Short Tech Book Reviews

Inspired by this thread on Google+  https://plus.google.com/u/0/116910304844117268718/posts/c3A4wgSAgx4 I decided to put together a bunch of short book reviews of tech books I've read recently.


Introducing HTML5
Great overview of new tags and JS APIs w/some good examples and demos.

HTML5 For Web Designers Loved it
Essential, short, colorful guide to HTML5.

Canvas Pocket Reference
It's like the MDN for when you don't have a computer.

Developing with Web Standards
A bit long, but still it has great chapters on accessibility, CSS, and web standards.

JavaScript: The Good Parts Loved it
Essential, concise, opinionated guide to JavaScript. Covers regexes, functions, objects, etc.

JavaScript Patterns Loved it
Every JS developer should read this book. It's a fantastic review of types, patterns and best practices.  Personally, I prefer the NPM Coding Standards for my server side JS, but this book is still essential.

CSS3 For Web Designers [e-book] Loved it
Read the entire thing on my iPhone. Great, short read. Extremely useful. Totally sold me on rgba().

Mobile First [e-book]
Decent essay on why mobile is becoming more and more important. Best given to someone who's not already steeped in mobile.

Supercharged JavaScript Graphics [e-book]
Stupid title, but plenty of interesting tidbits. Wished it were shorter and only covered Canvas.

JavaScript Web Applications [e-book] Loved it
The best book on web app fundamentals (w/backbone.js, spine, etc.) Covers MVC, HTML5 drag & drop and other APIs. Read it mostly at the gym and on airplanes.

Big Data Glossary [e-book]
Would be more useful as a PDF or even better a wiki.

  
Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja [e-book]
Lots of crazy stuff about prototypes, testing, etc. Been in progress since like 2009 and it's not finished, so we get updates every couple of weeks.

Android in Action [e-book]
Too long.

Hardboiled Web Design [e-book] Loved it
I wish I would have paid to get a hard copy of this, because it's beautiful. Great essay on why we should build cool websites now with some killer examples.



Hello Android
Perfect for Android beginners who want the basics. 

MongoDB: The Definitive Guide [e-book] 
Awesome guide for anyone doing anything with Mongo. 

Tapworthy [e-book] Loved it
Essential mobile UX & design. 

Recipes with Backbone [e-book]
A ton of great examples about design patterns and testing backbone apps.

50 Tips & Tricks for MongoDB Developers [e-book] Loved it
Essential MongoDB tips for n00bs like me.
 
Learning the iOS 4 SDK for JavaScript Programmers [e-book]
Basically worthless if you've read a beginner tutorial on using XCode. Used it once or twice as a reference for splitting strings into arrays.

Getting Started with GEO, CouchDB and Node.js [e-book]
I now know a little bit about GeoJSON and CouchDB. Kind of weird. Kind of cool. Don't know.

High Performance JavaScript [e-book]
Informative. Don't forget to strike a balance between performance, readability, and maintainability.

Responsive Web Design [e-book] 
Pretty nearly essential book about how the web is changing and how to react to it.