Book excerpts worth curling up with this holiday season

Take a peek inside some of our favorite books. View this email in your browser  |  Manage newsletter subscriptions 11.29.20 Generally speaking, it's been a not-great year. But it has been good for one thing, and that's books. Maybe we can't attend author readings of new books, or gather in-person with our book clubs, but we are able to curl up with a good read just like in Normal Times, and maybe even find a little extra solace in the ritual. So, in the event that you're on the hunt for a new book—for yourself or for a holiday gift—we've collected our favorite book excerpts from the past year. From a beautiful treatise on selfie-ing the life out of nature to the sobering tale of how a foreign government infiltrated Twitter, you'll find something for everyone on your list. Happy Holidays, and Happy Reading! Ricki Harris | Associate Editor, WIRED   BOOK EXCERPT How 30 Lines of Code Blew Up a 27-Ton Generator BY ANDY GREENBERG A secret experiment in 2007 proved that hackers could devastate power grid equipment beyond repair—with a file no bigger than a gif.   BACKCHANNEL All Those Cute Selfies Are Loving Nature to Death BY REBECCA GIGGS Even as wild places crumble and collapse, people's emotional connection to nature intensifies—but who bears the cost of our fawning over cute animals online?   BACKCHANNEL How Work Became an Inescapable Hellhole BY ANNE HELEN PETERSEN Instead of optimizing work, technology has created a nonstop barrage of notifications and interactions. Six months into a pandemic, it's worse than ever.   BACKCHANNEL The Oysters That Knew What Time It Was BY JO MARCHANT Scientists long believed that biological clocks were predominantly driven by internal rhythms. Then came a fraught discovery—about mollusks and the moon.   BACKCHANNEL A Saudi Prince's Attempt to Silence Critics on Twitter BY BRADLEY HOPE AND JUSTIN SCHECK An ongoing investigation reveals how Mohammed bin Salman's team allegedly infiltrated the platform—and got away with it.   SPONSORED CONTENT Learn Anywhere With CuriosityStream Stream award-winning documentaries and shows on virtually any topic with CuriosityStream's best deal of 2020! Get 40% off a whole year's subscription with code WIREDBACK. GET WIRED We just couldn't wait another week! The Pre-Cyber Week Sale is here. Get one year of WIRED for just $10 $5. Tech news and analysis you won't find anywhere else. Subscribe now     This e-mail was sent to you by WIRED. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, wired@newsletters.wired.com, to your address book.   View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe or manage your newsletter subscriptions