Thursday 30 November 2017

What I've Been Reading, November 2017

Links

These links appear in the order I read them, rather than any more refined sort of organization. You may find some of the best ones are near the bottom—it varies from month to month.

Books

Fiction

  • World Without End, by Ken Follet
  • The Lathe of Heaven, by Ursula K. Le Guin
    I think I read at least parts of this one in serialized form in a science fiction magazine in the early seventies, but such memories as I have of it are very vague.
  • All Systems Red, by Martha Wells
    Just an action adventure really, nothing very profound.

Non-Fiction

  • Mendel in the Kitchen, by Nina Federoff and Nancy Marie Brown
    A scientists view of genetically modified foods.
  • 1491, by Charles C. Mann,
    New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus.

6 comments:

Harquebus said...

Thanks again Irv. Always appreciated.
Cheers.

zaphod said...

The Indigenous Anarchism article is fascinating and exciting. Have you read David Graeber's "Debt: The First 5000 Years"? It's an incredible book, thoroughly researched, by a well-respected anthropologist. It makes a very similar point! There have been functional, peaceful, productive societies for many thousands of years without any kind of state structure. I studied economics in undergrad and found that it convincingly subverted some of the narratives of growth economics (ones that seem to have gone unquestioned within the discipline for decades!) and provides new narratives that are better supported by evidence, and which have implications for how we ought to handle resource scarcity and "collapse."

I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Irv Mills said...

My pleasure, Harquebus! I do the reading anyway. might as well share it.

Irv Mills said...

Thanks zaphod! I've added "Debt" The First 5000 Years" to my Amazon wish list. Definitely sounds like something I should read.

Anonymous said...

Thanks yet again for the monthly list. Lots of stuff I'd normally miss. When you read David Graeber's book, let us know what you think. I've spent so much on reading matter lately, I'm being very selective.

Irv Mills said...

@ foodnstuff
Nice to hear from you again, Bev.
I should be more selective, too. I have a 2 foot shelf of books waiting to be read. But Graeber's book will probably get added in the near future, and read not long after that.