When tidying out an old cupboard a few weeks ago, one after another I casually tossed outdated, dusty technical books into a recycling box. I paused however, when I reached one particular book, on “ASP for Databases” with which I’d had some editorial involvement. At the time, it had seemed just another book, albeit a good one, until we got a post from a reader, thanking the author in deeply personal terms for what he’d done for him, how the book had restored shattered confidence, how he had used what he learned to turn around a stalled career, and how much it had meant to him and to his family.

I put it back on the shelf. Why? To remind myself that some technical books can be very important to the readers, and even occasionally change their lives. We, on the publishing side, can so easily forget.

What is that magic ingredient that can lift a book from being a mere educational resource, into being an inspiration?

It is a hard question to answer because so much of what makes a good SQL Server book depends what you need from it, but surely, there is more to it than that. What made the late Ken Henderson’s books so compelling, for example, was both his charm and his obvious enthusiasm for the topic. The reader wants to relate to the writer, to empathize. It’s a relationship that can never really develop with vast, multi-author tomes, which are generally best for dipping in and out, as required.

You might assume that if you need a solid technology tutorial, you need simply to turn to an expert in the field, and never mind the author’s “personality”. True, but even then it’s important to be in tune with how the author thinks. I’ve read books purporting to teach SQL, written by a master of the art, as acknowledged by other masters of the same art, which as a relative newcomer I found largely impenetrable.

Itzik Ben-Gan’s T-SQL books, however, were different, for me at least. Of course, his knowledge is deep, but he also lays out that knowledge on the page in such a way that each important concept emerges in exactly the right place, and one never feels ‘out of step’ or left scratching one’s head.

At other times, what’s required is not a tutorial, but good practical knowledge that you can put to immediate use. In this category, I’m fond of books such as Rodney Landrum’s SQL Server Tacklebox. Read it, and one experiences vicariously some of the real experiences and real pain that prompted the solutions that he offers in the pages. Those solutions may be imperfect, but they work and have proven their worth in a work environment.

Is there a technical book that has been special for you, and if so why? What was that special ingredient, over and above technical accuracy?