who gifted us with the rec for SWARM by Donald Glover and I’m obsessed. I’m avoiding seeing what the discourse on the show is until I finish it (anyone else do this?) so I can form my own view of it. It’s really masterful and the protagonist is the (anti-)hero we deserve. Can’t wait to watch more of last week’s recs!
This week we’re talking life-changing, paradigm-shifting books.
I promised my recs!!! I looooove the book Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown, I might re-read it soon. The Uses of the Erotic essay by Audre Lorde is so important and is a beautiful paradigm shift. I LOVE How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue, much of the book has stuck with me. A Spell of Good Things by Ayobami Adebayo. Love All About Love by bell hooks! Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey is so wonderful!!! And Belly of the Beast by Da'Shaun Harrison!!! "The Mountain is You" -- one of those you have to take what's useful to you and leave the rest bc it's VERY rooted in the individual as the site of their own pain which is a very privileged take. For me: I face a lot of resistance and fear in my creative projects that are not really rooted in an objective reality so this book helped me reframe but yes just wanted to give a heads up!
I distinctly remember a pre and post way of looking at the world and myself from when I read parable of the sower by Octavia Butler. It’s devastating and violent but hopeful and full of love.
That’s so hard 😭 I’ll give one fiction and non fiction. Fiction: Babel by R.F. Kuang — the way she portrays the horrors and cognitive dissonance of being oppressed but being within the empire and using “silver” to show how pervasive colonialism is and also questioning is violence how we win? Absolutely brilliant. I ended it crying!!! And then nonfiction: Myth of normal by Gabor maté I just love the way he infused his personal stories with science to show how we live and how it effects us is all a given since we live in a white supremacist, capitalist, imperialistic world (to quote bell hooks lol) and how we navigate in these systems to keep our mental health in check the best way we can with the resources we have! ♥️
Ahhhhh omg Hiiii Brooke I changed it so it's not limited to one book anymore but so glad you shared both of these I JUST STARTED the Myth of Normal omg I am so excited about it and so glad you love it too!!!! I just love him so much, I feel the same!!! I'm also so encouraged by how resonant the book has been w so many different kinds of people!!! THANKS FOR BEING HERE always love to see your comments!!! Sending all the love! ♥️♥️
I'm really excited to check out Myth of Normal. I'm really looking to flesh out my understanding of what it means to de-center, decolonize, deconstruct, and I'm hoping this is on the money
Omg AMAZING!!! I have read their book Freshwater and it was wowwww so I'd love to read this and more of their work too, added to my TBR!!! THANK YOU Tlangi!!! So grateful to have you here!!!
Absolutely ‘Viral Justice’ by Ruha Benjamin!!! thank you so much for the wonderful podcast episode, I listen to it for hope! Also, My Grandmother’s Hands, by Resmaa Menakem and for fiction, Love and other thought experiments, by Sophie Ward, I truly think about this book at least once a day.
books that shattered my understanding of human behavior and civilization:
- Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari (just the notion that we can all chose to collectively believe in something and make it real, reading this in college completely changed my trajectory and overall ideology as a human person)
-Behave, Robert Sapolsky (this is bible length, but the audio is great for a long trip) it just proved to me that human primates are just as silly and bizarre as all of the glorious creatures on this planet. It talks about the biological mechanisms of our evolved instincts and realizing how much control our physiology has over our behavior makes it feel so much less personal (but still easily socializable) when ppl are mean or acting out in the myriad of ways they do🫠
adding to this list ; The Invention of Women, by Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí (Crucially felt so seen and heard by this deconstruction of gender and the recognition that so much of “culture” and ways of being were robbed of the world via western colonial imperialism)
alsoooo, The Care Manifesto: The Politics of Interdependence (to be reminded of all the ways that communities have been able to nurture and care for each other despite systems antagonizing their interdependence with narratives of individualism, short read but gave me a lot of hope that a world could be designed to support and love and allow every single being to flourish)
OMG NO thank you so much I limited it unnecessarily and since changed it when I saw all your recs and I was like OMG THIS IS WHAT I WANT WOW thank you so much!!! Okay so thanks to YOU I reached out to Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí to invite her to the podcast let's see if she responds!!!! I read the first bit of the book now (also bc of you, regardless of her response) I need to finish it!!!! And WOW I am so about the idea of The Care Manifesto and need to read it!!! Added all to my TBR Tysm my darling You are fabulous so lucky to have you here!!
WOW YOU ARE SO GENEROUS AND INCREDIBLE THANK U SO MUCH!!! I have read Sapiens and it blew my mind !!! Haha @"bible length" thank you for the heads up!!! Omg yessss I've been thinking of this idea that we are ANIMALS soooo much lately!!! Thanks for this helpful summary of Behave ur literally the best TYSM!!!!! So grateful to have u here, Dejania!!!
