I would advise against starting with "JavaScript: The Good Parts" by Douglas Crockford and Kyle Simpson's "You don't know JS" series for an total beginner. I think these are best read after already having a basic understanding of JavaScript as well having put some time in front of the keyboard using JavaScript. Both books/series, however, I *highly* recommend. Do read them, but after you've read another introductory book. I have read "Professional JavaScript for Web Developers" by Nicholas C. Zakas and I think it is a great book for learning ES5. But I haven't read "Speaking Javascript", "Eloquent JavaScript", or "JavaScript: the Definitive Guide". However, Eric Elliot, an experience JavaScript programmer who has written his own JS book, has written an article that may help: 12 Books Every JavaScript Developer Should Read – JavaScript Scene – Medium[^] After you've learned the language fundamentals, you will be overwhelmed with all the other "stuff" you will need to know. For all that "other stuff", I think you will find this other article, also by Eric Elliot, to be *very* helpful: Top JavaScript Frameworks & Topics to Learn in 2017[^] I'd also recommending subscribing to JavaScript Weekly to keep up to date on things and find out some great articles: JavaScript Weekly: A Free, Weekly Email Newsletter[^]