iTranslated by AI
How to Choose Your Next Technical Book: 2026 Edition
It is difficult to choose a technical book when you don't necessarily need to learn a specific technology, but just have the mindset of "I'll read a technical book to improve my skills."
First of all, you cannot rely on whether a book is a bestseller. While good books tend to increase sales over the long term, books that sell well in the short term often do so because they caught a trend, have no competition, or are marketed to non-engineers (complete beginners). There is almost no correlation between short-term sales and the actual quality of the content.
Online bookstore reviews are also unreliable. Book reviews often get very low star ratings if there is a gap between the book's intended audience and the actual reader's technical level. Furthermore, you often observe mysterious users who leave five-star reviews on every book by a specific author, making these reviews not worth referencing.
Therefore, it is better to choose from recommended reading lists that incorporate the perspectives of multiple people. Information compiled from data aggregating votes or mentions from many users, or surveys from multiple individuals who read technical books regularly, is highly reliable. (Of course, if you know an engineer you trust, looking at their recommendations is also a good approach, but this article does not deal with individual recommendations.)
I have posted such a list below. Based on these, it might be interesting to perform a meta-analysis and aggregate books that are commonly selected across multiple lists.
2026
The "IT Engineer Book Awards" has been held since 2014, and past award winners are also published.
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2015
More!
I am not well-versed in design-related matters, but "Yomitoku Design" (Interpreting Design) provides quite detailed classifications and could be a good reference for choosing books.
Discussion