100 Best Media Books of All Time (Updated for 2026)

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1

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

Neil Postman

5.0

Television has conditioned us to tolerate visually entertaining material measured out in spoonfuls of time, to the detriment of rational public discourse and reasoned public affairs. In this eloquent, persuasive book, Neil Postman alerts us to the real and present dangers of this state of affairs, and offers compelling suggestions as to how to withstand the media onslaught. Before we hand over pol

Recommended by Austin Kleon, Kara Nortman, Stephen Kinsella, and 3 others.

Austin Kleon

Earlier this year Postman’s son Andrew wrote an op-ed with the title, “My dad predicted Trump in 1985 — it’s not Orwell, he warned, it’s Brave New World.” Postman wrote: “What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.” [source]

Kara Nortman

@andrewchen Also a great book on the topic - Amusing Ourselves to Death https://t.co/yWLBxKumLQ [source]

Stephen Kinsella

@AlanReillyIRL @t0nyyates @WhelanKarl Yes! Fantastic book. So glad you're re-reading it. [source]

2

Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media

Edward S. Herman

5.0

Preview Summary

In this pathbreaking work, Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky show that, contrary to the usual image of the news media as cantankerous, obstinate, and ubiquitous in their search for truth and defense of justice, in their actual practice they defend the economic, social, and political agendas of the privileged groups that dominate domestic society, the state, and the global order.

Based on a series o

Recommended by Louis Nyffenegger.

3

Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man

Marshall McLuhan, Lewis H. Lapham

4.6

Terms and phrases such as "the global village" and "the medium is the message" are now part of the lexicon, and McLuhan's theories continue to challenge our sensibilities and our assumptions about how and what we communicate.

This reissue of Understanding Media marks the thirtieth anniversary (1964-1994) of Marshall McLuhan's classic expose on the state of the then emerging phenomenon of mass media

Recommended by Cynthia Johnson.

Cynthia Johnson

This book will help change the way you think about digital marketing tools or social media tools, or any sort of communication device. Really focus on what do they do and how do they work first, and then create the content. [source]

4

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators

Ronan Farrow

4.6

Preview Summary

In a dramatic account of violence and espionage, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Ronan Farrow exposes serial abusers and a cabal of powerful interests hell-bent on covering up the truth, at any cost.

In 2017, a routine network television investigation led Ronan Farrow to a story only whispered about: one of Hollywood's most powerful producers was a predator, protected by fear, wealt

Recommended by Reese Witherspoon, Bastian Obermayer, Julie K. Brown, and 4 others.

Reese Witherspoon

Actress, Author, Founder/Hello Sunshine

Congrats @RonanFarrow on your incredible book #CatchandKill. Amazing investigative reporting and A real thrill ride of a read. 📚 [source]

Bastian Obermayer

I know I’m very late to this party, but: „Catch And Kill“ from the unrelenting @RonanFarrow is a hell of a read!! Need inspiration for how to hold the powerful accountable - or only looking for great entertainment? Get this book. https://t.co/y3xWkUTWhh [source]

Julie K. Brown

The parallels to the Jeffrey Epstein case are amazing in @RonanFarrow’s new book. Imagine this same predatory behavior and coverup among powerful men — not at a TV-media network — but at the highest levels of our government. #perversionofjustice https://t.co/wh2EJlg7iW [source]

5

Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator

Ryan Holiday

4.5

You've seen it all before. A malicious online rumor costs a company millions. A political sideshow derails the national news cycle and destroys a candidate. Some product or celebrity zooms from total obscurity to viral sensation. What you don't know is that someone is responsible for all this. Usually, someone like me.

I'm a media manipulator. In a world where blogs control and distort the news, my

Recommended by Timothy Ferriss, Dov Charney, Tucker Max, and 12 others.

Timothy Ferriss

Author & Entrepreneur

Ryan is part Machiavelli, part Ogilvy, and all results. From American Apparel to the quiet campaigns he's run but not taken credit for, this whiz kid is the secret weapon you've never heard of. [source]

Dov Charney

Founder/American Apparel

Behind my reputation as a marketing genius there is Ryan Holiday, whom I consult often and who has done more for my business than just about anyone. [source]

Tucker Max

Author/I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell

The strategies Ryan created to exploit blogs drove sales of millions of my books and made me an internationally known name. The reason I am standing here while other celebrities were destroyed or became parodies of themselves is because of his insider knowledge. [source]

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6

The Medium is the Massage

Marshall McLuhan, Quentin Fiore, Shepard Fairey

4.5

The Medium is the Massage is Marshall McLuhan's most condensed, and perhaps most effective, presentation of his ideas. Using a layout style that was later copied by Wired, McLuhan and coauthor/designer Quentin Fiore combine word and image to illustrate and enact the ideas that were first put forward in the dense and poorly organized Understanding Media. McLuhan's ideas about the nature of media, t

Recommended by Lev Grossman.

Lev Grossman

If you really want to look at what everybody else is building on, it’s really McLuhan’s ideas. [source]

7

Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda

Noam Chomsky

4.4

Noam Chomsky’s backpocket classic on wartime propaganda and opinion control begins by asserting two models of democracy—one in which the public actively participates, and one in which the public is manipulated and controlled. According to Chomsky, "propaganda is to democracy as the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state," and the mass media is the primary vehicle for delivering propaganda in the Unit

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8

So You've Been Publicly Shamed

Jon Ronson

4.4

Preview Summary

Now a New York Times bestseller and from the author of The Psychopath Test, a captivating and brilliant exploration of one of our world's most underappreciated forces: shame.

'It's about the terror, isn't it?'

'The terror of what?' I said.

'The terror of being found out.'

For the past three years, Jon Ronson has travelled the world meeting recipients of high-profile public shamings. The shamed are p

Recommended by Ryan Holiday, Audrey Russo, Max Rushden, and 1 others.

Ryan Holiday

Author

There’s no question this was the year’s best book about media and culture–maybe even the best of the decade. Not only is it provocative and insightful, but the idea—interviewing and focusing on people who have screwed up and found themselves in the midst of massive online controversies—is one I am genuinely jealous of. Ronson proceeds to write about it with such sensitivity, empathy, humor and insight that I was blown away. If you’ve at all appreciated any of my media criticism over the years, please read this book. It looks at all that’s wrong with the rage and glee with which we tear people down–often people who were never public figures to begin with. He is just a helluva writer. If you get a chance, watch Monica Lewinsky’s TED talk which is also surprisingly good and pairs well with the ideas in the book. [source]

Audrey Russo

So You Have Been Publicly Shamed – Jon Ronson (we are living in interesting times and I am trying to have perspective on how social media has altered our personas) [source]

Max Rushden

fascinating, open & honest. I've said this before - but I recommend @jonronson's book - "So You've Been Publicly Shamed" - on the often seismic difference between someone's mistakes and the impact on their lives...and our increasing inability to forgive.👍❤️ https://t.co/bzJRyOO3Mb [source]

9

Ways of Seeing

John Berger

4.4

Preview Summary

John Berger’s Classic Text on Art
John Berger's Ways of Seeing is one of the most stimulating and the most influential books on art in any language. First published in 1972, it was based on the BBC television series about which the (London) Sunday Times critic commented: "This is an eye-opener in more ways than one: by concentrating on how we look at paintings . . . he will almost certainly change

Recommended by Dave Elitch, David McCammon, John Harrison (Eton College), and 1 others.

Dave Elitch

Dave Elitch recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show". [source]

David McCammon

Ways of Seeing goes beyond photography and will continue to develop your language around images. [source]

John Harrison (Eton College)

You have to understand the Marxist interpretation of art; it is absolutely fundamental to the way that art history departments now study the material. Then you have to critique it, because we’ve moved on from the 1970s and the collapse of Marxism in most of the world shows—amongst other things—that the model was flawed. But it’s still a very good book to read, for a teenager especially. [source]

10

1984

George Orwell

4.4

A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick

With extraordinary relevance and renewed popularity, George Orwell’s 1984 takes on new life in this hardcover edition.

