Python Cookbook, 2nd Edition, 2005 by David Ascher, Alex Martelli, Anna Ravenscroft

Like its predecessor, the new edition offers a collection of solutions to problems that Python programmers face everyday. Updated for Python 2.4, it now includes over 200 recipes that range from simple tasks, such as working with dictionaries and list comprehensions, to complex tasks, such as monitoring a network and building a templating system.