Bookshelf
Here’s a list of things I’ve read or am reading right now, in no particular order. This is not everything, of course. I’ve just picked the lot that I found most interesting. All reviews on this page are my personal views of what these books are. You’ve been warned. If you find them useful, though, you can use the sharing button at the bottom of this page to let your friends know.
JavaScript Patterns
JavaScript is a very good programming languages. It is quite expressive, and allows you to do things in numerous interesting ways. Because of this, it can sometimes lead you to write horrible code, and get you into maintenance hell. This book gives you a set of design and coding patterns that you can use as a guide on your quest to higher-quality JavaScript, and it warns you against common pitfalls that await you.
- author: Stoyan Stefanov
- publisher: O’Reilly & Yahoo! Press
- year: 2010 (paperback), 1st edition
- ISBN: 978-0596806750
- pages: 240
JavaScript: The Good Parts
There’s no need to introduce papa Crockford to any self-respecting web developer. If you do any amount of frontend development, you must have at least herd of his JavaScript-related talks. This books covers most of his usual stuff, and adds a lot of fine nuances he doesn’t manage to squeeze into his (otherwise awesome) talks. It’s an essential guide to all the good parts of JavaScript programming language.
- author: Douglas Crockford
- publisher: O’Reilly & Yahoo! Press
- year: 2008 (paperback), 1st edition
- ISBN: 978-0596517748
- pages: 176
Web Analytics: an Hour a Day
- author: Avinash Kaushik
- publisher: Sybex
- year: 2007 (paperback), 1st edition
- ISBN: 978-8126513284
- pages: 444
- extras: supplemental CD, Google AdWords gift card ($25)
- note: There’s a second edition.
An in-dept and meaningful account of what web analytics is, and, above all, how it can help you understand your customers better. Avinash is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable writer, and his book covers literally everything you should know about the topic.
The New Rules of Marketing and PR
- author: David Meerman Scott
- publisher: Wiley
- year: 2010 (paperback), 2nd edition
- ISBN: 978-0470547816
- pages: 290
From the very first pages, in a very open, inviting tone, David kicks ass right on target. This book opens up new views on how companies can (and should) utilize the thing we are discovering right now as the new, social Web. The old rules of marketing and PR are no longer valid, and this book is an indispensable survival kit for the 21st century.
Information Architecture for the World Wide Web
- authors: Peter Morville and Louis Rosenfeld
- publisher: O’Reilly Media
- year: 2006 (paperback), 3rd edition
- ISBN: 978-0596527341
- pages: 528
Brutal practicality that this book represents, is unavoidable when it comes to emerging fields such as Information Architecture. Even four years after this book has been published, much focus is given to web development and web design. This book is a perfect match for those that believe at useful information should be the main goal of both those activities.
Rocket Surgery Made Easy: The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Finding and Fixing Usability Problems
- author: Steve Krug
- publisher: New Riders Press
- year: 2009 (paperback), 1st edition
- ISBN: 978-0321657299
- pages: 168
When it comes to following one’s own advice, you can’t get much better than Steve Krug. His books are the incarnations of what he preaches. This book shows us that most usability problems have solutions, and teaches how to find them yourself. Funny commentary will keep you entertained, and the the short time spent in this book will be worth every second.
Persuasive Imagery: A Consumer Response Perspective
- editors: Linda M. Scott, Rajeev Batra
- publisher: Routledge
- year: 2003 (hardcover), 1st edition
- ISBN: 978-0805842029
- pages: 464
When it comes to imagery, people assume it’s just a matter of taste. Scientific findings in this book, describe in depth, the process by which consumers decode, evaluate and judge visual messages. While this is not a light read (I still haven’t finished it), it contains a wealth of information for any serious graphic designer, art director, or advertising expert-wannabe.
Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping
- author: Paco Underhill
- publisher: Simon & Schuster
- year: 2008 (paperback), updated and revised
- ISBN: 978-1416595243
- pages: 320
Very fun and light read. This book is a series of experiences Underhill has had with consumers in what he calls “their natural habitat” — the stores, shops, malls. He gives a lot of advice on how you can improve shopping experience, and how to anticipate the future of shopping, both offline, and online. Despite the title, this book is decidedly not a scientific book. It’s simply an awesome read.
Survey Research Methods
- editor: Dr. Floyd J. Fowler Jr.
- publisher: Sage
- year: 2008 (paperback), 4th edition
- ISBN: 978-1412958417
- pages: 216
As with all academic writings, this book requires a reader motivated to go through it with only one thing in mind: full understanding of fundamentals of the science and art. This handbook is a thorough coverage of basic concepts in today’s survey research methodology. The book is constructed to be palatable by general readership, and it is therefore a starting point for anyone wanting to get into the field of survey research.
Futurism
- authors: Caroline Tisdall, Angelo Bozzola
- publisher: Thames & Hudson
- year: 1985 (paperback), 1st edition
- ISBN: 978-0500201596
- pages: 216
Futurism is an important turning point in art history. It is also a very important lesson in PR and advertising. Futurists were masterful advertisers of their art and ideology, and their rather successful practices are intentionally or unintentionally mimicked by anyone involved in PR today. However, understanding of Futurism also offers deeper understanding of some of the humanity’s strongest moving forces.
SEO Made Simple: Strategies For Dominating The World’s Largest Search Engine
- author: Michael H. Fleischner
- publisher: self-published
- year: 2009 (paperback), 1st edition
- ISBN: 978-1442169203
- pages: 106
Behind the slightly informal cover design, and rather plain interior of this book, lies a wealth of brutally hands-on, and refreshingly revealing, advice of how to conduct SEO on your own website. With this book in hand, you can start optimizing your website literally immediately, and gain good understanding of the process as you go.
