I've been working professionally as a software engineer for 10 years+. I'm pretty good with cloud computing, building services and all that goes along with that.
I'm also a creative person but really have kind of ignored UX and design.. I'd love to strengthen my skills here so that I could essentially build any kind of app or website with world class UX + design.
Are there any brilliant books that you could recommend, any resources that absolutely changed your being as a UX designer?
It's not there aren't resources to pluck the lowest hanging fruit. A person can just copy better designs by others. The separation is years of practice and intellectual interest. Good luck.