Tim Wright’s Learning JavaScript is very approachable. Wright doesn’t teach you everything about JavaScript, but just what you need to know to understand the language. If other thick, complicated books overwhelmed you, give this one a try.

Robin Landa’s Graphic Design Solution (5th edition) is surprisingly comprehensive. From a brief history of graphic design to typography to the design process to grid systems, Landa has done a thorough job of introduction these important design subjects.

In my early days, I learned design from a variety of resources. It’s nice to have a preview of everything in one source. This is a great read for beginners to learn the basic of design. To dig further, you’ll need to find books that are focused on a particular topic. Typography, for instance, needs a book or several books of its own.

I must confess that I didn’t realize the cost ($153.95) of this book until I checked it on Amazon. I just picked it up at George Mason library.

Michael Evamy’s Logotype demonstrates the art of transforming words into visuals. Through an extensive collection of over 1,300 examples, this is an invaluable resource for designers who are interested in crafting memorable, recognizable typographic identity. Added to my bookshelf.

Stephen Coles’s The Anatomy of Type takes less time to read, but much more to digest. From the terminals to the tails, Coles breaks down the nuances of 100 typefaces with beautiful, comprehensible illustrations. He draws particular attention to the details that make a typeface unique. With a short history of each type and suggestion for what the type is good for, this is a must-have for web and print designers.

Once you’ve mastered The Anatomy of Type, you can pick up Lara McCormick’s Playing With Type to explore various typographic techniques. The book provides 50 experimental guidelines to jumpstart your creativity. The hands-on approaches aren’t limited to just playing with type on the computer. For example, the first experiment, “Ransom Note,” encourages you to cut out types from printed materials and assemble them together as a collage. With simple instructions and well-executed examples, Playing With Type is fun to read and inspiring to apply.

Tim Brown, a former colleague and a great friend of mine, had written a little book called Combining Typefaces. Even though the text is quite short, Tim managed to squeeze in invaluable resources for readers to explore further. The e-book format turns out to be quite useful for that task.

One of the advices I take away from the book is to experiment with different types. Nothing wrong with sticking to just one family, “But it also robs us of the opportunity to truly understand why a combination works or doesn’t, and can lead to a false sense of completion.” Tim said, “The task of combining typefaces doesn’t begin or end with any single piece of advice—it is necessarily more complex, and dependent upon a project’s design goals.” I’ll definitely keep that mind when designing my next project.

For the second project of my Advanced Web Design class, I need to build a mobile web application. Although I have done responsive design for two years now, I have never built a web application; therefore, I picked up Kris Hadlock’s jQuery Mobile: Develop and Design to see if this is the right framework for me. To my amazement, I have learned the power of jQuery Mobile through Hadlock’s excellent, easy-to-follow writing style. jQuery Mobile is very well thought-out and it does all the heavy lifting. You could build a decent mobile web application if you get all the right hooks and Hadlock’s book is a great reference for those.

Rachel Andrew, web developer and creator of Perch, gives us a taste of the future of CSS layout techniques. Even though CSS3 Layout Modules are still too early to implement on client projects, they seem promising and exciting.

I am also digging Five Simple Steps’ A Pocket Guide series. The affordable price tag is irresistible. Definitely looking forward to Tim Brown’s Combining Typefaces.

Truth be told, I didn’t read the first edition of Janice (Ginny) Redish’s Letting Go of the Words simply because I couldn’t get past the reprehensible cover design. After hearing a couple of recommendations from the folks in the web content industry, I decided to give the second edition a read and it turns out to be quite useful, especially tips on writing effective headings, clear sentences and meaningful links. Must-read for anyone who writes for the web.

Colin McFarland’s Experiment! is a refreshing approach on usability. One of his conversion techniques is to “take things away.” He suggests, “Sometimes taking things away is just as good as adding new things. Before you add, experiment with taking things away to the cancel the noise.” I couldn’t agree more. If you’re looking for guiding principles to improve your web site’s user experience, this book will show you how to do so through experiments.

If you’re a Web designer and haven’t jumped on the responsive bandwagon, Tim Kadlec’s Implementing Responsive Web Design will help you make the transition. As the author states it, this book is about “embracing the flexibility of the Web and practicing responsible responsive web design.” He’s done a thorough job of covering the key components (fluid layouts, media queries and responsive media), but the sections on planning, design workflow, responsive content and experiences are the gems of the book. I’ll recommend this book to my professor to be used in our Advanced Web Design class as well.