In 2019, I shared 15 book recommendations tailored for CSOs and CISOs, focusing on security, leadership, and personal growth. Now, five years later, I’m expanding that list with 15 more outstanding reads - books that have influenced my thinking and earned my 5-star rating. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just curious about these topics, this list offers insights and inspiration to sharpen your skills and broaden your horizons.
As an experienced security and cybersecurity leader, I often look beyond the “security box”: I already understand what needs to be done in security, but figuring out how to make it happen is more challenging. That’s why I gravitate toward books on human behavior, emerging technologies, business, leadership, risk management—and a bit of science fiction for a glimpse into the future.
You can find my complete reading list on my website or on Goodreads. Since 2019, I’ve rated more than 100 books with four or five stars. Keep in mind, my ratings are influenced by my existing knowledge, current interests, and the books I've read earlier, so your experience may differ.
Interestingly, my reading habits have shifted over the past five years: I used to consume a fairly even mix of physical books, e-books, and audiobooks (with e-books edging out slightly). Now, half of my book consumption is done in audio format, and e-books have become my least used medium.
Now to the books I've selected. Grouped per high-level topic, in no particular order.
Security
🌟Strategic Security: Forward Thinking for Successful Executives by Jean Perois
🌟This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race by Nicole Perlroth
🌟Security Chaos Engineering: Sustaining Resilience in Software and Systems by Kelly Shortridge, Aaron Rinehart
A book that questions conventional approaches to building secure IT systems. By reframing the discussion from security to resilience, the author offers a fresh perspective on software design and implementation, particularly regarding application design, development, and testing.
🌟Putin's Trolls: On the Frontlines of Russia's Information War Against the World by Jessikka Aro
Jessikka is a Finnish journalist who has faced harassment, smear campaigns, and threats ever since she began reporting on Russian disinformation operations and troll factories. This book not only explores her personal experiences but also highlights other cases in which Russia has attempted to discredit and silence journalists and researchers.
Business, Leadership
🌟Chaos Monkeys: Obscene Fortune and Random Failure in Silicon Valley by Antonio García Martínez
🌟The Four Workarounds: Strategies from the World's Scrappiest Organizations for Tackling Complex Problems by Paulo Savaget
A great book on real-world "hacking", introducing four workaround strategies - piggyback, loophole, roundabout, and the next best - supported by numerous examples. It’s all about creatively navigating rules to solve problems and getting things done.
🌟Devops for the Modern Enterprise: Winning Practices to Transform Legacy It Organizations by Mirco Hering
An excellent, concise introduction to Agile IT, covering both the technical foundations and the human elements critical to success.
🌟The Death Of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters by Thomas M. Nichols
A fascinating look at a world where disagreeing with someone is considered an insult and all opinions - no matter how far-fetched - are deemed equally valid. The author examines what’s wrong with our education system, why having vast amounts of information hasn’t made us any smarter, and how rising competition is affecting journalism. There’s also a critical discussion of how people confuse democracy with the notion that all opinions hold the same weight. While experts aren’t always right, the book delves into the potential implications of dismissing expertise altogether.
Artificial Intelligence
🌟AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future by Kai-Fu Lee, Chen Qiufan
This collection features ten AI-themed sci-fi stories by Chen Qiufan, each paired with commentary and insights from AI expert Kai-Fu Lee. It’s an excellent blend of fiction and factual analysis, perfect for sci-fi enthusiasts interested in learning about AI. The stories touch on a wide range of AI concepts - from natural language processing and deepfakes to VR/AR/MR, smart cities, autonomous weapons, and the displacement of jobs by AI. Particularly commendable is the attention to security, privacy, and ethics, offering a balanced and thought-provoking perspective.
🌟Scary Smart: The Future of Artificial Intelligence and How You Can Save Our World by Mo Gawdat
This book explores both the positive and negative potential outcomes of AI and proposes ways to amplify the benefits. The author posits that three events are inevitable: (1) AI will emerge, unstoppable; (2) it will surpass human intelligence; and (3) mistakes will be made. Because there’s no reliable way to contain a superintelligence, the author argues we must teach it to care for humanity as if we were its parents.
Human Behavior
🌟Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss
I've read quite a lot about behavioral economics, but it's been mostly quite theoretical and academic studies. This book gives excellent advice how to use that knowledge in practice. Interesting cases varying from negotiating apartment rent to negotiating ransom with kidnappers.
🌟The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind by Michio Kaku
An eye-opening and highly entertaining book that explores what we know about how the brain works, the studies and experiments undertaken to deepen our understanding, and the intriguing possibilities of re-wiring our minds. It even ventures into sci-fi territory by considering what might happen if we could upload our brains into a computer.
🌟The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why by Amanda Ripley
An exploration of human behavior during disasters, this book emphasizes the unpredictability of how people will react - who might freeze, who might act heroically, and how the brain and body can fail in surprising ways (including temporary stress-induced blindness). One key takeaway is that mentally rehearsing worst-case scenarios in advance can be life-saving when crises strike.
🌟The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
🌟Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman
You’ve probably heard about Lord of the Flies, the Stanford Prison Experiment, the Bystander Effect, or other studies and stories suggesting that people are inherently selfish, untrustworthy, and even dangerous - leading us to treat one another with defensiveness and suspicion. This author, however, dismantles those assumptions, arguing that most people are actually quite decent at heart. According to the book, “homo puppy” (humankind’s cooperative, playful nature) has triumphed in large part because we’re wired to work together. It’s an excellent read that prompts reflection on your own biases and behaviors - a worthwhile exercise, even if you don’t fully agree with the author’s conclusions.
The end - with a bonus
That's it - I hope you found it useful. All of my previous recommendations remain valid, so feel free to check those out as well.
As the saying goes - “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” (famously quoted in The Shining) - I’d also like to include two bonus suggestions for those who enjoy science fiction: The Three-Body Problem series by Liu Cixin and the Bobiverse series by Dennis E. Taylor are excellent.
Happy reading - and now that you know my preferences, I’d love to hear your reading suggestions!
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