Herewith, some recommendations of independently published eBooks. If you’re inclined to shop small, give these authors a shout.
Adam Johnson is a Django project committer. He’s written multiple books on DX or “development experience” in my book. Instruction on how developers can improve their experience using certain development tools.
First, the older Boost Your Git DX:
This book covers the best command-line Git tools, techniques, tips, tricks, and tactical tidbits I’ve encountered from over a decade of using Git. The selection reflects my preferences for well-maintained tools that provide high value with little need for customization.
Note that this book is not an introduction to Git and assumes that you’re already using Git on a daily basis. It offers ways to improve your developer experience with Git that ultimately help you code faster.
I bought it a while back and read it end-to-end. Since I’m a magit user on a minute-to-minute basis, much of it wasn’t directly relevant. But I learned a lot about Git, and there are some recommendations I need to implement for those actual terminal interactions with the Git CLI.
Second, the newer Boost Your GitHub DX:
This is a book about using GitHub more effectively, touring you through the fundamental features with my experience-based commentary. It covers settings, keyboard shortcuts, hidden features, syntax, techniques, CLI commands, and even improving your writing. These tools will help you collaborate more effectively with your team and deliver higher-quality software faster.
This book is aimed at anyone using GitHub daily, assuming you have some familiarity with GitHub and Git and want to go deeper.
Purchased but not yet read. As I attempt to push more development onto agentic coders, I’m using GitHub as the central platform to coordinate with systems like Claude Code, Codex, and Gemini. Specifically, I want to heavily leverage issues and PRs to track feature implementation. I bet Adam’s book will come in handy, especially in taking advantage of the GitHub CLI tool.
Third, Michael Kennedy’s Talk Python in Production:
Welcome to Talk Python in Production, a hands-on guide for Python developers determined to master real-world deployment and infrastructure management. Have you ever felt locked into pricey cloud services or struggled with overly complex DevOps configurations? This book’s stack-native approach offers a refreshing alternative.
You’ll learn to containerize Python apps, secure them with NGINX, tap into CDNs for global performance, and manage everything on a single, powerful server, without sacrificing reliability. Along the way, you’ll see exactly how we evolved Talk Python’s own web infrastructure over many years of practical deployment experience. This isn’t just theory: discover cost-saving tips, real-world examples, and step-by-step tutorials you can put to use right away. By the end, you’ll be confident in running your Python applications at scale, with minimal cloud lock-in and maximum control over your technology stack.
My primary interest here is in self-deploying HTTP traffic analytics and uptime monitoring. I’ve got multiple sites on the web and a minor interest in understanding visitors to one or two. I’ve plunked down for Kennedy’s book and am looking forward to getting stuck into it. Full disclosure: I’m a TalkPython fanboy, having bought the course bundle multiple times and listen to the podcast often, along with PythonBytes.
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