I have no formal training in typography or page layout design, but as someone who needs to constantly communicate and pitch ideas, page layout design is really important to me. A couple of months ago, the Coding Horror blog recommended The Non-Designers Design Book ![[0321193857]](http://www.mikeyp.com/css/external.gif)
, and I ordered it.
The Non-Designers Design Book is a must-read for anyone who… well… wait a sec. It is a must-read for everyone. If you communicate, which you likely do 
, this book will give you a simple overview of how to improve the appearance and approachability of your written communication. The book is short, easy to read, and instantly enlightening to those of us new to page design vocabulary. It has given me immediate help in designing an internal wiki at work.
If there was anything to critique about the book, I would say it is the overuse of the phrase "Don't be a wimp!", but it simply reflects the author's design philosophies.
I saw the book Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days as a recommendation on Guy Kawasaki's blog. This is a big book containing dozens of interviews with people who started successful tech companies. While there are several interviews with people who more or less "got lucky" with internet startups in the 90's, there are also lots of interviews with legends of the tech industry, such as Woz, Mitch Kapor, and Dan Bricklin. The commonalities between all of the successful startup founders in the book seem to be that they worked like crazy, reached success very quickly, and most of all, liked what they were creating and believed in it.
If you have ever considered starting a new company, Founders at Work is a must-read.
Over the past year or two, I've rediscovered a love for comics and graphic novels. But I can't stand most super hero comics, so I usually gravitate toward the independent and underground stuff (the "weirdo section" as it is labeled at my favorite shop, Dr. Comics and Mr. Games). It must be due to all of the R. Crumb and Mad Magazine stuff I read as a kid. My favorite publisher at the moment is Drawn and Quarterly, who publishes the timely novel Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, by Guy Delisle .
Pyongyang is a graphic novel of the author's time in North Korea. He was sent by a French animation company to supervise the outsourcing of animation in North Korea. His stories about being constantly monitored and having a 24-hour "handler" while there are really amazing. His drawings really capture a view of the DPRK that most westerners have never seen. And while many of the events in the novel are hilarious, you can't help but feel terribly sad for everyone who lives north of the 38th parallel.
Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea is an excellent read, especially if you are interested in current events, and Guy's art style is perfect for the storytelling.
I know, I'm about 6 years late, but I finally got around to reading Cryptonomicon , by Neal Stephenson. Other than the underwhelming ending, this was my favorite Stephenson book yet (compared to Zodiac, which I hated, and Snowcrash and The Diamond Age, which I loved).
Enough has been written about this book, so I won't bother to describe the story. Rather, I'll mention what I liked the most, which was how easy it was to pick up and read. Even though the book is a monster at 900+ pages, the story moves along briskly in chapters that span only about 10 pages or so. That makes it very convenient to pick up the book whenever you have a few minutes and gulp down a quick chapter without worrying about reaching a stopping point to bookmark. I wish more books were organized this way.
But still, it'll be a while before I start reading Stephenson's Baroque Cycle Trilogy, with the three books totaling a hefty 2700 pages.
If you never got a chance to read the official 9/11 Commission Report, this week you'll have a chance to read it from a whole new viewpoint. Illustrators Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon have published a graphical adaptation of the 9/11 Report . Slate is publishing a chapter a day on their web site, and from what I've read so far, the results are at once gripping, heartbreaking, and impressive.
Graphic novels are rapidly gaining in popularity in the US. The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation , with the support from the original 9/11 commission members, will likely turn a lot of heads and bring more awareness to the power and effectiveness of this medium.
