They make great presents, but books are deceptively difficult to give: You don’t want to buy some random bestseller off the front table at Barnes and Noble, but wander very far into the store and it’s easy to become overwhelmed with options. To lend a hand, we’ve combed through this year’s techie-targeted releases (and tossed in a couple of old favorites, as well).
Whether you’re buying for a boss, family member or Secret Santa pal, we’ve got you covered.
For the gal who goes gaga over subway schematics and topographic maps.
For the Reddit-reading science fiction enthusiast. For the ultra hardcore nerd in your life, there's also Stephenson's secret history of Medieval Europe, The Mongoliad.
For the pal who makes Neuromancer jokes every two hours.
For the friend who has two beers and immediately starts waxing nostalgic about the 1964 World's Fair and getting starry-eyed about how 3D printing will revive American manufacturing.
For the futurist who gets really excited about "big data", despite knowing almost nothing about statistics.
For the DIY enthusiast who can buy her own damn $2,199 Makerbot Replicator 2.
For the retro-loving, high-tech design freak in your life. A more up-to-date alternative would be Ken Segall's Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple's Success .
For the entrepreneur buddy who's agonizing over 15 different accelerator application.
For the programmer who devotes lunch hours to browsing McNally Jackson.
For the relentless self-improver--or for the coworker who spends two hours a day reading webcomics.
For the 4chan reader in your life. Although maybe a UV lamp would be more appreciated?
For the Startupland citizen whose company isn't going to make it over the Series A cliff.
For the English major who's cut her losses in academia and drifted into a startup gig. For the would-be Zucks in your life, you might want to go with the juicy Accidental Billionaires or, if you want to harken back to tech boom 1.0, there's Accidental Empires.
For the coder who'd not-so-secretly prefer a position as underground kingpin. You also couldn't go wrong with Bruch Sterling's Hacker Crackdown or the classic Cuckoo's Egg.
