A to Z reveals Vignelli’s approach to design and showcases a wide range of his projects ranging from furniture to clothing to graphic design. Although I disagree with his limitation of using only six typefaces, I wish I could execute Helvetica and Bodoni as well as he could. His works, particularly in graphic design, remain timeless yet modern.

From the invention of paper to the revolution of typesetting to the art of binding, Keith Houston’s The Book explores the fascinating history of bookmaking dating back to more than fifteen hundred years ago. If you are interested in reading about “the most powerful object of our time,” you will find Houston’s thorough research and passionate writing enlightening. If you are interested in book design and typography, you will want to keep this beautifully designed book, which sets in Adobe Jenson Pro Light designed by Robert Slimbach, for reference and inspiration.

As the title suggests, this book is not only painless, but also pleasurable to read. Elliott’s clear explanations and excellent examples make learning the rules of grammar and punctuation approachable. Her advice on “Cleaning Up Messy Writing” is invaluable to read and practice. The latest fourth edition is worth an update for reference.

A breezy and practical guide to grammar and punctuation. Clear examples and practical quizzes make it a useful tool for self-assessment. I could see why an instructor in a business grammar workshop recommended The Blue Book to us.

A brief, compelling guide to improve business communication. From business letters, reports, to emails, Garner helps make your case clear, concise, and engaging through the process of the MACJ:

• The Madman gathers material and generates ideas.
• The Architect organizes information by drawing up an outline, however simple.
• The Carpenter puts your thoughts into words, laying out sentences and paragraphs by following the Architect’s plan.
• The Judge is your quality-control character, polish the expression throughout—everything from tightening language to correcting grammar and punctuation.

This little book, recommended to me by a business-grammar instructor, has just what I need to communicate in my day-to-day job.

Garner’s superb grammar book provides a thorough and comprehensible guide to the parts of speech. He explains each part in granular details and with clear examples. I have learned a great deal on my first read and will return to it again and again for reference.

Here what I wrote about Greg Tate’s first book: “Never mind the ill-designed cover (horrendous use of typography and colors), Flyboy in the Buttermilk: Essays on Contemporary America is packed with Greg Tate’s ingenious criticisms ranging from music (jazz, funk, punk-rock and hip-hop) to book to film.” Typeset in Chaparral Pro, designed by Carol Twombly, Flyboy 2 is a huge improvement. If you’re fan of Tate’s insightful writing and thought-provoking criticism, Flyboy 2, a collection of his influential, critical essays in the past thirty years, is a delightful treat. Many topics he wrote, people he interviewed, and works he analyzed in this book I have never heard of; therefore, I will be re-reading it again and again in the future.

Like many beginner’s book on JavaScript, this one offers clear explanation of the basics including data types, conditional statements, and loops, but doesn’t provide practical exercise on how to use them in actual webpages. The only chapter that does that is on DOM scripting; therefore, I don’t find the book to be useful. If you want to learn the basic concepts and then put them to use with step-by-step instructions, I recommend John Pollock’s JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide instead.

With Helvetica text set against different colored background, the book is a little hard to read. Once I get past that readability issue, I quite enjoy Draplin’s stories, especially how he got into design. Like the man himself, his work is filled with personality, particularly his logo designs. If you haven’t listened to Draplin on podcast, I highly recommend checking him out. He curses like a motherfucker, but a very kind heart. I have tremendous respect for him.

I love the design of this book. Helen Armstrong, who is the editor of the book, had done a wonderful job designing it. The text is set in Seria by Martin Majoor and combined with Interstate by Tobias Frere-Jones. The essays, on the other hand, are not always exciting for me. I liked some, but not all of them.