Title:
Excel 2007: The Missing Manuals

Author:
Matthew MacDonald

ISBN:
ISBN-10: 0-596-52759-4
ISBN-13: 978-0-596-52759-4

Publisher:
O'Reilly Media

Printing Date:
December 2006

Pages:
800

Target group:
Beginning spreadsheet users through advanced usage

Ranking:
On a scale from 1 to 5: 4.0
On a scale from 1 to 10: 8

Comments:
This is an interesting read. There are some very good things written with this book. The writing style is one where it is like an expert is over your shoulder. The author does a very good job of keeping a very upbeat and humorous feeling throughout. Some practices did not meet up to what I would define as "best practices" and some of the examples and pictures could have shown themselves better. Most of it was a good and enjoyable read.

I would say if somebody is coming into Excel for the first time with version 2007, or has very little experience from 2002 or 2003, this might be a good book for them. If somebody wants an all-around book that hits a variety of topics, beginner to advanced, on the new 2007, this might be a good book for them.

The book did seem to have a good chapter base:

  1. Worksheet Basics
  2. Formulas and Functions
  3. Organizing Worksheets
  4. Charts and Graphics
  5. Advanced Data Analysis
  6. Sharing Data with the Rest of the World
  7. Programming Excel
  8. Appendix


All-in-all it has good looking images, a lot of material to play with, a quick witted nature and many in-depth examples. For around $40 (USD) I would recommend this book to the serious Exceller, from beginner to intermediate and those wishing to get more familiar with Excel 2007.