Amazon’s Summer Tech Reads

Just in time for your family vacation, long weekend or daily commute (if you still insist on going into work), these technology-themed books—all coming to a Kindle near you in the coming months—pack much more intellectual punch than your typical beach-friendly page turner. But that doesn’t make them any less entertaining.

Unboxing IT: A Look Inside the Information Technology Black Box (May 20)

Most homeowners can SOXQJH D WRLOHW RU À[ D blown fuse, yet most computer owners see their technological know-how top out at hitting control-alt-delete. Use this book to get inside the head of an IT professional, so that the QH[W WLPH \RXU ODSWRS LV stuck in a rut, you’ll have a better game plan than to panic and restart.

Chaos Monkeys: Obscene Fortune and Random Failure in Silicon Valley (June 28)

Your tour guide on this behind-the-scenes look at the tech industry, Antonio García Martínez, pulls no punches— QRW H[DFWO\ D VXUSULVH considering he’s the JX\ ZKR RQFH ÁRRGHG Mark Zuckerberg’s desk while brewing EHHU DW WKH RIÀFH DQG who currently lives on a 40-foot boat in San Francisco Bay.

Cyberspies: The Secret History of Surveillance, Hacking, and Digital Espionage (July 5)

The history of digital espionage is much bigger, and older, than Edward Snowden. Leaning on sources that range from hackers to heads of state, author *RUGRQ &RUHUD H[SORUHV data collection from World War II through the Cold War, and up until today, to ponder how intelligence gathering has reshaped the world.

Netymology: From Apps to Zombies— A Linguistic Celebration of the Digital World (Aug. 2)

Did you know that Apple’s looped square command key ( ) is known as St. John’s Arms and has its origins in 1,000 B.C. Scandinavia? Probably not. But if that fact interests you, Tom &KDWÀHOG·V HQWU\ ERRN H[SORULQJ WKH RULJLQV of the Internet’s most famous slang and memes will have you feeling like less of a n00b in no time.

The Bestseller Code: Anatomy of the Blockbuster Novel (Sept. 20)

It sounds like something straight out of

The Da Vinci Code: a hidden algorithm that considers plot, pacing and even punctuation to predict with 97 percent certainty if a novel will claw its way to the top of the New York

Times bestseller list. Tip No. 1: Try to make your main character a 28-year- old woman who owns a dog.