Books
Two shelves: the Microsoft SQL Server books I recommend most to DBAs and developers, and a short Taoist and Buddhist shelf on calm and focus — alongside the Greek reading list.
SQL Server & consulting reading list
The database and software-delivery books I recommend most to teams running Microsoft SQL Server — on performance tuning, execution plans, indexing, database design, and automation. For hands-on help, see my SQL Server consulting services and technical articles.
SQL Server Execution Plans (Third Edition)
Grant Fritchey — the definitive guide to reading execution plans, the single most useful skill for diagnosing slow queries, bad cardinality estimates, and parameter sniffing.
Expert Performance Indexing in Azure SQL and SQL Server 2022
Edward Pollack & Jason Strate — a current, in-depth treatment of index design, maintenance, and troubleshooting across on-premises SQL Server 2022 and Azure SQL.
Pro SQL Server Relational Database Design and Implementation
Louis Davidson — the reference on relational database design done right: normalization, keys, and schema decisions that scale and perform.
Database Design and Relational Theory
C. J. Date — Normal Forms and All That Jazz. The theory behind sound schema design from a foundational voice in relational databases — normalization, and why it matters in practice.
Learn dbatools in a Month of Lunches
Chrissy LeMaire, Rob Sewell, Cláudio Silva & Jess Pomfret — automating SQL Server administration with PowerShell and dbatools: backups, migrations, and health checks at scale.
Rapid Development
Steve McConnell — Taming Wild Software Schedules. A classic on delivering software and data projects on time: estimation, risk, and the practices that keep real work on track.
Need a hand applying any of this? Explore SQL Server DBA services, real client results, or articles, case studies & lessons learned.
A short shelf
The books I keep coming back to — mostly Taoist and Buddhist, on equanimity, attention, and living well. The same themes run through the philosophy section.
The Four Immeasurables
B. Alan Wallace — a practical guide to cultivating loving-kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity. The same four boundless attitudes I explore on the four immeasurables page.
The Tao of Inner Peace
Diane Dreher — brings the Tao Te Ching into everyday stress, work, and relationships as a path of least resistance rather than force. A gentle, modern introduction to wu wei.
Happiness
Thich Nhat Hanh — a pocket collection of concrete mindfulness practices for breathing, walking, and eating. Small habits for finding calm in ordinary moments, not grand philosophy.
No Mud, No Lotus
Thich Nhat Hanh — on facing and transforming suffering instead of running from it: the lotus grows only out of the mud. A short, humane book on making peace with difficulty.
365 Tao: Daily Meditations
Deng Ming-Dao — a year of one-page reflections drawn from Taoist thought, one idea to sit with each day. Meant for the nightstand, not to be read straight through.
For the Greek side, see the Greek mythology & philosophy reading list.
Frank Dikötter's People's Trilogy
Three histories of China under Mao, built from Communist Party archives — reviewed one book at a time. Start with the People's Trilogy hub for the reading order and how the three fit together.
The Tragedy of Liberation
Frank Dikötter, 2013 — 1945–1957. How the Party took and held power through deliberate terror. There was no honeymoon after 1949.
Mao's Great Famine
Frank Dikötter, 2010 — 1958–1962. The Great Leap Forward and the deadliest famine in history. Samuel Johnson Prize winner, and where to start.
The Cultural Revolution
Frank Dikötter, 2016 — 1962–1976. The decade of chaos, and the quiet grassroots economy that seeded the reform era.
China After Mao
Frank Dikötter, 2022 — 1976–2012. The sequel to the trilogy: how the reform era entrenched the Party's grip rather than loosening it.
On the shelf — not yet read.
Full reading guide: Frank Dikötter's People's Trilogy →
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