It's a large area of expertise. I can't thing of a book with frontend design or engineering in the title even.

Shameless plug: http://theriseoffrontendengineering.com

Try to learn and understand design as a discipline before going into the specifics of user interfaces and interaction design. For that I recommend:

- Universal Principles of Design - William Lidwell

- The Design of Everyday Things - Donald A. Norman

Then for more practical knowledge:

- Forms that Work: Designing Web Forms for Usability - Caroline Jarrett

- Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability - Steve Krug

- Designing the Obvious: A Common Sense Approach to Web & Mobile Application Design - Robert Hoekman Jr.

- Sketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design - Bill Buxton

See also this exemplary example of persistence and passion:

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/07/with-z...

There's a pretty good basic book on the basics of design called "White Space is not your Enemy" that I find pretty helpful.

"Don't Make Me Think!" ~ Steve Krug

Designing the Obvious: A Common Sense Approach to Web & Mobile Application Design

Front-end design in what respect? Visual, ui/ux, or HTML/CSS?