We Need to Talk: A Memoir about Wealth


Jennifer Risher - 2020
    The book is an honest, personal story that explores the hidden impact of wealth on identity, relationships, and sense of place in the world. Too often, we link net-worth to self-worth and keep quiet about how our finances make us feel. Money is a taboo subject. The author hopes We Need to Talk becomes a catalyst for conversation that demystifies wealth, gets us talking on a personal level, and confirms we are ninety-nine percent the same. In 1991, at twenty-six years old, Jennifer took a job at Microsoft and got lucky. She met her future husband, David, and the stock options she was granted were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. His were worth far more. Years later, when David joined a small, unknown start-up called Amazon.com, she got lucky again. They both did. They were in their early thirties and had tens of millions of dollars. It was amazing. The freedom and benefits were obvious. But after growing up saving her pennies and being wary of the rich, Jennifer was embarrassed to have joined their ranks. She wasn't worried about being liked for her money, she was worried about being hated for it. People looked at her differently. She didn't know how to ensure her children stayed motivated and not entitled, was shocked when a friend asked for $25,000, discovered philanthropy isn't as straightforward as just writing a check, and grappled with the meaning of enough. For years, she didn't share her dilemmas with others for fear of being judged. No one talks about money-but we should"--

St. Kilda: Island on the Edge of the World


Charles Maclean - 1972
    Increased contact with the mainland during the 19th century brought about the downfall of what many once regarded as an ideal society. Missionaries and tourists brought money, disease and despotism. In 1930 the islanders, who could no longer support themselves, were finally evacuated at their own request. The island, which is difficult to access, is now a nature reserve.

The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution


Gregory Cochran - 2009
    The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution

Lost and Found in Johannesburg: A Memoir


Mark Gevisser - 2014
    But far more than the riveting account of a break-in, this is a daring exploration of place and the boundaries upon which identities are mapped.As a child growing up in apartheid South Africa, Gevisser becomes obsessed with a street guide called Holmden's Register of Johannesburg, which literally erases entire black townships. Johannesburg, he realizes, is full of divisions between black and white, rich and poor, gay and straight; a place that "draws its energy precisely from its atomization and its edge, its stacking of boundaries against one another." Here, Gevisser embarks on a quest to understand the inner life of his city.Gevisser uses maps, family photographs, shards of memory, newspaper clippings, and courtroom testimony to chart his intimate history of Johannesburg. He begins by tracing his family's journey from the Orthodox world of a Lithuanian shtetl to the white suburban neighborhoods where separate servants' quarters were legally required at every house. Gevisser, who eventually marries a black man, tells stories of others who have learned to define themselves "within, and across, and against," the city's boundaries. He recalls the double lives of gay men like Phil and Edgar, the ever-present housekeepers and gardeners, and the private swimming pools where blacks and whites could be discreetly intimate, even though the laws of apartheid strictly prohibited sex between people of different races. And he explores physical barriers like The Wilds, a large park that divides Johannesburg's affluent Northern Suburbs from two of its poorest neighborhoods. It is this park that the three men who held Gevisser at gunpoint crossed the night of their crime.An ode to both the marked and unmarked landscape of Gevisser's past, Lost and Found in Johannesburg is an existential guide to one of the most complex cities on earth. As Gevisser writes, "Maps would have no purchase on us, no currency at all, if we were not in danger of running aground, of getting lost, of dislocation and even death without them. All maps awaken in me a desire to be lost and to be found . . . [They force] me to remember something I must never allow myself to forget: Johannesburg, my hometown, is not the city I think I know."

The Human Zoo: A Zoologist's Study of the Urban Animal


Desmond Morris - 1969
    Morris finds remarkable similarities with captive zoo animals and looks closely at the aggressive, sexual and parental behaviour of the human species under the stresses and pressures of urban living.

Brown: What Being Brown in the World Today Means (to Everyone)


Kamal Al-Solaylee - 2016
    Vance (Hillbilly Elegy) and the historical rigour of Carol Anderson (White Rage), Kamal Al-Solaylee explores the in-between space that brown people occupy in today’s world: on the cusp of whiteness and the edge of blackness. Brown proposes a cohesive racial identity and politics for the millions of people from the Global South and provides a timely context for the frictions and anxieties around immigration and multiculturalism that have led to the rise of populist movements in Europe and the election of Donald Trump.At once personal and global, Brown is packed with storytelling and on-the-street reporting conducted over two years in ten countries on four continents that reveals a multitude of lives and stories from destinations as far apart as the United Arab Emirates, the Philippines, the United States, Britain, Trinidad, France, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Qatar and Canada. It features striking research about the emergence of brown as the colour of cheap labor and the pursuit of a lighter skin tone as a global status symbol. As he studies the significance of brown skin for people from North Africa and the Middle East, Mexico and Central America, and South and East Asia, Al-Solaylee also reflects on his own identity and experiences as a brown-skinned person (in his case from Yemen) who grew up with images of whiteness as the only indicators of beauty and success.This is a daring and politically resonant work that challenges our assumptions about race, immigration and globalism and recounts the heartbreaking stories of the people caught in the middle.

Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village


Elizabeth Warnock Fernea - 1968
    A delightful, well-written, and vastly informative ethnographic study, this is an account of Fernea's two-year stay in a tiny rural village in Iraq, where she assumed the dress and sheltered life of a harem woman.

