Here are 100 books that Metrics at Work fans have personally recommended if you like Metrics at Work. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Social Media and the Public Interest: Media Regulation in the Disinformation Age

James Meese Author Of Digital Platforms and the Press

From my list on news and the impact of technology.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been fascinated by the news media and technology for as long as I can remember. I successfully campaigned for a VCR as a five-year-old, and watched multiple news programs with my grandfather growing up. Alongside these interests, I managed to read as many books as I possibly could. I’ve managed to somehow parlay that into a job as a researcher, where I study the news media sector and technological transformation. I read everything on this list while I was writing my latest book, and hope you enjoy them as much as I did! 

James' book list on news and the impact of technology

James Meese Why James loves this book

Philip Napoli is a leading media policy expert and was one of the first people to identify some of the problems that emerge when news gets distributed online through social media algorithms.

I love this book because it provides a great narrative of how we got to this point, but also some fantastic suggestions for how policymakers can respond. It’s quite readable for an academic book, and worth checking out. 

By Philip M. Napoli ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Social Media and the Public Interest as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Facebook, a platform created by undergraduates in a Harvard dorm room, has transformed the ways millions of people consume news, understand the world, and participate in the political process. Despite taking on many of journalism's traditional roles, Facebook and other platforms, such as Twitter and Google, have presented themselves as tech companies-and therefore not subject to the same regulations and ethical codes as conventional media organizations. Challenging such superficial distinctions, Philip M. Napoli offers a timely and persuasive case for understanding and governing social media as news media, with a fundamental obligation to serve the public interest.

Social Media and…


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Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Book cover of Regulating Platforms

James Meese Author Of Digital Platforms and the Press

From my list on news and the impact of technology.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been fascinated by the news media and technology for as long as I can remember. I successfully campaigned for a VCR as a five-year-old, and watched multiple news programs with my grandfather growing up. Alongside these interests, I managed to read as many books as I possibly could. I’ve managed to somehow parlay that into a job as a researcher, where I study the news media sector and technological transformation. I read everything on this list while I was writing my latest book, and hope you enjoy them as much as I did! 

James' book list on news and the impact of technology

James Meese Why James loves this book

My favourite thing about Terry Flew is while he covers contemporary issues, he always accounts for the long-term historical developments that got us to this point.

His latest book, Regulating Platforms, stands as a perfect example of this approach. The book explores why governments are so desperate to regulate platforms right now and considers how this differs from previous historical approaches to regulating technology and the internet.

If you want to understand some of the broader regulatory trends surrounding news and technology, this book is a must read. 

By Terry Flew ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Regulating Platforms as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

We once thought of cyberspace as a borderless world. As the internet has become increasingly platformized, with a small number of technology giants that dominate the global digital economy, concerns about information monopolies, hateful online content, and the impact on media content creators and creative industries have become more marked. Consequently governments, politicians, and civil society are questioning how digital platforms can or should be regulated.

In this up-to-the-minute study, Terry Flew engages with important questions surrounding platform regulation. Starting from the premise that governance is an inherent feature of digital platforms, he argues that the challenge is to develop…


Book cover of Advanced Introduction to Platform Economics

James Meese Author Of Digital Platforms and the Press

From my list on news and the impact of technology.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been fascinated by the news media and technology for as long as I can remember. I successfully campaigned for a VCR as a five-year-old, and watched multiple news programs with my grandfather growing up. Alongside these interests, I managed to read as many books as I possibly could. I’ve managed to somehow parlay that into a job as a researcher, where I study the news media sector and technological transformation. I read everything on this list while I was writing my latest book, and hope you enjoy them as much as I did! 

James' book list on news and the impact of technology

James Meese Why James loves this book

Many of the concerns around news and technology, center around how the distribution of news through social media impacts the news business.

However, we can only understand how these two sectors interact by understanding platform economics. Thankfully, Robin Mansell and W. Edward Steinmueller have written a simple and concise introduction to a complicated topic. A great way to quickly deepen your understanding of an important issue. 

By Robin Mansell , W. E. Steinmueller ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Advanced Introduction to Platform Economics as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas.

