Eva PenzeyMoog: Design for Safety

In digital design, we often discussed about user experience, but we hardly talked about user safety. In her excellent book, Eva PenzeyMoog provided real-world examples of well-intended experience can be used to harm others. It is our responsibilities as designers and developers to create digital products that put our users’ safety first. We have no excuse not to do it because PenzeyMoog shows us how.

Rebekah Baggs & Chris Corak: SEO for Everyone

SEO is often targeted machine algorithms. In SEO for Everyone Rebekah Baggs and Chris Corak make the case to cater to users. They called it human-centered SEO. Make your pages readable to the users first then you don’t need to worry much about search engines, particularly Google. For example, make your page title as it is reads as a headline. Baggs and Corak keeps the technical details to the minimum to make SEO more approachable to non-developers.

Sameera Kapila: Inclusive Design Communities

Thank you Sameera Kapila for shedding the light on the dark corner of marginalized identities. This book is an invaluable resource not only for the designer communities, but also for leaders who hold the privileges in their hands. They are the ones that can make the change for their communities. No matter what industry or sector or institution, we deserve an inclusive environment. Just open up your mind and eyes and Kapila will guide us there.

Yael Ben-David: The Business of UX Writing

Great UXW is great for business and great for users. In her concise, refreshing book, Yael Ben-David makes the case for why UX writing matters and why UX writers should have a seat at the table. She provides practical guides with real-world examples to demonstrate the effectiveness of UXW. I would love to have a UX writer on our team, but I can do it on my own after reading this book.

Jeremy Wagner: Responsible JavaScript

I was hoping to recommend this book to the people above my pay rate so they would understand why need to handle JavaScript responsively. An outside vendor is in the progress of redesigning our website and the site will be unusable with JavaScript turns off. It’s such a shame that we will be excluding some of our users, but I am not the one in charge. Even though I found the information useful, it is way too technical for the top decision makers. Nevertheless, Responsible JavaScript is a must read for web developers who care about progressive enhancement and inclusivity.

Katel LeDû & Lisa Maria Marquis: You Should Write a Book

Should you write a book? The CEO and managing editor of A Book Apart not only say you should, but they also guide you through the entire publishing process. With clarity, authority, years of experience, and doses of humor, Ms. LeDû and Ms. Marquis can help turn your wonderful ideas onto the pages. If you are thinking about writing a book, you should, but you should read this book first.

Staci Robinson: Tupac Shakur (The Authorized Biography)

It took me a month to finish reading the 344-page authorized biography of Tupac Shakur. In one part, I had been busy skiing and snowboarding. In another part, I didn’t want the book to end. Through Staci Robinson’s exceptional writing, I wanted to ride with Pac for as long as I could. I knew the ending would be heartbreaking. I still remember hearing the horrific news about his passing after getting shots. My heart dropped. In addition to Pac’s life, Robinson delved into his mother’s life and the influences she had on her son. An engaging and breathtaking read.

Book Collection: A Book Apart

  1. Cross-Cultural Design, by Senongo Akpem, provides principles of design that embrace cultural diversity.
  2. Design for Safety, by Eva PenzeyMoog, demonstrates that it is our responsibilities as designers and developers to create digital products that put our users’ safety first.
  3. Flexible Typesetting, by Tim Brown, is an essential guide to shape better typography on the web.
  4. Going Offline, by Jeremy Keith, explains the ins and outs of service works in clear, comprehensible details.
  5. HTML5 for Web Designers, by Jeremy Keith, is the quickest way to learn the new HTML elements.
  6. Inclusive Design Communities, by Sameera Kapila, sheds the light on the dark corner of marginalized identities.
  7. The New CSS Layout, by Rachel Andrew, shows you how to create powerful, flexible layouts with just a few lines of CSS.
  8. On Web Typography, by Jason Santa Maria, proves that the process of working with types on the web could be rewarding, engaging, and not daunting.
  9. Practical Design Discovery, by Dan Brown, examines discovery as a mindset, not a process. Discovery is about the right attitude, not a set of instructions.
  10. Responsible JavaScript, by Jeremy Wagner, is a must read for web developers who care about progressive enhancement and inclusivity.
  11. Responsible Responsive Design, by Scott Jehl, a companion to Ethan Marcotte’s Responsive Web Design, is a required read for front-end developers who want to make the web more accessible and faster.
  12. Responsive Web Design, by Ethan Marcotte, is a must-read responsive web design book written by the man who discovered and popularized the concept.
  13. SEO for Everyone, by Rebekah Baggs and Chris Corak, make the case for human-centered optimization rather then search engine algorithms.
  14. Sustainable Web Design, by Tom Greenwood, demonstrates that creating sustainable websites isn’t hard or impossible.
  15. You Should Write a Book, by Katel LeDû and Lisa Maria Marquis, guide you through the entire publishing process with clarity, authority, years of experience, and doses of humor.

92 Books Read in 2023

I read 92 books this year, which is 45 more than last year.

The volume jumped almost double because I read quite a bit of poetry books. I wanted to delve deeper into poems, particularly in English. In the last month or so, however, I picked up a handful of poetry books in Vietnamese. I enjoyed reading poems because they were shorter and I could finish a poem when I had a few minutes here and there.

I continued to attempt switching from fiction to non-fiction. I read quite a bit of Vietnamese-American authors including Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, Việt Thanh Nguyễn, Mai Nguyễn, Beth Nguyễn Cường Lư, Tranh Thanh Trấn. I also read Vũ Trọng Phụng’s classic novels.

For 2024, I want to return to thicker books and less poetry. Then again, it doesn’t really matter as long as I am reading.

Check out my reading record.

Thơ tình Sương Mai

Tập thơ khoảng 200 bài của Sương Mai chỉ viết về tình. Không chính trị. Không căm thù ai. Có giận cũng chỉ giận anh. Có trách móc cũng chỉ trách móc ông (trâu già muốn gặm cỏ non):

Thưa ông, đừng nói làm chi…
Tôi và ông có chuyện gì nói đâu
Thưa ông, đừng nói chuyện sầu
Chuyện yêu, chuyện ghét, chuyện trầu, chuyện cau

Thưa ông, đừng nói thương đau
Tôi đâu có muốn ngọt ngào với ai
Thưa ông, đừng hỏi ngày mai
Tình duyên, âu cũng… lâu đài người xây

Thưa ông, đừng dọa tôi hoài
Chết đi cũng thể, chim bay cũng rồi
Thưa ông, đừng nói yêu tôi
Tim tôi hóa đá, tôi rồi hóa thân

Thưa ông, đừng nói xa gần
Tôi không…, nhất định, ân cần mà chi?
Thưa ông, đừng luyến lưu gì
Tôi còn sợ lắm… người đi không về
Thưa ông, tôi sợ lời thề…

200 bài về một đề tài cũng hơi bị dài. Nhưng thơ của Sương Mai đọc dễ hiểu và dễ gần.