Welcome to Litsy!

Wow. This was amazingly good. It dovetails with a lot of the #SheSaid books I‘ve read, and with Heather Cox Richardson‘s daily news updates. Excuse me while I track down some of her other works and recommend this to everyone I know.

And now starting this one. I‘ve gotten into a bad habit of checking out library books and not getting to them for ages. Now that kiddo‘s doing the same, I‘m trying to counter the habit in both of us. But there are just so many good books and so little time!

Today‘s library #bookhaul - though there should be another in a couple of days. Which I can‘t remember the title of, at the moment…oops.

"So many of us believe in perfection, which ruins everything else, because the perfect is not only the enemy of the good, it‘s also the enemy of the realistic, the possible, and the fun."

I loved this book. “When activism wins, it‘s because, at least in part, history has become the new narrative, the history the mainstream accepts.” The dominant narrative needs to be & is starting to change more in the US (very slowly). I‘m hopeful that we are turning a tide in this country where more people have a seat at the table & developing the narrative to one of more inclusivity & acceptance across all genders, races, religions, cultures...

Solnit it is a brilliant writer and a person who always challenges me to re-examine my biases and how the world is experienced by others. This collection of essays is, so far, one of my favorites.

“The playing field is level, shout the men at the mountaintop to the people below. From the abyss, the people shout back in disagreement.”

Om EFFING g Rebecca Solnit!!!!!!! This book was so good. I will say, the first third of this book was boring and hard to get through. It was about trump, the election, blah blah blah.. granted, maybe if I had read this in 2018 when it was published I wouldn‘t have been so

When you name it, you can deal with it. This collection of short, poignant essays name societal problems. Messages of hope fill the last few essays, and although I am the liberal choir she‘s preaching to, I found sitting in my echo chamber thought provoking.

Another important essay collection from Solnit. Spanning mostly from 2014-2018, these essays call out everything from indigenous rights to Occupy‘s role in helping alleviate the housing crisis to the unlawful shooting of unarmed minority men. Some essays were very difficult to read. By naming these problems, we give them worth in the public arena. Also, she points out the many incremental victories that have led to larger change. 4.5⭐️ #audiobook

A terrific series of essays on the consequences of the violence and racism in our country and what we can do to change the tide.

Very excited to read this one #audiowalk

Latest #audiocrochet project finally done. This is a story of yarn chicken and one that I lost. But thankfully the scarf still looks nice without that extra repeat
🧶
Yarn: It‘s a Wrap Rainbow in Whisper
Pattern: Wonderful Shells Wrap from Red Heart
https://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/wonderful-shells-wrap

1. Call Them By Their True Names by Rebecca Solnit
2. Both! But I tend to read a lot more standalone books because a series has to be pretty amazing for me to invest in it!
3. Then, all three of our hands on the mouse, we click post.

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍 I need to re-read or re-listen to this book about every month. The final two pieces in particular are inspiring and remind me that we have to do what‘s right - and fight for what‘s right - whether we see the results immediately, or ever. We can‘t know what is to come. It‘s a beautiful, historically grounded outlook that satisfies my existentialist leanings and, well, helps me screw my courage to the sticking place. #essays

What is the alternative to naïve cynicism? An active response to what arises, a recognition that we often don‘t know what is going to happen ahead of time, & an acceptance that whatever takes place will usually be a mixture of blessings & curses that will unfold over considerable time. Such an attitude is bolstered by historical memory, by accounts of indirect consequences, unanticipated cataclysms & victories, cumulative effects ...

I was surprised to find parts of this book too extreme for comfort for me - but I don‘t need to made comfortable in all of my reading! The essay that actually hit home for me the hardest was on cynicism.

“There are so many ways to tell a lie.”

Cool cool! I am enjoying these Litsy memes. #FriyayIntro @howjessreads

1. Teleport for sure
2. Tagged! Need to get back on that essay-reading horse today.
3. Nope.
4. Hasan Minhaj‘s “Patriot Act,” but I‘ve finished them all. I see that “Grace & Frankie” S5 is coming soon and in early February, “One Day at a Time” S3!!
5. On it.

Call Them by Their True Names is Solnit‘s response to the current administration and political climate. I found this collection of essays less polished than her previous ones, but definitely still thought provoking and eloquent. She brings up some interesting discussions, particularly about voting - should we aim to focus on known supporters or try to change the minds of naysayers?

Starting #essays2K19 with this 2018 book, which I got out of the #library as an #ebook only to discover I already own on audio. 😂🎧👍

I went to Barnes & Noble the other day to exchange a book I‘d gotten as a Chrismakkuh gift that I wasn‘t super interested in and ended up with these two gorgeous and color-coordinating books 😍 I had to pick up Rebecca Solnit‘s latest after finishing The Mother of All Questions (which I loved) this week, and I‘ve been really interested to check out Milkman since it won the Man Booker. Have any of you read these?

The latest collection of articles from "the voice of the resistance" finds Solnit's powerful voice in full form as she lambasts Trump, reports on the successes at Standing Rock, and finds hope in unexpected consequences. Because it is a collection of articles, there is some redundancy but her messages and themes of hope and the power of language (and pointing out its Orwellian uses by the current administration) are must-reads in this age.

#septemberroundup part 2! 28 books this month. My faves of these were Pisces, Call Them By Their True Names and Bluets - I clearly love me some blue books by female writers 😅

I️ value so much Rebecca Solnit‘s clear-eyed gaze and strong, muscled hope.

This was an amazing book and I wanted to have so many quotes from it made into posters and put up absolutely everywhere. Political books that make you feel hopeful without lying to you about how bad things are are very special. My one problem was the use of ‘gay, lesbian and transgender‘ which grated on my ears as a bisexual whose sexuality is disregarded by almost every. That was a small aspect but I do hope more books get it right in future.

Next up, I adore Rebecca Solnit and I‘ve been desperate to read this ever since it came out!

Solnit covers a variety of topics here — from police killings of civilians to Standing Rock to protest methods to hope. I‘ve read her books before but found this one to be by far her best; I found out today it made the National Book Awards long list for 2018. I especially loved the chapter where she discusses the importance of talking to people who agree with you, turning “preaching to the choir” into a good and necessary thing.

This is so true, and one of the reasons I‘m finding most social media platforms nearly unbearable these days.

Up tonight.

National Book Award Mon-Fiction Longlist is out!!!

https://bookriot.com/2018/09/13/2018-national-book-award-longlist-for-nonfiction...

This new essay collection by Solnit is both a scathing indictment of the current US administration and the president himself. Solnit also looks at continued racial disparities and gentrification. She ends, however, on a note of encouragement - peaceful protest has a history of accomplishment and will be able to bring the US through this strange period in our history. 4⭐️ Available on #Hoopla.

🌟🌟🌟🌟 https://sixminutesforme.com/2018/08/17/call-them-by-their-true-names-by-rebecca-...

Light playground reading.
#distracted
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#resist #liberal #conservative #usa #politics

Quote From page 32.
I teared up reading this on the subway. Women who left their jobs? That‘s me! I feel like I have failed myself. That I gave up to easily. But it‘s no just me! It‘s them. And my blaming myself was just one more way that society has made me feel less than. What an empowering realization.
#citeyoursources #women #metoo