As a long time Java programmer I recommend these two:

http://www.amazon.com/ERLANG-Programming-Francesco-Cesarini/...

http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Erlang-Software-Concurrent...

Okay, just kidding. =)

On a serious note, Effective Java is one of the best out there.

The referenced book is THE book. It was an easy read for someone who had no functional programming experience. :)

http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Erlang-Software-Concurrent...

Joe Armstrong's book (http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Erlang-Software-Concurrent...) is a great intro.

So if Lisp isn't want you want, give Erlang a try ...

I agree, Erlang has some great ideas, especially with respect to messaging and parallel processes.

I'm still more comfortable with CL (by dint of experience), but Armstrong's book (http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Erlang-Software-Concurrent...) has been a great read so far.

erlang! erlang! erlang!

OK, it's no panacea, but it sure makes things a hell of a lot nicer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erlang_%28programming_language%...

http://erlang.org/doc.html

http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Erlang-Software-Concurrent...