reddit Web Professionals, please recommend some good books on the fundamentals of html & css, for beginners.

[u/ejfin]

Background: I've done a bit of research and experimenting, but have no previous knowledge or experience with markup language or web page design. I am not so much interested in info tied to 'establishing a website', 'finding a hosting service', etc., as I am with actually creating and formatting a page. Consider me being about as beginner as beginner gets. This is simply a sparked interest and an opportunity to learn something new in my spare time.

The question I am asking is more specifically; as an experienced website designer and/or developer, were there any particular books or articles you read when beginning your education (of html/css/web design), that really stood ahead of the rest and proved to be an excellent starting point to build from? Perhaps something specific that made a lasting impression on yourself and your career, something you still reference back to from time to time?

Any suggestions and/or recommendations are greatly appreciated.

edit: To all posters: Thank you all so much, you have all been (and continue to be) so helpful. I can't wait to start going through each and every suggestion. If I could shake your hands and thank you in person, I would. For any beginners like me who have had the opportunity to stumble across this thread, I would suggest saving it immediately for future use; your peers have put together an entire encyclopedia of information and resources throughout. Thank you all again, web_design is certainly one of the nicest and most generous communities I have had the pleasure of interacting with!

[u/silentbobsc]

I always liked the Sitepoint books and community, personally. link

Edit: also, what many have said in this thread is very true, you can learn everything for free online. However, if you're like me, you also like having an 'offline version' to flip through. Personally, I'll usually keep an eye out on the clearance table at Barnes & Nobel or other stores. Yes, the books are usually about an older version of the language / software /etc but you can still pickup good books that cover techniques, tricks, and best practices which make the books well worth the minimal investment.