If you're the kind of person who likes to get lost in mind-opening reads between an ice cream and an API request, you're in the right place.

The Openapi team has selected 10 tech (and not only tech) books — some brand new, others already cult — to help you face the summer with fewer grains of sand and more firing neurons. They might also be the perfect excuse to escape the beach umbrella and skip another endless paddle match. These books cover AI, hacking, Eastern-style e-commerce, digital capitalism, and the future.

1. Nvidia and the Genius of Jensen Huang – Tae Kim (W. W. Norton & Company, 2025)

A technical, economic, and almost mythical biography of Huang — a leather-jacketed CEO with laser vision. If you really want to understand why “Nvidia is the new oil,” this is the book. Just don’t let your CEO read it or you’ll end up working 70-hour weeks!

2. Broken Code – Jeff Horwitz (Penguin, 2025)

A raw (and well-documented) look behind the scenes of Meta, between secrets, bugs, algorithmic messes and questionable choices. Ideal for those who still have a little faith in Silicon Valley… and want to challenge it.

3. AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future – Kai-Fu Lee & Chen Qiufan (WH Allen, 2024)

It’s been out for over a year, but it’s still a must-read. Co-written by China’s most famous sci-fi author and the former Google China president. Ten stories, ten futures. Lee pulls you into AI-shaped worlds — full of adventure, reflection, and bold ideas. Ideal for asking yourself big questions without ever getting bored.

4. The Hacker Mindset – Bruce Schneier (W. W. Norton & Company, 2023)

Who are hackers, really? Not just “pirates,” but people who see parallel worlds in digital systems. Schneier opens the door to their philosophy (and gives you a healthy warning too...).

5. Social Media Marketing. The ultimate guide to a successful strategy in the age of AI - Philip Kotler, Svend Hollensen, Marc Oliver Opresnik (Hoepli, 2025)

The updated edition of Kotler's classic: a practical and up-to-date guide that takes us through the "maze" of social media, clearly presenting theories, platforms, communities, and tools to consciously choose and use the most effective ones for your strategy.

6. The Worlds I See – Fei-Fei Li (Flatiron Books: A Moment of Lift Book, 2024)

One of the brightest minds in AI tells her story: China, the U.S., migration, science, and dreams. A biography that’s also a tribute to curiosity and determination — especially for those hoping to leave a mark.

7. Supremacy – Parmy Olson (Pan MacMillan, 2025)

Inside the AI cold war: this is packed with drama, epic rivalries, and behind-the-scenes stories from Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI. It reads like a thriller, but it’s all real — and cuts to the core of today’s biggest tech battles.

8. The Coming Wave – Mustafa Suleyman (Crown Publishing Group, 2024)

It’s been out for almost a year now, but we couldn’t leave it out. Suleyman (co-founder of DeepMind) doesn’t just talk about AI, but about the next tech revolution that, according to him, will sweep through everything. Visionary and unsettling — perfect if you want to kick off the summer with some well-calibrated future anxiety (or is it present?).

9. Empire of AI – Karen Hao (Penguin, 2025)

The untold story of OpenAI: genius, AI faith, scandals, and near-impossible achievements. Through explosive interviews, Hao shows what happens when technology becomes almost a religion.

10. From Click to Boom: The Political Economy of E-Commerce in China – Lizhi Liu (Princeton University Press, 2024)

How did China build the world’s biggest e-commerce market from “weak” institutions? Lizhi Liu brilliantly and thoroughly explains the key twist: the government let platforms like Alibaba make their own rules, settle disputes, and build trust among millions of users. A journey through Taobao villages, power plays, and digital hacks — a look at how a boom is born… and what it means when the State delegates trust to tech giants.

The list doesn’t end here: some members of our team wanted to highlight two exciting upcoming book releases in the next few months, not to be missed:

11. Enshittification – Cory Doctorow (MCS, October 2025)

Have you ever noticed that certain digital services have only gotten worse over the years? And, beyond frustration, have you wondered why? In his new book, coming out in October 2025, journalist, activist, and writer Cory Doctorow explains how greed is ruining even the best online services. A sharp and ironic analysis offering insight into what is happening in the world of big tech and why our digital experience seems to worsen day after day. Curious about the topic? You can already read the author’s dedicated article on his blog.

12. AI Agents with MCP – Kyle Stratis (O’Reilly, 2026)

AI Agents with MCP is the first comprehensive guide dedicated to this emerging standard, designed to help engineers make the most of its potential through practical examples and projects. Whether you want to develop agentic workflows, integrate tools across multiple platforms, or design solid multi-agent architectures, this book will guide you step-by-step: from the protocol’s structure to the implementation of servers and clients, and up to the most advanced applications. Want a sneak peek? The publisher has already made part of the text available to readers on its website.

Whether you’re already sipping drinks on the beach or impatiently waiting for your vacation, grab one of these books and throw it in your bag. You won’t regret it!

We’d love to hear what you think! Let us know if you liked them — and which other brilliant reads you’d recommend.