This cutting edge book introduces the origins and consequences of digital platforms, examining how artificial intelligence-enabled digital platforms collect and process data from and about users by providing social media and e-commerce services. Robin Mansell and W. Edward Steinmueller compare and contrast neoclassical, institutional and critical political economy approaches. They show how uneven…


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Book cover of Trusting Her Duke

Trusting Her Duke by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.

Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…

Book cover of Digitizing the News: Innovation in Online Newspapers

James Meese Author Of Digital Platforms and the Press

From my list on news and the impact of technology.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been fascinated by the news media and technology for as long as I can remember. I successfully campaigned for a VCR as a five-year-old, and watched multiple news programs with my grandfather growing up. Alongside these interests, I managed to read as many books as I possibly could. I’ve managed to somehow parlay that into a job as a researcher, where I study the news media sector and technological transformation. I read everything on this list while I was writing my latest book, and hope you enjoy them as much as I did! 

James' book list on news and the impact of technology

James Meese Why James loves this book

This classic text that provides one of the first sustained accounts of how the print media transitioned to the online environment during the late-twentieth century.

Boczkowski focuses on three newsrooms and presents a compelling story of change, that looks more like an evolution than a revolution. Skillfully combining detailed ethnographic accounts with deep archival research, it remains a must-read when seeking to understand the relationship between news and technology. 

By Pablo J Boczkowski ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Digitizing the News as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Winner of the 2005 Outstanding Book Award sponsored by the International Communication Association (ICA) , Co-winner of the 2005 Book of the Year Award presented by the Critical and Cultural Studies Division of the National Communication Association and Co-winner of the 2004 Book Award presented by the Organizational Communication Division of the National Communication Association

In this study of how daily newspapers in America have developed electronic publishing ventures, Pablo Boczkowski shows that new media emerge not just in a burst of revolutionary technological change but by merging the structures and practices of existing media with newly available technical capabilities.…


Book cover of True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa

J.T. Hunter Author Of Devil in the Darkness: The True Story of Serial Killer Israel Keyes

From my list on true crime and the dark side of human nature.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been fascinated by the dark side of human nature and the socio-psychological aspects of criminal behavior, especially those of serial killers, and my legal training and experience afforded me apt tools for exploring and writing about true crime. I have been interviewed and appeared on a wide range of podcasts, radio, and TV shows about true crime for nearly a decade.

J.T.'s book list on true crime and the dark side of human nature

J.T. Hunter Why J.T. loves this book

This book explores the relationship between writer and subject and provides a lesson on the lengths one should go in exercising one’s craft. An ironic twist comes in the form of Finkel himself being a victim of a crime, which gives rise to the thrust of this story. As a fan of memoirs and true crime, this book kept my interest all of the way through.

By Michael Finkel ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked True Story as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Michael Finkel was a top New York Times Magazine journalist publicly fired and disgraced for making up a composite character for a big investigative news piece about Africa. This book is about how this brilliant, high achieving journalist found himself at that point in his life. But in parallel it's also about Christian Longo, a man accused of the multiple murder of his own wife and three children.

After the deaths, Longo fled to Mexico, where he passed himself off as Michael Finkel, New York Times journalist. These two weird stories come together as Finkel in turn becomes fascinated (perhaps…


Book cover of The View from the Ground

Sara Wheeler Author Of Glowing Still: A Woman's Life on the Road

From my list on travel by women to inspire a journey of your own.

Why am I passionate about this?

Over the course of my so-called career as a travel writer, the ‘I’ve-Got-A Big-One’ school favoured by the male of the species has ceded ground. Women, less interested in ‘conquering,’ have pioneered a kind of creative non-fiction that suits the travel genre. I prefer it to the blokeish business of seeing how dead you can get. It notices more. As the decades unfurled – Pole to Pole, via Poland – I realised, more and more, the debt I owe to the other women who not only set sail but also unsparingly observed the world that turns within each self. 