“Orwell saw, to his credit, that the act of falsifying reality is only secondarily a way of changing perceptions. It is, above all, a way of asserting power.”—The New Yorker

In 1984, London is a grim city in the totalitarian state of Oceania

Recommended by Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Emma Watson, and 16 others.

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

Steve Jobs

Founder/Apple

called this book "one of his favorite" and recommended it to the hires. The book also inspired one the greatest TV ad (made by Jobs) [source]

Andra Zaharia

These books and their core ideas have stuck with me the most and continue to guide me when I hit crossroads along the way. [source]

11

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration

Ed Catmull

4.3

Preview Summary

“What does it mean to manage well?”
From Ed Catmull, co-founder (with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter) of Pixar Animation Studios, comes an incisive book about creativity in business—sure to appeal to readers of Daniel Pink, Tom Peters, and Chip and Dan Heath. Creativity, Inc. is a book for managers who want to lead their employees to new heights, a manual for anyone who strives for originality, and t

Recommended by Mark Zuckerberg, Timothy Ferriss, Ezra Klein, and 21 others.

Mark Zuckerberg

Founder/Facebook

This book is written by the founder of Pixar and is about his experience building a culture that fosters creativity. His theory is that people are fundamentally creative, but many forces stand in the way of people being able to do their best work. I love reading first-hand accounts about how people build great companies like Pixar and nurture innovation and creativity. This should be inspiring to anyone looking to do the same, and hopefully there will be lessons we can apply to connecting the world! [source]

Timothy Ferriss

Author & Entrepreneur

No matter your circumstances, storytelling and creativity are two 'meta-skills' that can take your business and life to the next level. Ed is a master. [source]

Ezra Klein

An amazing, amazing book. [source]

12

Fight Club

Chuck Palahniuk

4.3

"THE FIRST RULE ABOUT FIGHT CLUB IS YOU DON'T TALK ABOUT CLUB."

Every weekend, in the basements and parking lots of bars across the country, young men with good white-collar jobs and absent fathers take off their shoes and shirts and fight each other barehanded for as long as they have to. Then they go back to those jobs with blackened eyes and loosened teeth and the sense that they can handle anyt

Recommended by Ryan Holiday and Van Badham.

Ryan Holiday

Author

I’m amazed how many young people haven’t read this book. Truly life-changing. This is the classic of my generation; it is the book that defines our age and ultimately, how to find meaning in it. It’s a cautionary tale too—about being too caught up in revolutionary ideas. [source]

Van Badham

SUPER EXCITED to receive my copy of “Solved! How Other Countries Have Cracked the World’s Biggest Problems and We Can, Too” by Andrew Wear. SO GREAT to read a political book that’s about both pragmatic action *and* hope. Squee! #auspol https://t.co/jIYgr36kZO [source]

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13

The Green Mile

Stephen King

4.3

When it first appeared, one volume per month, Stephen King's THE GREEN MILE was an unprecedented publishing triumph: all six volumes ended up on the New York Times bestseller lists—simultaneously—and delighted millions of fans the world over.

Welcome to Cold Mountain Penitentiary, home to the Depression-worn men of E Block. Convicted killers all, each awaits his turn to walk the Green Mile, keeping

Recommended by Clive Stafford Smith.

Clive Stafford Smith

It’s an immensely courageous book for such a famous author to write. It’s written from the perspective of the warder, whose job is to supervise death row and the execution of prisoners. The story is ultimately about a guy called John Coffey, a Christ-like figure who gets executed. [source]

14

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

Naomi Klein

4.3

Preview Summary

In her ground-breaking reporting from Iraq, Naomi Klein exposed how the trauma of invasion was being exploited to remake the country in the interest of foreign corporations. She called it "disaster capitalism." Covering Sri Lanka in the wake of the tsunami, and New Orleans post-Katrina, she witnessed something remarkably similar. People still reeling from catastrophe were being hit again, this tim

Recommended by Donna Dickenson, George Monbiot, and Mat Whitecross.

Donna Dickenson

Naomi Klein’s argument is that capitalism actually requires deliberately engineered shocks to the economic systems. [source]

George Monbiot

The Shock Doctrine explains some of the mechanisms by which patrimonial capital acquires power and enhances its wealth. It’s a brilliant piece of work, and one of those rare books that changes the way you perceive the world. [source]

Mat Whitecross

It starts with the theory that moments of crisis have been utilised by the right wing in the US and other countries to manipulate people into following their agenda. [source]

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15

Flat Earth News: An Award-Winning Reporter Exposes Falsehood, Distortion and Propaganda in the Global Media

Nick Davies

4.3

After years of working as a respected journalist, Nick Davies broke the unwritten rule of the media by investigating the practices of his fellow colleagues. In this eye-opening exposé, Davies uncovers an industry awash in corruption and bias. His findings include the story of a prestigious Sunday newspaper that allowed the CIA to plant fiction in its columns; the newsroom that routinely rejects st

Recommended by Max Mosley.

Max Mosley

This to me is fascinating because it’s the first time that a top-quality journalist has done a complete exposé on the way in which the media distort what’s going on. He says in his preface that dog doesn’t eat dog. Usually, all institutions are open to criticism by the media except the media themselves. So this is the first time that somebody has actually done it to the media. It’s immensely interesting because he has done a great deal of research and he gives all sorts of examples. [source]

16

All the Pretty Horses (The Border Trilogy, #1)

Cormac McCarthy

4.3

All the Pretty Horses tells of young John Grady Cole, the last of a long line of Texas ranchers. Across the border Mexico beckons—beautiful and desolate, rugged and cruelly civilized. With two companions, he sets off on an idyllic, sometimes comic adventure, to a place where dreams are paid for in blood.

Recommended by Daniel Buttner, Devon Sawa, Meg Rosoff, and 1 others.

Daniel Buttner

Cormac McCarthy is one of my favorite authors, specifically The Border Trilogy. [source]

Devon Sawa

This is the best book I’ve ever read. https://t.co/AUJLuRAadm [source]

Meg Rosoff

A book that explores that whole subject of finding out where you belong in the world, which is not a search that starts and ends between 18 and 21. [source]

17

Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

Scott McCloud

4.3

The bestselling international classic on storytelling and visual communication

"You must read this book." — Neil Gaiman

Praised throughout the cartoon industry by such luminaries as Art Spiegelman, Matt Groening, and Will Eisner, Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics is a seminal examination of comics art: its rich history, surprising technical components, and major cultural significance. Explore the

Recommended by Ev Williams, Austin Kleon, Bret Victor, and 1 others.

Austin Kleon

Unsolicited, but here’s my advice for visual thinkers (and others) who want to be better writers: … Cartoonists, because their work demands work from two disciplines (writing/art, poetry/design, words/pictures), are highly instructive when it comes to visual people learning to write, writers learning to make art, etc. (Check out Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics for more.) [source]

Will Brooker

Understanding Comics is a book about how comics work, told in comic form. It’s very accessible, it’s for the general reader and is about comics in general, not just superhero comics. It explores areas like pacing and editing – how motion can be created through static panels on a page, and how arranging those panels in different ways, or drawing in different styles, or combining text and image, has different effects. It’s almost like a book on film study which explores the role of sound, lighting or editing. Scott McCloud is an artist himself, and he draws pastiches to show how different styles produce different effects. [source]

18

Propaganda

Edward Bernays

4.3

“Bernays’ honest and practical manual provides much insight into some of the most powerful and influential institutions of contemporary industrial state capitalist democracies.”—Noam Chomsky

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an

Recommended by Cynthia Johnson, Dave Elitch, and Jérôme Jarre.

