Professional Javascript for Web Developers is really an excellent book. Also, I would like to mention a blog post [1] by Richard Bowell which was front-paged here recently who also recommends the same book.

I'm currently learning JavaScript and the thing that sucks is reading about IE incompatibility/workarounds on almost every other page of the book. Any advice on how should I handle it? Is it really necessary to keep in mind all those quirks or can I skip through those material right now and learn what works on most browsers?

[1] http://javascriptissexy.com/how-to-learn-javascript-properly...