Sara's book list on travel by women to inspire a journey of your own

Sara Wheeler Why Sara loves this book

Martha Gellhorn’s blend of reportage and imagination ensnared me when I was barely out of my teens, and her preferred form has come of age in my working life.

Not only do I think Gellhorn is a marvellous writer – at her best, one of the best – but I also identify with Gellhorn the woman. "The open road," she wrote, was "my first, oldest and strongest love." She lived from 1908 to 1998 and was writing the fighting for six decades, and although each conflict was different, her message remained the same: ‘There is neither victory nor defeat; there is only catastrophe." 

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Book cover of The Duke's Christmas Redemption

The Duke's Christmas Redemption by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.

Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…

Book cover of Tell It Slant

Kate Hopper Author Of Use Your Words

From my list on writing and inspiration by kick-ass women writers.

Why am I passionate about this?

My passion is helping women write the stories they need to write. I’ve spent the last twenty-some years helping women write, polish, and publish the hard, gritty, beautiful, and awe-inspiring in their lives. I teach Motherhood & Words and lead retreats and women’s writing circles. I am also a writing coach and developmental editor. I’m the author of Ready for Air: A Journey Through Premature Motherhood and co-author of Silent Running, a memoir. I’m currently working on a rom-com. 

Kate's book list on writing and inspiration by kick-ass women writers

Kate Hopper Why Kate loves this book

It’s clear that in this book, we are in the hands of master writing teachers. Miller and Paola’s guide will help any writer, but particularly a beginning writer, find their way into a fruitful writing practice. The book contains essays on craft, inspiring examples, and writing prompts that are sure to launch readers into their own stories.

Though this book is specifically geared toward nonfiction writers, a writer of any genre will find useful and encouraging nuggets of wisdom here. 

By Suzanne Paola , Brenda Miller ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Tell It Slant as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Demonstrating the range of creative nonfiction from memoir to travel writing to the lyric essay, Tell It Slant combines practical guidance with an illustrative anthology of 34 essays from Margaret Atwood, David Sedaris, E.B. White, Virginia Woolf, and others. The result is a stimulating collection of writing and activities that makes it easy and enjoyable for students to begin to write and to try new modes of writing.


Book cover of Washington

Kimberly Voss Author Of Women Politicking Politely: Advancing Feminism in the 1960s and 1970s

From my list on post-World War II women, politics and journalism.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am driven to tell the stories of important but often forgotten women journalists from the 1940s through the 1970s. They were pioneers who also created deep connections in their communities. Over the past few years, I have published several books about women in mass media. My 2014 book documented the history of newspaper food editors– an often powerful and political position held almost exclusively by women. My third book, Women Politicking Politely looked at the experiences of pioneering women’s editors and women in politics which allows for a better perspective of women in journalism today and adds to women’s history scholarship.

Kimberly's book list on post-World War II women, politics and journalism

Kimberly Voss Why Kimberly loves this book

The book Washington chronicles the significant career of Meg Greenfield, an editorial page editor of The Washington Post. Greenfield, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for commentary, wrote the book during the last two years of her life. Greenfield’s boss and close friend Katharine Graham contributed the foreword which provides context. Greenfield came to Washington in 1961 and was hired by the Post a few years later. Her editorials at the Post and her columns in Newsweek were witty and smart. Her stories provide a political picture of Washington, D.C. at the end of the American century. She was often at the place where change happened and tells the stories well. Greenfield’s book is a fascinating read about politics, journalism, and history.

By Meg Greenfield ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Washington as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

With Washington , the illustrious longtime editorial page editor of The Washington Post wrote an instant classic, a sociology of Washington, D.C., that is as wise as it is wry. Greenfield, a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for commentary, wrote the book secretly in the final two years of her life. She told her literary executor, presidential historian Michael Beschloss, of her work and he has written an afterword telling the story of how the book came into being. Greenfield's close friend and employer, the late Katharine Graham, contributed a moving and personal foreword. Greenfield came to Washington in 1961,…


Book cover of The Byline Bible: Get Published in Five Weeks

Amy B. Scher Author Of How to Heal Yourself When No One Else Can: A Total Self-Healing Approach for Mind, Body, and Spirit

From my list on to break your reading lull.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m the award-winning and bestselling author of four books about human-ing and healing. I’ve been featured in Washington Post, Cosmopolitan, GMA. CNN, CBS, The Los Angeles Review of Books, The Rumpus, and more. My books have been translated into sixteen languages and endorsed by notable authors such as Elizabeth Gilbert; Vikas Swarup; and Sanjiv Chopra, MD, Harvard Medical School. As a writing mentor, I work closely with authors to help them get their own words into books. I live with my beautiful wife and bad cat in New York City, where we all spend most of our time planning our next meals and next adventures.

