2023 books: 6-9

[the_siobhan]

A couple of days ago I mentioned to a friend that I didn't think I even got 20 books read this year. I'm going through the list now and I was entirely correct.

    

Peter Watts Is an Angry Sentient Tumor: Revenge Fantasies and Essays by Peter Watts I got this book as part of a Humble Bundle. A series of essays from Peter Watt's blog, Mr Watts being a Canadian SF editor. The stuff people used to post to Livejournal back in the day when we all thought we were the smartest people in the room. Some interesting stuff in there, but I think these kinds of things are more engaging when there is some back-and-forth on the subject.

    

I Am Spock by Leonard Nimoy I actually picked this one up from a Little Free Library I passed on one of the urban hikes I did earlier in the summer. Everything you ever wanted to know about Nimoy's career, both in and out of the Star Trek franchise. Interesting if you are a fan.

    

White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin Diangelo Another book from the sidewalk library. This book contains content and scenarios from DiAngelo's experiences doing anti-bias training for corporations and primarily talks about it from an American perspective. There is plenty in here that's familiar - POC have been talking about how white people freak the fuck out whenever the topic of racism comes up for a while now. What felt like a useful addition (for me anyway) was some discussion about how to unlearn bad habits and be less exhausting for one's non-white co-workers and friends.

    

The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself My gf was doing some driving around to various cemeteries in south-western Ontario as part of her genealogy research, and if you want company in a cemetery who won't get bored on you, ask a goth I guess. While we were there we visited the Dawn Settlement. It was a black township founded by people who escaped the US via the Underground Railroad and is now a museum site. Josiah Henson was the main driving force behind the founding of Dawn and his life story is sold as a thin booklet at the museum. He is entirely straightforward in his description of his experiences and doesn't embellish his story at all, but he still comes across as a pretty singular individual. He spent his entire life working to improve the lives of his people. His story was part of the inspirations for Uncle Tom's Cabin, which in turn is credited for increasing anti-slavery sentiment leading up the US civil war.