Belated book reviews: Non-fiction
Jun. 27th, 2011 10:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
terrikoTrying to catch up on some book reviews. This is just my returned library list, not counting the ones I got out of my sister's pile, borrowed from someone, got from librarything, or still ahve out. Because I don't feel like finding all of those right now given that my returned library list alone is already over 30 books that I haven't reviewed...
Rather than have you get all of those at once, you're getting them grouped by type of book. Today, non-fiction. Still to come: graphic novels and straight up novels. At least, assuming everything goes as planned. I wish dreamwidth had a nice way to queue up posts and put them up later!
The Elements of Graphic Design by Alex White
I read a lot of books about graphic design both for my research work and for general interest on my part as someone who often has to produce attractive things, but this one stood out because it's a nice slim volume that contains just enough history to be interesting to read in a few sittings, and enough examples and ideas to be used as a quick reference guide. I'm not sure I've ever seen another volume where the balance was as perfect for my regular casual needs, so I may be getting a copy for my personal library sometime. Although then I'd be missing out on reading whatever text the library has on hand and getting a new perspective every time, so maybe I'll just buy it to give/lend to other people. That's honestly why I buy most books anyhow -- I read directly from the library as much as possible.
The Back of the Napkin Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures By Roam, Dan
A great little book about how to do simple visualizations to better explain your ideas. As someone who loves working in the visual space (see: visual security policy), this was partially stuff I knew, but with lots of good ideas for taking it to the next level. I found the second half or so bogged down a bit because I didn't have a particular project in mind for all the exercises, but it's well worth it for the first few chapters.
Rather than have you get all of those at once, you're getting them grouped by type of book. Today, non-fiction. Still to come: graphic novels and straight up novels. At least, assuming everything goes as planned. I wish dreamwidth had a nice way to queue up posts and put them up later!
Non-fiction
The Elements of Graphic Design by Alex White
I read a lot of books about graphic design both for my research work and for general interest on my part as someone who often has to produce attractive things, but this one stood out because it's a nice slim volume that contains just enough history to be interesting to read in a few sittings, and enough examples and ideas to be used as a quick reference guide. I'm not sure I've ever seen another volume where the balance was as perfect for my regular casual needs, so I may be getting a copy for my personal library sometime. Although then I'd be missing out on reading whatever text the library has on hand and getting a new perspective every time, so maybe I'll just buy it to give/lend to other people. That's honestly why I buy most books anyhow -- I read directly from the library as much as possible.
The Back of the Napkin Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures By Roam, Dan
A great little book about how to do simple visualizations to better explain your ideas. As someone who loves working in the visual space (see: visual security policy), this was partially stuff I knew, but with lots of good ideas for taking it to the next level. I found the second half or so bogged down a bit because I didn't have a particular project in mind for all the exercises, but it's well worth it for the first few chapters.
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Date: June 28th, 2011 07:11 pm (UTC)