Books are Good, Actually

We finish up A Distant Mirror and the end of Enguerrand de Coucy's bizarre adventure. We discuss France's missteps, the potential if they weren't so bullheaded about their tactics and also if the distant mirror is so distant!March - Between Two Fires by Christopher BuehlmanApril - Up In Arms: How The Bundy Family Hijacked Federal Lands, Outfoxed the Federal Government, and Ignited America's Patriot Militia Movement by John Temple

New year, new two parter! We start off with A Distant Mirror by Barbara W. Tuchman. We discuss our history of 14th century (spoilers: we don't have much), Angela mispronouncing the Enguerrand and surprising facts!February - A Distant Mirror Part Two by Barbara W. TuchmanMarch - Between Two Fires by Christopher BuehlmanApril - Up In Arms: How The Bundy Family Hijacked Federal Lands, Outfoxed the Federal Government, and Ignited America's Patriot Militia Movement by John Temple

To close out the year, we read the Spanish Civil War by Helen Graham. We discuss the conflict, the differences between women in Republican and Franco society, the international brigades, and how the international community royally screwed up everything! Video game mentioned - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1909100/Only_Lead_Can_Stop_Them/ For two months, we are doing a two parter because we now know better!January - A Distant Mirror Part One by Barbara W. TuchmanFebruary - A Distant Mirror Part Two by Barbara W. TuchmanMarch - Between Two Fires by Christopher BuehlmanApril - Up In Arms: How The Bundy Family Hijacked Federal Lands, Outfoxed the Federal Government, and Ignited America's Patriot Militia Movement by John Temple

We are finally back with The Fort Bragg Cartel by Seth Harp! We discussed a very meandering way of our experiences with special forces through different media, Iraq War, the murder of Lavigne and Dumas, and loads more! December: The Spanish Civil War by Helen Graham

For September, we read If We Burn by Vincent Bevins! We discussed our knowledge of these various protests, vanguardism vs horizontalism, social media influence on protests, and tactics! For October, we are taking a break but we'll be back in November! November: The Fort Bragg Cartel by Seth HarpDecember: The Spanish Civil War by Helen Graham

We maybe late but we did read the book All the Shah's Men by Stephen Kinzer! We discussed our knowledge of Iran, the British empire being a bunch of bastards, and why it's important to read books. September - If We Burn by Vincent Bevins

For July's book we read Conspiracy by Ryan Holiday! We go over our histories with Hulk Hogan, discuss Hulk Hogan's lies, Gawker's horrible lawyers and Peter Thiel being an idiot! Also Jimmy's cat conspired against him and tried to bite him. A thrilling episode! August: All the Shah's Men by Stephen KinzerSeptember: If we burn by Vincent Bevins

For the month of June we read Log Off by Katherine Cross! We discussed our relationship with social media, social media and the revolution, using platforms for organizing and why fandom is not politics. July: Conspiracy by Ryan HolidayAugust: All the Shah's Men by Stephen KinzerSeptember: If We Burn by Vincent Bevins

A little late but we completed We Will Shoot Back by Akinyele Umoja! We discussed lesson's learned with organizing and self-defense, Jimmy apparently discovered that he did read about Mississippi civil rights history, and our lack of knowledge of Nation of Islam. June - Log Off Why Posting and Politics (Almost) Never Mix by Katherine Cross

For April, we read the first four chapters of We Will Shoot Back by Akinyele Umoja. We discussed our knowledge of civil rights movement, non violence vs self defense, surprising new things we learned and also who we would be in the foxhole with! May - Finish up We Will Shoot BackJune - Log Off Why Posting and Politics (Almost) Never Mix by Katherine Cross

For March, we read On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder. We did...not like this book and why it didn't work for us, the shallow communist history examples, we had an anime corner, and if this book really is for anyone. April - We Will Shoot Back by Akinyele Omowale UmojaMay - Log Off Why Posting and Politics (Almost) Never Mix by Katherine Cross

For the month of February, we read In Case You Get Hit by a Bus: How to Organize Your Life Now for When You're Not Around Later by Abby Schneiderman, Adam Seifer, Gene Newman! We discussed what levels we have accomplished, how we may engage our family about their wills and other important items, what we think the minimum amount should be, password managers, and a homelab way of storing things. March - On Tyranny by Timothy SnyderApril - We Will Shoot Back by Akinyele Omowale UmojaMay - Log Off Why Posting and Politics (Almost) Never Mix by Katherine Cross

For the start of the new year, we read Red Star by Alexander Bogdanov! We discussed if we enjoyed Red Star or Engineer Menni, Bogdanov's view of women, if the book is effective socialist education, and if we would go to a Martian utopia! February - In Case You Get Hit by a Bus: How to Organize Your Life Now for When You're Not Around Later by Abby Schneiderman

For December, we ready Babel by R.F. Kuang! We discussed favorite characters, unexpected climaxes, Harry Potter comparison and our favorite ship! January - Red Star by Alexander Bogdanov February - In Case You Get Hit by a Bus: How to Organize Your Life Now for When You're Not Around Later by Abby Schneiderman

For November, we read Play Nice by Jason Schrier! We discussed our history with Blizzard, surprising facts and uncovering misconceptions, the difference between iD and Blizzard and brainstorming how we could solve Blizzard's problem forever! December - Babel, or the Necessity of Violence by R.F. Kuang January - Red Star by Alexander Bogdanov February - In Case You Get Hit by a Bus: How to Organize Your Life Now for When You're Not Around Later by Abby Schneiderman

For October, we read The Witch by Ronald Hutton. We discussed our knowledge of witches and witchcraft, how this books differs from The Calaban and the Witch, shamanism and how the Catholic church turned out to be reasonable! November - Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future Of Blizzard Entertainment by Jason Schreier

For September, we read Technopoly by Neil Postman and boy howdy...we had some thoughts and feels about this book. We discussed some Postman's war against social science, US a technopoly hellscape?, industries that have surrendered to technology and some Warhammer 40k! October - The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present by Ronald Hutton November - Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future Of Blizzard Entertainment by Jason Schreier

For August, we watched Don't Look Up directed by Adam McKay. We discussed our favorite characters and moments, what worked and didn't work, we answered the question about was this really an allegory to climate change and so much more! Articles referenced: https://www.technicianonline.com/culture/critics-are-right-about-don-t-look-up-it-sucks/article_528e4384-7224-11ec-acb0-7740f9a22af1.html https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2021/12/critics-of-dont-look-up-are-missing-the-entire-point https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2022/01/dont-look-up-satire/621256/ https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-crude-demagogy-of-dont-look-up Back to reading for the rest of the year! Maybe...? September - Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology by Neil Postman October - The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present by Ronald Hutton November - Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future Of Blizzard Entertainment by Jason Schreier

For July, we read The Murderbot Diaries: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells! We discuss our favorite characters and moments, revelations made or not made in the book, and if we are AI if we took questions from Reddit. For August, we are going to watch "Don't Look Up!" available on Netflix. Reddit questions: https://www.reddit.com/r/bookclub/comments/199kj1a/discussion_bonus_book_artificial_condition_by/

For the month of June, we read Slow Down by Kohei Saito! We discussed the life long pursuit of studying and reinterpreting Marx, Saito's four outcomes and futures, disaster capitalism, another rant on vegetarianism by Angela, and a very bad attempt to end on a more hopeful note. July:⁠⁠ Artificial Condition: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells