I'm writing this article in the first days of the new year, 2026. Coincidentally, this is also the time when I decided to launch my personal blog focused on Postgres. So, I spent some time thinking about the topic for this first inaugural post, and that turned out to be a relatively easy decision.
Many of us set New Year's resolutions. We think about and define goals for what we'd like to achieve in our professional, personal, and other areas of our lives.
If learning and mastering Postgres is one of your resolutions for 2026, let me suggest a list of books that can help you level up your knowledge. You can read them all or pick any depending on what interests you most or on your current level of expertise.
- Level 1, Just Use Postgres! - (re)discover the breadth and depth of modern Postgres capabilities. You'll learn how to use the database not only for traditional transactional applications, but also how it can efficiently handle full-text search, time-series, geospatial, generative AI, and other workloads.
- Level 2, PostgreSQL Mistakes and How to Avoid Them - learn how to design, build, and maintain Postgres-based solutions by following common best practices while avoiding typical pitfalls. From bad SQL and improper data type usage to performance and security best practices, this book helps you prepare for production and avoid many surprises along the way.
- Level 3, Postgres Internals - understand how the database is designed and how it functions internally. After reading this book, you'll stop treating Postgres as a mysterious black box. You'll learn the implementation details of its MVCC, buffer cache, write-ahead log, locking system, and other components of the database engine. You'll also see how the database decides on query execution strategies and how various table and index access methods work in practice.
Happy New Year, and never stop learning!