This page is mostly to help me keep track of which books I've read and got discouraged with, which ones I read once, and which ones I've read more than once. If you get something out of it too, that's great.

Go for Beginners

This was my first go book. I guess it must have been pretty good, because it was right around the time I read this book that I started getting really interested in go. However, if I had it to do over again, I might read the Kim/Soo-hyun series instead.

In the Beginning

This is a book about the opening. I've read it twice. I wish I had read Opening Theory Made Easy one of those times instead though (now I have read it).

38 Basic Joseki

I skimmed most of this book. I enjoy looking up joseki, but I don't like sitting around memorizing ones I've never seen before.

Get Strong at Joseki, Volume I

Same as 38 Basic Joseki, except I didn't even skim this one all the way through. Too much nitty-gritty detail for my taste, and many people say that joseki is one of the last things to study as you get stronger.

Tesuji

This was a really good book. I went through it quickly once, and then set about typing all of its problems into my computer. I finished this project in March of 2003. I've just started winning a lot of games on KGS (4 kyu) and my studying these problems more carefully may be why. I've made this my "go problems at lunchtime" study lately.

Graded Go Problems for Beginners, Volume I

This was an extremely easy book at the time I read it. Unfortunately, I don't recall what rank I was when I read it. I only made "one pass" through it, because I only got two or three questions wrong.

Graded Go Problems for Beginners, Volume II

This book was more of a challenge for me. I was about IGS 14k* (or maybe a little below that) when I started reading it. I just redid the ones I found difficult again and again until I could answer them quickly - on paper.

Graded Go Problems for Beginners, Volume III

Shelved. I've moved on to Volume IV without quite finishing this one. Well before Thu Dec 11 18:47:33 PST 2003.

The Second Book of Go

This was a good book. I think the most valuable thing in it is the taxonomy of the six kinds of capturing races, but there's more in it than just that.

Attack and Defense

This was a good book. I think the most valuable thing in it is probably the problems at the end. I'm still a little mystified about attacking and defending, but I think the subject is just too big for one book to really make the whole thing clear, and I do think the book helped me.

Life and Death

This is a hard book. I've heard that many of the problems assume a dan-level reading ability, and I believe it. The first time through this, I eventually wound up just reading the theory and skipping the problems. It's still car reading, but as I'm going through it again, I'm finding it a lot easier. I'm now IGS 3k*, KGS 3k. Thu Dec 11 18:46:49 PST 2003

Go Proverbs Illustrated

I was lucky to find a copy of this book - it's out of print. There are no problems in it, just lots of miscellaneous theory. I've read it one and a half times now. I used to pick it up and put it back down again as I waited for new books to arrive in the mail. If you can't find this one, you aren't missing that much - the new Proverbs mentioned below is probably a better book anyway.

Learn to Play Go, Volume II

This was a bit remedial when I read it, but it's so well written... and Kageyama was clear that one should make every effort to get a firm grip on fundamentals... These books take on a difficult subject, and make it really easy. I think I read this one in two days.

Learn to Play Go, Volume IV

This too was an easy read of a difficult subject. I know I read this one in two evenings. It flies by. I'm eager to read Volume V.

Intermediate Level Power Builder

This was a good book. An amateur dan told me that some of what I learned from the book was old-fashioned, but I really liked the book. I found this one an easier read than most of the Elementary Go Series' material.

Handicap Go

I wound up feeling like I didn't get that much out of this book. There were some valuable ideas in it, but you could learn those ideas in about 10 minutes if someone wrote a summary. I felt like it was far too many words for the number of worthwhile ideas communicated. Or maybe it was just over my head. Shrug. I borrowed this one from Dave, a guy in my local go club, but I haven't seen him in ages. I now also have a shrink wrapped new copy (2nd edition, I believe) that I may (re)read someday.

Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go

This is a pretty good book. I've read it twice. I didn't put much effort into the problems either time, but I've since worked on some of the problems separately.

The Chinese Opening

This is a good book. I don't think I'm going to retain all those variations, but I'm enjoying remembering a few, and looking up the others that come up in my games. I found the first four chapters really great, but I didn't care for chapter 5 much. In chapter 6, I just read the fusekis and skipped the rest. And that was the end of the book.

The Art of Go Series: Volume I -- Connecting Stones

I own a copy of this. It's a problem book. I was working my way through this, but I've shelved it since discovering I can buy electronic problem collections.

