Books I have read, am reading, or intend to read. Not exhaustive.
Reading
Type-Driven Development with Idris, by Edwin Brady.
On-Ramps to a New Civil Society: Mutual Aid at the Edges of the Anthropocene
Paused
Electronic Music, by Allen Strange. I'm refocusing on learning mixing and mastering, as these subjects are of greater urgency for me at the moment.
The World-Ending Fire, by Wendell Berry. Thought-provoking essays. I find myself wanting to pull quotes and respond to each. This book is a project and needs my undivided attention. I started with a copy from the library and wound up buying my own copy once I realized how much time I wanted to spend working through it. I've paused my reading at least until I finish the other books I'm reading and can get time to write and read at length, as I wish to.
Always Coming Home, by Ursula K. Le Guin. I enjoyed the bit I read, but I realized pretty quickly that I was simply not in the mood for fiction at the time. Released it back into the local library systemfor others to read until I find myself ready for it again.
Governing the Commons, by Elinor Ostrom. This book sat unread on my shelf for years, and then I finally felt the time was right to start learning about the history of and considering models for forming and governing commons. Misplaced it not far into my read. I'll pick it up again once I've found it.
Read
Black Skin, White Masks by Frantz Fanon. I found it valuable largely for its historical perspective. It was interesting to hear how very little raacist tropes and attitudes have changed. Given that his analysis was rooted in Freudian theory, and given how flawed Freud's theories were, there tended to be an inverse relationship between how deep in the Freudian weeds Fanon was and how valuable I found what he'd wrote. There were a fair number of statements that were direct translations of Freud's misogyny and homophobia, which made it difficult to continue at times. It did help illuminate some of the trouble the Black Panther Party had with integrating feminism, though.
Black Revolutionaries: A History of the Black Panther Party, by Joe Street. The first and so far only history of the Black Panther Party I've read, it felt like a good top-down overview of the movement. Joe Street also spends some time outlining the limits of this sort of history in the final chapter of the book, while also talking about the way the movement has been recontextualized both by its own members and by society as a whole. I have the impression that this is a very good place to start for anyone interested in but largely ignorant of the Black Panther Party's history. I've also made a list for myself of some of the books mentioned as having been on the Black Panther Party's "required reading list" at various points and I intend to read them next.
Voices of the Paris Commune, edited and translated by Mitchell Abidor. A slim volume, the second in Post Market Press' "Revolutionary Pocketbooks" series, and the first of the series I've read. Includes a brief timeline of the events leading up to the rise and fall of the Paris Commune in 1870 and 1871, contemporary articles by Jules Vallès, the "declaration by the minority" which arguably played a role in speeding the attrition of the Commune's forces, the minutes of the meeting following the declaration (which function as a good illustration of the absurd parlimentarianism of the communards in the face of martial threat), and retrospective interviews with those who participated in the Commune some twenty years afterward. My first introduction to any material to do with the Paris Commune. Recommended, though be prepared for some casual sexism and one antisemitic remark in the interviews section.
Careless People, by Sarah Wynn-Williams. Zuckerberg and his stooges have an injunction against the author promoting her book in any way. There can legally be no promotion of this book except by word of mouth. I recommend this to anyone not already aware of what an evil company Meta is, or to anyone who wants more fuel for their anger. She falls short of a general analysis, focusing on one particular company without realizing that, far from being harmful anomalies, these sorts of "careless people" are inevitabilities. These people are what capitalism in particular, and kyriarchies in general, produce through their normal course of operation.
Eichmann in Jerusalem, by Hannah Arendt. A good companion piece for Careless People, though I didn't realize it when I began reading the two together. I would suggest this book for the self-reflective sorts who may nonetheless not recognize the fascism ascendant/dominant in the Western countries (particularly, but not only, the US). As an American, I feel comfortable saying that Americans are generally heavily propagandized and severely miseducated, particularly in political matters. I very much wish my fellow Americans would understand how very normal Nazi Germany felt in most respects for most of the German people, up until the war began, and how simple self-interest (of the sort lionized by the neoliberals and capitalists and so-called "libertarians") was precisely what allowed many of the Nazi atrocities to happen in the first place. Eichmann was evil; Eichmann was simply doing his job without much self-reflection on or care for what his work made him complicit in. Silicon Valley is full of these people, as are the board rooms and C-suites of the oil companies, chemical companies, etc.