Choosing a tech book is a bit like solving a murder mystery: too basic and you will be politely ignored; too advanced and you will be told “we don’t even do this at NASA.” That is why we curated a list of titles that can save your holidays—whether you read them yourself, give them as gifts, or give them away with the unspoken plan of borrowing them back later.
This selection ranges from statistics explained with wit to serious forecasting manuals, from essays on how AI is reshaping corporate power structures to foundational works on software architecture. Along the way, you will encounter video games, intelligent agents, R, SpaceX, and that constant tension every developer lives with: production on one side, science fiction on the other.
If you want to avoid the usual geek gadget that ends up in the “I’ll attach an Arduino to this someday” drawer, and instead give something that does not require firmware updates, these are the tech books that deserve a place under the tree—rails optional.
Probably the best statistics book ever written
If statistics scare you more than sewer-dwelling clowns, that is understandable. For years, I was convinced my university professor was exchanging letters with Stephen King. Watching Annie Wilkes break Paul Sheldon’s legs in Misery felt preferable to endless assignments filled with traps and half-truths.
And yet, knowing at least the basics today means fewer nightmares and more meaningful dreams of electric sheep—not just counting them, but understanding why 87 out of 100 run away the moment someone mentions the Gini index.
Book: The Art of Statistics: How to Learn from Data
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41291542-the-art-of-statistics
Advanced Forecasting with Python
Mastering Modern Forecasting Techniques with Machine Learning and Cloud Tools
This book takes the reader from classical models such as ARIMA and SARIMA to modern machine learning and deep learning approaches, including LSTM, N-BEATS, and Transformers. Theory, code, and practical examples are consistently intertwined.
What sets this edition apart is its focus on state-of-the-art tooling: Uber’s Orbit, AWS AutoGluon, Meta’s Prophet, Azure and GCP AutoML solutions, and Nixtla’s TimeGPT. With MLflow used for experiment tracking, the book covers the full lifecycle—from modeling and evaluation to production deployment in cloud environments.
Book: Advanced Forecasting with Python
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123202815-advanced-forecasting-with-python
How AI Is Reshaping Organizations
Don’t Lay Off Employees—Fund Human Skills and Artificial Intelligence to Win
For roughly ten euros and 150 pages, you get more insight than from most glossy business magazines. Judging by the cover alone would be a mistake, but the preface already justifies the purchase.
The classic corporate pyramid is obsolete. AI is not just changing jobs; it is redesigning organizations themselves. While everyone is watching ChatGPT, innovative companies are already undergoing a quiet revolution: flatter hierarchies, decomposed roles, and hybrid teams where a handful of humans coordinate dozens of AI agents.
The book introduces a practical framework grounded in real-world cases from Moderna, Amazon, and McKinsey, and explores key concepts such as:
- The Great Flattening – fewer management layers
- The Middle Manager Paradox – less task ownership, more human leadership
- Entry-Level Crisis – disappearing junior roles
- Job Deconstruction – breaking roles into automatable tasks
- 2–3 : 50–100 Teams – humans supervising AI agents
- Skills Fusion – soft skills, AI literacy, and hybrid expertise
Rather than focusing on tools, the book explains how to redesign organizations around AI—brief, dense, and full of ideas.
Player vs. Monster
Creating and Destroying Monsters in Video Games
This is an interesting book—provided expectations are clear. It is not an artbook, nor a nostalgic gallery of gaming trivia. It is a critical essay that analyzes what monsters represent and why they exist in video games.
Readers looking for deep reflections on the concept of “the enemy,” mythological roots of digital creatures, and how games shape our perception of the Other will find it stimulating. It is not light entertainment, but it is valuable—if you know what you are buying.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61102801-player-vs-monster?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_17
The Definitive Guide to DAX
Mastering the Semantic Model Expression Language for Microsoft Power BI, Fabric, and Excel
This new edition, scheduled for release in March, is not a simple reprint. It is a deep revision reflecting how Power BI, Fabric, and Excel have evolved. New functions, modeling patterns, and best practices based on real-world complexity are fully integrated.
Key improvements include clearer explanations of evaluation context, table relationships, calculation groups, modern time-intelligence approaches, and optimization techniques. For anyone working seriously with Power BI today, the gap between this and the previous edition is substantial.
Book: The Definitive Guide to DAX
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34919601-the-definitive-guide-to-dax
Unity Game Development with C#
A Practical Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners
After years of wrestling with game development in Python and pygame, it becomes clear that serious game mechanics require serious engines. Unity is one of them—and it comes with a steep learning curve.
This book exists to remove that barrier. It is practical, concrete, and focused on real projects rather than excessive theory. You move from your first line of C# to complete games, learning Unity’s core concepts—GameObjects, collisions, coroutines, events—along the way.
You will build playable prototypes, debug real problems, and develop the mindset of a game developer. It will not teach you how to recreate Battlefield, but it will give you something more valuable: the confidence to start.
Book: Unity Game Development with C#
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22352779-pro-unity-game-development-with-c?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_29
Fundamentals of Software Architecture
A Practical Guide to Building Resilient and High-Performance Systems
This book addresses the most urgent need in modern development: surviving complexity without losing your sanity. It explains what software architecture really is, why it matters, and how poor decisions cost months of work and oceans of coffee.
From architectural characteristics (performance, security, maintainability) to modularity, styles, and patterns, the book balances theory with real-world application. It also covers the human side of architecture: communication, stakeholder management, and decision-making.
Many readers realize halfway through that the problem was not their code—it was them. And that realization alone makes the book worth reading.
Book: Fundamentals of Software Architecture
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44144493-fundamentals-of-software-architecture
Agentic Design Patterns
A Hands-On Guide to Building Intelligent Systems
Everyone wants to build AI agents. Few know how. Even fewer understand that “just calling the LLM API” is not an architectural strategy.
This book treats agent development as a design discipline. It introduces reusable patterns that help build agents capable of perception, decision-making, and autonomous action—without descending into chaos.
By presenting the same patterns across LangChain, CrewAI, and Google ADK, the book reinforces a crucial message: tools change, patterns endure. Building agents is not faith in models—it is engineering.
Book: Agentic Design Patterns
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/214202555-agentic-design-patterns
Statistics Slam Dunk: Statistical analysis with R on real NBA data
Do not be fooled by the size. This is a serious, hands-on statistics book built on real NBA datasets. Even if you have not touched R in years, the applied examples quickly pull you in.
It makes you feel like Moneyball—even if Jonah Hill gets the role and you wanted Brad Pitt. Expect to apply advanced algorithms to your weekly five-a-side football matches.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62848172-statistics-slam-dunk?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=gsIoqmPBC3&rank=1
The SpaceX Revolution
Elon Musk and the Conquest of Mars
Books about Musk should always be read with caution. This one, however, focuses less on mythology and more on execution.
It traces SpaceX’s rise from early failures to Falcon 9, Starship, and the long-term goal of Mars colonization. Written accessibly, it balances technical insight with narrative clarity and portrays Musk as a complex, driven, and controversial catalyst.
This is not a romantic dream, but an engineering plan—with enormous risks and equally enormous ambition.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/239582290-from-blueprints-to-blastoff?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_21
