Rating:  - useful and practical book for newly converted CSS believers
very useful and practical book on CSS-based layouts. it compares alternative ways to 'markup' (write your html) and to 'style' (write your css). what i love about it is that it presents the pros and cons of each real-world methods, then you'll be able to figure out which is best for your specific purposes. and makes you smarter for next time.
most methods presented are the right way to do it, while few are hacks, but it'll tell which is which. an easy read, the kind you can jump from one chapter to another. infact so easy i finished half the book before i got it to the cashier (oops, sorry i didn't order online).
who is this book for? probably not ideal if you're not yet a believer of web standards. not for experts, as they may have read the same material when it was discusses in the author's site simplebits.com. but most suitable for those who just converted to CSS tableless design and curious to know exactly how others are doing it.
Rating: - Very well done
Dan Cederholm's book explains complex ideas in an easy to understand format with included examples. He contrasts the old way of designing web pages with new while showing the reader the advantages of using web standards.
I found several ideas that are of immediate value and helped to clear up my understanding of how to make fast loading and easy to change web pages with a minimal amount effort that separate content from style/markup.
Rating:  - Simple, solid, practical
Unlike many other authors, Cederholm doesn't try to evangelise the readers about standards, he limit himself to simple, solid, practical advices. The material inside the book isn't very advanced or sophisticated, but it remains very relevant and can help developers getting out of bad and outdated coding practices.
Rating: - I just got one step higher
I got my hands on this book but wasn't too sure if it was a right choice. Another web standards book? Yay or something. But then I got through the first chapter, it was about Lists. LISTS!? At first I thought to myself this was an insult to my intelligence as a web designer, what bull****! I know how to use lists, both OL and UL lists! Big deal!
By the end of the chapter my thoughts completely changed, I was blown away how the author used lists to create a navigation bar and why he did so, the concept behind using lists because afterall, a navigation bar is really a list that youi can select to go through to different sections of a page. Wow, I started the next chapter, and again I went nuts! It got to the point that when I go on forums now I dont just type web addresses but use the forums' own Internet URL button so that its more consistent and stuff, I dont just bold text now I have a reason to emphasize them rather than just make them more obvious with bold. I never knew how much an art web design could be until this book which taught me that the Internet is a masterpiece as long as all its contributors do quality work on it.... Amazing I tell you, any web designer who's reached intermediate to near advanced level and wants to be able to feel like he/she wants to feel like a true artist and web guru should get this book, definitely worth your time. It's easy reading, I sit on the train on my way to university and burn through 2 chapters at a time and it's just satisfying because each chapter is short yet you feel like you've learnt another useful thing...yummy!
Rating: - Good book for those making the jump to XHTML and CSS
This is a great book for those moving from older standards (such as HTML 3 or 4) to XHTML and CSS. It serves as a good intoduction to the subject matter and gives solutions to typical problems that will arise when moving to XHTML and CSS. I really like the informal non-arrogant style of writing, and the abundance or practical examples given. At the end of the book, some great internet resources are listed - this is very useful.
On the down side, the author made no attempt to tackle the sticky issue of font size (EMs vs percent vs px etc.).
This is not a good book for experienced CSS and XHTML developers, as the content is too easy. Neither is this a reference book.
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