Because Internet is such a fun look at the way the internet has changed the ways we communicate with each other. Gretchen McCulloch does a deep dive into every aspect of language on the internet (greetings and salutations, ASCII art, all caps, no caps, memes) along with a history of the social internet.

This book isn’t about how the internet is ruining language; it’s about how language evolves (and has always evolved) along with the humans who use it.

Audiobook bonuses: McCulloch reads it herself, so you get to hear all the different inflections on jokes and serious statements and LOLcat memes as she reads. She also pronounces the classic keyboard smash (fjakl;jfsdl;fj) and notes the difference between one created on a desktop/laptop keyboard vs. a smartphone keyboard vs. a cat walking across a keyboard. And she is just a delight to have in your ears.

⚡️From the September 2019 edition of Crooked Reads, my monthly(ish) newsletter about books.