So it’s that time of year again — the annual book sale at the end of February, when everybody and their grandmother and their grandmother’s dog and their dog’s grandmother stampede through all the bookstores hunting for cheap books.

Here’s my catch:

• XML Programming
• XML, DTDs and XSL Transformations
• Linus Torvalds, Just For Fun
• Antony Beevor, Stalingrad
• Per Nilsson, A Style Guide for Men

The Style Guide is fun to read. It contains tons of information every gentleman needs: instructions on how to fold your shirts, what your business cards should look like, the proper opening of a champagne bottle (with or without saber), what to never wear together with a smoking or tuxedo, and so on, so further.

It’s all written with a sharp tounge-in-cheek sarcastic style that keeps you smiling, and is filled with illustrations. The chapter on taking care of your clothes is called “Spotless” and starts with a picture of John Travolta as Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction, wearing a blood-stained suit (”Man, I shot Marvin in the face!”).

Also, picked up at SF-Bokhandeln the other day:

• Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash
• Neal Stephenson, The Diamond Age

Yesterday I ordered another book as well: The Complete Manual of Typography by James Felici. I leafed through it at Akademibokhandeln, and realized that I must own this book!

I’ve studied graphical design for three years in school, and I found typography to be an interesting subject within graphical design. It’s a very important part of the layout, since the text is usually what you will spend the most time looking at.