WhatsWanted Web Design
Recommended Books
Looking for useful books, let us guide you with our choices:
Speed Up Your Site: Web Site Optimization
Andrew B. King
When I first got this book I wondered just how much it could cover that I didn't already know.... wow, was I surprised!
I generally read a book's first chapter and then pick and choose the parts I think would be useful, however I read this one from cover to cover in a matter of days. I then spent the next week or so implementing the great tips and tricks I'd learned from it across my sites.
What Andy King doesn't know about this subject could be written on a postage stamp, from Lilliput. From image compression, to movie optimisation to code reduction to CSS to Apache settings and many many more, this book covers it all, in detail.
I don't think I have another book with so many folded corners and highlighted lines.
If you want to make your site faster, find some great resources and learn just how little you know on this subject I highly recommend this book.
See the companion website:
http://www.websiteoptimization.com/
"Don't Make Me Think"
by Steve Krug.
A better book I have yet to find.
An excellent book that every web designer should have read (at least once!). It gives clear and brilliant advice, written in a straightforward and humorous way, as to why you should write sites to be Usable. An all round great and should be in your own personal library today.
"Call to Action"
by Bryan Eisenberg and Jeffery Eisenberg.
The full title is: Call to Action: Secret Formulas to Improve Online Results
An excellent book that everyone involved in e-commerce should read. If you want to make an impact in your online sales, this is the book for you.
"Core CSS: Cascading Style Sheets - 2nd Edition"
Keith Schengili-Roberts
There isn't a day that goes by that I don't do something using CSS and it's like learning HTML all over again!
I found this book purely by chance and it is now a valued item and generally referred to on a daily basis.
Useful for both Web designers and developers, it provides a definitive guide to style sheets, with a comprehensive reference to all CSS1 and CSS2 features and an excellent survey of which features work in eight of today's browsers, this book shows off the strengths of style sheets for the next generation of Web content.
Worth every penny just for the book but it comes with a CD reference too.
"The Luck Factor: The Scientific Study of the Lucky Mind"
by Dr Richard Wiseman
Why this book here?
This book is such an interesting and useful read that I had to put it up here.
Here's the Amazon Synopsis:
Why do some people lead happy successful lives whilst other face repeated failure and sadness? Why do some find their perfect partner whilst others stagger from one broken relationship to the next? What enables some people to have successful careers whilst apparently similar others find themselves trapped with jobs they detest? And can unlucky people do anything to improve their luck - and lives? Ten years ago, Dr Richard Wiseman decided to search for the elusive luck factor by investigating the actual beliefs and experiences of lucky and unlucky people. Looking at the results, Wiseman was able to identify four main factors which explained living a lucky and unlucky life. He was then able to show a group of people that considered themselves unlucky, how to think and behave like lucky people. The results were astounding with almost all participants reporting significant life changes: including increased levels of luck, self-esteem, physical well-being, confidence and success. In this study of luck, Dr Wiseman not only identifies '"he Luck Factor", but shows us how we can all bring more luck into our lives. Get serious. Get this book!
