Technical
★★★★★ ScyllaDB in Action
A well-written exploration of wide-column databases - covering everything from data modeling to monitoring. The most noticeable gap is the lack of discussion on post-production challenges like schema migrations, though this is common for books of this type. If you’re considering ScyllaDB or Cassandra for your project, this is a good resource.
★★★★★ Database Internals
A deep (and at times very dense) dive into modern databases. The first half (B-trees, LSM-trees) is unevenly written, but the second part - about distributed systems - is excellent. Perfect for refreshing your knowledge if “Designing Data-Intensive Applications” has started to fade from memory.
★★★★★ 100 Go Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
The best Go book available. After 8 years of working with Go, I’ve made and debugged many of these mistakes myself, so seeing them neatly compiled in one place is a gift. The analysis of many mistakes goes quite deep, making this book suitable for both beginners and experienced developers.
Non-Technical
★★★★★ Siddhartha
Set in India 2,500 years ago. Written simply, but lessons like “listening to the river” leave a lasting impression. It’s about rebirth and the search for meaning. If I understood correctly, the book was intentionally written to make you want to reread it at different stages of life.
★★★★★ Factfulness
Essential reading for anyone who enjoys questioning their beliefs and conclusions. Turns out many basic facts I knew about the world were outdated (despite my hobby of reading Wikipedia). The book is well-written, and it also has an interesting website: https://www.gapminder.org
★★★★★ The Left Hand of Darkness
A masterpiece. Lets you examine the foundation of your identity (personal, gender, national - it covers everything at once). I particularly liked the beautifully woven alien folklore. Best read in winter, ideally during a howling blizzard, to match the book’s atmosphere.
★★★★☆ Teams That Work
A good guide to team dynamics. Research-based. What stood out most was the emphasis on quality over quantity in communication, plus debunking various teamwork myths. For example, going to bars doesn’t correlate with team performance. I already knew about the significant findings of Project Aristotle when reading the book, so much of the content wasn’t surprising. I recommend it if you want to learn about things like “team transactional memory” or generally understand what makes a team. Minus one star for America-centric examples and the text’s strange structure.