Take Control of just about anything with Take Control Books

It’s so rare to find reasonably priced, easy-to-understand books dealing with anything technical, that is unless you’ve heard of Take Control Books. The Take Control Books team publishes books on a wide variety of Apple and non-Apple related topics, most of which are priced below $15, even less if purchased as a bundle. I love the Take Control series for a number of reasons, the biggest though is that they break topics, even complex topics such as file permissions and WIFI network configuration, down in ways that make them easy to understand. From an accessibility perspective, I love that Take Control books are offered in multiple non-DRM formats including PDF, ePub, and Mobi format which makes it easy for me to read them on just about any device I choose. Yes, they do not use DRM or copy protection because, as they put it,

No. Our ebooks do not use copy protection because it makes life harder for everyone. So we ask a favor of our readers. If you want to share your copy of an ebook you’ve bought with a friend, please do so as you would with a physical book, meaning that if your friend uses it regularly, they should buy a copy.

From Take Control Books FAQ: https://www.takecontrolbooks.com/faq/

While the books do often contain screen shots, there’s generally enough explanation for me to follow along.

I purchased my first Take Control book, “Take Control of Sharing Files in Leopard” (Anyone remember Mac OS Leopard?) in December, 2008. I’ve since purchase 31 titles since that time and have not been disappointed by a single one. I’ve purchased titles ranging from technical topics such as Take Control of File Sharing, Take Control of File Permissions, and Take Control of the Mac Command Line, to non-technical topics like Take Control of Booking a Cheap Airline Ticket. I always learn something new with every book, even on topics I thought I already knew a lot about, such as Siri or Apple’s Calendar and Mail apps which I use heavily every day. The $15 or less — I tend to purchase books in bundles to get the discount and also because I’m a fan — have saved me countless hours by increasing my productivity. And speaking of productivity, if you want to “take control” of your productivity, they have a book for that too.

I wanted to share the Take Control series with all of you because it has been an invaluable resource for me. I should probably also comment at this point that I am in no way affiliated with Take Control — they probably have no idea who I am — I’m just a big fan who has enjoyed the series for over 12 years. While much of their library is Apple centric, there is definitely something for everyone. If you would like to browse the Take Control Books catalog, you can do so here and of course, let me know what you think in the comments.