• O'Reilly Press. These are the most technically comprehensive books around. They are the best reference books you can have, but aren't easy to use when you are learning something new. They are known for their simple covers, featuring a black and white ink drawing of an animal.
• Peachpit Press. These are the easiest to use books and provide solid examples. They are good as learning books or as reference books for simple probelms. Almost all of the books are under $25.
• Sams Publishing. Their Teach Yourself in 21 Days series is great for self-tutoring. I learned HTML and Perl using these books. They have a lot of exercises and usually come with a CD-ROM.

I provide links to Amazon.com, since they have the best display listings. However, I encourage you to find the best price by using this price comparison Web site: Best Book Buys.

DHTML for the World Wide Web, 1st Edition: Visual Quick Start Guide by Jason C. Teague. Peachpit Press, 1998. $17.95

• most bang for your buck
• easy to find things
• good example with step by step instructions

HTML for the World Wide Web with XHTML & CSS, 5th Edition: Visual Quick Start Guide by Elizabeth Castro. Peachpit Press, 2000. $21.99

• most bang for your buck
• easy to find things
• good example with step by step instructions

HTML & XHTML: The Definitive Guide, 5th Edition by Chuck Musciano & Bill Kennedy. O'Reilly and Associates, 2002. $39.95

• very technical
• most in-depth about browser differences,
• not many examples

Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML & XHTML in 21 days, 4th Edition by Laura Lemay & Rafe Coburn. Sams Publishing, 2003. $39.99

• lots of examples and exercises
• easy to understand
• not as easy to use as a reference

Dreamweaver MX 2004 for Windows and Macintosh: Visual Quick Start Guide by J. Tarin Towers. Peachpit Press, 2004. $24.99

• most bang for your buc
• easy to find things
• good example with step by step instructions

Dreamweaver MX 2004 Hands-on-Training by Garo Green. Peachpit Press, 2003. $44.99

• lot's of good exercises
• CD-ROM includes videos showing how to use application

Flash Web Design: the art of motion graphics (V5 Remix) by Hillman Curtis. New Riders, 2001. $45.00

• real world ingenuity
• how to examples
• describes design process

Flash MX 2004: Visual Quick Start Guide by Katherine Ulrich. Peachpit Press, 2003. $24.99

• easy to find things
• good practice exercises

Flash MX 2004 Hands-on-Training by Rosanna Yeung. Peachpit Press, 2003. $44.99

• lot's of good exercises
• CD-ROM includes videos showing how to use application

New Masters of Flash by Joshua Davis et ali. Friends of ED, 2000. $59.99

• how to's by well known designers
• good design principles
• CD includes video interviews

Being Digital by Nicholas Negroponte. Vintage Books, 1996. $13.00.

• written by the found of MIT's Media Lab
• learn to think in terms of bits instead of atoms
• easy to read

The Cyborg Manifesto by Donna Harraway

• feminist perspective on technology, culture, and the body
• dense read
• radical ideas

A Brief History of Everything by Ken Wilber. Shambhala, 1996. $19.50.

• the world's foremost transpersonal philospher
• an integral approach to psychology and sprituality
• written as a Socratic dialogue

Visions: How Science Will Revolutionize the 21st Century by Michio Kaku. Anchor Books, 1998. $19.95.

• written by one of the leading super string theorists
• easy to read review of expected scientific development in the next 50 years
• great source of investment ideas for the future

Neuromancer by William Gibson. Ace Books, 1994. $6.99.

• the cyberpunk novel of all time
• gets you thinkining about cyberspace, virtual reality, and AI

JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, 4th Edition by David Flanagan. O'Reilly & Associates, 2001. $44.95.

Javascript for the World Wide Web, 4th Edition: Visual Quick Start Guide by Tom Negrino and Dori Smith. Peachpit Press, 2001. $19.99

Photoshop CS for Windows and Macintosh: Visual Quick Start Guide by Elaine Weinmann and Peter Lourekas. Peachpit Press, 2003. $24.99

• most bang for your buck
• easy to find things
• good example with step by step instructions

The Photoshop CS Wow! Book by Linnea Dayton, Jack Davis. Peachpit Press, 2005. $49.99.

Adobe Photoshop Master Class, 2nd Edition by John Paul Caponigro. Adobe Press, 2003. $55.00

Programming Perl, 3rd Edition by Larry Wall, Tom Christiansen & Jon Orwant. O’Reilly & Associates, 2000. $49.95.

• absolute must for serious perl programmers

CGI Programming with Perl, 3rd Edition by Scott Guleich et ali. O’Reilly & Associates, 2000. $34.95.

• perl basics for CGI programming

Teach Yourself Perl in 21 Days, 2nd Edition by Laura Lemay. Sams Publishing, 2002. $34.99.

• excellent way to learn the basics of perl

Creating Killer Websites, 2nd Edition by David Siegel. Hayden Books, 1997. $49.99.

Deconstructing Web Graphics.1: Web Design Case Studies and Tutorials by Lynda Weinman. New Riders, 1999. $39.99.

Deconstructing Web Graphics.2: Web Design Case Studies and Tutorials by Lynda Weinman. New Riders, 1999. $39.99.

Designing Web Graphics.4: the definitive guide to web design by Lynda Weinman. New Riders, 2003. $55.00.

• best overview of web graphics
• shows optimizing images, basic html, and rollovers
• lots of discussion about web color

Designing Web Usability by Jakob Nielson. New Riders, 1999. $45.00.

• the best book about UI Design by the guru of the Nielson Norman Group.
• info best applied for mass user audiences

Elements of Web Design: The Designer's Guide to a New Medium by Darcy Dinucci. Peach Pit Press, 1998. $39.95.

Web Design in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference by Jennifer Niederst and Richard Koman(ed.). O’Reilly & Associates, 2001. $29.95.

• comprehensive intro to all aspects of Web design

Web Style Guide: Basic Design Principles for Creating Web Sites by Patrick J. Lynch and Sarah Horton. Yale University Press, 1999. $14.95.