Cynthia Johnson

What people don’t realise is that PR was originally called ‘propaganda.’ After World War II, that word had such negative connotations that they changed it to public relations, but PR and propaganda are one and the same. This book offers a really interesting breakdown of how little has changed in, almost, 100 years. [source]

Dave Elitch

The author was Sigmund Freud’s nephew. He took all of Freud’s theories on the subconscious and came to the conclusion that human beings are either savage animals that are going to rip each other apart, or they can be controlled and made docile via consumerism. [source]

Jérôme Jarre

This book opened my eyes to the marketing industry in a time when I was blindly playing my role in it. [source]

19

The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires

Tim Wu

4.3

In this age of an open Internet, it is easy to forget that every American information industry, beginning with the telephone, has eventually been taken captive by some ruthless monopoly or cartel. With all our media now traveling a single network, an unprecedented potential is building for centralized control over what Americans see and hear. Could history repeat itself with the next industrial co

Recommended by Andrew Chen, Seth Godin, Nicholas Carr, and 1 others.

Andrew Chen

General Partner/Andreessen Horowitz

Now starting the section now these information empires eventually got dismantled, by the internet, cable, and the government antitrust efforts on the 1950s! Awesome book so far [source]

Seth Godin

Author, Marketer, Entrepreneur

This one really stuck with me--a top level analysis of how changes in media change the culture and change the structure of industry. [source]

Nicholas Carr

If The Information is a sprawling, sweeping story of how information has changed over time, one thing it doesn’t get into is the commercial nature of information as a good that is bought and sold. That’s the story Tim Wu tells in The Master Switch. His basic argument is that whenever a new communication medium arises, a similar pattern occurs. The technology starts off as a hobbyist’s passion, democratic and open. Then over time, as it becomes more popular, it starts to be dominated by corporate interests and becomes much more formalised, before eventually being displaced by a new technology. [source]

20

The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains

Nicholas Carr

4.3

“Is Google making us stupid?” When Nicholas Carr posed that question, in a celebrated Atlantic Monthly cover story, he tapped into a well of anxiety about how the Internet is changing us. He also crystallized one of the most important debates of our time: As we enjoy the Net’s bounties, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply?

Now, Carr expands his argument into the most compelling

Recommended by Andra Zaharia and Juliette Aristides.

Andra Zaharia

While I was thinking of the best books to add to this short list, I realized that not even half of them are directly related to digital marketing. This is because I believe that the best marketers are people who understand human nature deeply and aim to bring out the best in it. Call me naive, but that’s how I see it. If I were to want to pursue a career in marketing, I’d read … The Shallows. [source]

Juliette Aristides

Nicholas Carr talks at length about what is gained and lost by technological progress. Reading and writing enlarged people’s sympathetic response and enriched their lives even when the book was put aside. One could say the same thing about drawing. [source]

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21

The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man

Marshall McLuhan

4.3

Since its first appearance in 1962, the impact of The Gutenberg Galaxy has been felt around the world. It gave us the concept of the global village; that phrase has now been translated, along with the rest of the book, into twelve languages, from Japanese to Serbo-Croat. It helped establish Marshall McLuhan as the original 'media guru.' More than 200,000 copies are in print. The reissue of this la

22

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)

Suzanne Collins

4.3

WINNING MEANS FAME AND FORTUNE.
LOSING MEANS CERTAIN DEATH.
THE HUNGER GAMES HAVE BEGUN. . . .

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and once girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in

Recommended by Bill Gates and Robert Muchamore.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2012. [source]

Robert Muchamore

A brutal, exciting, action-based sci-fi novel. Hugely popular and excellent fun. [source]

23

It

Stephen King

4.3

They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But the promise they made 28 years ago calls them to reunite in the same place where, as teenagers, they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city's children. Now children are being murdered again, and their repressed mem

24

The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America

Daniel J. Boorstin

4.3

First published in 1962, this wonderfully provocative book introduced the notion of “pseudo-events”—events such as press conferences and presidential debates, which are manufactured solely in order to be reported—and the contemporary definition of celebrity as “a person who is known for his well-knownness.” Since then Daniel J. Boorstin’s prophetic vision of an America inundated by its own illusio

Recommended by Dave Elitch and Susan Bordo.

Dave Elitch

Dave Elitch recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show". [source]

Susan Bordo

A pseudo-event is something that acquires its reality and power not because it is based on fact, but simply because the media has reported it. [source]

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25

The Shining, Carrie and Misery

Stephen King

4.2

For the first time ever in one volume three nightmarish tales of horror from the best selling author Stephen King.

Recommended by Rob Anderson For Louisiana.

Rob Anderson For Louisiana

@CrazyVetDem80 @blu_joon Great book, great movie (“Misery”). Nice reference. We are all in this together. I’m honored to have your support - y’all are the important ones. [source]

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26

Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide

Henry Jenkins

4.2

Winner of the 2007 Society for Cinema and Media Studies Katherine Singer Kovacs Book Award
2007 Choice Outstanding Academic Title

A classic study on the dynamic between an individual and different media channels

Convergence Culture maps a new territory: where old and new media intersect, where grassroots and corporate media collide, where the power of the media producer and the power of the consumer

Recommended by Bogdana Butnar.

Bogdana Butnar

I thought I might put my money where my mouth is. I keep whining that young people are not in touch with some essential books on advertising that have helped me shape the way I practise my trade today, but I never did anything about it. So I am starting here the ultimate books to read list. I will add to it as I get suggestions and as more good books get written. [source]

27

Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting

Robert McKee

4.2

Preview Summary

Robert McKee's screenwriting workshops have earned him an international reputation for inspiring novices, refining works in progress and putting major screenwriting careers back on track. Quincy Jones, Diane Keaton, Gloria Steinem, Julia Roberts, John Cleese and David Bowie are just a few of his celebrity alumni. Writers, producers, development executives and agents all flock to his lecture series

Recommended by Bill Liao.

Bill Liao

The human world occurs in language so best get good at it! [source]

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28

Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology

Neil Postman

4.2

In this witty, often terrifying work of cultural criticism, the author of Amusing Ourselves to Death chronicles our transformation into a Technopoly: a society that no longer merely uses technology as a support system but instead is shaped by it--with radical consequences for the meanings of politics, art, education, intelligence, and truth.

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29

Proven Guilty (The Dresden Files, #8)

Jim Butcher

4.2

There's no love lost between Harry Dresden, the only wizard in the Chicago phone book, and the White Council of Wizards, who find him brash and undisciplined. But war with the vampires has thinned their ranks, so the Council has drafted Harry as a Warden and assigned him to look into rumors of black magic in the Windy City.

As Harry adjusts to his new role, another problem arrives in the form of th

30

Coraline

Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean

4.2

Coraline lives with her preoccupied parents in part of a huge old house--a house so huge that other people live in it, too... round, old former actresses Miss Spink and Miss Forcible and their aging Highland terriers ("We trod the boards, luvvy") and the mustachioed old man under the roof ("'The reason you cannot see the mouse circus,' said the man upstairs, 'is that the mice are not yet ready and

Recommended by Simon Smith.

Simon Smith

@lindsanderson @Misterbodd @PaulWat5 @f33lthesun Awesomely scary book full stop! Great though. [source]

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31

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

Michael Chabon

4.2

The novel follows the lives of the title characters, a Czech artist named Joe Kavalier and a Brooklyn-born writer named Sam Clay—both Jewish—before, during, and after World War II. Kavalier and Clay become major figures in the nascent comics industry during its "Golden Age."

Recommended by Ev Williams, Anne Thériault, Natasha Lyonne, and 1 others.

