What are you reading?

[dark_crystal]

With eyes:

STATION ELEVEN, by Emily St. John Mandel

An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse, Station Eleven tells the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.
With ears

UNDIVIDED: COMING OUT, BECOMING WHOLE, AND LIVING FREE FROM SHAME, by Vicki Beeching

Vicky Beeching, called “arguably the most influential Christian of her generation” in The Guardian, began writing songs for the church in her teens. By the time she reached her early thirties, Vicky was a household name in churches on both sides of the pond. Recording multiple albums and singing in America’s largest megachurches, her music was used weekly around the globe and translated into numerous languages. But this poster girl for evangelical Christianity lived with a debilitating inner battle: she was gay.

[Kobi]

In this gimlet-eyed look at current political trends, Eurasia Group president Bremmer, succinctly explains why people all over the world are turning against their neighbors: they feel powerless, angry, and left behind by globalization.

He identifies various reasons for such strife, from increases in industrial automation and the influx of migrants to wealthier countries to a general sense that politicians do not know how to make struggling citizens' lives better.

He analyzes the situations of a dozen countries (Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Venezuela, Russia, India, and China among them) in depth and finds common risk factors for the "us versus them" mentality: large youth populations, lack of employment opportunities, and charismatic authoritarian leaders with a knack for pitting groups against one another.

These countries, he predicts, will erect physical and technological "walls" to keep people in line, and Europe and the United States will follow suit, becoming more protectionist as the developing world struggles.

The author closes with a philosophical chapter on the social contract between governments and their subjects, concluding that the politics of "us versus them" will only get worse before governments change their ways. This astute but not optimistic analysis may be difficult reading for those overwhelmed by the current political climate.
----------------

Well written. Much food for thought.

[homoe]

My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her authorized biographers Mary Hartnett and Wendy W. Williams.


Justice Ginsburg has written an introduction to the book, and Hartnett and Williams introduce each chapter, giving biographical context and quotes gleaned from hundreds of interviews they have conducted. This is a fascinating glimpse into the life of one of America’s most influential women.

I picked this up at the airport but haven't gotten to far into it just yet......

[Kobi]

You might have trouble imagining life without your social media accounts, but virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier insists that we're better off without them.

In Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now, Lanier, who participates in no social media, offers powerful and personal reasons for all of us to leave these dangerous online platforms.

Lanier's reasons for freeing ourselves from social media's poisonous grip include its tendency to bring out the worst in us, to make politics terrifying, to trick us with illusions of popularity and success, to twist our relationship with the truth, to disconnect us from other people even as we are more "connected" than ever, to rob us of our free will with relentless targeted ads.

How can we remain autonomous in a world where we are under continual surveillance and are constantly being prodded by algorithms run by some of the richest corporations in history that have no way of making money other than being paid to manipulate our behavior? How could the benefits of social media possibly outweigh the catastrophic losses to our personal dignity, happiness, and freedom?

Lanier remains a tech optimist, so while demonstrating the evil that rules social media business models today, he also envisions a humanistic setting for social networking that can direct us toward a richer and fuller way of living and connecting with our world.

--------------------------

Well done, well articulated and very informative. Very easy and getting easier to influence peoples thinking and behavior via algorithms.....all for the sake of money.

[dark_crystal]

With eyes:
ANOTHER BROOKLYN, by Jacqueline Woodson:

Running into a long-ago friend sets memory from the 1970s in motion for August, transporting her to a time and a place where friendship was everything—until it wasn’t. For August and her girls, sharing confidences as they ambled through neighborhood streets, Brooklyn was a place where they believed that they were beautiful, talented, brilliant—a part of a future that belonged to them. But beneath the hopeful veneer, there was another Brooklyn, a dangerous place where grown men reached for innocent girls in dark hallways, where ghosts haunted the night, where mothers disappeared. A world where madness was just a sunset away and fathers found hope in religion.

