I am definnitely one of those people who is often in the middle of half a dozen books at once and has
several waiting in the wings. This page includes books I completed in 2024, started in 2024 or am hoping
to finish
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Book |
The Food Explorer: The True Adventures of the Globe-Trotting Botanist WHo Transformed What
America Eats
Daniel Stone
|
August 2022 |
Not finished |
| Motivation |
I Heard About it on NPR. My husband and I enjoy odd histories such as Max Miller's Tasting
History or Sharon and Greg Ross' Futility Closet. We are reading a chapter at a time together.
|
| Impressions |
So far I am finding it interesting. It is fun to learn about this niche of history
together. I can't help, but think how easy it seems to get a job in times gone past, but I am
sure that was only true for a privileged few. |
| Book |
Just Mercy
Bryan Stevenson
|
October 2023 |
March 2024 |
| Motivation |
I received this book as a gift in 2018. I attempted to read it then, but wasn't in the right
headspace so I set it aside for later. I picked it up again on a Shabbat afternoon to see if it
would hold my attention. |
| Impressions |
The book is a good and disturbing read. Mr. Stevenson through his description of
his work founding the Equal Justive Initiative shows us how far we have and have not come in the American South when it comes to
racism, revenge and the death penalty. The book really highlights the failings of our "injustice" system.
|
| Book |
Power and Place: Indian Education in America
Vine Deloria, Jr. and Daniel R. Wildcat
|
April 2023 |
Not finished |
| Motivation |
Dr. Kevin Pyatt, PhD recommended this book to me while working on my thesis project. I am
particularly interested in the chapter on "tecchnological homelessness," but have a long history
of interest in the tribes and first peoples, having studies Native American religions in
undergraduate and working as a student attorney in the Native American Law Clinic. |
| Impressions |
So far I have read the chapter that brought me to purchase the book. It is powerful
and very aligned with my goals with respect to technology.
|
| Book |
The Diversity Gap: Where good intenitons meet true cultural change
Bethany B. Wilkinson
|
March 2024 |
Not finished |
| Motivation |
Regis University's Anderson College of Business and Computing DEI book club selected book. |
| Impressions |
When it comes to challenging the status quo that leads to inequity in our society,
it is important to do the hard work. That hard work starts with our own feelings, opinions, biases and experiences. This book
was written by a black woman who does have a black woman's perspective. She interviews other people of color and ultimately I think she truly wants
everyone to feel like they can bring their whole self with them wherever they go including work. In this
day of racial reconing, it is easy to feel uncomfortable, defensive and to shut off and dismiss the truths of others in favor of our own experiences and hardship (the what about me feeling).
Wilkinson reminded me of two important things so far: 1. Each of us can only speak from the perspective we have and can't really say what somebody else's expereince is or has been; 2. We all
are perpetuating a system that keeps those on top on top, even if it is a system that doesn't personally serve us. Honestly, I don't
like some of the language and labels she uses to describe what she is discussing. Her use of terms such as "white supremecy values" or general use of "white people,"
I feel is offputting, not very inclusive and undermines her point. I can read past these terms and see her point.
|
| Book |
Then and Now
Saul Kent
|
2023 |
Not finished |
| Motivation |
My gradnfather wrote this book, which was inspired by an experience he had in Harlem. I read a previous verison of this book in manuscript form in 2022. The version that was published has been greatly revised from the original and I am reading this version with my husband. |
| Impressions |
My impressions may be very different from others based upon: 1) I have been to New York sveral times, 2) I have had the opportunity to discuss various aspects of my granfather's real lief experiences with him and 3) I read a longer version of the book previously. I would love to discuss the book with others to see what they got out of it.
I really like how the story uses the school in Harlem to bring the characters, who are otherwise living in completely different New Yoyrk's, togethet (the peurto ricans form spanish harlem, the blacks from harlem, the orthodox Jews in Brooklyn, the secular Jews who are teaching and living in suburbia, the wealthy and the poor, the draft dodgers).There is a bit too much sex in the book for my liking and I can poke at
some of he depictions of the orthodox Jews, but the idea of how these different people come together with different motivations and ideas of how to help children who are struggling is an interesting topic.
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