Sit back, relax, bury your nose in a book instead of against a monitor and forget about work for a while. This is a mix of new and older gems, in no particular order…
Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World’s First Digital Weapon
by Kim Zetter
Wired journalist Kim Zetter digs deep into the story behind the world’s most intriguing cyberattack – and how cyber security geeks unraveled it. An unexpected page turner, this is part spy story, part exploration of how Stuxnet has changed the nature of security threats forever.
Who Owns the Future?
by Jaron Lanier
Virtual reality pioneer and all-out righteous geek Lanier is a widely respected tech visionary and philosopher. In this book, he proposes the subversion of the ‘hive mind’, and restoring value to information by compensating people for the original content they contribute online – a direct challenge to what he calls the ‘Siren Servers’ of Facebook, Google and other behemoths that hoover up data in exchange for free services.
The Wolf in CIO’s Clothing
by Tina Nunno
Perfect reading for the ambitious tech manager looking for a little insight into how their counterparts on the business side of the fence operate. Nunno walks you through the pathological Machiavellian skills needed to increase your influence and get ahead in the corporate world.
Strategy Rules: Five Timeless Lessons from Bill Gates, Andy Grove and Steve Jobs
by David B. Yoffie and Michael A. Cusumano
An exploration of the strategies, principles and skills of three of the most successful and influential tech entrepreneurs ever. This book offers analysis of failures as well as success, while exploring some of the more surprising overlaps and similarities in their thinking.
How Google Works
by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg
Schmidt and Rosenberg relate how Google forced them to re-learn everything they thought they knew about managing a successful tech business. From surviving corporate culture to strategy, people skills, communication and decision-making, the authors claim “This book codifies the recipe for our secret sauce: how Google innovates and how it empowers employees to succeed.”
The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Quantum Genius
by Graham Farmelo
Not a new title, but if you haven’t read it yet, it’s a dead cert to while away several happy days by the pool. The youngest ever winner of the Nobel prize for physics and pioneer of quantum mechanics, Dirac was famously reticent and literal minded. This delve into the human side of one of the quirkiest characters in modern science is a masterclass in biography.
