Welcome to Litsy!

#DecemberDreams

A Malcolm Gladwell #WhiteStack already set up and ready to go 😁

Whoops! It appears we've already started this month's #BacklistReadathon ! 😂 My brain is everywhere right now and reading is NOT going fast. Usually I try to read three books for this readathon, but this month I am going with one - the tagged book. Konigsburg has written a couple of my all-time favorite books (From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and The View from Saturday) so I'm slowly trying to read all her books. Some have ⬇

When I wait too long to post the books I read, I forget what I want to remember about them. This memoir makes me think of the young ppl in Ukraine. We all just want to live “normal” lives — whatever is typical to our region/community. It‘s fundamentally unfair to be caught in someone‘s crosshairs.

Very dense but very good. We often hear that gender, race, and class are just social constructs. In this book Murray meticulously details what years—in many cases decades—of research says about these popular statements.

This book gives you plenty to think about and, I believe, sets a high bar. Disagree with his conclusions? The challenge becomes finding other explanations supported by the data.

The more times I read this the more sense it makes. His recommendations are not what I thought they would be, and I appreciate this.

This is the heart of what people often mean, in my experience, when they talk about racism, sexism, and any other “ism.” Difference in outcome must mean there are systems keeping that person back. Murray wrote this book to review what science says about this premise.

I also appreciate how he separates this idea from equality in each person‘s inherent dignity and treatment under the law.

My #bookspin selection for October is a little bit of controversial pick, but I believe it‘s important to engage in different ideas.

Thanks again to @TheAromaofBooks for organizing!

Whenever I read a non-whitewashed history of the United States, I am appalled by how pervasive white supremacy has been in the entire history of the United States, including how we continue to teach US history in our schools. Very important and illuminating read.

While I appreciate the overall message that everyone looks different and should be celebrated for their differences, the comparison of skin color to various foods was just a little off for me. Maybe not the best way to introduce young children to different skin tones. Letter C for #BBRC #A2Z