Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan. For me, a novice surfer and SoCal transplant, I connected very much with William Finnegan's work but found the account of his life surfing around the world and writing about social justice issues engrossing and exciting-- unbelievable. The passages about getting thumped by waves at Ocean Beach in SF are especially haunting and familiar. finished August 2016
1493-- Charles Mann goes to great length to unpack the Columbian exchange and its effects in all quarters of the world. Radical shifts in agricultural practice; hitchhiking viruses; human trafficking-- it's all here. Unbelievable. finished November 2015
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. This is your haunted house prototype, with strange sounds, psychologically tortured characters, and walls that spit up blood-- whoa! That being said, it kind of has a Scooby Doo vibe. finished June 2016
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Between the World and Me Ta-Nehisi Coates. Coates' book is a letter to his son trying to make sense of some of the recent violence facing African-Americans such as shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO by officer Darren Wilson who was not indicted for any offense. Coates' son went to his room to cry and he was faced with seeing his son come to terms with the injustice and violence that seem to face African American community disproportionately. He pulls on his family background, academia(especially Howard University), and heroes for strength. finished August 2016
Status Anxiety by Alexander de Botton. DeBotton is a philosopher who compiles history, literature and philosophy to make his own case for what we might call "keeping up with the Jones's." In Western Civ, how we are perceived has loomed large in our consciousness for a long time-- we care what others think-- a lot. DeBotton explores this notion and offers some interesting approaches so we are not consumed by comparing ourselves with others. I thought this book especially relevant in the wake of social media, where we post our best selves, usually on vacation with smiling family members. Sigh. Humans are so frail and beautiful. finished May 2016
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The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Solomon. After losing a high school friend and a former student to suicide in the same week, I thought it time I better educated myself about depression. This was definitely the right book. Solomon's approaches the subject from his own personal experience, and then shares research and findings about the different facets of depression from breakdowns, to self-medication, to breakthroughs in treatment, to suicide. Very helpful read for me, and an informative heartfelt book. Finished March 2016
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