Amy's book list on to break your reading lull

Amy B. Scher Why Amy loves this book

For creatives, this book is the move. Many writers who find themselves in reading lulls, also find themselves in writing lulls. Over the last two decades, writing professor Susan Shapiro has taught more than 25,000 students of all ages and backgrounds at NYU, Columbia, Temple, The New School, and Harvard University. And now the content from her wildly popular course “Instant Gratification Takes Too Long” is in this book for everyone who wants to get published fast, and with all the best secrets of the trade.

Byline Bible is full of advice for writers on how to break into publishing, but also includes tons of essays and pieces published by Susan Shapiro’s students, which make for great reading in and of themselves. 

By Susan Shapiro ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Byline Bible as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Newspaper, magazine, and web editors are desperate for new voices and anyone, in any field, can break in. So why not you?

Over the last two decades, writing professor Susan Shapiro has taught more than 25,000 students of all ages and backgrounds at NYU, Columbia, Temple, The New School, and Harvard University. Now in The Byline Bible she reveals the wildly popular "Instant Gratification Takes Too Long" technique she's perfected, sharing how to land impressive clips to start or re-launch your career.

In frank and funny prose, the bestselling author of 12 books walks you through every stage of crafting…


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Book cover of Old Man Country

Old Man Country by Thomas R. Cole,

This book follows the journey of a writer in search of wisdom as he narrates encounters with 12 distinguished American men over 80, including Paul Volcker, the former head of the Federal Reserve, and Denton Cooley, the world’s most famous heart surgeon.

In these and other intimate conversations, the book…

Book cover of Panic as Man Burns Crumpets: The Vanishing World of the Local Journalist

Mike Leidig Author Of The King Of Bullsh*t News

From my list on reading to understand journalism.

Why am I passionate about this?

A popular cliché tells you that you need to find something you are passionate about, make it your job, and you'll never work a day in your life. I have always loved writing but never wanted to be tied down to one form, and working freelance allowed me to write books, sensational tabloid tales, and in-depth investigations depending on what came up on my desk. 

Mike's book list on reading to understand journalism

Mike Leidig Why Mike loves this book

I worked in local papers at the start of my career and was always amazed at why a network that had so many talented writers produced so few books about the hilarious things and the tragic things we experienced. I think it's partly because local newspapers are often seen as a stepping stone, we focus on the famous at the pinnacle of their career, editing a national newspaper for example, when in fact local news careers could and should be an end in themselves.

Roger Lytollis is not only a brilliant writer, but his book is remarkably personal in the way he faces his own demons and how journalism helped him cope with extreme shyness and depression. Coupled with hilarious stories, I couldn't put it down.

By Roger Lytollis ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Panic as Man Burns Crumpets as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

WINNER OF THE LAKELAND BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2022

You dreamed of being a journalist and the dream has come true. You love working for your local paper . . . although not everything is as you imagined.

You embarrass yourself with a range of celebrities, from John Hurt to Jordan. Your best story is 'The Man With the Pigeon Tattoo'.

A former colleague interviews President Trump. You urinate in the president of the Mothers' Union's garden.

Your appearance as a hard-hitting columnist on a BBC talk show does not go well. And being photographed naked is only the…


Book cover of Social Media and the Public Interest: Media Regulation in the Disinformation Age
Book cover of Regulating Platforms
Book cover of Advanced Introduction to Platform Economics

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Interested in journalism, France, and innovation?

Journalism 42 books
France 975 books
Innovation 83 books