Outstanding Academic Titles 2025: Technology, AI, and Misinformation

Our picks for the best new books on technology

Posted on December 10, 2025 in Blog Posts

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A librarian reading hot tech titles that won Choice's Outstanding Academic Title award!

Every December, Choice publishes its highly anticipated Outstanding Academic Title award winners. These books go through a battery of evaluations to determine their merit. Below are five award-winning books, along with their Choice reviews. These books were specially selected for LibTech Insights readers. Besides great additions to your library collections, they promise to make excellent personal reading this winter. ❄️

The descent of artificial intelligence : a deep history of an idea 400 years in the making

Donnelly, Kevin Padraic. Pittsburgh, 2024

Book cover of The Descent of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI)—the buzzword of the current historical moment and the epitome of cutting-edge technology—is, in fact, just the latest expression of very old ways of thinking about intelligence, technology, and science. So argues Donnelly (history, Alvernia Univ.) in this timely and readable book. He makes an invaluable contribution by placing current AI hype within a deep historical context, showing how it results from a chain of thinking dating back to the Enlightenment. Moreover, he argues provocatively that much of that thinking was, in fact, bad. Donnelly suggests that AI contains all the vices of previous attempts to simplify complex human thought and behavior to levels that can be studied with rigid methods borrowed from the natural sciences. This argument is sharply critical of both AI and the social sciences but is based on deep, careful, and stylishly reported research. The book is a valuable intervention in the rapidly expanding historical literature on the history of AI and also a useful and readable resource for students and scholars at all levels who want to know more about the historical roots of fraught contemporary discourses around intelligence, artificial or otherwise.

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Deep Utopia : life and meaning in a solved world

Bostrom, Nick. Ideapress Publishing, 2024

For this reviewer, Bostrom’s Deep Utopia is an immediate masterpiece. Structured as fictional lectures by an older Bostrom (formerly, Univ. of Oxford, UK) and attended by students who ponder the lectures and supplementary handouts, the book explores paths away from “deep” redundancy in a post-instrumental society where technology fulfills every human need. Readers expecting clear-cut solutions and direct argumentation will be disappointed; this brilliant text instead thrives on tangents, allegories, and open-ended inquiries. Bostrom compels readers to question existential meaning in a world where even exercise and learning lose their instrumental value, as all needs and reasonable wants are effortlessly satisfied by nanobots and other artificial technologies. Flowing through the veins of this text is an optimistically envisioned Utopian universe in which humans might more readily cultivate virtue, love, and aesthetic appreciation, or, if profound existential fulfillment is not possible, engage deeply in artificial, autotelic experiences. Both alternatives are more accessible to us in this post-instrumental world than they are today, where “work” defines the majority of our waking hours and purpose. There is much to commend in this transformative read, and this reviewer looks forward to attending this week of lectures again!

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Misguided : where misinformation starts, how it spreads, and what to do about it

Facciani, Matthew. Columbia, 2025

While many books, articles, and think pieces explore misinformation, Misguided stands out for its approachability and exploration of deeper psychological and social forces. Rather than simply pointing out the problems with misinformation and advocating for “truth,” Facciani (Univ. of Notre Dame) insightfully examines how and why misinformation permeates society, offering ways to confront this immense challenge. As Facciani compellingly explains, misinformation gains power through our identities (e.g., parent, contrarian, sports fan, etc.) and our fundamental need for social connection. When misinformation becomes intertwined with our social circles, it becomes increasingly influential. Similarly, the stronger our personal identities, the more likely we are to accept misinformation that reinforces them. The book begins by establishing the foundational concept of misinformation before exploring how identity shapes our beliefs and behaviors. Facciani supports his arguments with evidence while keeping his text accessible to a broad audience. Case studies examining COVID-19 misinformation and the anti-vaccine movement serve as particularly clear and relevant discussions. Misguided proves most valuable for its practical recommendations for combating misinformation in ourselves and others. By understanding our vulnerabilities, we can increase awareness and limit misinformation’s power both individually and societally. This enlightening and actionable text is essential reading for navigating this age of misinformation.

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Canaries in the code mine : precarity and the future of tech work

Papadantonakis, Max. Temple, 2025

While most explorations of tech work focus primarily on unskilled work and the gig economy, the challenges in this field extend to more skilled roles as well. In the latest in a recent string of monographs examining the precarity of labor in the technology sector, Papadantonakis (sociology, California State Univ.) delves into the insecurity of software development roles, particularly for Black and female workers. Drawing from 120 interviews conducted both pre- and post-pandemic, the book explores how privilege and vulnerability can coexist in a role that is often perceived as stable within the tech industry. Software development roles are increasingly moving toward freelance or contract workers, particularly for Black, female, or senior developers. While the book is relatively short, Papadantonakis makes a strong argument, demonstrating why it is critical for researchers to understand what these workers are experiencing, as these challenges are indicative of larger economic issues both within the tech sector and in the larger US labor market. An extensive methodological appendix and notes complete the volume. An excellent overview of the broad challenges in the technological labor market. Good for academic libraries, particularly those with strong labor and economic collections.

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The tech coup : how to save democracy from Silicon Valley

Schaake, Marietje. Princeton, 2024

Regular followers of tech news will be forgiven if they feel they have read this book before. It is very much in touch with current events. Unlike tech news sources, The Tech Coup aggregates all that news into one place, looking at patterns and relationships between those newsworthy items. Schaake—director of the Stanford Cyber Policy Center, fellow at the Standford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, and member of the European Parliament from 2009 to 2019—has been in the thick of the debates around recent trends in technology. Her primary argument is that democratic governments have largely failed to regulate modern advances in computer technology. The “why” is a combination of technological enthusiasm, fear of falling behind authoritarian states, and lobbying from tech firms that have more wealth than most countries. Her suggested solutions are policy directions to help keep democratic systems safe from rule by corporate technopolies. Although the book does not explore the “how” of such solutions in very much depth, it is an excellent springboard for discussing the current politics of technological change.

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