Commentary by cpressey on BASIC works
BASIC Fun
The BASIC Book
Computer Programming in BASIC for Everyone
Diggin' the 'stache, Carl!
True BASIC by Problem Solving
Jt's Conversations on True Basic (Mac)
This unusual book - and its counterpart, "Jt's Conversations on True BASIC (Windows)" - tells us several things.
One is that there was a computer science instructor at Rutgers who went by the appelation "Jt". One might reasonably conclude these were his initials, transformed into a two-letter proper noun without vowels. But perhaps not. At any rate, at the time, he could be contacted by mail at the Loree Computer Center. Mail addressed to simply "Jt" would, presumably, make its way to him (if we are to believe the correspondence address on page vi).
The copyright message in the Mac version of the book gives his name as "Jt Chirco", but the (later) copyright in the Windows version gives simply "Jt".
Two is that Rutgers was using True BASIC as a programming instruction language as late as 2005. There's nothing wrong with that; True BASIC is a structured language, and instruction languages don't have to be "real" languages; but by that time, BASIC was increasingly regarded as unfashionable.
But that's late enough in time, that the 2005 edition of the book, according to the cover, "Includes a 64Mb portable flash drive containing all programs and problems for the book". Which is another unusual timeslice in history: after floppy disks, but before there was a widespread assumption that you could and would simply download the material from the university course's web site.
Jt's Conversations on True BASIC (Windows)
See the commentary under "Jt's Conversations on True Basic (Mac)" above.
Write your own Adventure Programs for your Microcomputer
"Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools" is usually called "The Dragon Book", but as far as I'm concerned, this is the real Dragon Book.
This one book is probably responsible for setting me off, in my youth, in the direction of programming languages - because it describes how to write a simple one-or-two word parser for an an adventure game.
Also, there are cute pictures of ghosts inside.
The link to the full-text PDF at usborne.com is endorsed by Usborne, and they have made several other of their computing books from the 80's available for download as well. Details and download links can be found on their Computer and Coding Books page.