From the MakeUseOf team, here are our top picks for geeky reads this August 2016. While nonfiction tech titles are lighter this month, we've curated a mix of insightful nonfiction and gripping fantasy to fuel your summer reading. Our recommendations draw from years of reviewing tech, sci-fi, and innovative literature for enthusiasts like you.
As always, share your current reads in the comments below.
In our hyper-connected era, how does digital life reshape our sense of self, space, and time? Laurence Scott, a BBC New Generation Thinker, explores these profound shifts with wit, blending philosophy, pop culture, and personal insight. Essential for understanding modern existence.
The Four-Dimensional Human: Ways of Being in the Digital World Buy Now On Amazon $6.10
Released August 5, 2016.
Cyberpsychologist Mary Aiken, who advises global law enforcement on cybercrime and online behavior, reveals how screens alter child development, fuel addictions, enable sexting, and spawn cyberchondria. Eye-opening analysis of technology's hidden impacts on the human mind.
The Cyber Effect: An Expert in Cyberpsychology Explains How Technology Is Shaping Our Children, Our Behavior, and Our Values--and What We Can Do About It Shop Now on Amazon
Released August 23, 2016.
Books have revolutionized knowledge-sharing across history—from cuneiform tablets to modern e-readers. Keith Houston's erudite, playful history traces their evolution, earning praise from Kirkus Reviews as illuminating for history buffs and language lovers alike.
The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time Shop Now on Amazon
Released August 18, 2016.
Hugo Award-winner N.K. Jemisin's sequel to The Fifth Season in The Broken Earth trilogy delivers apocalyptic fantasy, ancient mysteries, and a mother's epic quest. High-stakes world-building perfect for YA and adult fantasy fans—start with book one if you haven't.
The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth) Buy Now on Amazon $5.00
Released August 16, 2016.
Sequel to An Ember in the Ashes, this YA fantasy epic features warring empires, relentless chases, and moral dilemmas. Public Radio International hails the series for blending Hunger Games addiction with Harry Potter magic and Game of Thrones grit.
A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes) Buy Now On Amazon $8.15
Released August 30, 2016.
Master of "new weird" fiction China Miéville reimagines 1940s Paris as a hallucinatory warzone of Nazi-resister clashes, living surrealist art, and demonic forces. Bizarre, addictive, and uniquely inventive—ideal for fans of unconventional speculative tales.
The Last Days of New Paris: A Novel Buy Now On Amazon $6.75
Released August 9, 2016.
The sixth in the acclaimed Night Watch urban fantasy series (ignore the films), featuring vampires, shapeshifters, and wizards in the hidden Twilight realm. Lukyanenko's masterful plotting and epic trilogies deliver urgent, unputdownable supernatural intrigue.
Sixth Watch (Night Watch Book 6) Buy Now on Amazon
Released August 30, 2016.
These seven stand out among August 2016's geeky releases, but we've likely missed gems. Check our July 2016 picks for more. What upcoming books excite you? Share in the comments!
