I’ve been trying to read more; it isn’t working out the way I had hoped, but I’m still making the effort. I have started at least 3 books without finishing them, but right now I’m reading Gumption by Nick Offerman. I loved Paddle Your Own Canoe and couldn’t wait for the follow-up title by Ron Swanson.
It’s 21 essays about great Americans and how the exhibited gumption in their lives. I’ve made it through the Free Masons and am on Idealists. While preachy at times, I think it’s an excellent book so far. It’s definitely adding to my already long reading list.
Over at Coalwork we discussed starting a book club for the members. We’re still working out the details and getting interest, but it got me thinking of what books I would recommend to the group as well as ones I want to read. I’ve decided to compile a short list here.
I just finished reading up a book that was co-written by my friend Jason Coleman called Building Web Apps with WordPress. I picked it up because while I’m generally good at developing themes, I know there were some things I was missing- types of code, optimizations, plugin best practices, etc. I wanted to improve my WordPress skills and I felt this was the book to do it. Boy was I right.
Thanks to everyone who entered what I’m calling the “Tell All” Giveaway. There were around 200 entries, so I appreciate everyone who shared. Congrats to the winners…
This week I rolled out a new design for Responsive Design with WordPress’s site. I decided that on top of the site starting to feel a little stale, there wasn’t a whole lot of information about the book aside from a little blurb. I added a bit more that will hopefully give visitors a better idea of what the book is about and what others think about it. Because of this, I want to celebrate by doing the biggest giveaway I’ve done.
With the weather getting nicer here in the Northeast (finally), me moving to @wpengine (finally), and some extra codes sitting around for electronic copies of my books, I decided I it would be nice to ring in Spring with a give away! Read on to see how you can win a eBook version of all three of my books: Building WordPress Themes from Scratch, Responsive Design with WordPress, and The Web Designer’s Guide to Google Glass.
Over the summer of 2013 I managed to get into the Google Glass Explorers program and got my hands on a set for myself. After using it for a while, especially spending time in the browser, I realized that this can (and likely will) change the way people will browser the web; Glass is only one of many pieces of wearable technology on the market and/or set to come out soon. With that in mind, I decided to write an article called The Web Designer’s Guide to Google Glasswith the promise of an ebook coming out on the same topic. I’m happy to announce that book is finished and will be out in early March!
I have a confession to make. Lately I’ve felt like my skills have been slipping, or at least stagnating. Part of it is because I’ve been so busy, but part of it is because of feeble excuses like, “I’ve been so busy.” This year I’ve resolved to do a whole bunch of things, including learn more. Before I WordCamp Phoenix, I devised a plan that would take place pretty much the moment I landed back in Scranton; WordCamp Phoenix really reinforced I need to do this. So, here is my one month learning plan.
It’s time for my annual Favorites of the Year post. Much like 2012, 2013 was a great year. I saw a dream of mine come true by getting my second book, Responsive Design with WordPress, published by PeachPit/New Riders. They’ve published most of the books that I read to learn about web design/development, so it’s a real honor to have my work published through them. And of-course, there’s all of the tech and media of the year. Here are my favorites.
I’m teaching a couple of web development classes this semester and have been receiving a lot of questions as to what books would serve as good resources. Here’s a short list, starting with the ones I’ve chosen for my classes.
HTML and CSS: Design and Build Websites: This is possibly the best book I’ve used for HTML and CSS. It is visual, puts things in simple terms, and it’s up-to-date. I would strongly recommend this for beginners. I am using it for my E-Commerce 251 (Intro to E-Commerce) course.
Web Database Applications with PHP and MySQL: This book (by O’Reilly Media) takes a good look at PHP and MySQL. It covers a range of topics from beginner PHP and an intro to Databases to a look at bigger topics, like security. I’m using it for my Media Info Tech 315 (Web Applications and Databases) course.
The A Book Apart Books: Honestly I would recommend all of them, but the specifically web development ones are: HTML5 for Web Designers, CSS3 for Web Designers, Responsive Web Design, and Mobile First.
As you probably know, I also have a book, Building WordPress Themes from Scratch. However, there have been some changes the publisher has been doing lately and I am working with them to get the book in my hands. More on that here.
Finally, I have another book coming out in December called Responsive Design with WordPress. I think this would work really well after books 4 and 5 on the above list. Keep an eye out for it; maybe I’ll even do a giveaway or two.
What are your must-read web development books? Let me know in the comments!
: This book taught me everything I know about the right want to develop websites. Dan Cederholm is a pro and a great teacher who will take you through doing things, and making them bulletproof.