I cannot believe how long this year feels, because my recommendation is a book that I thought I actually read last year, but it was in fact January 2024. It's Doppelganger by Naomi Klein <https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/138505710-doppelganger>, which has defied description, since it is apparently about her being confused for Naomi Wolf, but is in fact so much more. I found in it the first attempt to seriously understand where and how polarization is being driven in our society today, and what is fragmenting us on the so-called left even more every day, without resorting to "social media" as the main reason.
Honourable mentions are A Life of Meaning: Relocating Your Centre of Spiritual Gravity by James Hollis <https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/74886356-a-life-of-meaning>, The Ministry of Time <https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199798179-the-ministry-of-time> by Kaliane Bradley, and Infomocracy <https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26114433-infomocracy> by Malka Older (full disclosure she's my boss). Cordially, Ameya Nagarajan (she/her) <http://www.linkedin.com/in/ameyann> On Tue, 3 Dec 2024 at 17:38, Rajesh Kasturirangan via Silklist < [email protected]> wrote: > +1 to ‘Thing Knowledge,’ which I read a couple of years ago. From the > perspective of TK, theories and texts will be ‘Nothing Knowledge?’ > > A couple of my recommendations: > > - Marcia Bjornerud’s “Timefulness > <https://books.google.com/books/about/Timefulness.html?id=OEBhDwAAQBAJ>”. > Geology meets History meets Philosophy. > - Ed Yong’s “An Immense World.” > > <https://books.google.com/books/about/An_Immense_World.html?id=EhlBEAAAQBAJ> > Meditation > on the senses of non-human creatures. A layperson’s take on one of my > favorite books of all time, Jakob von Uexkull’s “A Foray into the > Worlds of Animals and Humans. > > <https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/A_Foray_into_the_Worlds_of_Animals_and_H/ADSDl6_SeW8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Uexkull+stroll&printsec=frontcover> > ” > - I also re-read Asimov’s Foundation series (all five of them) after > several decades, since I had started watching the Apple TV version. He is > an awful writer but his ideas are sparkling. I wish there was a creative > genre for speculative ideas without demanding characters, plot or > worldbuilding. > > > regards, > Rajesh > On Nov 28, 2024 at 10:24 PM +0530, Venkatesh Rao via Silklist < > [email protected]>, wrote: > > Nice lists. I’m not as heavy a reader as you folks looks like, but a > couple from me: > > Selection of Byung-Chul Han. I read Burnout Society, Psychopolitics, and > Transparency Society. (they’re short, monograph length, so 3=1). Kinda > hate-read since I’m averse to Heideggerian tendencies, but stimulating and > provocative in an evil-twin way. > > Thing Knowledge by Davis Baird. Brilliant development of a “material > epistemology” arguing that technical objects embody knowledge in ways > comparable to texts and theories. > > The Story of Southeast Asia by Eric Thompson. > > Old classic but new to me: The Evolution of Technology by Brian Arthur > > > On Wed, Nov 27, 2024 at 11:10 PM Ingrid Srinath via Silklist < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> This year I was blown away by *Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead*, >> published in 2022. Like David Copperfield, this is a novel that brings to >> life conditions in Southern Appalachia - poverty, neglect, addiction - in >> ways that neither academic nor journalistic writing could. >> >> *H-Pop : The Secretive World of Hindutva Pop Stars by Kunal Purohit* was >> an eye-opening deep dive into the ecosystem that fosters cultural Hindutva. >> >> *No Presents Please : Mumbai Stories and Mithun Number Two* and *Other >> Mumbai Stories by Jayant Kaikini both translated by Tejaswini Niranjana* >> presented wonderfully nuanced evocations of life in Mumbai’s lower middle >> class. >> >> Mostly, however, 2024 was a year when my To Be Read shelf expanded way >> faster than I could deplete it. >> >> Kind regards, >> >> >> Ingrid Srinath >> >> >> On 25 Nov 2024, at 07:22, Thaths via Silklist < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> It is coming up on Thanksgiving week in the US. And that means it is time >> for Silklist's annual tradition of sharing book recommendations. >> >> Please share your top reads of the year in this thread. >> >> Here are mine: >> >> *Other Rivers: A Chinese Education by Peter Hessler* >> Hessler weaves many threads (His students from when he taught at a >> Teachers college as a Peace Corp