Textbooks for the college student used to be a necessary evil. The possibility to rent textbooks is becoming more and more popular now, however. Whether it is a reflection of the combustible economic situation in America or simply a more economical way of doing things remains to be seen. The bottom line is this: when it comes to textbooks, rent; don’t purchase unless absolutely necessary.

2011’s Best Web Design Textbooks

Web developers and designers would be best served by renting the following textbooks if at all possible (of the titles are paraphrased): Good ideas: Where They Come From; Web Form Design; Weaving the Web; The Victorian Internet; The Thank You; Me; The Happiest Project; Content Strategy: The Laments; The Designful Company; CSS3: Stunning; Steve Jobs; Design Incorporating Seductive Interaction; CSS Architecture for Modular and Scalable; Rocket Surgery made easy; Improving Decisions About Happiness, Wealth and Health; Mobile First; Enlightenment on JavaScript; A Website that is More Bullet Proof: Handcrafted CSS; Bad/Good Strategy; Getting Things Done; Don’t Make Me Think; Scripting of DOM; Digital Age to Designing; Web Designers’ CSS3; Your Response Web Design; and Adaptive Web Design.

According to .netmagazine However…

Web design books it made the top 25 last according to .netmagazine differ slightly from the previously stated textbooks for rental. (Some titles are paraphrased): Where Do Good Ideas Come From; Web Form Design; Weaving the Web; The Victorian Internet; The Thank You Economy; The Happiness Project; The Elements of Content Strategy; The Designed Full Company; The Stunning CSS3; Steve Jobs; Seductive The Interaction Design; Modular and Scalable Architecture for CSS; Rocket Surgery Made Easy; Nudge: Improving Decisions About Happiness, Wealth and Health; Mobil First; Enlightenment on JavaScript; A More Bullet Proof Design: Handcrafted CSS; Top Strategy Good Strategy; Getting Things Done; Don’t Make Me Think; Scripting of DOM; Digital An Age Designing; CSS3 For Web Designers; Responsive Web Design; and Adaptive Web Design come in at the top 25.

And that’s about it.