Reader reviews

A genuinely enjoyable read that also taught me a great deal.

I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. The author avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. The explanations are careful without being condescending, which is a difficult balance to strike. The writing is direct and does not waste space on filler, which I value in a technical book. If you have the prerequisites, this is an easy recommendation. I will be keeping it on my desk rather than the shelf.

I got a lot out of this, even if a few sections felt rushed.

I came to this book already familiar with the basics, and it still had plenty to offer. The balance between theory and practice is well judged; neither side dominates. Some of the material is available elsewhere, but rarely presented this clearly. I particularly liked the way the author builds up from simple cases before introducing the harder material. Solid, and I would buy another book from this author without hesitation.

Good value. Not perfect, but I would buy another book from this author.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. A couple of chapters felt like they could have been merged, but that is a minor complaint. The examples are small enough to type out and experiment with, which is exactly what I want from a book like this. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

Genuinely excellent — I finished it in a week and immediately started again.

I picked this up after getting stuck on a project and it turned out to be exactly the right book at the right time. The index and cross-references are surprisingly good, which matters for a book I will come back to. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. If you have the prerequisites, this is an easy recommendation. I will be keeping it on my desk rather than the shelf.

Finally, a book that treats analytics with the care it deserves.

I had been on the fence about this one for a while, and I should have bought it sooner. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. The author is unusually honest about where the simplifications break down, which I appreciated. One of those books that pays for itself within the first few chapters. Highly recommended.