Book-Review

I’ve spent some time lately reading some older and more famous books. One that seemed fascinating was a short story by James Joyce called The Dead .

Author

James Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet. He was also well-known as a literary critic. Wikipedia says he is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of the 20th century. I’ve spent time in Ireland over the years, and I’ve seen a lot of tributes to him both up in Dublin, and also around Kildare. He’s treated as somewhat of a national treasure.

2026-08-20

I recently received a review copy of Causal Inference with Bayesian Networks by Yousri El Fattah and Reza Bagheri from my friends at PackT.

Authors

Yousri El Fattah is the CEO of Causal Computing and an expert in machine intelligence, causal modelling, control systems engineering, and data science.

Reza Bagheri is a working data scientist at Ipsos. He has written extensively on data science and machine learning, and has spoken at substantial conferences.

2026-08-14

I recently received a review copy of Python for Algorithmic Trading Cookbook (2nd Edition): Recipes for designing, building, and deploying algorithmic trading strategies with Python by Jason Strimpel from my friends at PackT.

Author

Jason Strimpel is the founder of PyQuant News, co-founder of Quant Science, and Managing Director of Global AI and Advanced Analytics at a top-tier consulting firm.

Content

This book is an ambitious, highly practical guide to building the complete research-to-execution workflow for systematic trading. It treats algorithmic trading as an engineering discipline involving data acquisition, storage, analysis, backtesting, risk measurement, execution, and deployment. I was surprised by the breadth of modern tools that are discussed: 68 recipes, 51 Jupyter notebooks, 17 modular trading applications, and four GPU-focused scripts.

2026-08-08

I recently received a review copy of The Orange Book of Machine Learning: Green Edition by Carl McBride Ellis from my friends at PackT.

Author

Carl McBride Ellis wrote this book as a Green Edition of the material he had been teaching across a whole range of Spanish cities.

Content

This is the sort of technical book that feels less like a formal textbook and more like spending a few very productive days with an experienced instructor. That makes sense: the book grew out of a five-day course, and its examples are built around Python, pandas, scikit-learn and Jupyter notebooks. The result is practical, opinionated and surprisingly personable. The language is quite precise but a little less conversational than I would have liked. It’s very to the point.

2026-07-31

I recently received a review copy of Python Data Analysis: Master Python Analytics with Machine Learning, Deep Learning, GenAI, LLMs, and Data Engineering by Avinash Navlani and Cornellius Yudha Wijaya from my friends at PackT. This is the fourth edition of this book.

Authors

Avinash Navlani is a senior data scientist, researcher, and educator with a PhD in data science and many years in both the industry and in academia.

Cornellius Yudha Wijaya is a data science manager leading AI initiatives and driving the development of practical data and AI solutions.

2026-07-21

I recently received a review copy of Agentic Architectural Patterns for Building Multi-Agent Systems by Dr. Ali Arsanjani and Juan Pablo Bustos from my friends at PackT.

Authors

Dr. Ali Arsanjani is Director of Applied AI Engineering at Google Cloud where he leads a center of excellence bridging research, forward-deployed engineering, and enterprise implementation.

Juan Pablo Bustos is also currently at Google, and serves as a strategic partner to Fortune 50 corporations and global institutions. He specializes in operationalizing AI for the enterprise.

2026-07-13

I recently received a review copy of The New Quantum Era: An Outsider’s Introduction by Sebastian Hassinger from my friends at PackT.

Author

Sebastian Hassinger has held key positions at Apple, IBM, and AWS. He is now an independent consultant and advisor. You can find him on The New Quantum Era podcast.

Content

This is a rare kind of technology book: ambitious, historically grounded, technically serious, and still readable for people who do not have a physics degree. And Sebastian is well placed to write it. He’s had both insider access and outsider sympathy.

2026-07-11

I recently received a review copy of Agentic Coding with Claude Code by Eden Marco from my friends at PackT.

Author

Eden Marco is an LLM specialist at Google Cloud and a LangChain Ambassador with years of experience in software engineering and cloud architecture. Over many years, he has created practical courses based on his real-world experience.

Content

This is a timely and practical guide for developers who are ready to move beyond casual AI-assisted coding and start treating coding agents as serious development tools. Eden’s main argument is that effective agentic coding is not just about writing better prompts. It is about engineering context: deciding what the agent should know, what it should ignore, what tools it should use, and how its work should be structured so that results are repeatable, controlled, and maintainable.

2026-07-03

I recently received a review copy of Extreme DAX: Take your Power BI and Fabric analytics skills to the next level by Michiel Rozema, Madzy Stikkelorum, and Henk Vlootman from my friends at PackT.

Authors

Michiel Rozema is a long-term IT industry veteran. He was the data insight lead at Microsoft Netherlands and launched Power BI in the country. Michiel works as a data analyst and architect for his company Qanto. He is a fellow Data Platform MVP.

2026-06-01

I’m hoping to have Drew Robbins on my new Tech Career for Life Podcast later this week, and I noticed that he had a new book out, so I decided I’d read it before I had him on the show.

In a working world obsessed with metrics — titles, promotions, performance reviews When No One’s Keeping Score lands with a quiet but deliberate challenge: what if the work that matters most is the work that never shows up on a scoreboard?

2026-02-10