OS Book Club Pt II

[DieHardYankee26]

I used to read a ton as a kid and just decided to start doing it again. The real books that got me back into reading were strangely the Chelsea Handler books, I got into a routine watching Chelsea Lately every night with my girlfriend freshmen year in college and for some reason that's where I ended up lol. The first book I picked up last year was Jalen Rose's autobiography, it was a decent read, nothing spectacular but a good book to get me back into reading for fun (I was named after him if you're wondering why his book in particular) .

After that I went on a biography binge, Steve Jobs, Joe Torre, Mike Tyson, Derek Jeter and some books on the inner workings of pro sports (Game of Shadows, Bloodsport, The Game) and I somehow pivoted from these to reading FDR. That book was almost 800 pages and reading it on the Kindle app on my phone was awesome but very time consuming and it's kind of made me get into reading more about history.

I got Why we Can't Wait by MLK, read through that and it lit a fire in me I guess. I started Where Do We Go From Here last week and finished it and now I'm going on a black history binge. Souls of Black Folk, Autobiography of Malcolm X, Why the Caged bird Sings, books that I probably should've read before but didn't care enough to sit down and read. It's cut into my gaming time a lot but I definitely appreciate the things I'm learning and being made aware of. I do want to get into more contemporary stuff eventually, but there's so much I feel I've missed and have to catch up on it'll be a little while.

[Fresh Tendrils]

I have some contemporary titles that might relate to your current fire that I've been wanting to check out myself:

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
The Beautiful Struggle: A Memoir by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

[DieHardYankee26]

The New Jim Crow is for sure on the list after seeing 13th, appreciate the recs. I've read a lot of Coates' Atlantic articles, somehow never knew he had written books. Definitely adding those to the list, dude can write.

[Fresh Tendrils]

What is 13th?

I have Between the World and Me coming today along with We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I'm hoping to have them read by the end of the month after a couple Harry Potter books.

[DieHardYankee26]

It's a Netflix documentary by Ava Duvernay (Selma) and Michele Alexander is in it, walking us through history from the moment of the 13th amendment to where we are today and showing the different ways that the ideology has been kept alive. It's dope, and has some cool things like a recent speech overlaying a clip of old time events, it's interesting for sure.

[War Eagle!]

Quote: Originally Posted by DieHardYankee26

I used to read a ton as a kid and just decided to start doing it again. The real books that got me back into reading were strangely the Chelsea Handler books, I got into a routine watching Chelsea Lately every night with my girlfriend freshmen year in college and for some reason that's where I ended up lol. The first book I picked up last year was Jalen Rose's autobiography, it was a decent read, nothing spectacular but a good book to get me back into reading for fun (I was named after him if you're wondering why his book in particular) . After that I went on a biography binge, Steve Jobs, Joe Torre, Mike Tyson, Derek Jeter and some books on the inner workings of pro sports (Game of Shadows, Bloodsport, The Game) and I somehow pivoted from these to reading FDR. That book was almost 800 pages and reading it on the Kindle app on my phone was awesome but very time consuming and it's kind of made me get into reading more about history. I got Why we Can't Wait by MLK, read through that and it lit a fire in me I guess. I started Where Do We Go From Here last week and finished it and now I'm going on a black history binge. Souls of Black Folk, Autobiography of Malcolm X, Why the Caged bird Sings, books that I probably should've read before but didn't care enough to sit down and read. It's cut into my gaming time a lot but I definitely appreciate the things I'm learning and being made aware of. I do want to get into more contemporary stuff eventually, but there's so much I feel I've missed and have to catch up on it'll be a little while.

Check out the miseducation of the negro by Carter G. Woodson while you're at it.

Sent from my VK810 4G using Operation Sports mobile app

[TripleCrown9]

I've developed quite the backlog of books for some reason. Here's the ones I can remember.

Spoiler

And here's the ones I have managed to finish.

Spoiler

[Fresh Tendrils]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fresh Tendrils

What is 13th? I have Between the World and Me coming today along with We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I'm hoping to have them read by the end of the month after a couple Harry Potter books.

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.