Reading in 2022 and 2023

First of all, hello! I haven't written on this gemlog in a while, but I'm happy to start writing out some of my thoughts again. I've been occasionally reading Antenna but otherwise, as you can tell, I've been silent.

I stopped gemlogging partially because I noticed a tendency beginning to form where I posted partially-developed thoughts that ended up being rhetorical word games rather than useful discussions. I have delisted several of them. Over this next year, I hope to think about things more deeply and write accordingly. I wish to write that which is useful to others, not merely that which makes me feel relieved to express. Going forward, I'm going to try to be less afraid of sharing wrong ideas, but more intellectually honest and willing to correct myself in the meantime.

This post is a followup to the one I wrote last year outlining the books I had read and those which I wanted to read in the coming year. I'll do the same now, with special attention to the books I mentioned in the last post.

Reading in 2021 and 2022

2022

My reading list for last year included many books that I had an emotional interest in reading. They sounded interesting. As time went on, several of them continued to hold my interest, but some did not. Accordingly, I read some and not others. Here is what I ended up reading.

Books I started in 2021 but finished last year:

Conquest of Bread by Peter Kropotkin

Thinking Shakespeare

Books I read this last year:

Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher

The Solutions are Already Here by Peter Gelderloos

Anarchy Works by Peter Gelderloos

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

The Tempest by William Shakespeare

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

Books I read but did not finish:

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

Economies of Abandonment by Elisabeth A. Povinelli

Conquest of Bread was a fascinating book, cathartic to read. I talked about this more in my previous gemlog. I finished the last few chapters at the beginning of 2022. I was going to read more of Kropotkin's works this year. I peeked into Mutual Aid but didn't actually start to dive into the argument. Maybe next year?

Capitalist Realism is a fascinating book. I listened to it while playing Minecraft, so now whenever I remember my in-game farmhouse I hear Russell Brand's voice explaining the relation between hedonistic depression and late capitalism. Certainly an enthralling combination. The short book explores the ways capitalism presents itself as the only option in modern society, taking up Thatcher's suggestion that "there is no alternative".

A Review of Capitalist Realism

The Solutions are Already Here was released in February. I had preordered it and read the book shortly after it arrived. The book first discusses how the world' governmental response to climate change is completely inadequate to avert ecological catastrophe. Capitalism refuses to let actual solutions establish themselves, prioritizing the maintenance of power over reconnecting with the ecology. It then goes on to discuss the ways people around the world are resisting ecological catastrophe today and in recent decades. It ends with a peek into a potential post-industrial future for humanity in which people are free and the ecological crisis is remedied.

I also read another book by Gelderloos this year. It's called Anarchy Works. This book answers all the basic objections to anarchism, explaining human nature, decision-making, economics, crime, invasion, and revolution. It provides real-world examples of anarchistic practices working throughout history and around the world today. It's a great introductory text relating to anarchism.

At the beginning of the year I read Shakespeare's Hamlet in preparation for playing Claudius in a community performance. The story is excellent and acting it was even better. This is why Hamlet is included (with a synopsis) in both my Gemini library and my Shakespeare collection.

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (summary and list of recommended productions)

Next year I'm doing a performance of The Tempest with the same group. I've read the play and am ecstatic to act as Ariel, the airy spirit.

The Tempest (likewise)

I had an interest in the Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson ever since reading "Life Without Law" by Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness. In its recommended fiction list it included the Mars Trilogy. I read most of the first book, Red Mars, but never actually finished it. The story was inspiring. I loved the speculative technology, the science, and the political conflict, but I suppose it wasn't enough to finish. I will most likely return to it someday.

After I finished The Solutions are Already Here, I tried to read Economies of Abandonment. I took that and a Spanish Bible to work every day as reading material. Due to the reading difficulty of Povinelli's writing, I often found the Bible much easier to read. I know almost no Spanish. I do want to finish reading the book, but I may need to stretch my vocabulary a few times before another attempt.

I read The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane for a class last year. It contains a compelling narrative, but I missed much of the excitement by reading it rapidly and taking excessive notes.

These are most of the books I read last year. There are surely a couple more that I read but have since forgotten. I had to re-create this list from old notes and a patchy memory.

I read fewer books this year than in years previous. That's partially due to generally constricted time, but it's also partially due to learning through essays (text, audio, and video). I've been studying anarchism in particular. I don't remember all of what I read/watched/heard, but I'd like to recommend a few of the most personally influential:

"The First Prison" by William Gillis

"Veganism: Why Not" by Peter Gelderloos

"Hope" by Daniel Baryon

2023

Books I'd like to read in the next year:

Living My Life by Emma Goldman

The Wretched of The Earth by Frantz Fanon

How Nonviolence Protects the State by Peter Gelderloos

Joyful Militancy by Carla Bergman

The End of Policing by Alex S. Vitale

Neuromancer by William Gibson

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill

Animal Liberation by Peter Singer

The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan

Unmasking Autism by Devon Price

NeuroTribes by Steve Silberman

The God Who Is There by Francis Schaeffer

Escape From Reason by Francis Schaeffer

He Is There and He Is Not Silent by Francis Shaeffer

Books I started and intend to continue:

Debt: The First 5,000 Years

Try Anarchism For Life by Cindy Milstein

Apocalypse Never by Michael Shellenberger

Many of the books listed are political, as I believe understanding political obligation is an essential aspect of ethics. These books include topics such as decolonization, anarchist practice, atheism, Christianity, ethics, and neurodivergence, with some speculative fiction mixed in for some relief. I'd like to educate myself a bit more before potentially pursuing college.

I'd write more about the details of my reading list, but I'm tired of writing and you're probably tired of reading. I look forward to writing more and hope y'all are interested in reading more. I may write more about these books on this gemlog as I read them. That's all for now!

~ Josias, 2023-01-21

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