Anne Thériault

@luzbianca417 Phew! I loved that book so much and then the ending I was just like .... what??? No one is making decisions with this child’s best interests in mind! [source]

Natasha Lyonne

@sepinwall I love this book so much. ♥️ [source]

Sean Seton-Rogers

Sprawling, well researched, historical story. A true pleasure to read. [source]

32

Night Shift

Stephen King

4.2

NIGHT SHIFT -- Stephen King's first collection of stories -- is an early showcase of the depths that King's wicked imagination could plumb. In these 20 tales, we see mutated rates gone bad ("Graveyard Shift"); a cataclysmic virus that threatens humanity ("Night Surf," the basis for The Stand); a smoker who will try anything to stop ("Quitters, Inc."); a reclusive alcoholic who begins a gruesome tr

Recommended by Aaron Nagler.

Aaron Nagler

@DustyEvely LOVE that book [source]

33

No Logo

Naomi Klein

4.2

With a new Afterword to the 2002 edition, No Logo employs journalistic savvy and personal testament to detail the insidious practices and far-reaching effects of corporate marketing—and the powerful potential of a growing activist sect that will surely alter the course of the 21st century. First published before the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle, this is an infuriating, inspiring, a

Recommended by Bogdana Butnar and David Lammy.

Bogdana Butnar

I thought I might put my money where my mouth is. I keep whining that young people are not in touch with some essential books on advertising that have helped me shape the way I practise my trade today, but I never did anything about it. So I am starting here the ultimate books to read list. I will add to it as I get suggestions and as more good books get written. [source]

David Lammy

This is another modern classic worth revisiting. It charts how brands have become tangled up with identity – how they stopped being markers of quality and became symbols of identity and markers of status. Logos have moved from the inside label to being splashed all over products. Having a coffee in Starbucks is an experience not a product. What you wear helps signal your worth. [source]

34

Mythologies

Roland Barthes

4.2

Preview Summary

"No denunciation without its proper instrument of close analysis," Roland Barthes wrote in his preface to Mythologies. There is no more proper instrument of analysis of our contemporary myths than this book—one of the most significant works in French theory, and one that has transformed the way readers and philosophers view the world around them.

Our age is a triumph of codification. We own devices

35

The 1-Page Marketing Plan: Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand out From The Crowd

Allan Dib

4.2

Preview Summary

WARNING: Do Not Read This Book If You Hate Money

To build a successful business, you need to stop doing random acts of marketing and start following a reliable plan for rapid business growth. Traditionally, creating a marketing plan has been a difficult and time-consuming process, which is why it often doesn't get done.

In The 1-Page Marketing Plan, serial entrepreneur and rebellious marketer Alla

36

Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World

Edward W. Said

4.2

From the Iranian hostage crisis through the Gulf War and the bombing of the World Trade Center, the American news media have portrayed "Islam" as a monolithic entity, synonymous with terrorism and religious hysteria. In this classic work, now updated, the author of Culture and Imperialism reveals the hidden agendas and distortions of fact that underlie even the most "objective" coverage of the Isl

Recommended by Issandr El Amrani and Lorraine Adams.

Issandr El Amrani

This book, although less intellectually challenging than Orientalism, is very important as well. In a sense it is even more important. [source]

Lorraine Adams

He insisted that news is partial and dependent on official interpretation that may serve a private interest rather than a national interest. [source]

37

Public Opinion

Walter Lippmann

4.2

In what is widely considered the most influential book ever written by Walter Lippmann, the late journalist and social critic provides a fundamental treatise on the nature of human information and communication. As Michael Curtis indicates in his introduction to this edition. Public Opinion qualifies as a classic by virtue of its systematic brilliance and literary grace. The work is divided into e

Recommended by David Greenberg and Lorraine Adams.

David Greenberg

When Lippmann wrote this book he had become disillusioned with aspects of democratic theory that assumed citizens could be fully rational and knowledgeable in making up their minds about public issues. [source]

Lorraine Adams

It was written in 1922 and is an insider’s view of how news is made. That is, news is a made thing. News is not facts. [source]

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38

The Influencing Machine: Brooke Gladstone On The Media

Brooke Gladstone, Josh Neufeld

4.2

Nearly one million weekly listeners trust NPR's Brooke Gladstone to guide them through the distortions and complexities of the modern media. This brilliant radio personality now bursts onto the page as an illustrated character in vivid comics drawn by acclaimed artist Josh Neufeld. The cartoon of Brooke conducts the reader through two millennia of history-from the newspapers in Caesar's Rome to th

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39

Dolores Claiborne

Stephen King, Frances Sternhagen, et al

4.2

Suspected of killing Vera Donovan, her wealthy employer, Dolores Claiborne tells police the story of her life, harkening back to her disintegrating marriage and the suspicious death of her violent husband, Joe St. George, thirty years earlier. Dolores also tells of Vera's physical and mental decline and of her loyalty to an employer who has become emotionally demanding in recent years.

40

The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads

Tim Wu

4.2

Feeling attention challenged? Even assaulted? American business depends on it. In nearly every moment of our waking lives, we face a barrage of messaging, advertising enticements, branding, sponsored social media, and other efforts to harvest our attention. Few moments or spaces of our day remain uncultivated by the "attention merchants," contributing to the distracted, unfocused tenor of our time

Recommended by Yuval Noah Harari, Marvin Liao, Jeff Bullas, and 1 others.

Yuval Noah Harari

Historian

A very insightful book that surveys the history of modern information technology and its political implications, from the age of print and radio to the era of Google and Facebook. It gives the context of the current battle to control human attention. [source]

Marvin Liao

Partner/500 Startups

I tend to jump from book to book and may switch if I am interested in some new topic. This is a pleasure for me (which I also do benefit work wise from too). It’s quite a random list because I have eclectic interests (or just scatterbrained most likely) on tech business, AI, general global economy, geopolitics, rising Biotech economy & history. I'm basically 15% to 50% into all these books. [source]

Rafat Ali

Have to say @superwuster is best business writer there is. Just finished Master Switch , now reading “Attention Merchants”, the best history-in-context-with-rigor-and-intellectual-analysis writer/explainer there is. If I ever write a book, want to write it like Tim Wu. [source]

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41

The Postman

David Brin

4.2

Recommended by P W Singer and August Cole.

P W Singer and August Cole

Like all great science fiction, it has the underlying themes that make you think and retain their relevance decades later. [source]

42

Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations

Clay Shirky

4.2

A revelatory examination of how the wildfirelike spread of new forms of social interaction enabled by technology is changing the way humans form groups and exist within them, with profound long-term economic and social effects-for good and for ill
A handful of kite hobbyists scattered around the world find each other online and collaborate on the most radical improvement in kite design in decades.

Recommended by Jack Ma, Seth Godin, Tyler Cowen, and 6 others.

Tyler Cowen

Founder/Marginal Revolution University

If you had to pick one individual who was the sharpest and most prescient commentator on the web and the internet it would be Clay. [source]

Alan Rusbridger

Read 2 We the Media by Dan Gillmor Read [source]

Anne-Marie Slaughter

This is another must-read. It’s a really great book for anyone who wants to understand the social media revolution. Benkler talks about the cooperative system. Shirky talks about self-organisation, about how the digital revolution and the social media revolution completely changed the economics of organisation. It used to be much harder for people to organise. There was a lot of cost to it. But with social media you can organise a group of your friends instantly. So all sorts of phenomena that once would have been too costly to create suddenly emerged. It’s suddenly simple for human beings to come together simply because they share a common passion – it might be a political ideology, it might be the love of surfing. [source]

43

The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood

James Gleick

4.2

James Gleick, the author of the best sellers Chaos and Genius, now brings us a work just as astonishing and masterly: a revelatory chronicle and meditation that shows how information has become the modern era’s defining quality—the blood, the fuel, the vital principle of our world.

The story of information begins in a time profoundly unlike our own, when every thought and utterance vanishes as soo

Recommended by Nicholas Carr.