YAYYYY Deanna this makes me so so happy!!! I sometimes forget what I have already created and am so focused on what's next, thank you for bringing me back to this episode!! I'm soo happy it brings you hope.
Wow these are incredible recommendations, I hadn't heard of them, thank you so much!! Just added all your lovely recs to my TBR!!!
I recommend “Outwitting The Devil” by Napoleon Hill to everyone on the path to wholeness, enlightenment, and freedom. An oldie but goodie intro to escaping the matrix, if you will, that demystifies the most nefarious Op known to mankind & gives us a practical framework for surmounting individual & collective suffering through free will.
THANK YOU Shaleahia, that sounds incredible and I am ON THAT PATH for life thank you so much. Love escaping the matrix!! We can never learn enough about this. Thanks for the beautiful summary! Can't wait to read!! Thank you for being here♥️♥️♥️
Oh wowwwwwwww thank you so much for sharing this precious rec Fawful and for describing it for us so we can get a lil window into the story right from your consciousness!! WOW!!! I am so grateful and lucky to have you here. I so love that you reread this amazing story bc it's so important to return to our fav reads!!! "A completely subliminal impact on me as a storyteller" -- WOW!!! Added to my TBR, sounds incredible. Love that you feel there are seen and unseen ways these characters are reflected in your writing!! Thank you for taking the time to reflect so deeply and be so generous. LOVED THIS and can't wait to read!!!
Ok I'm now 100% team Japan thrift hunt-That sounds amazing! So maybe not finding the books yet is just calling you to more adventure! Good luck in your hunt, near or far 😁
This INTERACTION HAS MADE MY MORNING!!! YESSS Community!!! Thank you both for being here ahhhh I love to see how you are helping each other <3 <3 <3 obsessed
I promised my recs!!! I looooove the book Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown, I might re-read it soon. The Uses of the Erotic essay by Audre Lorde is so important and is a beautiful paradigm shift. I LOVE How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue, much of the book has stuck with me. A Spell of Good Things by Ayobami Adebayo. Love All About Love by bell hooks! Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey is so wonderful!!! And Belly of the Beast by Da'Shaun Harrison!!! "The Mountain is You" -- one of those you have to take what's useful to you and leave the rest bc it's VERY rooted in the individual as the site of their own pain which is a very privileged take. For me: I face a lot of resistance and fear in my creative projects that are not really rooted in an objective reality so this book helped me reframe but yes just wanted to give a heads up!
I distinctly remember a pre and post way of looking at the world and myself from when I read parable of the sower by Octavia Butler. It’s devastating and violent but hopeful and full of love.
I think about it most weeks.
That’s so hard 😭 I’ll give one fiction and non fiction. Fiction: Babel by R.F. Kuang — the way she portrays the horrors and cognitive dissonance of being oppressed but being within the empire and using “silver” to show how pervasive colonialism is and also questioning is violence how we win? Absolutely brilliant. I ended it crying!!! And then nonfiction: Myth of normal by Gabor maté I just love the way he infused his personal stories with science to show how we live and how it effects us is all a given since we live in a white supremacist, capitalist, imperialistic world (to quote bell hooks lol) and how we navigate in these systems to keep our mental health in check the best way we can with the resources we have! ♥️
Ahhhhh omg Hiiii Brooke I changed it so it's not limited to one book anymore but so glad you shared both of these I JUST STARTED the Myth of Normal omg I am so excited about it and so glad you love it too!!!! I just love him so much, I feel the same!!! I'm also so encouraged by how resonant the book has been w so many different kinds of people!!! THANKS FOR BEING HERE always love to see your comments!!! Sending all the love! ♥️♥️
I'm really excited to check out Myth of Normal. I'm really looking to flesh out my understanding of what it means to de-center, decolonize, deconstruct, and I'm hoping this is on the money
Dear Senthuran - Akwaeke Emezi, it’s full of so many pearls of wisdom thAt I think any individual no matter gender, creed or orientation can relate to
Omg AMAZING!!! I have read their book Freshwater and it was wowwww so I'd love to read this and more of their work too, added to my TBR!!! THANK YOU Tlangi!!! So grateful to have you here!!!
