LaTeX Explained

A genuinely enjoyable read that also taught me a great deal.

I picked this up after getting stuck on a project and it turned out to be exactly the right book at the right time. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. The chapters on latex are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. If you have the prerequisites, this is an easy recommendation. I will be keeping it on my desk rather than the shelf.

A few useful pages, but mostly material I had seen better elsewhere.

I had been on the fence about this one for a while, and I should have bought it sooner. The book rewards careful reading. Skimming it would be a mistake. The index and cross-references are surprisingly good, which matters for a book I will come back to. Some terminology is introduced without much ceremony; I had to look a few things up along the way. I would look elsewhere unless you have a specific reason to need this particular title.

Not quite what I expected from the description, but there is material here.

This is the third book I have read on latex this year, and it is comfortably the best of them. The writing is direct and does not waste space on filler, which I value in a technical book. The writing is direct and does not waste space on filler, which I value in a technical book. The author clearly knows the subject deeply and has thought hard about how to teach it. Borrow it first if you can, or at least check the table of contents carefully before buying.