Nicholas Carr

If Standage’s is a small book focused on a particular technology and moment in time, Gleick’s is extraordinarily broad and sweeping. It’s a very large book, in which he tries – and succeeds in many ways I think – to tell the story of information in human history. Information breaks down into two different things in essence. On the one hand it is messages – things with meaning to human beings – and on the other hand it is an abstract good without meaning which we have begun to industrialise, by which I mean figure out how to get more information across a distance more quickly and efficiently. [source]

44

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power

Shoshana Zuboff

4.2

Preview Summary

The challenges to humanity posed by the digital future, the first detailed examination of the unprecedented form of power called "surveillance capitalism," and the quest by powerful corporations to predict and control our behavior.

In this masterwork of original thinking and research, Shoshana Zuboff provides startling insights into the phenomenon that she has named surveillance capitalism. The sta

Recommended by Clive Lewis Mp, Dilip Cherian, John Tasioulas, and 3 others.

Clive Lewis Mp

Cant make the brilliant event below? Havent had a chance to read @shoshanazuboff groundbreaking book, ‘Surveillance Capitalism’? Then listen to this brilliant interview with the author as she explains the terrifying scale&ambition of Facebook/Google et al https://t.co/DCtNlFbmE0 https://t.co/ZX0YpW5pOo [source]

Dilip Cherian

Brave New World? Thanks @shoshanazuboff for that amazing book. It's compulsory reading for those trying to make sense of our world now. https://t.co/5nBJWoLS9p [source]

John Tasioulas

2019... Best book: Shoshana Zuboff, “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power” Best political commentary: @HelenHet20 Best film @jokermovie Best restaurant: @farangLDN & @Trullo_LDN (London); Shinoki (Melbourne) [source]

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45

The Godfather

Mario Puzo, Anthony Puzo, et al

4.2

The Godfather—the epic tale of crime and betrayal that became a global phenomenon.

Almost fifty years ago, a classic was born. A searing portrayal of the Mafia underworld, The Godfather introduced readers to the first family of American crime fiction, the Corleones, and their powerful legacy of tradition, blood, and honor. The seduction of power, the pitfalls of greed, and the allegiance to family—

Recommended by Michal Ptacek and Nicky Cullen.

Michal Ptacek

My most favourite book is Godfather by Mario Puzo. I think it is even slightly more interesting and better than a movie which is almost perfect. Total masterpiece :) [source]

Nicky Cullen

That is such a tough question. I'm going to say The Godfather because I couldn't stop until it was finished. [source]

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46

Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies

Noam Chomsky

4.1

Recommended by Eric Weinstein.

Eric Weinstein

Managing Director/Thiel Capital

Eric Weinstein recommended this book on Twitter. [source]

47

Communication Skills Training: How to Talk to Anyone, Connect Effortlessly, Develop Charisma, and Become a People Person (Practical Emotional Intelligence Book 8)

James W. Williams

4.1

Preview Summary

Do you struggle with communicating your thoughts, feelings, and ideas?Have you ever been misunderstood and misinterpreted? Do you, sometimes, misunderstand or misinterpret the signals you are receiving?These situations indicate the inability to communicate appropriately, and it can prove to be detrimental in life and your career. You might be surprised at how many opportunities you could be missin

48

Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park, #1)

Michael Crichton, Scott Brick, et al

4.1

An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now humankind’s most thrilling fantasies have come true. Creatures extinct for eons roam Jurassic Park with their awesome presence and profound mystery, and all the world can visit them—for a price.

Until something goes wrong. . . .

In Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton taps all his mesmerizing talent and scientific b

Recommended by Richard Branson.

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

49

Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes

Jacques Ellul, Konrad Kellen, et al.

4.1

"A far more frightening work than any of the nightmare novels of George Orwell. With the logic which is the great instrument of French thought, [Ellul] explores and attempts to prove the thesis that propaganda, whether its ends are demonstrably good or bad, is not only destructive to democracy, it is perhaps the most serious threat to humanity operating in the modern world."
--Los Angeles Times

"The

50

The Society of the Spectacle

Guy Debord, Donald Nicholson-Smith

4.1

Few works of political and cultural theory have been as enduringly provocative as Guy Debord's The Society of the Spectacle. From its publication amid the social upheavals of the 1960s up to the present, the volatile theses of this book have decisively transformed debates on the shape of modernity, capitalism and everyday life in the late twentieth century. Now finally available in a superb Englis

Recommended by Dave Elitch and Sanja Zepan.

Dave Elitch

Dave Elitch recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show". [source]

Sanja Zepan

The most dramatic change was definitely when I read Guy Debord's The Society of Spectacle in high school. That book made me go study communicology and media, instead of everything else I wanted to study back then. It really cemented my university application. [source]

51

The Tommyknockers

Stephen King, Edward Herrmann, et al

4.1

Librarian's Note: This is alternate cover edition #2
ISBN 10: 0451156609
ISBN13: 9780451156600
See: Original Record Here

Late Last Night and the Night Before ...
... Tommyknockers, tommyknockers, knocking at the door.

Something was happening in Bobbi Anderson's idyllic small town of Haven, Maine. Something that gave every man, woman, and child in town powers far beyond ordinary mortals. Something that

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52

The Filter Bubble: What the Internet is Hiding From You

Eli Pariser

4.1

An eye-opening account of how the hidden rise of personalization on the Internet is controlling - and limiting - the information we consume.

In December 2009, Google began customizing its search results for each user. Instead of giving you the most broadly popular result, Google now tries to predict what you are most likely to click on. According to MoveOn.org board president Eli Pariser, Google's

53

I Am Legend and Other Stories

Richard Matheson

4.1

Robert Neville is the last living man on Earth...but he is not alone. Every other man, woman, and child on Earth has become a vampire, and they are all hungry for Neville's blood.

By day, he is the hunter, stalking the sleeping undead through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for dawn.

How long can one man survive in a world of vampires?

I am l

Recommended by Greg Garrett.

Greg Garrett

The monsters in the book are more like vampires. But the interesting thing about I Am Legend is that it is an apocalyptic survival story. The main character thinks that he is the last human being left on earth. [source]

54

I, Robot

Isaac Asimov

4.1

The three laws of Robotics:
1) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2) A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

With these three, simple directives, Isaac A

Recommended by Laurie Voss.

Laurie Voss

@ThePenguinLemma @MusingsOfDeimos The I, Robot book (actually a short story collection) is amazing if you've not read it. Enough ideas to make a dozen movies. [source]

55

Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming

Erik M Conway

4.1

Preview Summary

The U.S. scientific community has long led the world in research on such areas as public health, environmental science, and issues affecting quality of life. Our scientists have produced landmark studies on the dangers of DDT, tobacco smoke, acid rain, and global warming. But at the same time, a small yet potent subset of this community leads the world in vehement denial of these dangers.

Merchants

Recommended by Elon Musk.

Elon Musk

Founder/SpaceX

I recommend people read a book called Merchants of Doubt. All they need to do is create doubt. [source]

56

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?

Philip K. Dick

4.1

It was January 2021, and Rick Deckard had a license to kill.
Somewhere among the hordes of humans out there, lurked several rogue androids. Deckard's assignment--find them and then..."retire" them. Trouble was, the androids all looked exactly like humans, and they didn't want to be found!

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57

Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World

Cal Newport

4.1

Preview Summary

The key to living well in a high tech world is to spend much less time using technology.

Georgetown computer scientist Cal Newport's Deep Work sparked a movement around the idea that unbroken concentration produces far more value than the electronic busyness that defines the modern work day. But his readers had an urgent follow-up question: What about technology in our personal lives?

In recent year

Recommended by Brad Feld, Charlamagne Tha God, Ryan Holiday, and 2 others.

