It's a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world and it seems things are constantly uncertain. If you were to only watch the news, you'd have a very dim view on humanity and think our world is in the worst place it's ever been. While there is debate to be had on whether or not we are actually in the most tumultuous time ever, one can't help to notice that there are certain topics that recur in the headlines over and over again. Topics such as North Korea's antics, racism, rape culture, etc. The problem is, television news programs and journalism can rarely go into depth about the causes, roots, and intricacies of these issues. In this gap of information, it's easy to make misconceptions or be misinformed about what is actually going on. This list serves as a catalogue of books I have read and can personally recommend to give you more information and go more in depth of the headlines you might be curious about.
Missoula by Jon Krakauer
It's hard to avoid the fact that rape culture is systemic in the United States. Like the majority of the topics in the news, it's not a new issue, but it has been brought further into the spotlight in recent years as speaking out about the issue has become less taboo. It seems to be one of the U.S.'s inherent problems that has come to the forefront in recent years.
Joining in the conversation is Jon Krakauer, who in his most recent book puts a magnifying glass to the town of Missoula, Montana, home to the University of Montana and its popular football team, the Grizzlies. Krakauer takes a look at the environment the town and the school have created in regards to rape.
Statistics in Missoula are similar to other Universities and college towns in America, but Krakauer focuses on the small town as a representation of the whole, looking at the circumstances of the alleged rapes, and how the situation was handled by school officials and police in regards to both the victims and the perpetrators.
Statistics in Missoula are similar to other Universities and college towns in America, but Krakauer focuses on the small town as a representation of the whole, looking at the circumstances of the alleged rapes, and how the situation was handled by school officials and police in regards to both the victims and the perpetrators.
What Krakauer uncovers and shares is a twisted web of misogyny, athlete worship, and a flawed judicial system that fails victims of sexual assault. He interviews many victims, family members, alleged perpetrators, and many others linked directly and indirectly to the crimes. It's a thorough examination of an epidemic plaguing institutions that should be safe and trusted places of learning and growth. But what Krakauer discovers lends a hand in explaining how Brock Turner only received a six-month jail sentence and an 18-year old in Massachusetts avoided jail time because the judge believes he should enjoy "a college experience." After reading Missoula you'll find it surprising these cases even made it to court at all.
This poignant book is the story of Robert Peace's brilliant yet tainted life, as told by his college roommate Jeff Hobbs. After his death, Hobbs dug deep into Peace's world, learning information he never knew or suspected, to try and explain how a man from lowly circumstances could make his way up into the Ivy League only to fall back down to the world he escaped.
A lot of the focus of the story is where Peace grew up, in a segregated and crime-ridden area of Newark, which was mostly overlooked and ignored in efforts to clean up the city. With his father in jail, Peace was raised by his single mother, who took it upon herself to give him every positive opportunity she could. With great intelligence Peace excelled at a charter school and then received an opportunity to attend Yale debt free. But with all the opportunity and smarts, Peace couldn't abandon where he came from.
Through thorough research and exemplary storytelling, Hobbs does his college friend justice by telling his story the best he could, by highlighting both Peace's character and the circumstances that created, and then destroyed him.
While not in-depth of a specific news topic, the book sheds light on the lives of black Americans who are often ignored and segmented into communities where they can be ignored. We often hear extraordinary stories of people who escape their poverty to achieve amazing things, like attending an ivy league school or going to the Olympics, but rarely do we hear what comes after. When they must grapple with the divide between the two very different worlds they know: the one that acknowledges, celebrates, and exemplifies them, and the one people would rather not know existed.
This fantastically written book will enlighten you on the struggles of poverty and being black in America, which lends itself to teaching you why the Black Lives Matter movement is in full swing, and why these are still problems we have and need to talk about. If anything, The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace can start a conversation.
Notorious RBG by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik
We may all know the name Ruth Bader Ginsburg from Government class, or a law class, or even from her quote-worthy snippets from dissents that grace social media during the court term, but everyone should really be educated on her history of perseverance and glass-ceiling-shattering career, along with her work in women's rights before and after the court.
In an unconventional biography written by the two women who created the Notorious RBG blog, Notorious RBG summarizes everything there is to know about Ginsberg, from her law beginnings, to her loving marriage, to her love of lace collars, to her friendship with fellow justice (and ideological opposite) Antonin Scalia, to her groundbreaking majority opinions and her witty and emotion-ridden dissents.
By reading this book, told with written-in notes on case decisions and photos past and present of Ginsburg's life, you gain a new perspective on the formidable judge who scowls on the stand and falls asleep during Presidential addresses. You appreciate her contributions to women, and share her frustration as she sometimes sees her hard work potentially slipping away. You get an insight (however slight) into what makes her tick and why she's still working after all these years: because her job is not yet done, and won't be until there are 9 women justices on the highest court in the land.
"A Problem from Hell":America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Power
Written by the current American Ambassador to the UN, A Problem from Hell looks back on the world tragedies that have shocked America, and what the U.S. could have, and didn't, do to stop them. The term genocide is a fairly modern term, so the book starts with the Armenian genocide in the early 1900's and follows through to Kosovo.
A daunting and sometimes difficult read, the book is packed to the gills with information including figures who tried to fight policies, documents that make terrifying claims, and well-researched information that is damning against the United States and the power it holds. Power makes the case that even though every time a genocide occurs our country says "never again," it happens again, only under new circumstances, in a new place where we can say "that's not genocide" until it's over and we say "okay, maybe that was genocide."
In a turbulent world where the citizens of the U.S. think we get involved in too many foreign situations and people abroad are crying for help asking why one of the most powerful countries in the world isn't assisting them, it's good to read a criticism of what has and hasn't been done; what could have and couldn't be done. What Power compiles here is damning evidence that the U.S. hasn't even come close to doing enough, but it can start a debate on whether or not we should be the world's saviors, or just leave them to burn.
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick
I've written a more extensive review of this book here, but I thought it was important to include in this list since North Korea appears in the news at least once a week for a new rocket launch, or a new threat the west, etc. While Demick's book stops before the latest totalitarian leader came to power, she still offers an important glimpse into the history of these squashed people, and what they have been led to believe by leaders who claim to have their best interests at heart while simultaneously starving and imprisoning them.
If you've ever had a debate with friends or in your head on why North Korea still stands, or how a revolution is inevitable, Nothing to Envy will give you a counterpoint about how the regime is so ruthless, to dissent is to sacrifice not just yourself but your whole family, going generations back and generations forward. While they may be punchlines of our jokes, they have successfully scared their people into acceptance...or flight.
While not on the most recent issues plaguing the country, and not a look into the thought process of a seemingly unpredictable figure, Demick's compilation of tales by people who actually lived through atrocities is a valuable tool in understanding this strange and isolated country that is such a mystery to those not allowed inside.
Pick a book, and become more informed!
Disclosure: The Amazon links in this post are affiliate links, which means that if you click through and make a purchase, Amazon sends a couple coins my way. It won't pay the bills, but it may help me purchase my next book to review. Thank you for your support!
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