Graded Go Problems for Beginners, Volume 4

I sometimes do problems out of this before going to sleep now. I'm not using a computer with it at all. Thu Dec 11 18:44:11 PST 2003 The problems aren't all that difficult anymore. I'm IGS 3k*, KGS 3k.

Basic Techniques of Go

When I first started reading this, I suddenly dropped two stones in strength. I shelved it for a while...

The Endgame

I got bored with this one pretty fast. I've shelved it for a while (at least).

Appreciating Famous Games

I heard it was a good idea to read this one before Invincible, and eventually I want to read that, so... Anyway, I started making this one my bedtime reading, but the variations were just sophisticated enough that I wanted to go through them on a board - which is impractical in bed. :) I hate long variations in books; I don't mind them in SGF really.

Get Strong at Invading

This was a decent book, a problem book. I wouldn't say I know everything about invading now, but since reading it I feel a lot more comfortable just trying various things and seeing what works and what doesn't.

The Power of the Star Point

This was a good book about the sanrensei opening. It's another "lucky to find it" book, because it's out of print. I think this would be a really good one for some publisher to print again (though I feel less strongly about that now that Fuseki is available).

The Direction of Play

I'm not sure I got that much out of this one.

Proverbs

This was a pretty good book I think. A bunch of miscellaneous proverbs.

EZ-GO: Oriental Strategy in a Nutshell

I read it. It was decent. The best thing was the "skip with five" rule.

Positional Judgement

I read about half of this, and started to feel I was getting diminishing returns on my effort. I may resume it someday though.

Cho Chikun's Encyclopedia of Life and Death

No, this isn't a go book. It is, however, an excellent collection of Life and Death problems on diskette, and it was the center of my go study for months. There are some errors in it, but I still really like it. There are 923 Elementary, 935 Intermediate and 792 Advanced problems; I was still working on the elementary problems when I moved on to Tesuji. As of July 7, 2002, I've answered 543 of the Elementary problems correctly twice in a row, and have 380 to answer correctly once or twice more in a row.

Tesuji Made Easy

This isn't a go book either; it's go software with lots of problems. I'm quite puzzled as to how to tell the good illustrations from the bad ones in this software. I've mostly given up on this program.

The Middle Game of Go

Finished Sun May 18 13:11:57 PDT 2003. It was decent. I want to reread the 3-4 shimari invasion stuff someday. I'm IGS 2k*, KGS 4k as I write this.

Whole Board Thinking in Joseki

Two volumes. I think this doesn't make very good bedtime reading; it's more of a sit down and study kind of book. This only covers 3-4 joseki, but fortunately, those are some of my favorites. I think I'm going to have to do this partially with a computer. Recently, I just read through maybe a third of the first volume. It's changed the way I look at the board a bit. Sat Jan 3 08:18:11 PST 2004

Go Problems for Kyu Level Players

I did this as a KGS 3/4/5 kyu and IGS 2 kyu (unstarred, post adjustment). I got every one of the problems right but one - that one I recognized as a two-stone edge squeeze (the book calls it something else), but I didn't read out the entire sequence correctly. Frankly, I didn't think this was that good a book - there just aren't enough problems in it; there are only 44 pages, and those pages are pretty tiny.

Fuseki

Excellent. I don't expect to retain all of what I read in this book the first time through it, but the coverage is so good that I learned a few things about, EG, san ren sei and the Chinese opening, despite having read books solely devoted to each. I started this before I injured my arm, but finished it on the bus.

Monkey Jump Workshop

This is way more complicated than I thought it would be. A good book. One of the books I finished while I was reading a lot on the bus.

Improve your Intuition, Volume 1: Intuition in the Opening

One of the books I finished on the bus while my arm was too messed up to ride my bike to work. Worth reading, even if it's only 35 pages.

Cross-Cut Workshop

Another of the books I finished on the bus. A good book. It changed the way I think in complicated situations.

Tricks in Joseki

Another of the books I finished on the bus. A good book. Even more than Cross Cut Workshop, this book gave me more idea how to read in a complicated-but-not-life-and-death situation. I didn't get that many of the problems right this first time through it, but it was worth the time.

A Way of Play for the 21st Century

I've really just started on this book. This was "backpack" reading, but I drifted off into other books. It didn't feel that helpful. Thu Dec 11 18:39:31 PST 2003

Strategic Concepts of Go

I finally read the theory portion of this book. I guess it might've been a little bit helpful. At the time of reading, I was IGS 3k* (post adjustment) and KGS 4k. I didn't do the problems. I'm happy with my life and death software study for problems, for now.

