Stop Stealing Sheep is one of the best typography books I have read. Of course there are many books out there on types but this one sets itself apart from the rest by its engaging writing, clear explanations and real world examples. Erik Spiekermann and E. M. Ginger bring types to live in this book. Not only they explain how types can express emotion, they also provide examples to back up their points. I love the way they use real life metaphors to associate with types to help designers refine their message. They also help designers see types clearly and how to use them appropriately to enhance their designs. Typography is an element of design that I have always fascinated with but had no prior training on. This book has opened my eyes on types and now I am eager to learn more about them.

“Loud farts don’t stink, and the really smelly ones don’t make a sound.” Amy Tan explains her mother, “When you’re full of beans, you just blow a lot of hot air. If you want to have real impact, be deadly but silent.” The Opposite of Fate is a well-crafted journal of Amy Tan. She writes about her personal life and incidents she had experienced. The way she writes make me feel like she is sitting right in front of me telling her stories. I love the fact that Amy speaks out her mind as an American writer. I find the process of making movie for The Joy Luck Club is an inspiration. The voice of her murdered friend Peter is magical. The way she deals with her mother is genius. Especially, when she deceived her mother that she broke up with her husband Lou and lured her mother realized that Lou is not a bad guy after all. There are many more incidents that will make you laugh, cry, inspire and learn from. It’s truly a masterpiece.

The Opposite of Fate allows readers to get to know Amy Tan. This is who she is and this is how she thinks. She had her wild side as well as her sensitive side. Once I began to read this book, I couldn’t put it down. I spent two days straight doing nothing but read into the mind of a great writer. Of course, I recommend this book undoubtedly.

Wish I had read Web Design on a Shoestring when I was still doing freelance projects. It would have saved me so much time and energy. Although I am no longer freelancing, this book still helps me tremendously with retrofitting the sites at Vassar.

One of the greatest strengths about this book is the presentation itself. The book is lean, clear and focused. Carrie Bickner doesn’t waste any time getting her points across whether dealing with clients, retrofitting the sites, implementing CMS (Content Managing System), or using CSS and XHTML.

The comparison between different CMS is extremely useful. Carrie carefully breaks down the advantages and disadvantages of each CMS so you know which one is right for you. Read this section before invest your money in a CMS. As you already know, these things aren’t cheap.

The last chapter, which deals with hosting and domain registrations, is invaluable. Every web designers must went through the frustration experiences of down time and registration at one time or another. I always ended up switching host at least once a year. Last year, I even gave up on my own domain name (d3stusdio.net) because of a week down time and no support from the company. My current host has been great so far and I am keeping my fingers crossed. Anyhow, this book will give you tips and techniques to find the right registering and hosting solutions. On top of that, it will help you protect yourself from hosting companies.

I highly recommend this book to freelance web designers and companies with small budget toward the websites. You will be thankful for the amount of money and energy you saved for your companies and your workers.

Le Thi Diem Thuy’s The Gangster We Are All Looking For is a story of a Vietnamese family who came to America to start a brand new life. Thuy takes me back to the good old days when I first stepped my foot in America. Eating alone at school lunch table hoping to blend in with the rest of the kids. Although we live in America, the images of Viet Nam will always remain in our mind. That is how the story being told. Thuy shifts back and forth from her current life to those moments in Vietnam. Actually stories are told out of order and quite hard to comprehend. All of a sudden, her mother came into their lives. The relationship between the parents is quite interesting and her father is such a character. Suddenly she skips to twenty years later being a writer. At 16 she ran away and the story of her brother drowning. Many stories are being told but none of them are delved into details. The narrator herself is not too exciting. She did not open up a whole lot. For instance, the only relationship she had was once she was a little kid. The boy touched her breast and they heard some footsteps so they ran away. I guess she doesn’t want to go into her private life. Anyway, I do give prop to Thuy for writing this novel. It’s absolutely rare to see a Vietnamese American writer.

I finished reading Eric Meyer on CSS, Mastering the Language of Web Design in several hours and fully understood the concepts presented. The book is concise, informative, and straight to CSS which makes it a valuable resource. Now I know exactly where to find the answer when I run into CSS troubles. On top of that, the companion website provides all the codes for readers to break apart and experiment with them. At the end of each chapter there is a “Branching Out” section which challenged you to go beyond the concept presented in the chapter.

Actually, I read this book when it first came out but didn’t appreciate it because my knowlegde of CSS was limited. Now that I work with CSS on all of my projects, this book has open up many more possibilities and now I am much more comfortable with CSS than before. So if you’re a web designer, you must pick up this book. However, if you are new to CSS, I suggest that you get familiar with the basic before delving into this masterpiece or else you wouldn’t get much out of it.

If you’re reading chapter one and find it confusing or hard to understand, don’t worry just move on. In fact, I would skip the first chapter altogether. Even though, Eric did a great job on covering how to convert an existing page using CSS, why bother? It is taking way too much time and energy. It would be much faster and easier to start from scatch. It would save you time and headaches. That way you know for sure your codes are correct. Anyway, if you’re serious about web design, this is the book you need by your side next to Designing With Web Standard.

If you are new to CSS world, Cascading Style Sheets: The Designer’s Edge is the right book for you. The book is easy to understand so you will be able to pick up css quickly. Molly’s writing style is clear and concise. Her clean and attractive personal site demonstrates her skills on css. Oh wait! Her site is designed by 1976design. Whoops! Not practices what she preaches. Usually I don’t recommend people who doesn’t practice what he/she preaches but this book was well written so I made an exception. Once you’re done with this book and would like more advance css book, I highly recommend, Eric Meyer on CSS: Mastering the Language of Web Design. His personal site, Meyerweb really demontrates his skills and mastery on css.

Jeffrey’s Zeldman’s Designing With Web Standards is unbelievably valuable. He literally answered all my confusion questions throughout the book. He explained clearly why we use css a certain way or the benefits of designing one way over another. I am so glad I picked up this book. I’ve learned so much from it even though I have been designing sites with xhtml and css. I really like Zeldman’s writing style. He kept it informational as well as pleasurable to read. This is by far one of the best web design book I have read. It’s just amazing how much I’ve learned from this book. I highly recommend this book without a doubt.