I picked up Peter Gasston’s The Book of CSS3 and read through it in almost five hours straight. I simply couldn’t put it down. CSS3 is, without a doubt, one of the core technologies that makes the web so exciting. From media queries to web fonts to transitions and animations, CSS3 brings quite a bit of flavor to not only the presentation but also the interaction to the web.

Through Gasston’s clear explanations and easy-to-follow examples, you’ll see the power of CSS3 in action, which can be used today in contemporary browsers. The last two chapters on “Template Layout” and “The Future of CSS” are intriguing to see where CSS is heading. Definitely a must-read for web designers and developers. Don’t take my word for it. Check out Gasston’s article on “The Future of CSS Layouts” to get a glimpse of you’ll get from The Book of CSS3.

I read the first edition of Ted Gioia’s The History of Jazz in 2005. At that time I just started to develop my passion for jazz; therefore, the book was informative and overwhelming at the same time. Since then I have spent a tremendous amount of time listening, reading and learning more about jazz and its history.

I intended to visit this book for a while and the release of the second edition is just perfect. Rereading The History of Jazz the second time with a bit of background as a listener makes me appreciate Gioia’s work even more. What a daunting task writing about the complexity of the music that refuses to stand still for over a century. Gioia took us way back to the early nineteenth century with a vivid opening scene:

An elderly black man sits astride a large cylindrical drum. Using his fingers and the edge of his hand, he jabs repeatedly at the drum head—which is around a foot in diameter and probably made from an animal skin—evoking a throbbing pulsation with rapid, sharp strokes. A second drummer, holding his instrument between his knees, joins in, playing with the same staccato attack. A third black man, seated on the ground, plucks at a string instrument, the body of which is roughly fashioned from a calabash. Another calabash has been made into a drum, and a woman heats at it with two short sticks. One voice, then other voices join in. A dance of seeming contradictions accompanies this musical give-and-take, a moving hieroglyph that appears, on the one hand, informal and spontaneous yet, on closer inspection, ritualized and precise. It is a dance of massive proportions. A dense crowd of dark bodies forms into circular groups—perhaps five or six hundred individuals moving in time to the pulsations of the music, some swaying gently, others aggressively stomping their feet. A number of women in the group begin chanting.

From there on Gioia takes us from New Orleans to Chicago to Kansas City and then to New York for lively musical analysis and concise but accessible portraits of eminent jazz figures as well as the overlooked artists who contributed to the ever-changing styles of jazz. Must read for anyone who is passionate about the story of jazz.

Besides Miles Davis, Clifford Brown is my other favorite jazz trumpeter. Unlike Miles’s work, which I have an extensive collection, I only own three Brownie’s albums, but I keep revisiting them again and again. His crisp, melodic phrasing and big, bright tone mesmerize me every time. Unfortunately Brownie didn’t make much recordings because he was killed in a car accident when he was only twenty-five.

Also unlike Miles, whose music and life had been documented in great lengths, Brownie only has one major biography. Nick Catalano’s Clifford Brown: The Life and Art of the Legendary Jazz Trumpeter is a short, but well-researched text on the jazz trumpet giant. From his childhood development to his beautiful personality to his virtuosity, readers can see how Brownie became one of the most influential trumpeters in the world of jazz. Catalano’s analysis of the Brown-Roach-Rollins collaboration is a must read.

Why Responsive Web Design? Ethan Marcotte explains:

As the past few years have shown us, we simply can’t compete with the pace of technology. Are we really going to create a custom experience for every new browser or device that appears?

The alternative is to make web site responses to the users’ device using three core ingredients:

1. A flexible, grid-based layout,
2. Flexible images and media, and
3. Media queries, a module from the CSS3 specification.

With clear illustrations and concise explanations, the three chapters covering the techniques alone can prepare readers to start making responsive web sites, but the equally delightful part of the book is to hear Marcotte’s views on “Becoming Responsive,” responses to the critics and insights on “mobile first” approach. An immediate-read for web designers.

The 6th edition of David Flanagan’s JavaScript: The Definitive Guide is over 1000 pages and divided into four parts. Part 1, which covers the core of JavaScript, is an essential read for beginners who would like to learn the ins-and-outs of the language. Part 2, which delves into the client-side scripting including HTML5 APIs, CSS, media, graphics and jQuery, is for developers who want to take their web pages to another level with the power of JavaScript in conjunction to HTML5 and CSS3. Part 3 & 4, which provide further references for the first two parts, make this book a comprehensive guide and a must-have for JavaScript programmers and front-end web developers.

When Miles Davis formed his second quintet with saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams, he knew that they were “going to be a motherfucker of a group.” In just three and a half years together, the quintet recorded some of the most brilliant, innovative masterpieces in the history of jazz.

