I Read, Therefore I Blog

The Blurb On The Back:

God Save Texas takes us on a journey through the most controversial state in America.

Texas is a Republican state in the heart of Trumpland; but it is also a state in which minorities form a majority (including the largest number of Muslim adherents in the United States). The cities are Democrat and among the most diverse in the nation. Oil is still king but Texas now leads California in technology exports and has an economy only somewhat smaller than Australia’s.

Lawrence Wright has written an enchanting book about what is often seen as an unenchanting place. Having spent most of his life there, while remaining deeply aware of its oddities, Wright is as charmed by Texan foibles and landscapes as he is appalled by its politics and brutality. With its economic model of low taxes and minimal regulation producing both extraordinary growth and striking income disparities, Texas, Wright shows, looks a lot like the America that Donald Trump wants to create. This profound portrait of the state, completed just as Texas battled to rebuild after the devastating storms of summer 2017, not only reflects the United States back as it is, but as it was and as it might be.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Lawrence Wright is a writer, journalist and fellow at the Center for Law and Security at New York University. A mix of travelogue, anecdotes of his life in Texas and overview of Texas’s history, politics and economy, I enjoyed Wright’s conversational writing style but didn’t feel like I understood the contradictions within the state, partly because he skewers towards the view of the privileged rather than those with a lower income.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

What we count matters - and, in a world where policies and decisions are underpinned by numbers, statistics, and data, if you’re not counted, you don’t count.

Alex Cobham argues that systematic gaps in economic and demographic data lead us not only to understate a wide range of damaging inequalities, but also to actively exacerbate them. He shows how, in statistics ranging from electoral registers to household surveys and census data, people from disadvantaged groups, such as indigenous populations, women and people living with disabilities, are consistently underrepresented. This further marginalises them, reducing everything from their political power to their weight in public spending decisions. Meanwhile, corporations and the ultra rich seek ever greater complexity and opacity in their financial affairs - and when their wealth goes unallied, it means they can avoid regulation and taxation.

This brilliantly researched book shows how what we do and don’t count is not a neutral or ‘technical’ question: the numbers that rule our world are skewed by raw politics. Cobham forensically lays bare how these issues strike at the heart of our democracy, entrenching inequality and injustice - and outlines what we can do about it.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Alex Cobham is an economist and chief executive of the Tax Justice Network. This deep dive into failures in collating economic and demographic data argues that official figures are skewered against society’s most disadvantaged and increase inequality, which is further exacerbated by multinational tax avoidance. However, the tone here assumes familiarity with the underlying subject matter and is quite academic, making it difficult to get into.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

You’ve just made your first great decision as LEADER OF YOUR VERY OWN COUNTRY - you’ve picked up this brilliant* book.

GOOD MOVE, BOSS!

You see, being top dog isn’t easy. There are lots of important decisions to make.

What kind of government will you set up and how will it work?
How can you be as fair as possible (if you care about that kind of thing**)?
What are you going to do about all those tricky issues like climate change and inequality?

You’re going to need to figure out HOW POLITICS WORKS, WHAT YOU STAND FOR and WHY LEADERSHIP MATTERS.

Don’t panic. This funny and fact-packed book will guide you every step of the way.

You’ll be ruling LIKE A PRO in no time!

* Though we say so ourselves.
** We, your people, are kind of hoping you do.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Rich Knight is an award-winning BBC journalist. This is a light-hearted but informative guide for children aged 9+ about the serious subject of government with fun and inclusive illustrations by Allan Sanders. Knight runs through different types of government, key policies, international co-operation and economic systems in a way that emphasises how politics is about choices and compromise but without ever being patronising to readers.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Our broken economic model drives inequality and disempowerment, lining the pockets of corporations while extracting wealth from local communities.

Joe Guinan and Martin O’Neill argue for an approach that uses the power of democratic participation to drive equitable development and ensure that wealth is widely shared. They show how this model - Community Wealth Building - can transform our economic system by creating a web of collaborative institutions, from worker cooperatives to community land trusts and public banks, that empower and enrich the many, not the few.

This book is essential reading for everyone interested in building more equal, inclusive, and democratic societies.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Joe Guinan is Vice President at The Democracy Collaborative and Executive Director of the Next System Project. Martin O’Neill is Senior Lecturer in Political Philosophy at York University. This disappointing book chooses to sloganise against the evils of neo-liberalism and make sweeping assertions about the potential for Community Wealth Building rather than offer any detail to back those assertions up and thus fails to make the case for it.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

”We’re not the future. We’re doing it right now.”

Across the world, young women are uniting to create change and stand up for what they believe in.

Resisters introduces you to 52 activists doing just that. Some are campaigning for LGBTQ+ rights, to save the environment or to combat feminist issues like period poverty. While others are active in STEM, politics and diversity. Yet, whether it be Twitter campaigns or life-saving apps, their great ideas are changing the world as we know it!

Packed with inspiring true stories, tips and takeaways, this is a must-have for those who dare to make a difference.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Lauren Sharkey is a journalist who focuses on women’s issues who’s compiled an inspiring YA book that gives you hope for the future (beautifully illustrated by Manjit Thapp) that brings together 52 young women aged between 9 and 22 who have become successful campaigners in the fields of feminism and equality, diversity, the environment, politics and social justice, LGBTQ+, and STEM and allows them to talk about their experiences in their own words.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

The dramatic story of the relationship between the world’s three largest economies, by one of the foremost experts on East Asia.

