I suggest further reading on a pattern by pattern basis to augment your understanding because design patterns are a difficult subject.  It is very useful to get to the right sources.  I find that different writer’s interpretations can be a bit misleading sometimes and you may ask what makes my personal interpretation so right.  Only lots of feedback from you, the readers, will tell.  Plus, I am going to be frank. There are two or three patterns where, as far as some of the nuances are concerned, I am still scratching my head.

Living in Jamaica, it is a bit hard for authors to sue me for defamation of “Pattachter,” but aside from the fact that Jamaica has extradition treaties with the US, I do find making the odd trip to the US quite useful.  So to avoid law-suits, I will not say when I think someone’s interpretation or rendering of a pattern is wrong.  I will stick to telling you which interpretations I think are spot on.  I will however, rank the treatments of patterns by authors that I do actually like, so you will be able to zoom in on the most useful ones.  In a few cases where the pattern is very simple, I omit references to other people’s work.  In a case or two I only found one good rendition and so I may refer to that one source.

All of that said, I think to master the subject you need to read widely and academically, review code, see the good, bad and ugly interpretations and just generally expose yourself to the myriad literature and plethora of approaches that exist out there.  This is true, especially if you want to teach it, so you can see for yourself where people fall down and learn from their mistakes.  The highly directed reading guide is aimed at developers who have little time, are easily discouraged and need to get up to speed quickly.  It is not for everyone.  Ultimately, as with any discipline, to become a master you have to find your own path through the jungle.

So go for it!