There are plenty of blog articles about being a better software developer like this one by Dodgy Coder or this one by Josh Tynjala:
Not entirely sure how to go from code monkey to code ninja? I don’t have all the answers, of course, but each of these suggestions has personally helped me improve my career and discover other talented people that were definitely worth meeting.
When it comes to becoming a better software developer the gold standard for books is The Pragmatic Programmer by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas:
Straight from the programming trenches, The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master cuts through the increasing specialization and technicalities of modern software development to examine the core process—what do you do, as an individual and as a team, if you want to create software that’s easy to work with and good for your users.
If you haven’t read The Pragmatic Programmer then you’re really missing out. Personally, it was a huge inspiration for me to really step up my game as a developer. In fact, my copy of the book is fairly shabby and looks as if it had been found in a cave near Israel.