For more than half a century, American power in the Pacific has successfully kept the peace. But it has also cemented the toxic rivalry between China and Japan, consumed with endless history wars and entrenched political dynasties. Now, the combination of these forces with Donald Trump’s unpredictable impulses and disdain for America’s old alliances threatens to upend the region. If the United States helped lay the post-war foundations for modern Asia, Asia’s Reckoning will reveal how that structure is now crumbling.

With unrivalled access to US and Asian archives, as well as many of the major players in all three countries, Richard McGregor shows how the confrontational course on which China and Japan have increasingly set themselves is no simple spat between neighbours. And the fallout would be a political and economic tsunami for all of us.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Richard McGregor is the former Chief of the Financial Times’s Washington Bureau and Fellow at Washington’s Wilson Center. In this highly informative book he takes a linear approach to the region’s history but avoids making predictions as he explains the shifting tensions in the relationship between China, Japan and the USA since World War II to show how each reached its current position while emphasising the stakes should relationships break down.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

What do YOU want to change in the world?

This must-have empowering guide by inspirational Laura Croydon, leader of the incredible international campaign against tampon tax, gives you the tools to find your voice and stand up for what you believe in so that YOU can make a difference.

Channel Laura’s campaigning superpowers with her step-by-step toolkit and create your own successful campaign. Laura’s experience will give you the confidence to deal with setbacks and internet trolls, and ways to speak up about everyday situations, such as relationships, too.

YOUR VOICE MATTERS.
YOU ARE POWERFUL.
YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD.

IT’S TIME TO SPEAK UP!

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Laura Coryton’s campaign against the ‘Tampon Tax’ in May 2014 resulted in a change to EU law and inspired international groups to carry out equivalent campaigns in other countries. This book seeks to inspire teenage girls to organise their own campaigns while empowering them to speak up for themselves but I found the tone too breathy and her approach to facts breezy, while also underplaying the complexities of some of the issues discussed.

SPEAK UP! WE ARE UNSTOPPABLE was released in the United Kingdom on 7th March 2019. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

”Because you’re worth it”, proclaims the classic cosmetics ad. “Just do it!” implores the global sports retailer. Everywhere we turn, we are constantly encouraged to experience as much as possible, for as long as possible, in as many ways as possible. FOMO – Fear of Missing Out – has become a central preoccupation in a world fixated on the never-ending pursuit of gratification and self-fulfilment.

But this pursuit can become a treadmill leading nowhere. How can we break out of it? In this refreshing book, bestselling Danish philosopher and psychologist Svend Brinkmann reveals the many virtues of missing out on the constant choices and temptations that dominate our experience-obsessed consumer society. By cultivating self-restraint and celebrating moderation we can develop a more fulfilling way of living that enriches ourselves and our fellow humans and protects the planet we all share – in short, we can discover the joy of missing out.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Svend Brinkmann is professor of psychology at Aalborg University and in this readable book (translated from Danish by Tam McTurk) he examines the values of self-restraint and moderation to combat the Fear Of Missing Out lifestyle. However, while Brinkmann makes strong psychological and philosophical arguments for why moderation is good for you, he doesn’t give any guidance on how to practice it and so it feels a little half-done as a subject.

THE JOY OF MISSING OUT was released in the United Kingdom on 8th February 2019. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Politics in the twentieth century was dominated by a single question:

how much of our collective life should be determined by the state, and what should be left to the market and civil society?

Now the debate is different:

to what extent should our lives be directed and controlled by powerful digital systems – and on what terms?

Digital technologies – from artificial intelligence to blockchain, from robotics to virtual reality – are transforming the way we live together. Those who control the most powerful technologies are increasingly able to control the rest of us. As time goes on, these powerful entities – usually big tech firms and the state – will set the limit of our liberty, decreeing what may be done and what is forbidden. Their algorithms will determine vital questions of social justice. In their hands, democracy will flourish or decay.

A landmark work of political theory, Future Politics challenges readers to rethink what it means to be free or equal, what it means to have power or property, and what it means for a political system to be just or democratic. In a time of rapid and relentless changes, it is a book about how we can – and must – regain control.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Jamie Susskind is an author, speaker and barrister and in this accessible, thought-provoking and timely book (that has comprehensive footnotes) he sets out the threats and benefits that rapidly advancing technology bring to the political arena and what it means for democracy and society but while the book is strong on explaining the political theory and technology and the issues and options they throw up, it’s light on solutions.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Shocks, from natural disasters to military catastrophes, have long been exploited by the state to impose privatisation, cuts and rampant free markets. This book argues that the left can use such moments of chaos to achieve emancipation.

Graham Jones illustrates how everyone can help to exploit these shocks and bring about a new world of compassion and care. He examines how combining mutually reinforcing strategies of ‘smashing, building, healing and taming’ can become the basis of a unified left. His vivid personal experience underpins a compelling, practical vision for activism, from the scale of the individual body to the global social movement.

This bold book is a toolkit for revolution for activists and radical millennials everywhere.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Graham Jones is a social movement activist with experience in grassroots campaigns including Radical Think Tank and Radical Housing Network and in this so-so book aimed at helping those on the hard left to mobilise and build support he offers a left-wing response to Naomi Klein’s THE SHOCK DOCTRINE, enabling the left to benefit from chaos by offering new solutions and so to take power with an emphasis on smashing, building, healing and taming.

THE SHOCK DOCTRINE OF THE LEFT was released in the United Kingdom on 27th July 2018. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.