Brad Feld

Co-Founder/Foundry Group

I’m an introvert in an extrovert’s world. I like to be alone. In contrast, I spend a large portion of my work time with groups. Figuring out how to manage this duality, while staying mentally healthy, has been a life-long challenge. Newport’s concept of digital minimalism helps me with all of this. Newport has an entire chapter on solitude, nicely titled “Spend Time Alone.” He makes the important distinction between spending time alone with other stimuli (music, podcasts, audible, streaming media) and real solitude. In addition to the framework around digital minimalism, Newport unloads on the reader with numerous tactics. I use some of them but found a few new ones to add to my repertoire. [source]

Charlamagne Tha God

Radio Presenter/The Breakfast Club

This book is incredible. I’m a have to read it at least 3x and reference it forever. Disconnecting is very important because as the book says “Human Beings are not wired to always be wired.” A Silicon Valley whistle blower name Tristan Harris says “Is Silicon Valley programming apps or are they programming people?” They are programming people!!! Technology is not neutral, they want us to use it in particular ways and for long periods of time because that’s how the money is made.” It’s a whole lot of brain hacking going on, we are slaves to are smart phones and if you don’t think social media is bad for your mental health then you probably not paying attention to your mental health. The chapter “Spend Time Alone” breaks that all the way down. Smart Phones are a tool not a vital organ and if you think otherwise YOU NEED THIS BOOK. Thank Me Later. [source]

Ryan Holiday

Author

The unassuming Georgetown computer science professor has become one of this generation’s leading voices on how we can all work more wisely and more deeply. With media consumption continuing to go way up (which, for most of us, means happiness and productivity continue to go way down) and the world becoming noisier every day, this book is an urgent call to action for anyone serious about being in command of their own life. The minimalism movement successfully led millions to opt out of the many possessions we’re told we’re supposed to crave and focus instead on the small number of things that bring the most meaning and value to our lives. The same ideology applies to our online lives. Digital clutter is stressful. We don’t need the constant connectivity, the pages and pages of apps, the incessant scrolling and clicking. New technologies can improve our lives if we know how to best leverage them. This book already helped me break my Facebook addiction—and the first month of the year has been a big improvement for me because of that. [source]

58

A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)

George R. R. Martin and Jeffrey Jones

4.1

Here is the first volume in George R. R. Martin’s magnificent cycle of novels that includes A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords. As a whole, this series comprises a genuine masterpiece of modern fantasy, bringing together the best the genre has to offer. Magic, mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure fill these pages and transport us to a world unlike any we have ever experienced. Already hai

Recommended by Elon Musk.

Elon Musk

Founder/SpaceX

Best books in recent years imo are Iain Banks & George Martin. [source]

59

Mystic River

Dennis Lehane

4.1

When they were children, Sean Devine, Jimmy Marcus, and Dave Boyle were friends. But then a strange car pulled up to their street. One boy got into the car, two did not, and something terrible happened -- something that ended their friendship and changed all three boys forever.

Twenty-five years later, Sean is a homicide detective. Jimmy is an ex-con who owns a corner store. And Dave is trying to

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60

Requiem for a Dream

Hubert Selby Jr.

4.1

In Coney Island, Brooklyn, Sarah Goldfarb, a lonely widow, wants nothing more than to lose weight and appear on a television game show. She becomes addicted to diet pills in her obsessive quest, while her junkie son, Harry, along with his girlfriend, Marion, and his best friend, Tyrone, have devised an illicit shortcut to wealth and leisure by scoring a pound of uncut heroin. Entranced by the glea

Recommended by Darren Aronofsky.

Darren Aronofsky

I made this book into a film and even got pretty close to the author as a dear friend. [source]

61

The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters

Priya Parker

4.1

Preview Summary

A transformative exploration of the power, purpose, and benefits of gatherings in our lives: at work, at school, at home and beyond.

Every day we find ourselves in gatherings, Priya Parker says in The Art of Gathering. If we can understand what makes these gatherings effective and memorable, then we can reframe and redirect them to benefit everyone, host and guest alike. Parker defines a gathering

Recommended by Anita Zielina.

Anita Zielina

Just finished "The Art of Gathering" (thanks @CFahrenbach) - a fascinating book on how and why humans gather and how we might make gatherings better. Worth the read! [source]

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62

The Liberal Media Industrial Complex

Mark Dice

4.1

63

Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury

4.1

Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden.

Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, w

Recommended by Timothy Ferriss and Ryan Holiday.

Timothy Ferriss

Author & Entrepreneur

This classic work on state censorship remains as relevant in today’s world of digital delights as it was when published in the black-and-white world of 1953. In a futuristic American city, firefighter Guy Montag does not put out blazes; instead, he extinguishes knowledge and promotes ignorance by conducting state decreed book burnings. After an elderly woman chooses a fiery death with her books rather than a life without the written word, he begins questioning not only his profession, but also a society that allows itself to be lulled into complacency by constant exposure to state-controlled, mind-numbing television shows. If you wonder why some people take censorship so seriously, this book will give you the answer. It’s also a fantastically inspiring story of a one-versus-a-million fight that’s worth fighting. Who knows when your turn will come? [source]

Ryan Holiday

Author

I’m not sure what compelled me to pick Fahrenheit 451 back up but I’m so glad I did because I was able to see the book in a very different context. Bradbury’s message (made explicit in his 50th Anniversary Afterword) is much less a warning against government control and much more about a road to hell paved by people attempting to rid the world of offensive speech and conflicting ideas. In a world of microaggressions and outrage porn, this is an important idea to see in such a timeless work of fiction. [source]

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64

The Dark Half

Stephen King

4.1

Thad Beaumont would like to say he is innocent. He'd like to say he has nothing to do with the series of monstrous murders that keep coming closer to his home. But how can Thad disown the ultimate embodiment of evil that goes by the name he gave it-and signs its crimes with Thad's bloody fingerprints?

Alternate cover editions:
New English Library, 1990
New English Library Early Export Edition, 1990

65

Live from New York: An Oral History of Saturday Night Live

Tom Shales

4.1

WHEN A YOUNG WRITER named Lorne Michaels talked NBC executives into taking a chance on a new weekend late-night comedy series, nobody really knew what to expect-not even Michaels. But Saturday Night Live, launched in 1975 and still thriving today, would change the face of television. It introduced brash new stars with names like Belushi, Radner, Chase, and Murray; trashed taboos that had inhibited

Recommended by Angela Pham.

Angela Pham

I recently finished the oral history of Saturday Night Live, Live from New York. SNL’s cast and crew discuss their perception of Lorne Michaels, and it is rare to hear employees speak of their still-alive, legendary boss so truthfully. [source]

66

Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia

Peter Pomerantsev

4.1

A journey into the glittering, surreal heart of 21st century Russia, where even dictatorship is a reality show

Professional killers with the souls of artists, would-be theater directors turned Kremlin puppet-masters, suicidal supermodels, Hell's Angels who hallucinate themselves as holy warriors, and oligarch revolutionaries: welcome to the wild and bizarre heart of twenty-first-century Russia. It

Recommended by John Sipher and Paul Kedrosky.

John Sipher

@twistopherrobin His book is great. “Nothing is True and Everything is Possible”. [source]

Paul Kedrosky

Fascinating how this quote — from Peter Pomerantsev's terrific 2014 book, Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia — already seems like it's from another era. [source]

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67

Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age

Clay Shirky

4.1

The author of the breakout hit Here Comes Everybody reveals how new technology is changing us from consumers to collaborators, unleashing a torrent of creative production that will transform our world.

For decades, technology encouraged people to squander their time and intellect as passive consumers. Today, tech has finally caught up with human potential. In Cognitive Surplus, Internet guru Clay

Recommended by Vinod Khosla, Vinod Khosla, Bogdana Butnar, and 1 others.

