I recently read "Is That A Fish In Your Ear?" by David Bellos and have been considering using it for the next semester of the literary translation class I teach at IES Beijing. It's a very enjoyable read, and offers a good introduction to some of the issues involved in translation without getting bogged down in theory.

"The Translation Studies Reader," edited by Lawrence Venuti, is worth a look if you're interested in something more serious, as is "In Other Words," edited by Mona Baker. I have dim memories of reading and greatly enjoying "The Craft and Context of Translation," edited by William Arrowsmith and Roger Shattuck, but that was years ago. "If This Be Treason" by Gregory Rabassa is well worth a read -- but after the short autobiographical introduction, a lot of it is just short notes about the different works he translated. "Le Ton Beau de Marot" by Douglas Hofstadter is something I find myself dipping into every now and then. I don't necessarily share his tastes, and I certainly don't agree with everything he has to say about translation, but like "Is That A Fish," the book offers a nice overview of the general and specific complexities of [some kinds of[ translation.

I'm embarrassingly poorly versed in translation theory -- largely because of my (reflexive, ill-advised) bias against academic prose. What I have read (much of it covered by Venuti in his books) has not necessarily agreed with me, but it has occasionally made me think a little harder about whether and how I can justify certain choices. In general, I think it's worth checking out -- once you're a practicing translator.

Is there a specific aspect or area of translation that you're interested in?