**If you see a “Jak note” in this post, that means that my wonderful hubs has found his way to my laptop and added his personal opinion/thought to this post.**
I’ve realized that I haven’t written a post for quite a few weeks…oops! Well, Jak and I have been quite busy lately, running around doing errands and attend to things. Last week, we went to a lavender festival and we had a pretty good time despite the fact that neither of us likes crowds… Out of all the flowers, I’ve always favored lavender, though I think lavender is considered as a herb rather than flower…Anyway, the Michigan lavender festival is one festival that I will go to regardless the crowds, because there are two things I can always count on to make it worth my trip-all things made with/of/from lavender and THE ALPACAS!!! I told Jak if he buys me an alpaca, I’ll consider moving out of the city and living on a farm like he’s always talked about as his ideal place to settle down. (A herd of 5 will probably get me packin’ right now!) I mean just look at that awesome hairdo! lol… Not to mention they make the cutest “mmmeeehhh” sound.
Now, let’s dive into the books. Lately, I’ve been getting back into reading quite a few non-fictions as it is actually my chosen genre of books, believe it or not. (Well…that and biographies/ auto biographies). I find non-fictions rather enlightening, I considered them more grounded, eye-opening and a good way to keep oneself educated on important current issues or historical perspectives, other than keeping up with daily news. (Like listening to NPR!) Considering that non-fictions are generally research based, regardless if it is social science or science-science research. So I thought I’d share a few non-fictions that I think everyone should read in the remaining days of the summer or…save it for the up coming Christmas break! 🙂
If you’ve been to book store lately, particularly Barnes & Noble you’ve probably noticed and browsed back and forth a few times at their “Summer Reading” shelves/section. (like me…at least once a week…for the past few weeks LOL)
There are a lot of good books on the shelves, but I’d like to draw your attention to “The New Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander. The first time I’ve read this book was back in college, sophomore year, and…yes! You’ve guessed, it was my choice of reading to start my summer break. What was I doing reading that book when others are reading light beach read and/or summer romances you asked. Well…. I was a high achiever then, I read the book in hope to find something worth writing for my senior thesis even though graduation was still a couple of years away. (Yes, I am that person that turns in papers/online quizzes & take home exams a week early before the deadline).
Moving on…along with The New Jim Crow, I strongly suggest reading The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein and Geography of Nowhere by James Howard Kunstler. These three books are not by any means, an easy read. That said, I do believe everyone should read them at some point in their life, preferably earlier than later.
As the titles suggests, the New Jim Crow address the issue of mass incarcerations, and the inequality within the criminal justice system. The Color of Law sheds light on the inequalities within housing and urban development through federal, state and local laws and legislations. (On top of local customs.) Which led to a systematic unequal treatment of African-Americans as well as immigrants in areas such as income, education, due process, jobs, military preferences, health care…etc. Lastly, though it focuses on how the rising motor industries affected urban development and the decline of public transit systems. Geography of Nowhere by James Howard Kunstler also touched upon the negative effects of segregation and how the motor industry played a part in the creation of the landscapes that we have today– poorly maintained low rises, broken windows and empty houses lined up on both sides of the city neighborhoods. Pockets of inner cities which are deemed unsafe and how ghettos became what they are known as today.
I will admit that all three books are hard to read and slow to digest, (which is also why it took me a month to finish instead of a week…) however, they are very well written, and well researched. So, carve out some time and give them a read, I promise you won’t regret it. That said, you might want to pour yourself a cup of good tea or coffee…or a glass of wine/whiskey, whichever is your drink of choice and make sure you’re all situated in your most comfortable reading chair before you crack open the book. It might just help you digest the contents 😉 (Jak Note: Unless of course such intense reading makes you sleepy, in which case I personally recommend reading in an active environment like a coffee shop.)
On that note, here’s a more light & upbeat non-fiction/autobiography you might enjoy if you like dinosaurs, fossils & bones. As a historian and a forensic anthropologist, I have a profound, (perhaps odd) passion for bones, fossils, histories & yes, dinosaurs. (Who doesn’t like Dinos?!) Although I have yet to finish the book, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World by Steve Brusatte is a good non-fiction to dive into. It’s definitely lighter and a more fun read than that of the three books mentioned above and I am thoroughly enjoying going on digs and exploring new fossil sites with Dr. Brusatte. If you want to switch up the flavor of your summer beach read from the usual summer romance or soul searching to something more enlighting, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs is the one to pick up and take to the beach. You might just find some fossils around you!
Those are my picks for the summer non-fictions, if you’ve read anything good or think I should check something out let me know in the comments! 🙂 Both fiction & non-fiction are welcome!
Rapunzel's Treehouse 