for a laugh, thought I. As it turned out it's probably the most useful CD I've ever purchased. Okay - I didn't write a novel in a month (36 months, actually) but it had loads of useful tips on planning and editing I've found invaluable since.
Best advice? Like David says, there's no substitute for hard slog. I wish there was :)