Quote - more of a reference though instead of going step by step through it.  The way I learn best is to usually just do it. 

I'd recommend a look at Molly Holzschlag's Spring Into book over teh Castro, then. And if you seriously want "nothing but a reference" (that's a bit bare bones for my taste), find a used O'Reilly Definitive Guide or Missing Manual. The CSS "missing manual" is a comprehensive reference, but it won't help you much with HTML or XHTML. So you end up with two books.

I thought of another route to consider: The Head First HTML book. It covers XHTML and CSS, and it's in a style so bloody cool it gives off fog. I can't decide if I like these books or not, but I keep being drawn back to them. Never actually finished one, though. The text is heavily graphic, sound-bitey and kitschy. When it's amusing, it's amusing; when it's not it's tiresome. The idea is to appeal to the aliterate (that's people who can read but won't). It's a market, and the books are, under the sappy grins and clown suits, very solid technically. They have a kind of charm -- enough so that I've bought three titles. But as I said, I've never finished one. It's a bit like trying to learn to surf during a hurricane.

M