John B. Judis, The Populist Explosion (2016) This is part 6 in an ongoing series exploring books that address the current political, social, and economic situation in the US. Part 1: The Unwinding Part 2: Dark Money Part 3: Strangers In Their Own Land Part 4: Listen, Liberal Part 5: Hillbilly Elegy and White Trash A year … Continue reading Trying to Understand Part 6: The Populist Explosion
Nancy Isenberg, White Trash (2016) J.D. Vance, Hillbilly Elegy (2016) This is part 5 in an ongoing series exploring books that address the current political, social, and economic situation in the US. Part 1: The Unwinding Part 2: Dark Money Part 3: Strangers In Their Own Land Part 4: Listen, Liberal Also posted as part of … Continue reading Trying to Understand Part 5: White Trash and Hillbilly Elegy
Thomas Frank, Listen, Liberal (2016) Listen, Liberal, my latest read from the NYT list of “Six Books to Understand Trump’s Win,” can be summarized as follows: 1. Our country is screwed. 2. Don’t go blaming those crazy Republicans for this mess. Democrats (or at least the higher levels of the Democratic Party and especially the … Continue reading Trying to Understand, Part 4: Listen, Liberal
Arlie Russell Hochschild, Strangers in Their Own Land (2016) This is part 3 in an ongoing series exploring books that address the current political, social, and economic situation in the US. Part 1: The Unwinding Part 2: Dark Money When sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild set out to explore what she calls the Great Paradox — … Continue reading Trying to Understand Part 3: Strangers in Their Own Land
Jane Mayer, Dark Money (2016) As my highly non-political brain tries to grasp what is really behind the political and social upheavals of our time, I’m grateful for the books that are helping to give me some insight into these difficult and complex topics. Such a book was the first entry in this series, The … Continue reading Trying to Understand Part 2: Dark Money
George Packer, The Unwinding (2013) This post is part of a series based around the New York Times’s list of “books to understand Trump’s win.” Rachel of Hibernator’s Library suggested doing a readalong of these six books, and I thought it was a great idea. So did several other people, and I hope that we’ll … Continue reading Trying to Understand Part 1: The Unwinding
Paul K. Chappell, The Art of Waging Peace (2013) After reading seven books to understand Trump’s win, I knew there still remained much to understand, but I was also hankering for some ways to enact positive change. I turned to a book that was recommended by a friend soon after the 2016 elections: The Art of … Continue reading From understanding to action: The Art of Waging Peace
Helen Keller, The Story of My Life (1903) Almost everyone must know who Helen Keller is: the girl who became blind and deaf due to illness before she was two years old, enduring several agonizing years of isolation before being reconnected to the light of thought. The play and film “The Miracle Worker” dramatizes this … Continue reading Classics Club: The Story of My Life
How did I do with the reading challenges I undertook this year? Here’s a round-up of my progress, or lack thereof, along with my intentions for next year. I always do well with the Book Blogger Discussion Challenge, perhaps because I set a reasonable goal for myself (one discussion per month), and so far I … Continue reading Challenge Update
This month was incredibly intense as various work, personal, and health crises hit all at once. Everything is fine, but it was stressful for a while! I apologize for not visiting and commenting on as many blogs as I usually do — hopefully I will have time for this enjoyable task again very soon. In … Continue reading Month in Review: April 2017
The Emerald City Book Review Archive 