QuickStart Guide to (Ultra-)High Performance Visualizations

Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

This is the third book I have read on data visualization this year, and it is comfortably the best of them. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. The author clearly knows the subject deeply and has thought hard about how to teach it. A couple of chapters felt like they could have been merged, but that is a minor complaint. Solid, and I would buy another book from this author without hesitation.

Very good, with a few caveats. The core material is strong.

I was looking for something that would bridge the gap between tutorials and proper reference material, and this does that well. I found myself making notes in the margins, which is always a good sign. The author is unusually honest about where the simplifications break down, which I appreciated. Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

The clearest explanation of data visualization I have come across.

This is the third book I have read on data visualization this year, and it is comfortably the best of them. The index and cross-references are surprisingly good, which matters for a book I will come back to. Some of the material is available elsewhere, but rarely presented this clearly. The balance between theory and practice is well judged; neither side dominates. One of those books that pays for itself within the first few chapters. Highly recommended.