Life and Death: Intermediate Level Problems

Haven't read it, haven't started it. It's on my bookshelf waiting.

Go Problems for Kyu Level Players Volume 4: Whole-Board Problems

Haven't read it, haven't started it. It's on my bookshelf waiting.

Go Problems for Kyu Level Players Volume 3: Whole-Board Opening Problems

Haven't read it, haven't started it. It's on my bookshelf waiting.

Go Problems for Kyu Level Players Volume 2: Uplifting exercises

Haven't read it, haven't started it. It's on my bookshelf waiting.

Come up to Shodan

I started it, and got distracted with other books. I don't recall if it was feeling helpful or not.

The ABC's of Attack and Defense

Haven't read it, haven't started it. It's on my bookshelf waiting.

How to Play Handicap Go

Haven't read it, haven't started it. It's on my bookshelf waiting.

Improve your Intuition Volume 3: Intuition in the Middle Game, Part 2: How to Reduce a Moyo

Haven't read it, haven't started it. It's on my bookshelf waiting. I'm eager to read it.

Understanding how to Play Go

Haven't read it, haven't started it. It's on my bookshelf waiting.

Keshi and Uchikomi Reduction and Invasion in Go

Started it. I have my doubts about whether it's the best thing for me to read right now, but I'm continuing.

Reducing Territorial Frameworks

Haven't read it, haven't started it. It's on my bookshelf waiting.

The 3-3 Point Modern Opening Strategy

Haven't read it, haven't started it. It's on my bookshelf waiting. After examining the back of the book, I've decided it's about more than just 3-3 openings, so I may give it some time soon. Sat Jan 3 08:23:38 PST 2004

Opening Theory Made Easy Twenty Strategic Principles to Improve Your Opening Game

Finished it Tue Feb 25 17:41:27 PST 2003. It was good. Someone told me it would be too basic for me, but it was well worth reading IMO.

Making Good Shape Mastering the Basics, Volume 3

This was a beneficial book, as an IGS 2k*/3k* and KGS 3k/4k. I read chapters 1 and 2 (the theory chapters), and left chapter 3 (the problem chapter) for later. Wed Mar 5 15:32:36 PST 2003

Improve your Intuition Volume 2: Intuition in the Middle Game, Part 1, Attack and Defense

It was good. It doesn't provide any deeply meaningful theory, but it does cover some interesting specific situations that I'm happy to have seen.

Star Point Joseki Volume three

I started to read this, and got a case of "wow, reading joseki books is boring". I left it on my shelf, bookmark in place. It may become reference-only.

Beyond Forcing Moves

I picked this one up used at the 2nd Cotsen tournament. I think it's out of print. It's in pretty bad condition - water damage I think. The guy I got it from said it would be suitable for my level (IGS 2k*, KGS 4k), and that it's good for snapping you out of playing simple moves all the time. I finished it about 2 or 3 weeks ago (Sat Jun 7 12:33:18 PDT 2003). Mostly, it said "don't play forcing moves that you can get your opponent to force you into playing" I think.

Intermediate Level Power Builder Vol 2

It's about fighting, but the best part so far was a section on attacking a two space extension, two two space extensions, and a two space extension with a keima from one stone. Very nice. Finished Sun Nov 23 14:37:36 PST 2003. The treatment of common handicap positions was nice.

Breakthrough to Shodan

I finally located an almost-reasonably priced copy of this one. I'd wanted to read this for a long time. I heard one person went up 4 stones from reading it. It's out of print. My copy arrived Nov 22, 2003. I finished out (except the 17 problems in the back) on my vacation to Florida. It was helpful I think, but the comment that it's really intended for help you hit pro 1 dan may be true. I can already see how it's changed my approach to certain corner situations. Sat Dec 27 06:09:38 PST 2003

Learn to Play Go: Volume V

It's arrived. I'm reading through it. It's great. :) Pithy but light. So far, the section on shape was great, the section on the opening was a reasonable review, and the section on jungsuk (joseki) is nice. It's mostly review (which doesn't hurt), but there are some bits I'm not that familiar with, which IMO is just right. Finally, the section on the endgame was reasonable. I got all the opening problems right, and all the endgame problems but the last one.

Get Strong at Tesuji

I've had a copy of this for a long time. I dug it out and started doing problems from it while I was waiting for Learn to Play Go: Volume V to arrive. I'm finding the problems far easier than I used to. Surprisingly, I'm often finding *** problems easier than * problems. I think I need to spend on this in the near future. Sat Jan 3 08:23:32 PST 2004