Bogdana Butnar

I thought I might put my money where my mouth is. I keep whining that young people are not in touch with some essential books on advertising that have helped me shape the way I practise my trade today, but I never did anything about it. So I am starting here the ultimate books to read list. I will add to it as I get suggestions and as more good books get written. [source]

Jules Evans

Clay Shirky’s book isn’t really about ancient philosophy, but explores one of the reasons why there is a revival of community philosophy today. As discussed, there is the rediscovery of the ancients’ idea of philosophy as a therapeutic way of life, and this naturally leads to questions of community. Ancient philosophy wasn’t just individual self help. It was very social and communal. The Stoics would gather together under the Colonnade in their Athenian marketplace to talk about philosophy, the Epicureans lived together in a commune called “the Garden” outside Athens, the Aristotelians had their own community called the Lyceum, and so on. [source]

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68

Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)

Suzanne Collins

4.1

SPARKS ARE IGNITING.
FLAMES ARE SPREADING.
AND THE CAPITAL WANTS REVENGE.

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are wh

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69

Everything Bad is Good for You

Steven Johnson

4.1

Forget everything you’ve ever read about the age of dumbed-down, instant-gratification culture. In this provocative, unfailingly intelligent, thoroughly researched, and surprisingly convincing big idea book, Steven Johnson draws from fields as diverse as neuroscience, economics, and media theory to argue that the pop culture we soak in every day—from Lord of the Rings to Grand Theft Auto to The Si

Recommended by Ev Williams.

70

She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement

Jodi Kantor, Megan Twohey

4.1

From the Pulitzer-prize winning reporters who broke the news of Harvey Weinstein's sexual harassment and abuse for the New York Times, Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, the thrilling untold story of their investigation and its consequences for the #MeToo movement.

On October 5, 2017, the New York Times published an article by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey--and then the world changed. For months Kantor a

Recommended by Nigella Lawson, Arianna Ciccone, Cindy Gallop, and 9 others.

Nigella Lawson

Prompted by a @jonronson tweet, I’ve been listing to the audio-book version of #SheSaid by @jodikantor and @mega2e, and I just want to tell you it is brilliant. [source]

Arianna Ciccone

'She Said' is the best book about journalism I have ever read. Here are its best lessons for journalists. https://t.co/40HmRx0sDi via @thisisinsider [source]

Cindy Gallop

Everybody, @jodikantor @mega2e's book is a MUST-READ - buy it here: https://t.co/hfSoCVs2Yp I'm ordering copies to be delivered to @adage @adweek @CampaignLiveUS @campaignmag @thedrum because this is THE investigative roadmap for how you expose the Weinsteins of the ad industry https://t.co/uoIWEHSajQ [source]

71

The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2)

J. R. R. Tolkien

4.1

The Fellowship was scattered. Some were bracing hopelessly for war against the ancient evil of Sauron. Some were contending with the treachery of the wizard Saruman. Only Frodo and Sam were left to take the accursed Ring of Power to be destroyed in Mordor–the dark Kingdom where Sauron was supreme. Their guide was Gollum, deceitful and lust-filled, slave to the corruption of the Ring. Thus continue

72

LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media

P. W. Singer

4.1

Social media has been weaponized, as state hackers and rogue terrorists have seized upon Twitter and Facebook to create chaos and destruction. This urgent report is required reading, from defense expert P.W. Singer and Council on Foreign Relations fellow Emerson Brooking.

73

All the President's Men

Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein

4.1

This landmark book details all the events of the biggest political scandal in the history of this nation--Watergate. Woodward and Bernstein kept the headlines coming, delivering revelation after amazing revelation to a shocked public. Black-and-white photograph section.

Recommended by Nick Davies.

Nick Davies

What is so good about All the President’s Men is that most books about journalists are full of gun fights and car chases – but that’s just not what the job involves. Woodward and Bernstein simply wrote a great, really detailed account of the work that went into the case. I still use sections from it as case studies when I give lectures. [source]

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74

A Walk to Remember

Nicholas Spark

4.1

There was a time when the world was sweeter...when the women in Beaufort, North Carolina, wore dresses, and the men donned hats...when something happened to a seventeen-year-old boy that would change his life forever. Every April, when the wind blows in from the sea and mingles with the scent of lilacs, Landon Carter remembers his last year at Beaufort High. It was 1958, and Landon had already dat

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75

No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram

Sarah Frier

4.1

Award-winning reporter Sarah Frier reveals an inside, never-before-told, behind-the-scenes look at how Instagram defied the odds to become one of the most culturally defining apps of the decade.

Since its creation in 2010, Instagram’s fun and simple interface has captured our collective imagination, swiftly becoming a way of life. In No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram, technology reporter Sa

Recommended by Casey Neistat, Kurt Wagner, and Taylor Lorenz On Vacation.

Casey Neistat

Founder/368 Creative Space

Awesome story about how ig came to be and its impact broadly on human interaction. [source]

Kurt Wagner

omg so candid: someone caught me reading @sarahfrier’s book at the office this morning! For real though: This book is tremendous & expertly reported (no surprise there). It’s so much more than a business book - the best read yet on IG’s influence on culture and society https://t.co/O1Hmplii7B [source]

Taylor Lorenz On Vacation

🚨 🚨 🚨 MUST READ NEW BOOK ALERT. 🚨 🚨 🚨 You can now preorder @sarahfrier’s incredible book on the inside story of Instagram. There’s no book I’m excited to read more this year https://t.co/DBO46e79jo [source]

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76

You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)

Felicia Day, Joss Whedon

4.1

From online entertainment mogul, actress, and “queen of the geeks” Felicia Day, a funny, quirky, and inspiring memoir about her unusual upbringing, her rise to Internet-stardom, and embracing her individuality to find success in Hollywood.

The Internet isn’t all cat videos. There’s also Felicia Day—violinist, filmmaker, Internet entrepreneur, compulsive gamer, hoagie specialist, and former lonely h

Recommended by Simon Cocking.

Simon Cocking

A great book for millennials and beyond. Review of You're Never Weird On The Internet by @feliciaday https://t.co/f8zMiInP0Z @SimonCocking @Irish_TechNews @joss https://t.co/OdLSGIlbjD [source]

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77

Eating the Dinosaur

Chuck Klosterman

4.0

Chuck Klosterman has chronicled rock music, film, and sports for almost fifteen years. He's covered extreme metal, extreme nostalgia, disposable art, disposable heroes, life on the road, life through the television, urban uncertainty and small-town weirdness. Through a variety of mediums and with a multitude of motives, he's written about everything he can think of (and a lot that he's forgotten).

78

Leadership Is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say—and What You Don’t

L. David Marquet

4.0

Preview Summary

The acclaimed author of Turn the Ship Around! teaches leaders a better way to communicate and bring out the best in their people.

In Turn the Ship Around!, former U.S. Navy Captain David Marquet explained the empowering leadership strategy he developed with great success while commanding the nuclear submarine USS Santa Fe. That book generated passionate word-of-mouth, was named one of USA Tod

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79

Phantom (Sword of Truth, #10)

Terry Goodkind

4.0

Bestselling author Terry Goodkind's epic Sword of Truth series continues with the next stunning installment, Phantom

On the day she awoke remembering nothing but her name, Kahlan Amnell became the most dangerous woman alive. For everyone else, that was the day that the world began to end.

As her husband, Richard, desperately searches for his beloved, whom only he remembers, he knows that if she does

80

New Moon (Twilight, #2)

Stephenie Meyer

4.0

There is an alternate cover edition for this ISBN13 here.

I knew we were both in mortal danger. Still, in that instant, I felt well. Whole. I could feel my heart racing in my chest, the blood pulsing hot and fast through my veins again. My lungs filled deep with the sweet scent that came off his skin. It was like there had never been any hole in my chest. I was perfect - not healed, but as if there

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81

Being Digital

Nicholas Negroponte

4.0

In lively, mordantly witty prose, Negroponte decodes the mysteries--and debunks the hype--surrounding bandwidth, multimedia, virtual reality, and the Internet, and explains why such touted innovations as the fax and the CD-ROM are likely to go the way of the BetaMax. "Succinct and readable. . . . If you suffer from digital anxiety . . . here is a book that lays it all out for you."--Newsday.

