Reading the books is far more useful than listening to his class.

Like the CS143 reviewers mentioned, he is a bit boring, but a very very nice guy. He tends to read off slides, which can put you to sleep. His homework and exams are pretty easy. The final project might take a while to complete, but it is very doable compared to other courses. He is always in his office and is willing to help. This is a good class to take if you want a good grade for a pretty minimal amount of work. If you are really interested in databases, it's not a bad class as well, but you'll probably be better suited going to office hours to have discussions with him since he just reads of lecture slides.