HTML Utopia: Designing Without Tables Using CSS by Rachel Andrew and Dan Shafer

If you're buying this book because you already know CSS, but you want to learn table-less design, you'll be disappointed. But if you've never used CSS on your pages before and you want to get started right, then this is the perfect book for you. Don't buy this book on the title alone - you'll be disappointed.

Pros

Cons

This is a very good CSS manual. Nearly 40% of the book is a CSS reference with details on CSS 1 and 2 properties. Plus the entire first 60% of the book explains how to write a CSS styled Web page without using any old tags or tables for layout. It has great pictures (although, color pictures in the color section would be nice). And the code samples include both the HTML and the CSS to get what you're aiming for.

The Problem is the Title

If you buy this book based on the title alone, you may be disappointed. I was expecting a book that was going to go into detail on how to create CSS styled layouts without using tables. Yes, the authors do cover why to avoid using tables, and there are 3 full chapters on different layouts and how to achieve them, but it amounts to only a small portion of the entire book.

This is a Good CSS Book

In the introduction, the authors indicate that this book is for people "who are curious about how CSS can help them become more effective designers." And this is really true. If you've never used CSS before or only used it a little, but would like to start writing sites that use CSS rather than less standard-compliant code, then this is a good book to start with. You'll learn a lot of both beginning and advanced CSS concepts, and you won't be sorry for your purchase. Plus, you'll have a great reference for later.