Recommended by David Soskin.

David Soskin

An amazingly prescient book, right at the outset of the Internet revolution [source]

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82

Dexter Is Delicious (Dexter, #5)

Jeff Lindsay

4.0

The newest novel in the New York Times bestselling series that inspired Showtime's #1 hit, Dexter. Jeff Lindsay now delivers his most macabre, witty, and purely entertaining new adventure for America's dark defender.

Dexter Morgan's happy homicidal life is undergoing some major changes. He's always live by a single golden rule - he kills only people who deserve it. But the Miami blood-spatter analy

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83

No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State

Glenn Greenwald

4.0

By Glenn Greenwald, star of Citizenfour, the Academy Award-winning documentary on Edward Snowden

In May 2013, Glenn Greenwald set out for Hong Kong to meet an anonymous source who claimed to have astonishing evidence of pervasive government spying and insisted on communicating only through heavily encrypted channels. That source turned out to be the twenty-nine-year-old NSA contractor Edward Snowde

Recommended by Gilbert Rwabigwi.

Gilbert Rwabigwi

Your book, “No Place To Hide”, was a thrilling/insightful read. Can’t wait to flip through @Snowden’s memoir. 🙏🏾 https://t.co/pZPLxDpNcM [source]

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84

The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility, and Other Writings on Media

Walter Benjamin, Michael W. Jennings, et al.

4.0

Benjamin’s famous 'Work of Art' essay sets out his boldest thoughts--on media and on culture in general--in their most realized form, while retaining an edge that gets under the skin of everyone who reads it. In this essay the visual arts of the machine age morph into literature and theory and then back again to images, gestures, and thought.

This essay, however, is only the beginning of a vast c

85

All You Need to Know About the Music Business: Eleventh Edition

Donald S. Passman

4.0

86

Simulacra and Simulation

Jean Baudrillard, Sheila Faria Glaser

4.0

The publication of Simulacra et Simulation in 1981 marked Jean Baudrillard's first important step toward theorizing the postmodern. Moving away from the Marxist/Freudian approaches that had concerned him earlier, Baudrillard developed in this book a theory of contemporary culture that relies on displacing economic notions of cultural production with notions of cultural expenditure.

Baudrillard uses

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87

Hate Inc.: Why Today's Media Makes Us Despise One Another

Matt Taibbi

4.0

Part tirade, part confessional from the celebrated Rolling Stone journalist, Hate Inc. reveals that what most people think of as "the news" is, in fact, a twisted wing of the entertainment business

In this characteristically turbocharged new book, celebrated Rolling Stone journalist Matt Taibbi provides an insider's guide to the variety of ways today's mainstream media tells us lies. Part tirade, p

Recommended by Krystal Ball.

Krystal Ball

Great convo and great book. Matt outlines how the media fans the flames of division over small issues to keep people from asking questions about bigger structural issues. #hateinc #rising https://t.co/G2fcBNn732 [source]

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88

Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television

Jerry Mander

4.0

A total departure from previous writing about television, this book is the first ever to advocate that the medium is not reformable. Its problems are inherent in the technology itself and are so dangerous -- to personal health and sanity, to the environment, and to democratic processes -- that TV ought to be eliminated forever.

Weaving personal experiences through meticulous research, the author ra

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89

Ghost Story

Peter Straub

4.0

In life, not every sin goes unpunished.

GHOST STORY

For four aging men in the terror-stricken town of Milburn, New York, an act inadvertently carried out in their youth has come back to haunt them. Now they are about to learn what happens to those who believe they can bury the past -- and get away with murder.

90

The Mist

Stephen King

4.0

It's a hot, lazy day, perfect for a cookout, until you see those strange dark clouds. Suddenly a violent storm sweeps across the lake and ends as abruptly and unexpectedly as it had begun. Then comes the mist...creeping slowly, inexorably into town, where it settles and waits, trapping you in the supermarket with dozens of others, cut off from your families and the world. The mist is alive, seethi

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91

Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word

Walter J. Ong

4.0

This classic work explores the vast differences between oral and literate cultures offering a very clear account of the intellectual, literary and social effects of writing, print and electronic technology.

In the course of his study, Walter J. Ong offers fascinating insights into oral genres across the globe and through time, and examines the rise of abstract philosophical and scientific thinking.

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92

Rich Media, Poor Democracy: Communication Politics in Dubious Times

Robert W. McChesney

4.0

Winner of Harvard's Goldsmith Book Prize as well as the Kappa Tau Alpha Research Award, Rich Media, Poor Democracy destroys the assumption that a society drenched in commercial information "choices" is a democratic one. Robert McChesney, whom Marc Crispin Miller calls "the greatest of our media historians," maintains that the major beneficiaries of the so-called Information Age are no more than a

93

Bossypants

Tina Fey

4.0

Tina Fey is one of of the world's greatest comic writers and performers. Here she reveals all, and proves what we've all suspected - you're no one until someone calls you bossy.

Recommended by Sheryl Sandberg.

Sheryl Sandberg

COO/Facebook

I absolutely loved Tina Fey's "Bossypants" and didn't want it to end. It's hilarious as well as important. Not only was I laughing on every page, but I was nodding along, highlighting and dog-earing like crazy. … It is so, so good. As a young girl, I was labeled bossy, too, so as a former - O.K., current - bossypants, I am grateful to Tina for being outspoken, unapologetic and hysterically funny. [source]

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94

The Revolution Was Televised: The Cops, Crooks, Slingers and Slayers Who Changed TV Drama Forever

Alan Sepinwal

4.0

A mob boss in therapy. An experimental, violent prison unit. The death of an American city, as seen through a complex police investigation. A lawless frontier town trying to talk its way into the United States. A corrupt cop who rules his precinct like a warlord. The survivors of a plane crash trying to make sense of their disturbing new island home. A high school girl by day, monster fighter by n

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95

The Key to Rebecca

Ken Follett

4.0

Ken Follett’s The Key to Rebecca took readers and critics by storm when first published more than twenty years ago. Today, it remains one of the best espionage novels ever written. Look out for Ken’s newest book, A Column of Fire, available now.

A brilliant and ruthless Nazi master agent is on the loose in Cairo. His mission is to send Rommel’s advancing army the secrets that will unlock the city’s

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96

The Language of New Media

Lev Manovich

4.0

A stimulating, eclectic accountof new media that finds its origins in old media, particularly the cinema.

In this book Lev Manovich offers the first systematic and rigorous theory of new media. He places new media within the histories of visual and media cultures of the last few centuries. He discusses new media's reliance on conventions of old media, such as the rectangular frame and mobile camera

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97

Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)

Suzanne Collins

4.0

My name is Katniss Everdeen.
Why am I not dead?
I should be dead.

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel

98

Adventures in the Screen Trade

William Goldman

4.0

Now available as an ebook for the first time!

No one knows the writer's Hollywood more intimately than William Goldman. Two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter and the bestselling author of Marathon Man, Tinsel, Boys and Girls Together, and other novels, Goldman now takes you into Hollywood's inner sanctums...on and behind the scenes for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's

Recommended by Timothy Ferriss.

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99

The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick 4: The Minority Report

Philip K. Dick

4.0

Many thousands of readers consider Philip K. Dick the greatest science fiction mind on any planet. Since his untimely death in 1982, interest in Dick's works has continued to mount and his reputation has been further enhanced by a growing body of critical attention. The Philip K. Dick Award is now given annually to a distinguished work of science fiction, and the Philip K. Dick Society is devoted

100

Unleash the Power of Storytelling: Win Hearts, Change Minds, Get Results

Rob Biesenbach

4.0

Preview Summary