Among the Islands: Adventures in the Pacific


Tim Flannery - 2011
    Twenty-five years ago, a zoologist from the Australian Museum in Sydney set off to research the mammals of the Pacific Islands. Starting with a survey of one of the most inaccessible islands in Melanesia that young scientist found himself ghost-whispering, snake wrestling, quadoi hunting and plunging waist-deep into a sludge of maggot-infested faeces in search of a small bat that turned out not to be earth-shatteringly interesting. Now one of Australias greatest scientists, Tim Flannery looks back on his ground-breaking fieldwork. With accounts of discovering, naming and sometimes eating animal species new to science, and stories of historic expeditions and colourful local customs, he takes us on an enthralling journey through some of the most diverse and spectacular environments on Earth.

Word on the Street: Debunking the Myth of "Pure" Standard English


John McWhorter - 1998
    Debunking the myth of "pure" standard English, tackling controversial positions, and eschewing politically correct arguments, linguist John McWhorter considers speech patterns and regional accents to demonstrate just how the changes do occur. Wielding reason and humor, McWhorter ultimately explains why we must embrace these changes, ultimately revealing our American English in all its variety, expressiveness, and power.

Adam's Curse: The Science That Reveals Our Genetic Destiny


Bryan Sykes - 2003
    How is it possible that the Y chromosome, which separated the sexes and allowed humans to rise to the apex of the animal kingdom, also threatens to destroy sexual reproduction altogether? Bryan Sykes confronts recent advances in evolutionary theory to find the answers to the questions that inexorably follow: Is there a genetic cause for men's greed, aggression, and promiscuity? Could a male homosexual gene possibly exist? A must read for anyone interested in popular science, family genealogy, and today's infertility crisis, "Adam's Curse" provokes a shocking debate on the nature of sexual reproduction.

Flow: The Cultural Story of Menstruation


Elissa Stein - 2009
    Flow spans its fascinating, occasionally wacky and sometimes downright scary story: from mikvahs (ritual cleansing baths) to menopause, hysteria to hysterectomies—not to mention the Pill, cramps, the history of underwear, and the movie about puberty they showed you in 5th grade. Flow answers such questions as: What’s the point of getting a period? What did women do before pads and tampons? What about new drugs that promise to end periods—a hot idea or not? Sex during your period: gross or a turn-on? And what’s normal, anyway?  With color reproductions of (campy) historical ads and early (excruciating) femcare devices, it also provides a fascinating (and mind-boggling) gallery of this complex, personal and uniquely female process. As irreverent as it is informative, Flow gives an everyday occurrence its true props – and eradicates the stigma placed on it for centuries.

Customs of the World: Using Cultural Intelligence to Adapt, Wherever You Are


David Livermore - 2013
    Based on groundbreaking research, these twenty-four lectures address dynamics and customs related to working, socializing, dining, marriage and family--all the areas necessary to help you function with a greater level of respect and effectiveness wherever you go. You'll also encounter practical tips and crucial context for greeting, interacting with, and even managing people from other parts of the world.In the first half, you'll analyze ten cultural value dimensions researchers have identified as helpful for comparing cultures, and you'll see how these "archetypes" play out in day-to-day lives. In the second half, you'll examine ten cultural clusters around the world that, when combined with your understanding of the ten cultural dimensions, provide strategic insight into how to be more effective as you live, work, and travel in the globalized world.

A Sideways Look at Time


Jay Griffiths - 1999
    She presents an infectious argument for other, more magical times, the diverse cycles of nature, of folktale or carnival, when time is unlimited and on our side. This is a book for those who suspect that there's more to time than clocks.Irresistible and provocative, A Sideways Look at Time could change the way we view time-forever.

In Praise of Prejudice: The Necessity of Preconceived Ideas


Theodore Dalrymple - 2007
    English psychiatrist and writer Theodore Dalrymple shows that freeing the mind from prejudice is not only impossible, but entails intellectual, moral and emotional dishonesty. The attempt to eradicate prejudice has several dire consequences for the individual and society as a whole.

The Daughters of Kobani: A Story of Rebellion, Courage, and Justice


Gayle Tzemach Lemmon - 2021
    The young women profiled in this book fought a fearsome war against brutal men in impossible circumstances--and proved in the process what girls and women can accomplish when given the chance to lead. Brilliantly researched and respectfully reported, this book is a lesson in heroism, sacrifice, and the real meaning of sisterhood. I am so grateful that this story has been told." --Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Big Magic and Eat, Pray, Love"Absolutely fascinating and brilliantly written, The Daughters of Kobani is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand both the nobility and the brutality of war. This is one of the most compelling stories in modern warfare." --Admiral William H. McRaven, author of Make Your BedIn 2014, northeastern Syria might have been the last place you would expect to find a revolution centered on women's rights. But that year, an all-female militia faced off against ISIS in a little town few had ever heard of: Kobani. By then, the Islamic State had swept across vast swaths of the country, taking town after town and spreading terror as the civil war burned all around it. From that unlikely showdown in Kobani emerged a fighting force that would wage war against ISIS across northern Syria alongside the United States. In the process, these women would spread their own political vision, determined to make women's equality a reality by fighting--house by house, street by street, city by city--the men who bought and sold women.Based on years of on-the-ground reporting, The Daughters of Kobani is the unforgettable story of the women of the Kurdish militia that improbably became part of the world's best hope for stopping ISIS in Syria. Drawing from hundreds of hours of interviews, bestselling author Gayle Tzemach Lemmon introduces us to the women fighting on the front lines, determined to not only extinguish the terror of ISIS but also prove that women could lead in war and must enjoy equal rights come the peace. In helping to cement the territorial defeat of ISIS, whose savagery toward women astounded the world, these women played a central role in neutralizing the threat the group posed worldwide. In the process they earned the respect--and significant military support--of U.S. Special Operations Forces.Rigorously reported and powerfully told, The Daughters of Kobani shines a light on a group of women intent on not only defeating the Islamic State on the battlefield but also changing women's lives in their corner of the Middle East and beyond.