LaTeX Explained

Decent, but uneven. Some chapters are much stronger than others.

I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. The balance between theory and practice is well judged; neither side dominates. I found myself making notes in the margins, which is always a good sign. Borrow it first if you can, or at least check the table of contents carefully before buying.

A superb guide. The examples are small but complete.

I came to this book already familiar with the basics, and it still had plenty to offer. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. Worth the money and the reading time, without hesitation.