sshhh! This is a working library.

Designing with Web Standards

Ethan Marcotte, Jeffrey Zeldman

The king of web standards returns for a third edition, this time with the addition of the talented Ethan Marcotte. Required reading. more

Design and Truth

Robert Grudin

A wide-ranging and philosophical approach to user-centered design. Grudin argues compellingly that design that does not consider the user is dishonest. See also: my review in the Barnes&Noble Review. more

The Design of Design

Frederick P. Brooks, Jr.

An engineer’s perspective on the design process. His conclusions are familiar, but the means by which he gets there are fascinating; something of a mathematical approach to design intuition emerges. more

Detail in typography

Jost Hochuli

Diary of a Bad Year

J.M. Coetzee

Coetzee’s latest novel is written as two, entwined diaries—his own and that of a younger woman who he comes to pass the time with. Subtle and capable typography allows the trick to come off. more

The Elements of Typographic Style

Robert Bringhurst

The typographer’s bible; a book that is never too far from reach. more

Fateless

Imre Kertesz

An autobiographical novel, in which Kertész addresses his childhood in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Kertész’s writing is spare and damning, akin to the filmmaking of Michael Haneke. more

Food Rules

Michael Pollan

This little book from everyone’s favorite omnivore deftly defines a series of simple rules to eat by, expanding on his mantra from In Defense of Food: Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. more

Graphic Design

Adrian Shaughnessy

Shaugnessy’s irreverent guide—the ABC’s of design—addresses the underside of the designer’s life, with entries on banks (page 30), presentation skills (page 230), and sacking clients (page 268). Each post is short and discreet, making for a book that need not be read in the order it was made. Much to my surprise, the monospaced text font is entirely comfortable to read. more

Gravity’s Rainbow

Thomas Pynchon

Pynchon’s famously difficult masterpiece. I destroyed three copies in a (failed) effort to grasp it completely. But despite the challenges, the story is enormously charming; I have very warm feelings about the time I spent with it, and I still think of Byron each time I have to change a bulb. more

Handcrafted CSS

Dan Cederholm, Ethan Marcotte

An excellent, practical overview that demonstrates how to use CSS3 properties today, as well as other methods of “handcrafted” design. The approach blurs the line between design and development in myriad and lovely ways. more

Here Comes Everybody

Clay Shirky

I’m late to the party on this, but Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody discusses the evolution of group collaboration in the age of social media, and, conversely, the increasing irrelevance of institutions. Required reading for anyone who thinks about the ways in which technology is changing human behavior. more

How to be a graphic designer without losing your soul

Adrian Shaughnessy

How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read

Pierre Bayard

Provocative, cheeky, and very French. The title belies the real subject, which is an argument against reading and for writing. The book that convinced me to launch this site. more

How to Tell When You’re Tired

Reg Theriault

A fabulous little book, written by a lifelong worker. Theriault came from a family of fruit tramps—migrant workers who travelled the country picking fruit wherever it came to harvest—and later became a longshoreman. His insight into the working life is profound and lovely—as relevant to those on the docks as to those at their desks. more

HTML5 for Web Designers

Jeremy Keith

The inaugural book from A Book Apart, the new publisher for which I am co-founder and editor. When Jeffrey Zeldman, Jason Santa Maria, and I decided to launch a small press for people who make websites, there was no topic more important than HTML5, and no one better suited to write about it than Jeremy Keith. Required reading for web designers everywhere. more

Ideology

Terry Eagleton

Jan Tschichold, Master Typographer

Cees W. de Jong

Thames & Hudson’s tome to Jan Tschichold is as oversized as he was. Includes beautiful photographs of his work, alongside essays about his life and legacy. more

King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking

King Arthur Flour

A wonderfully written primer on cooking with whole grains, with excellent recipes as well as guidance on equipment and techniques. My favorite recipes are the tortillas (139), pizza dough (128), and pie crust (349). The pie crust is especially good with bright, tart apples—the nuttiness of the whole wheat flour contrasts with the apples beautifully. The cover is printed directly on the case, so the jacket can be discarded if (when) it becomes soiled. more

Library

Matthew Battles

Battles’ lively history runs from the ancients to the internet, with tales of libraries built and burned along the way. In this, one thing becomes clear: that any library, once conceived, will someday be destroyed. more