Absolutely ‘Viral Justice’ by Ruha Benjamin!!! thank you so much for the wonderful podcast episode, I listen to it for hope! Also, My Grandmother’s Hands, by Resmaa Menakem and for fiction, Love and other thought experiments, by Sophie Ward, I truly think about this book at least once a day.
books that shattered my understanding of human behavior and civilization:
- Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari (just the notion that we can all chose to collectively believe in something and make it real, reading this in college completely changed my trajectory and overall ideology as a human person)
-Behave, Robert Sapolsky (this is bible length, but the audio is great for a long trip) it just proved to me that human primates are just as silly and bizarre as all of the glorious creatures on this planet. It talks about the biological mechanisms of our evolved instincts and realizing how much control our physiology has over our behavior makes it feel so much less personal (but still easily socializable) when ppl are mean or acting out in the myriad of ways they do🫠
adding to this list ; The Invention of Women, by Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí (Crucially felt so seen and heard by this deconstruction of gender and the recognition that so much of “culture” and ways of being were robbed of the world via western colonial imperialism)
alsoooo, The Care Manifesto: The Politics of Interdependence (to be reminded of all the ways that communities have been able to nurture and care for each other despite systems antagonizing their interdependence with narratives of individualism, short read but gave me a lot of hope that a world could be designed to support and love and allow every single being to flourish)
sorry I just read the prompt again that it was supposed to be ONE book! 🤦🏾♀️but these have all genuinely changed me sorry again
OMG NO thank you so much I limited it unnecessarily and since changed it when I saw all your recs and I was like OMG THIS IS WHAT I WANT WOW thank you so much!!! Okay so thanks to YOU I reached out to Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí to invite her to the podcast let's see if she responds!!!! I read the first bit of the book now (also bc of you, regardless of her response) I need to finish it!!!! And WOW I am so about the idea of The Care Manifesto and need to read it!!! Added all to my TBR Tysm my darling You are fabulous so lucky to have you here!!
WOW YOU ARE SO GENEROUS AND INCREDIBLE THANK U SO MUCH!!! I have read Sapiens and it blew my mind !!! Haha @"bible length" thank you for the heads up!!! Omg yessss I've been thinking of this idea that we are ANIMALS soooo much lately!!! Thanks for this helpful summary of Behave ur literally the best TYSM!!!!! So grateful to have u here, Dejania!!!
YAYYYY Deanna this makes me so so happy!!! I sometimes forget what I have already created and am so focused on what's next, thank you for bringing me back to this episode!! I'm soo happy it brings you hope.
Wow these are incredible recommendations, I hadn't heard of them, thank you so much!! Just added all your lovely recs to my TBR!!!
I recommend “Outwitting The Devil” by Napoleon Hill to everyone on the path to wholeness, enlightenment, and freedom. An oldie but goodie intro to escaping the matrix, if you will, that demystifies the most nefarious Op known to mankind & gives us a practical framework for surmounting individual & collective suffering through free will.
THANK YOU Shaleahia, that sounds incredible and I am ON THAT PATH for life thank you so much. Love escaping the matrix!! We can never learn enough about this. Thanks for the beautiful summary! Can't wait to read!! Thank you for being here♥️♥️♥️
The wisdom of insecurity by Alan watts!!!
Ahhhhh I already LOVE IT!!! Love the reframe!!! Thanks sooo much Mary, added to my TBR and can't wait to read ♥️♥️♥️
The Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram~ my world changes with every page 🌱
THANK YOU Vaya!!!! Omg what a thing to say!!!! Can not wait to read it!!! Wow ♥️♥️♥️
“Kim JiYoung Born 1982” by Cho Nam Joo is a quick read one 🫶🥰
THANK YOU my dear Sania!!!! So good to see you here! Sending you all the love always! Added to my TBR🥰🥰🥰🥰
Oh wowwwwwwww thank you so much for sharing this precious rec Fawful and for describing it for us so we can get a lil window into the story right from your consciousness!! WOW!!! I am so grateful and lucky to have you here. I so love that you reread this amazing story bc it's so important to return to our fav reads!!! "A completely subliminal impact on me as a storyteller" -- WOW!!! Added to my TBR, sounds incredible. Love that you feel there are seen and unseen ways these characters are reflected in your writing!! Thank you for taking the time to reflect so deeply and be so generous. LOVED THIS and can't wait to read!!!
Oh wait, maybe you are saying you have the first, but are looking for #2& #3, so I maybe be no help-either way, wishing you luck in finding!
Ok I'm now 100% team Japan thrift hunt-That sounds amazing! So maybe not finding the books yet is just calling you to more adventure! Good luck in your hunt, near or far 😁
Hi! I think I may have found a copy on thriftbooks- I'm not 100% sure, but does appear to be same title, book #1, translated in English.
Crossing my fingers for you that it's the right one! 😁 https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/pirate-and-the-princess-the-timelight-stone_mio-chizuru/919551/#edition=4379830&idiq=5016353
This INTERACTION HAS MADE MY MORNING!!! YESSS Community!!! Thank you both for being here ahhhh I love to see how you are helping each other <3 <3 <3 obsessed