The Circle - Dave Eggers

I read this just after reading an article on Facebook's 'like' button and the tendency of social media to drift towards a disconnected and extreme experience, so I was receptive to the overall premise of this satire about what happens when an innovative internet technology company goes too far. I found some of it hard to believe (in particular the main character's tendency to agree and blame herself when she's criticised for not 'participating' sufficiently online), but most of it was both funny and scary. The way that the sinister 'circle' of surveillance and control was built up from individual projects that all started with good intentions was horribly plausible, as was the justification that constant surveillance would eliminate shame as well as aberrant behaviour because "when everything is known, everything acceptable will be accepted".