101 Data Visualization and Analytics Projects (Paperback)

Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

I came to this book already familiar with the basics, and it still had plenty to offer. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. The code samples assume a particular environment, which took a bit of fiddling to get running properly. The chapters on introductory & beginning are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

I have read a lot of books on this subject and this is the clearest.

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 exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. The author clearly knows the subject deeply and has thought hard about how to teach it. The progression from chapter to chapter is well thought out; nothing feels out of order. If you have the prerequisites, this is an easy recommendation. I will be keeping it on my desk rather than the shelf.

Some sections were excellent and others felt like filler.

I came to this book already familiar with the basics, and it still had plenty to offer. The explanations are careful without being condescending, which is a difficult balance to strike. Some of the material is available elsewhere, but rarely presented this clearly. The author is unusually honest about where the simplifications break down, which I appreciated. Borrow it first if you can, or at least check the table of contents carefully before buying.