books about politics – Equal Opportunity Reader

[REVIEW] On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder

On Tyranny, a small tan academic paperback folio, lies face up on a shelf clogged with other books. Someone has written "Gird Your Loins" on the cover with a sharpie.

(Buy this book here.) This book has been everywhere since last year’s election in the US–indie shops, TikTok diatribes, little free libraries and coffee shop share shelves with snarky messages inked on the cover. Something about the idea of a little book of twenty short lessons on how to stem the tide of tyranny, basedContinue reading “[REVIEW] On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder”

[REVIEW] 107 Days, by Kamala Harris

The Kindle cover of Kamala Harris' memoir, displaying only the words "107 Days" in plain text, sits next to a wide bowl of Caesar salad and a glass of beer.

[Buy this book here] Read time: 5 minutes On July 21, 2024, Kamala Harris was informed that President Joe Biden was dropping out of the race, choosing not to seek re-election. With only 107 days until the vote, Harris accepted the support of the Democratic party and ran a frantic, flawed, and hopeful campaign oppositeContinue reading “[REVIEW] 107 Days, by Kamala Harris”

[REVIEW] Miss Major Speaks, by Miss Major Griffin Gracy and Toshio Meronek

My Black lady hand holds up a paperback copy of Miss Major Speaks. The cover depicts Miss Major at her most glamorous, sometime in the 1960s. The book is held up in front of a row of laundromat washing machines. Gotta get those pages in whenever you can, right?

(Buy this book here.) It’s always weird when someone tries to use demographic as an emblem, rather than a descriptor of experience. It’s reductive and robs us of genuine relationships and the understanding our own history(because like it or not, marginalized history is everyone’s history.) It makes small, unremarkable people too big in our minds,Continue reading “[REVIEW] Miss Major Speaks, by Miss Major Griffin Gracy and Toshio Meronek”

[REVIEW] Worm, by Edel Rodriguez

The Kindle cover of Worm, depicting a small boy in a Communist Party hat and tie, all drawn in red and green and black. In the background the spine of the famous Che biography can be seen.

(Buy this book here.) If you haven’t heard the name Edel Rodriguez before, you’ve almost certainly seen his work. Think back to the bright orange cartoon of a melting Donald Trump on the cover of Time magazine in 2016, or subsequent images of the former president holding the severed head of Lady Liberty or drapedContinue reading “[REVIEW] Worm, by Edel Rodriguez”

[Hear Me Out] The Handmaid’s Tale Is Not The Book We Need To Read Right Now

A series of tweets reading: "Parable of the Sower" was a book that could read the room and explain how to navigate it, too. forget "Handmaid's Tale," that's for people who plan to give up. I'm not willing to be a handmaid, as if that's an option for Black women anyway. I'm willing to learn how to shoot and make acorn bread, though."

(To skip straight to the books, click here.) So on Friday, despite widespread public disapproval following a leak back in May, the US Supreme Court overturned 1973’s landmark Roe vs. Wade ruling, rescinding the constitutional right to an abortion. Naturally, there’s been immense public outcry from many of us with uteruses, both virtually and inContinue reading “[Hear Me Out] The Handmaid’s Tale Is Not The Book We Need To Read Right Now”

[REVIEW] Fledgling, by Octavia Butler

(Buy this book here.) *Content warning* Not every written word ages well. Every author has something in their catalog that gives readers of the future the ick. Sometimes it’s the whole catalog. If they’re lucky, it’s just one book or part of a book. Octavia Butler got lucky. Fledgling has been called Butler’s vampire novel,Continue reading “[REVIEW] Fledgling, by Octavia Butler”

[REVIEW] Decolonization: A Very Short Introduction, by Dane Kennedy

A Kindle ebook displaying the text-only cover of Decolonization:A Very Short Introduction is on a white faux-marble table, propped up on the edge of a small gray platter of Thanksgiving food.

(Click to buy it on Bookshop.) How’s this for seasonal reading? I’ve done a little bit of work around the subject of decolonization. I’ve contributed to papers, taught class units, and read a lot of writing from Africa, Asia and Indigenous Oceania on the subject. Yet it never really dawned on me that the academicContinue reading “[REVIEW] Decolonization: A Very Short Introduction, by Dane Kennedy”

[REVIEW] The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda, by Ishmael Reed

A thin white book with a red stripe lies on a shiny gray formica table. The title is The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda, the author is Ishmael Reed. There is a goblet of amber beer and a glass of water nearby. A green exit sign is reflected in the table's shiny surface.

(Buy it at Bookshop.) I loved Broadway’s Hamilton despite myself. The songs, the sincerity, the hammy hip-hop–it all got to me. I went in scoffing at the idea of Founding Father fan fiction and came out claiming George Washington as my new bae. I don’t hate the play, but I can see its problems justContinue reading “[REVIEW] The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda, by Ishmael Reed”

[BOOKLIST] Ten For The Times: A Social Justice Booklist To Keep Us Moving Forward

A protest held by many people of different races and genders, behind a waist-high temporary mental fence. Several of the people are holding handmade signs with protest slogans like BLM, Justice for George Floyd, and White Silence Is Violence

Where do I even begin with today, fellow readers? I woke up suddenly at 5 am Korean time on April 20th, only to find that the Derek Chauvin verdict would be read in an hour. I fixed myself a cup of tea and sat, thinking, waiting. I wasn’t expecting much–the USA has done a remarkableContinue reading “[BOOKLIST] Ten For The Times: A Social Justice Booklist To Keep Us Moving Forward”

[REVIEW] Can’t We All Disagree More Constructively? by Jonathan Haidt

[Buy the full book HERE.] Okay, so first of all, no. No, we cannot. I have to admit I feel some type of way about these conciliatory centrist hot takes from white academics (and other public figures) who have relatively low existential stakes in the present US situation. This kind of jolly elitist water coolerContinue reading “[REVIEW] Can’t We All Disagree More Constructively? by Jonathan Haidt”