Mana Takahashi

It's actually a really nice book - the narrative format might seem cutesy, but what it actually does very well is what a lot of introductory technical books fail so badly at - it gives you a context for what you're learning. I've lent it to a couple of colleagues now, and the feedback I've got so far is that it's easier to remember the concepts they've learned from this book compared to other database books they've studied from.

One of the problems I run into when trying to encourage people to pick up some new technical knowledge is that they get really intimidated by it all - but it's hard to be intimidated by a story book with a fairy on the front. Team it up with a really great reference guide - this is a tutorial book rather than a reference book.… (mer)