What are you reading?

[Thomas]

Book Club

Come on then. Let's satiate one another's tech reading desires. Books with a technological/ digital skew welcome...

Three of my most recents are:

Longitude - Dava Sobel

Digital Gold - Nathaniel Popper

Future Crimes - Marc Goodman

Anyone got any recommendations/ suggestions?

[laura]

These are on my (ever-increasing, rarely-decreasing) to-read list:

• Data and Goliath - Bruce Schneier
• The Black Box Society - Frank Pasquale
• Postcapitalism - Paul Mason

I know @aral will have a few more suggestions…

[mark]

Great suggestions! I can recommend:

• Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
• The Circle - Dave Eggers
• The Three-Body Problem - Cixin Liu

[tanrub]

The Cryptonomicon is a must!

[Thomas]

The Black Box Society - Frank Pasquale

I've been waiting for this to come out in paperback!

[laura]

I've been waiting for this to come out in paperback!

@jo and I went to see Frank talk at the RSA in London, and got a signed hardback copy for @aral. Frank is really one-to-watch in terms of the legal/legislation side of privacy and corporate surveillance.

[bob]

You guys! More for my TODO list

Next in my queue is "On Intelligence", by Jeff Hawkins.

[Thomas]

Postcapitalism - Paul Mason

Has released today in the UK.

[bob]

Looking at my Postcapitalism pre-order here in Canada. Eeek!

"October 6, 2015"

Maybe time to cancel and order from a UK online bookseller who is NOT Amazon. Any recommendations? I have been boycotting Amazon for a year now. They are a horrible, horrible company.

[Thomas]

I picked up Postcapitalism yesterday in Foyles for £15.99. I don't know if they ship internationally. Try: foyles.co.uk

I don't think you'll find much applause for Amazon 'round these parts!

[laura]

This just came to my attention, looks like an interesting read:

The Googlization of Everything (And Why We Should Worry)
by Siva Vaidhyanathan

[stefan]

If there is one book that I heartily recommend reading, it is Fish!

[Thomas]

If there is one book that I heartily recommend reading, it is Fish!

What a peculiar choice of branding...

[svansintjan]

Yay reading!

I'm currently reading Mountains Beyond Mountains, which is a great book about Dr. Paul Farmer. Probably a must read.

I just finished reading the Handmaid's Tale, which is a super fascinating look at what happens when everything becomes centralized, and the power the state owns. I'm always excited about reading an Atwood book.

The Cryptonomicon is a must!

I finished reading this about a month ago - I was pretty disappointed. Neal Stephenson's writing style is great, of course, but this is just such a techno-libertarian-macho love fest I'm not sure I would recommend it to anyone? Loved the premise though. I think I preferred Snowcrash.

I'm really looking forward to Murray Bookchin's The Next Revolution, which I've got marked as next. Heard many good things. Anyone read it?

Anyone have any recommendations for reading list apps that aren't owned by Amazon?

Edit:

Maybe time to cancel and order from a UK online bookseller who is NOT Amazon. Any recommendations? I have been boycotting Amazon for a year now. They are a horrible, horrible company.

Have a look at indiebound for local bookstores

[stefan]

"Branding"?

To me this little book is about the life lesson that things don't have to be fun intrinsically. Sometime you have to make them fun. Especially when reading and talking about society and the way people deal with privacy, it is sometimes useful to remind myself of that life lesson!

By I'll grant you, it's maybe a bit off topic

[Thomas]

Fish!

I'm sure it's a valuable read - but it struck me as unusual! Toys in fluorescent colours and branded pens...

It seems like a quasi-management guide/ self-help book. Have you read it? Any pearls of wisdom to impart?

[stefan]

Yes, I have definitely read it, even though it was a while ago. Pearls of wisdom? I would not want to spoil it for you

[bob]

Thanks, Thomas. Re-ordered from Foyles to ship from UK to Canada, and I will now get my copy of Postcapitalism in August rather than October!

[laura]

Another one I’ve just spotted:

Privacy in Peril: How We Are Sacrificing a Fundamental Right in Exchange for Security and Convenience by James B. Rule

[Thomas]

Privacy in Peril: How We Are Sacrificing a Fundamental Right in Exchange for Security and Convenience by James B. Rule

Good find. Although I feel less sanguine about buying books on this topic published as far back as 2009. Printed material dates remarkably fast when it's about the web!