If you live somewhere in which it’s so hot the ice in your fountain drink melts before you get in your car, this list is for you. If not, consider yourself lucky and save these suggestions for winter.
Top 5 Books to Read
These recommendations come mostly come from me; however, there are a couple that trusted sources contributed. They cover a wide range of topics.
1. The Hacker and The State: Cyber Attacks and the New Norm of Geopolitics by Ben Buchanan. (2022).
I found this book while preparing for a new class I am teaching. The book dives into Espionage, Attack Strategies and Destabilization and does not just spend time on one country’s methodology or motives. The first hand interviews are great and the author’s narrative is technical enough to paint a descriptive picture of the incident but not much as it goes over the average reader’s head.
2. Through the Eyes of the Enemy: Russia’s Highest Ranking Military Defector Reveals Why Russia Is More Dangerous Than Ever by Stanislav Lunev (1998).
I may have mentioned this book in another recommended list a while back. If you have not read it yet, shame on you. It is 26 years old but it could have been written yesterday. The former Soviet intelligence officer gives the reader an up-close look at how intelligence training is conducted in Russia, how disinformation has been a huge strategic weapon, and the reality of suitcase nukes being detonated on American soil. The ruthlessness of Russian espionage and assassinations as Lunev describes, even shocked the likes of me, as I thought I had heard everything.
3. Churchill’s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler’s Defeat by Giles Milton (2017).
Honestly, up until recently, I am embarrassed to admit I had never heard of this book nor the movie nor the story told therein. Apparently, Winston Churchill has his own micro version of MI5, which included a dirty bomb builder and silent assassin. While six males directed it, females working for the organization were huge contributors, which made the narrative that much more compelling. The title was not the author’s made up name for the book; it was actually Churchill’s designation of the organization.
4. The Ransomware Hunting Team: A Band of Misfits’ Improbable Crusade to Save the World from Cybercrime by Renee Dudley and Daniel Golden (2022).
I confess this is a selection recommended by a trusted friend, which tells the real story of a group of self-trained hackers, which included agoraphobics, cancer survivors, high school dropouts and an actual computer science student, who was apparently a savant. The group-combatted ransomware threat actors with more success than law enforcement and managed to stop multiple attacks at the expense of their own personal life. I promise you I will read this before the end of the year.
5. When Women Ran Fifth Avenue: Glamour and Power at the Dawn of American Fashion by Julie Satow (2024).
Again, this book was recommended to me as a must read by a friend. It hit home with me because of all of the unsung women coders doing their thing during the dawn of computing with little to no explanation as to how the demographic switched or why more credit wasn’t given to them (until recently). Did you know it was an American woman who invented the look of the modern department store? Or how about the first woman to earn a million dollar salary was an American fashion designer? Or one of the most successful department stores of the 30’s was actually ran by a housewife, who inspired a nation full of housewives to shop there because of relatability? The three pioneers are featured in the book, which may explain all the resentment and dismissiveness from the male characters in the television show Mad Men.
