Written by: Hazel Agoni
If you’re looking to start a career in tech, learn how to navigate the workplace as a woman in tech, find out how it feels like to work in Silicon Valley, books are a great place to get started.
From biographies to tell-alls, tech books detail thoughts of tech’s brightest minds, the acts of big tech companies and wild occurrences in startups. However, not all tech books are worth reading. To avoid spending time with crappy books that add no value, we reviewed tech books and here are seven we recommend you read.
1. “The Woman Who Smashed Codes” by Jason Fagone
If you’re interested in cryptography, war movies and inspirational women, this book is for you. The Woman Who Smashed Codes details the life of Elizabeth Smith Friedman who along with her husband, William Friedman, played a pivotal role in protecting the United States during World War II and were instrumental to the development of cryptography as a field of study. For their code-breaking contributions, the duo are often referred to as the Adam and Eve of the NSA.
2. “Chaos Monkeys” by Antonio Garcia Martinez
This book gives a birds-eye view into silicon valley, highlighting what really lays beneath the glitz and glam. In this autobiography, Martinez writes about his career including founding a startup, selling it to Twitter and surviving the valley. For anyone who is looking for an insider take on the silicon valley-startup brouhaha, this is a great read.
3. “Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead” by Sheryl Sandberg
Sheryl Sandberg, the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook strongly believes that women unintentionally hold back when it comes to leadership roles. Dropping examples from her life, in her book Lean In, Sandberg talks about the hurdles women face in the workplace and how they can overcome them.
4. “The Future of the Professions: How Technology Will Transform the Work of Human Experts” by Richard and Daniel Susskind
If you’ve ever been in one of those “Robots will steal our jobs” arguments, this is for you. No matter what side of the argument you’re on, you should definitely stop and read this book. The father-son duo
5. “Ten Billion Tomorrows: How Science Fiction Became Reality and Shapes the Future” by Brian Clegg
If you’re a fan of Sci-fi movies like Terminator, Resident evil and The Matrix, you’ll find this book interesting. Ten Billion Tomorrows discusses a host of science fiction topics, from the virtual environment of The Matrix and to cyborgs. And walks you through how Sci-fi breached the border into reality.
6. “Geek Girl Rising: Inside The Sisterhood Shaking Up Tech” by Heather Cabot and Samantha Walravens
The statistics for women in tech can be depressing when compared to that of men. This is why movements championing for more women to join STEM, including ours are popping up all over the world. This book shows the new set of women in tech making waves, founding and investing in companies as well as motivating each other.
From working for tech startups to the future of work, we hope these books inspire you, make you laugh and leave you thinking. Have a book that should be on the list? Drop them in the comment section.
