Re: OS Book Club Pt II
I actually read "We Should All Be Feminists" in about an hour. I knew it was from her TEDxEuston talk in 2013, but as far as I can tell its essentially her speech word for word. Regardless, its a great read. While it is very short (it roughly translates into 20-30 pages of "normal text") its very dense with a lot of experiences and outlooks to wade through. As a white man living in America a lot of these are things I never even thought to consider while some things were obvious. Still, its always fascinating to read how different somebody else's life and experiences are. The text itself reads in a fairly light-hearted manner, but obviously the subject is a serious one.
Here is her actual TED Talk:
I read this in the middle of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It had been about 10 years since I've read the first six books (I have never read the 7th) so I had forgotten about most of the finer details and small plot points. While the first book is clearly a kid's novel it does a great job of drawing the reader in regardless of their age. Harry may be a wizard, but he has problems that are relatable no matter how old you may be - work stress, poor family life, great expectations, etc.
Of course after finishing I immediately grabbed The Chamber of Secrets and started in on that. One thing that I remember appreciating is how the books matured not only with the characters, but with the actual writing and its fairly noticeable even at the beginning of Year 2 despite the goofy house-elf.
My goal is to somewhat alternate between "fun/light" reading and serious/non-fiction. I know Between the World and Me will be dense despite its modest page total and it will be an emotional read so I feel I need to prepare myself by reading something light and care-free first.
I actually read "We Should All Be Feminists" in about an hour. I knew it was from her TEDxEuston talk in 2013, but as far as I can tell its essentially her speech word for word. Regardless, its a great read. While it is very short (it roughly translates into 20-30 pages of "normal text") its very dense with a lot of experiences and outlooks to wade through. As a white man living in America a lot of these are things I never even thought to consider while some things were obvious. Still, its always fascinating to read how different somebody else's life and experiences are. The text itself reads in a fairly light-hearted manner, but obviously the subject is a serious one.
Here is her actual TED Talk:
Spoiler
I read this in the middle of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It had been about 10 years since I've read the first six books (I have never read the 7th) so I had forgotten about most of the finer details and small plot points. While the first book is clearly a kid's novel it does a great job of drawing the reader in regardless of their age. Harry may be a wizard, but he has problems that are relatable no matter how old you may be - work stress, poor family life, great expectations, etc.
Of course after finishing I immediately grabbed The Chamber of Secrets and started in on that. One thing that I remember appreciating is how the books matured not only with the characters, but with the actual writing and its fairly noticeable even at the beginning of Year 2 despite the goofy house-elf.
My goal is to somewhat alternate between "fun/light" reading and serious/non-fiction. I know Between the World and Me will be dense despite its modest page total and it will be an emotional read so I feel I need to prepare myself by reading something light and care-free first.
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