With ears:
HARVEST OF EMPIRE, by Juan Gonzales:

Latinos are estimated to become the largest U.S. minority group by 2010, numbering more than 40 million. This spectacular transformation has resulted largely from escalating immigration since the 1960s, profoundly affecting such states as California, New York, Texas, and Florida. González, a columnist at the New York Daily News, addresses this massive demographic shift in his rich, angry, and provocative book. With a combination of history, reportage, cross-disciplinary insights, and old-fashioned leftist outrage, he links U.S. intervention abroad and the tyranny of its unbridled market to the profound transformations at home -- namely, the arrival of millions of Spanish-speaking immigrants. They are the "unexpected harvest" of the "expansion that transformed the entire hemisphere into an economic satellite," he charges. In turn, U.S. policy toward its Latin American population will determine whether domestic tranquillity or interethnic conflict will mark the twenty-first century.

[Reach *BANNED*]

I decided today to do a re-read on the Harry Potter books. I have been thinking about them for a few weeks- and tomorrow I will start. Just something about them makes Me forget all of the "world stuff" that is happening. I want to be "taken away" if only for a brief time.

[dark_crystal]

Originally Posted by dark_crystal

HARVEST OF EMPIRE, by Juan Gonzales:

Latinos are estimated to become the largest U.S. minority group by 2010, numbering more than 40 million. This spectacular transformation has resulted largely from escalating immigration since the 1960s, profoundly affecting such states as California, New York, Texas, and Florida. González, a columnist at the New York Daily News, addresses this massive demographic shift in his rich, angry, and provocative book. With a combination of history, reportage, cross-disciplinary insights, and old-fashioned leftist outrage, he links U.S. intervention abroad and the tyranny of its unbridled market to the profound transformations at home -- namely, the arrival of millions of Spanish-speaking immigrants. They are the "unexpected harvest" of the "expansion that transformed the entire hemisphere into an economic satellite," he charges. In turn, U.S. policy toward its Latin American population will determine whether domestic tranquillity or interethnic conflict will mark the twenty-first century.

This book is blowing my mind. I learned that the Latin American countries fighting Spain for their independence modeled their constitutions after ours because they looked up to our democracy so much. Then, we went behind their backs with Spain and plotted against them so that they had no one to help them except for England. Because we wanted their land more than we were proud of our democracy!

And wait till you hear how the US got Texas. When Texas was part of Mexico, we flooded it with Anglo immigrants and overwhelmed the Mexican culture! No wonder we’re so paranoid about pressing “1” for English.

I am only on chapter 2!

[jools66]

Kris Bryant.
Only just started reading this book.
It was on Goodreads list of lesbian fiction, so hope its good.

[Fancy]

Journal of Communication - #CommunicationSoWhite byPaula Chakravartty

and

Environmental Communication - Why it Matters How We Frame the Environment by George Lakoff

Also, just finished “for fun” reading for the summer: What Happened by Hillary Rodman Clinton and Dream More: Celebrate the Dreamer in You by Dolly Parton

[cinnamongrrl]

I’m in the middle of two books, one fiction, one non. I’m also perusing an instructional type book (on backpacking). Now I got another book I’m anxious to dive into!

I promised myself I will finish at least ONE already started book before I get started on another...but my promise was not witnessed nor notarized....sooo.... yeah.

[homoe]

Originally Posted by homoe

My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her authorized biographers Mary Hartnett and Wendy W. Williams.


Justice Ginsburg has written an introduction to the book, and Hartnett and Williams introduce each chapter, giving biographical context and quotes gleaned from hundreds of interviews they have conducted. This is a fascinating glimpse into the life of one of America’s most influential women.

I picked this up at the airport but haven't gotten to far into it just yet......

I'm just about finished with this and it's a very interesting read especially the portions of how the Supreme Court functions.

Lots of interesting info on RBG both personal and professional too.

[Kobi]

"America will remain the world's only superpower for the foreseeable future. But what sort of superpower? What role should America play in the world? What role do you want America to play? I

an Bremmer argues that Washington's directionless foreign policy has become prohibitively expensive and increasingly dangerous. Since the end of the Cold War, U.S. policymakers have stumbled from crisis to crisis in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria, and Ukraine without a clear strategy.

Ordinary Americans too often base their foreign policy choices on allegiance or opposition to the party in power. We can no longer afford this complacency, especially now that both parties are deeply divided about America's role in the world."
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Am enjoying this. It is a book that asks a lot of questions of the reader, provides a lot of data and history, and tells you from page one to make up your own mind on this issue.