Everyone’s got a copy of this from a high school or college class, right? I still refer to it when writing, and of course, had to buy the illustrated Maira Kalman version, too.

Harriet the Spy, It’s Like This, Cat, and later, all of the S. E. Hinton books, were childhood favorites that still resonate to this day. Perhaps it’s the city kid side of me that identified with the adventurous loners I met through their stories.

If you can dig up a used copy, it’s worth the investment. There are lots of books about wood type, Victorian design, and printing techniques, but the reissue of Lewis’s 1962 Printed Ephemera sets the standard.

I first saw this beautiful brick of a book when I was a young designer at Rolling Stone. A friend had a tattered copy—typesetters and designers often cut letters and dingbats out as needed—and I knew that I had to acquire my own. Of course, this was back in the dark ages before the Internet, so finding one meant scouring book fairs and flea markets. If you can score a 1923 ATF, do not hesitate to make the purchase. It will teach you everything you need to know about classic typography and good design.

Completely digestible bits of graphic design history in one manageable book. I find myself referring to it more than any other design book I own, and I’ve got shelves full.

In the Groove serves as a wonderfully concise introduction to Alex Steinweiss, Jim Flora, and Erik Nitsche—and who can resist a Desi Arnaz album cover?