We live in era of trials — and I don’t just mean it in the sense of tribulation à la 2020.
No, most purchases these days allow you to “try before you buy.” And why shouldn’t a book be the same way? Reading a book is a real commitment, especially a technical book like Advancing into Analytics. Fortunately, there are some ways to kick the tires before you take it on the mental highway:
Get a free trial of O’Reilly Online Learning
O’Reilly Media (the book’s publisher) has a fantastic Online Learning portal. Previously known as Safari, it features books (like mine), webinars, interactive coding exercises, and more. And it’s not just O’Reilly content, but most of the leading technical publishers’ too.
Many universities and workplaces already have an O’Reilly subscription, so ask around for access. If you don’t have it, you can still get a free 30-day trial to the platform here. I bet you’ll be hooked by the end of it.
The following video provides a quick walkthrough of the platform and how to access the book (including how to leave a review… pretty please?).
Check out the repo
One cool thing about O’Reilly’s books is that the companion repository is open to the public. Here you can see all the datasets, scripts, and other assets used for the book’s explanation and exercises. You can download a copy to your computer or, if you’re familiar with GitHub, clone it.
Of course, it can be hard to know what’s going on without the book by your side, but this at least gives you a taste for what your end learning state would look like.
Attend a book event
Book events can be seen as a preview in themselves. There you can learn more about the book and possibly even hear me read from excerpts or walk through demos from it.
This is going to be a near-completely online book launch, so I hope you can find some opportunities either near or far to come experience parts of the book at an event before you decide to purchase.
To learn more about upcoming events, check out the blog for updates or subscribe to my newsletter.
Borrow it from your library
As I mentioned earlier, if you are at a university you may already have library access to O’Reilly Online Learning.
Regardless, I think a lot of people aren’t aware that you can request your library order a given book. Try a web search for Your library name + materials request and you’ll likely find a form to do it.
Now that you’re there, why not ask your library to purchase the book? Here’s all the info you’ll probably need:
Author: Mount, George
Title: Advancing into Analytics: From Excel to Python and R
Publisher: O’Reilly Media
Release date: April 2021
ISBN-13: 978-1492094340
ISBN-10: 149209434X
I guess this is a loophole that authors don’t want to talk about, but library rentals only last so long — I’ve bought my fair share of books after getting a glimpse of them from the library.
Thank you for trying it out
I know not everyone wants to shell out for a data analytics book. I won’t take it personally if you don’t buy.
But if you have any interest in at least skimming the book, or want to share it with someone who might, please use these techniques to learn a little more about it. It’s not about the money — financially, you often do authors a bigger favor paying for a beer than buying their book. It’s really about making the biggest impact on the community as possible.
Thank you for checking it out, and best wishes on your analytics journey.
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