And overview of some interesting books I got for Christmas:

Foundations of AJAX, by Ryan Asleson and Nathaniel Schutta.

From what I have read so far, this book will definitely be my "bridge" to learning AJAX techniques, and start using it in my own work.

On the negative side (if I absolutely had to nit-pick) - initially, I found that there could, perhaps, be too much explanation in the beginning of the book, and the code samples were not given until about page 24. That’s 23 pages of initial explanation. That’s my only complaint so far. Otherwise, the book is great.

Also, these are the authors I saw in Minnesota, when I went to their brief presentation of AJAX techniques, and their book.

DHTML Utopia: Modern Web Design Using JavaScript & DOM, by Stuart Langridge

This book will compliment my AJAX book, from above, with clear explanations of using JavaScript to manipulate the Document Object Model (DOM).

This is my first book from SitePoint, and I’m looking forward to going through the examples.

First in Thirst: How Gatorade Turned the Science of Sweat into a Cultural Phenomenon, by Darren Rovell.

This book is an excellent look at branding - a subject I appreciate and find utterly amazing.

Darren Rovell also has a Gatorade blog, which I read regularly.