From E.S.P. (January 1965), Miles Smiles (October 1966), Sorcerer (May 1967), Nefertiti (June 1967), Miles in the Sky (January and May 1968) to Filles de Kilimanjaro (June 1968), Keith Waters analyzes in depth The Studio Recordings of the Miles Davis Quintet, 1965-68 “through their compositional, melodic, harmonic, formal, improvisational, and participatory strategies.” With Waters’s detailed assessments such as motivic organization, meter and hypermeter and circular tunes, this book isn’t suitable for casual listeners.

While I find the technical analysis intriguing, I am more interested in the feelings these men had created and the personal connection between a group of talented musicians. The emotion and the sound in Davis’s trumpet, the melodic and harmonic beauty in Shorter’s saxophone and the inventive, expansive rhythmic from Hancock, Carter and William still mesmerize me every time I return to these albums.

John McWade’s How to Design Cool Stuff actually shows you how to design professional-looking print and web materials. The book is a quick read, but filled with useful tips and guides on using types, photographs and colors to enhance your design. The cool thing about this book is that John McWade makes the techniques easy and simple, but the results are stunning. Beginners will find How to Design Cool Stuff to be very beneficial. This is the first Before & After book I have read and I am looking forward to reading more from this series.

Jeffrey Zeldman once said that Jeremy Keith could write about cement and he could still make the subject interesting. As I was reading Jeremy Keith’s DOM Scripting: Web Design with JavaScript and the Document Object Model, I couldn’t agree more. Keith has such an accessible approach in his explanation. Here’s an example of how he breaks down variables (JavaScript syntax):

In our everyday lives there are some things about us that are fixed and some things that are changeable. My name and my birthday are fixed. My mood and my age, on the other hand, will change over time. The things that are subject to change are called variables.

Can’t get any clearer than that. The second edition of DOM Scripting is filled with updated guidelines and best practices for applying unobtrusive JavaScript to enhance, rather than getting in the way of, the user experience.The book also introduces some new HTML features including canvas, video, audio and forms. A recommend read for web designers.

Here is a list of books I have read in my commuting trips and free time:

Stunning CSS3 by Zoe Mickley Gillenwater covers new CSS features, such as gradient, transition, rounded borders, through project-based demonstration. The last two chapters, “Different Screen Size, Different Design” and “Flexing Your Layout Muscles,” are particularly useful for those who would like to learn responsive web design.

HTML5: Up and Running by Mark Pilgrim is a short and concise read that gets you up and running with new markups in no time. Pilgrim’s Dive Into HTML5 is also a great resource.

Pro HTML5 Programming by Peter Lubbers, Brian Albers, Frank Salim takes you beyond the basic HTML5 markups and shows you the power of APIs including WebSockets, Geolocation and Web Storage, to create robust web applications.

Now that GW has announced the move toward Drupal as the University’s CMS, I am starting to read up on the open source system to get a feel for it. I installed Drupal 6 in the past and played around with it, but didn’t get very far because I didn’t have a real project to work with. I actually want to read up on Drupal 7, but haven’t founs a good book yet since the latest version came out not too long ago. Using Drupal by Angela Byron et al. published three years ago, but it is still a good read to see what you can do with Drupal without programming skills. Using existing modules and themes alone could get you up and running complex sites like job posting board, product reviews and Wiki.

For front-end developers and designers, Front End Drupal by Emma Hogbin Konstantin Kafer is very informative in learning how to customize the look and feel of Drupal. The thing to note about Drupal is that upgrading from version 6 to 7 is not as easy as clicking a button like WordPress, one of the features I live about WordPress. Themes are specific for each version.

Create Stunning HTML Email That Just Works by Mathew Patterson is what I needed when I had to create some HTML email templates for the School of Business. I have to admit that designing an HTML email was quite a challenge. In fact, I was struggling with it. I had to forget everything I have learned about HTML and CSS for the past ten years in order to make the design looked correct in mail applications. Patterson sounds convincing about the opportunities for web designers as he points out, “email is a low-cost, high-return medium that appeals to businesses.” I had clients who requested HTML newsletter design and I hesitated to take on. It’s really a pain, but I am changing my mind after reading this book.

Giles Colborne’s Simple and Usable is irresistible, specially for a minimalist like myself. Colborne argues, “When something is simple, it looks effortless.” He gives examples of Flip video camera and Apple products and explains how simple user experience makes them stand out.

After setting out a vision for why we should design for mainstreamers rather than expert customers, Colborne lays out four key strategies for simplicity: remove, organize, hide and displace. He uses a DVD remote control to illustrate how an over-complicated gadget could be simplified as he points out, “The secret to creating a simple user experience is to shift complexity into the right place, so that each moment feels simple.”

For anyone who looks into creating user-focused experiences for web, mobile and interactive platforms, Simple and Usable is a must read.