volunteer in the 90s, teaching at Sichuan >> University in 2019-2021, his experience sending his twin daughters to >> Chinese Public School, Hessler and his wife's family history of China-US >> encounters) into a beautiful tapestry that describes the China of today, >> and how it has changed over the 30+ years that the author has been going to >> China. >> >> *Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu* >> A novel in the style of a script for your average TV/Hollywood cop drama >> that explores the Asian-American experience. The novel wields Hollywood >> tropes about Asians brilliantly to great effect while getting to the truth >> about the complexities of Roles we think we're playing. >> >> *The Sun Walks Down by Fiona McFarlane* >> Using the canvas of a 6-year-old boy being lost in The Bush of Southern >> Australia, and the community that is looking for him, McFarlane paints a >> beautiful picture of the multi-faceted life of a small, Outback town in >> Colonial Australia. There is a cacophony of characters through whose eyes >> we witness the world. >> >> *Mina's Matchbox by Yōko Ogawa* >> I loved reading this book about the years young Middle Schooler Tomoko >> from Okayama spends with her Aunt's family in Ashiya. Tomoko develops a >> binding friendship with her Asthmatic cousin Mina (of the book's title). >> It is a coming of age story of sorts. I loved the evocative descriptions, >> and the painting of the life of a rich, eccentric, and loveable household >> in Ashiya. >> >> *James by Percival Everett* >> A brilliant alternate narrative of Huckleberry Finn. >> >> *Fourteen Years with Boss by Ashokamitthiran* >> A brisk read. Popular modernist Tamil writer's memoir about his years >> working in PR for Chennai's Gemini Studios in the 50's and 60's. >> >> *Congo: The Epic History of a People by David Van Reybrouck* >> Ever since I read King Leopold's Ghost in the early 2000s I've been >> fascinated by the history of Congo. I've consumed a couple of dozen books >> about the region, and dream of visiting some day. I thought I was pretty >> steeped in Congolese history. This book was refreshing. The author covers >> the usual stations of the cross of Congolese history (Stanley, King >> Leopold, Belgium, Independence, Lumumba, Mobutu, corruption, mining, >> Kabila, Hutu-Tutsi conflict, Complex wars,...), but brings fresh >> perspective (and the voices of many Congolese). I really liked the last >> chapter about how Congo-China trade is a ray of hope for a much abused >> nation. >> >> *The Liberation of Sita by Volga* >> A look at some incidents/characters in the Ramayana looked at through a >> Feminist lens. Highlights the patriarchy that pervades the popular >> narrative of the Ramayana. >> >> *Sakina’s Kiss by Vivek Shanbhag* >> I loved Perur's masterful translation of Shanbhag's previous book. This >> one didn't disappoint either. I like the ambiguity in the book. If I were >> to only pick two books for the entire year, I would book-end the year with >> Sakina’s Kiss and The Liberation of Sita. >> >> *The Upstairs Delicatessen: On Eating, Reading, Reading About Eating, and >> Eating While Reading by Dwight Garner* >> A memoir and a meditation on a life of Eating and Reading. I loved the >> author's erudition about both his chosen subjects. >> >> *Chasing Venus: The Race to Measure the Heavens by Andrea Wulf* >> I watched the transit of Venus in California in 2012. It was beautiful >> seeing this tiny dot (Venus) move across the face of the sun. Back then I >> had not known about the importance of measuring the transit of Venus in the >> 1700s. Some years later I read about Cook and Bank's voyage on the >> endeavor. One of my favorite pieces of art is Lisa Reihana's In Pursuit of >> Venus (Infected). This wonderful book is the story of (some of) the >> scientists from around the world to measure the transit of Venus so that >> the distance between the earth and the sun could be more precisely >> calculated. The book covers both expeditions in the 1760s (Transits of >> Venus occur in pairs separated by a few years). >> >> -- >> Homer: Hey, what does this job pay? >> Carl: Nuthin'. >> Homer: D'oh! >> Carl: Unless you're crooked. >> Homer: Woo-hoo! >> >> >> -- >> Silklist mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist >> >> -- >> Silklist mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist >> > -- > Silklist mailing list > [email protected] > https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist > > -- > Silklist mailing list > [email protected] > https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist >
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