Wow! What can I say? As soon as I start diving into Girls by Nic Kelman, I could not stop. It’s simply raw, rugged and bold. When men become successful and “money ain’t a thang,” what can stop them from fucking young and beautiful girls? Yes! It’s disturbing to read into the minds of these men but that is how most men think. What can be better than fucking your friend’s eighteen years old daughter? How can you not enjoy going on a date with a former Playboy girl although she costs you fifteen thousand dollars? Than again “money ain’t a thang.” What can be more pleasurable than sharing your girlfriend with one of your male friend? Well, maybe not. Some men like it, some men don’t. I hate it.

Kelman’s descriptive writing is what I like best about the novel. The way he describes a young girl, “Her whole body still strives outwards, her lips, her breasts, her thighs, her whole body has not yet decided to stop, to petrify, to crumble. You have never seen anything like so ripe in all your life. This is the word that comes to mind, ‘ripe’.” Better yet, the way he describes sex scenes are way better than watching porno. His words are simple, clear, and straight to fuck.

The least I like about Girls is the passages from Iliad and Odyssey being quoted throughout the book. They serve nothing but getting in the way of the stories. However, I do enjoy reading the histories of words such as: cunt, pussy, cock, etc.

Nic Kelman’s Girls is simply a beautiful work of art. It definitely provides readers an aesthetic experience but you have to read this novel with an open mind. Don’t think this book gears toward men but the contents are very strong and women might find it offensive. This is the first novel I ever finished reading in two days.

Step into the creative mind of the Glitterguru on Photoshop. Suzette Troche-Stapp gives readers a tour of her work from concept creation to finishing up aesthetically beautiful digital photographs. The book is divided into three parts. The first part, she guides readers through basic but useful concepts including: creating storyboard, gathering team members, casting a model, finding props, shooting techniques, marketing your work on the web, and so on. The second part, she shares her three techniques of retouching photos which she called reality, surgery, and fantasy. Although the technical are not detailed, readers would understand the concepts presented. The last part showcases some of her creative works. She also explains how she came up with the ideas and shows the process to get there.

This book is simply an inspiration. Not only the concepts and techniques are well present, the contents are a pleasure to read as well. Her style of writing is clear and entertaining. Suzettet Troche-Stapp is pretty much giving away her secrets as she speaks out her mind and shares her experiences. Highly recommended for digital photographers, especially the beginners who are looking for work in this exciting medium. Consider this book as your “real world” internship. In fact, it is even better than an internship. You can easily say, “I have been trained by the Glitterguru” on your resume.

Wow! An impressive three hundreds plus pages book on Designing a Digital Portfolio. Cynthia Baron delves into great details from planning to presenting a successful digital portfolio. The book features tons of online examples with clear explanations to point out their effectiveness. On top of that, there are numerous quotes from professional designers and creative directors through out the book sharing their experiences on what works, what doesn’t, and what are expected from a digital portfolio.

The book starts off with helping you define what kind of designer you are and what are you interested in doing. So that you won’t create a portfolio that give a wrong impression and ends up with a job you would not like. Cynthia Baron goes on walks you through every step such as: doing research, collect your best work, write efficiently, tips and tricks and so on to help you present a digital portfolio that is right for you.

I highly recommend Designing a Digital Portfolio for students who are pursuing their career as an interactive, graphic, or web design. Now a day, online digital portfolio is a must if you want to get the first impression. I also recommend this book for the DArt program at La Salle. I remember putting together a senior portfolio showcasing works from DArt major students. It was really bad. We had no idea what we were doing and threw in all kinds of junks. Yes! It was the good old days.

A couple months ago, a friend asked me for advice on how to learn web design. She was applying for a job and one of the requirements was to create and maintain the organization’s website. Working on the web for many years, I did not know where to tell her to begin. Should I recommend learning HTML or Dreamweaver? Web design is much more complicated than that. It involves more than just learning the technical skills. What about usability, accessibility, user interface and other challenges? I did not want to freak her out but I did not know what to tell her. Now that I just read The Accidental Webmaster by Julie M. Still, I immediately thought of her. This book is perfect for someone like her who is new to the web game and just want to learn enough to get by as an “Accidental Webmaster.”

If somehow creating and maintaining your company’s website accidentally fall into your lap, this book will save you from loosing sleep at night. Still shares her experience on how she became an “Accidental Webmaster” and offers many useful advices. Even though Still does not show how to code HTML or learn Dreamweaver, she will guide you through the rules of the game to get you started from the basic concepts of setting up policies to design issues to hosting your site. She does a great job at explaining each concept clearly and concisely. She also breaks down each type of site to help you identify the type of work you will deal with.

The Accidental Webmaster is very focused. Julie M. Still knows exactly who her target audience is. If you are a web professional, this is not your cup of tea but for those who are “the Accident Webmaster,” this book is for you and you know who you are. I also recommend this book to graphic designers who would like to learn web design. It’s time to get off Photoshop and learn some basic concepts of website design.

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.