(*) He then shows code that follows his recommendation.

A while back I did a book review of Perl Best Practices and a similar C++ book at:

• Two Different Languages: Two Similar Books (PBP and CCS)

We use these two books as the basis for our company coding standards.

because I usually don't like "This is how you should do it" books.

this is such a common misconception about PBP. only people who haven't read it say it's a book that tells you how to code. it doesn't. read the foreword. it's important.

the book's more like "well, very probably this is the way you should do it, because ... if you do it in another way, you are free to do, the important thing is that you thought about it."

That comment was just my knee-jerk from seeing the title. Having read the sample chapter up, I found it to be exactly like you describe. I especially liked the examples of the troubles you can get yourself into. It is one thing to say "Do it like this because X," but having the "If you do it that why Y and Z can happen" drives the point home well.

I feel like after reading it I'll definitely remember the advice while I'm coding, and if I'm not following the advice at least I'll know where issues can pop up.