Estimated reading time: 3 minutes. Photo by Nathan Bingle on Unsplash.
All the books I read in 2020, with my ratings.
Only the titles and links, alas, as my university’s jam-packed December had me receiving frantic phone calls from students as late as Christmas and Boxing Day. But now that I’m free, I’d love an excuse to talk about any of the books you’ve read or are interested in. Please do give me a buzz if so, either in the comments here or on Facebook or Twitter.
Also, I’m itching to atone for my many unfulfilled writing promises this year. To cut to the chase, by posting every Monday from now on, starting with this warm-up.
How? Why? What’s different?
The old me would be answering those questions now, instead of working on coming posts. Whereas the new me doesn’t have anyone’s time to waste, and has already deleted their social media apps on their phone to help them focus ;)
Until Monday then. And Happy New Year!
1. States and Social Revolutions (1979) by Theda Skocpol, 4.5/5
2. Medieval Technology and Social Change (1966) by Lynn White, 2.5/5
3. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life (2016) by Mark Manson, 2/5
4. The Female Brain (2007) by Louann Brizendine, 2.5/5
5. The Scandal of Pleasure: Art in an Age of Fundamentalism (1997) by Wendy Steiner, 3/5
6. Beyond the Frame: Women of Color and Visual Representation (2005) ed. by N. Tadlar, 1.5/5
7. Dostoevsky: Reminiscences (1977) by Anna Dostoevsky, 3/5
8. We’re Going on a Bar Hunt: A Parody (2013) by Emlyn Rees, 3/5
9. Gender Voices (1991) by David Graddol, 5/5
10. She Found it at the Movies: Women on Sex, Desire, and Cinema (2020) ed. by Christina Newland, 3/5
11. Social and Cultural Anthropology: A Very Short Introduction (2000) by Peter Just, 4/5
12. The Spheres of Heaven (2002) by Charles Sheffield, 3.5/5
13. Glory Season (1994) by David Brin, 4/5
14. Gender and Genius: Towards a Feminist Aesthetics (1990) by Christine Battersby, 3/5
15. Media, Gender and Identity, An introduction (2nd ed., 2008) by David Gauntlett, 5/5
16. The Years of Rice and Salt: A Novel (2003) by Kim Stanley Robinson, 3.5/5
17. The Dark Knight System: A Repertoire With 1…Nc6 (2013) by James Schuyler, 5/5
18. Modern Romance (2016) by Aziz Ansari, 3/5
19. South East Asia in the World-Economy (1991) by Chris Dixon, 5/5
20. Colonial Modernity in Korea (2001) ed. by Daqing Yang, 4.5/5
21. The Problem of Women in Early Modern Japan (2016) by Marcia Yonemoto, 5/5
22. Disco 2000 (1999) ed. by Sarah Champion, 0.5/5
23. Jiggle: (Re)Shaping American Women (2007) by Wendy Burns-Ardolino, 3.5/5
24. Everyday Sexism (2015) by Laura Bates, 4/5
25. Design as Art (1966) by Bruno Munari, 0.5/5
26. The Male Brain: A Breakthrough Understanding of How Men and Boys Think (2011) by Louann Brizendine, 1.5/5
27. The Complete Poems of Sappho (2009) by Willis Barnstone, 3.5/5
28. Secrets of Grandmaster Chess: An expanded edition of a modern classic (2014) by John Nunn, 5/5
And finally #29 and #30, plus—for the sake of maintaining the aesthetics—my next two weeks’ reading also.
29. Sensual Relations: Engaging the Senses in Culture and Social Theory (2003) by David Howes, 3/5
30. The Erotic Margin: Sexuality and Spatiality in Alterist Discourse (1999) by Irvin C. Schick 3/5
• Breasts and Eggs (2020) by Mieko Kawakami
• The Politics of Gender in Colonial Korea: Education, Labor, and Health, 1910-1945 (2008) by Theodore Jun Yoo
If you reside in South Korea, you can donate via wire transfer: Turnbull James Edward (Kookmin Bank/국민은행, 563401-01-214324)
The Grand Narrative 
I don’t know if you’ve read it before, but I thought The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker was pretty good. It’s basically a retelling of the Iliad from the perspective of Briseis, the slave girl Achilles and Agamemnon fight over.
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Thanks very much for the recommendation, it looks interesting. Frankly though, my purchase of a book on Sappho may have given the wrong impression, as my knowledge of Greek and Roman mythology and classics is minimal, and only I bought that book after being inspired by this Aeon article on the erotic power of ancient poetry. That being said, even I know that a recent re-translation by a woman has radically changed perceptions of the Iliad…oh, wait, is that actually The Odyssey I’m thinking of? Ooops…
I can definitively say though, that my elder daughter (14) used to be very into Greek and Roman mythology, but now is much more interested in constantly playing on her phone, which naturally makes me feel sad. But perhaps Silence of the Girls will help in rekindling her interest, so thanks again!
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Those were really interesting articles. I hadn’t heard of the Wilson translation before; it makes the Odyssey sound a lot more interesting than I remember it lol, although it has been about eight years, so my perception might be off. I’ll have to check it out sometime. Thanks for telling me about it!
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