Graphics programming book recommendations

I just bought "Real-time Rendering". It is a little more into theoretical than practical. But the descriptions and math are not too hard. They are usually possible to translate into practice. I like that, as it does not depend much on DirectX contra OpenGL, or latest hardware dependencies. Possibly, it is more into 3D than 2D.

The thing about Real-Time Rendering is that it's a great overview of what's out there, and includes a lot of background information on topics like Math and Radiometry and Colorimetry, but for actual implementation details of the various techniques, you usually have to look elsewhere. Luckily, the book is well-cited and almost everything in its bibliography can be found for free online somewhere. As such, I recommend the book highly, but don't expect it to hold your hand through every implementation step.

Real-Time Rendering, 3rd Edition and Physically-Based Rendering are my top picks. Principles of Digital Image Synthesis is also really good, plus it's free.

If you're looking for something in real time, I would suggest Real-Time Rendering. However, if you're looking for something a little more universal, I would recommend "The Fundamentals of Computer Graphics"

Chiming in to recommend Real-Time Rendering. If you're into photorealistic rendering, then Physically-Based Rendering from Theory to Implementation is also a really good book-- although it's very much centered on offline rendering.

If you're just getting started, Game Engine Architecture is a good read and the chapter on animation alone is probably worth the price of the book; it was written by one of the programmers at Naughty Dog/Uncharted and has a lot of simple yet effective ideas and some practical advice.