Happy to Help, Filterworld, Stuck, and Everything is Tuberculosis
Haven’t done one of these in a loooooong while! Here’s a roundup of nonfiction I’ve read lately. Some of these I’ve read with an eye toward my own writing (style, subject, etc.), some were just for fun.
Happy to Help: Adventures of a People Pleaser (Amy Wilson) (#notme): Wilson explores this idea of others “moving along” — people moving on from Covid, Hollywood moving on from her, high school peers moving on to new friend configurations — and what that means when we’re like “hello, I’m still here.” A friend sent me a blip about this book mainly because of the author’s name, I think (it’s a good one, right?!), but yeaaaaah…the subject tracks too. (I don’t think this is just an Amy thing though.)
Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture (Kyle Chayka): I’m forever fascinated by how popular things come to be and how people cultivate “taste” (and what that even means). “A taste requires surprise, it also thrives on challenge and risk, treading too far in a particular direction. Safety may avoid embarrassment, but it’s also boring.” Sing it, Kyle — I’m so sick of “boring,” and if you are too, read Filterworld for a good breakdown of how The Algorithm ™ is influencing (ba dum) culture.
Stuck: How the Privileged and Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity (Yoni Applebaum): Here’s an exploration of the *ideal* of socio-economic mobility tied to housing and property versus how that actually plays out. (Hint: The idea of a “property ladder” doesn’t work the way that it used to. [Of course, for some, getting on that ladder in the first place has been near impossible to begin with.])
Everything is Tuberculosis (John Green): If you would like to read the actual book instead of my breakthrough 5th grade report (Aug 26 post), be my guest. It’s a good one! (The book, I mean.) While reading, I was reminded of Ibram Kendi’s How to Be an Antiracist for its methodical breakdown of a topic. From the get-go, Green admits to being obsessed with tuberculosis, and his book for sure illuminates why it actually *is* a fascinating (and important) thing to be obsessed with.
originally published on instagram