China Mieville
[isbn]
If you've never read the Communist Manifesto before, you should read this version; if you've got passages of the Communist Manifesto memorized and you regularly recite them to your roommates at the dinner table, you should still read this version. In a place and time where it's easier to picture the end of the world than the end of capitalism, it takes more than knowledge of theory to cut through the malaise — it takes... (read more)
Recommended by CJ H.
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Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua
[isbn]
The first chapter of Young Lutunatabua and Solnit's new manifesto, Not Too Late, says that "hope is not like a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky...hope is an axe you break down doors with in an emergency." It is a call to action and an antidote to doomer-ism, and a must-read for every cynical idealist.
Recommended by CJ H.
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Walter Benjamin, Susan Sontag, Edmund Jephcott
[isbn]
Walter Benjamin's prose from this book plays through my mind when I neglect to eat breakfast; when I'm staring at the Powell's bestseller wall; whenever it's several months past Christmas, and I see Christmas lights. Whether he's making perfect sense or, frequently and enjoyably, when he's absolutely, positively not, it's always a good time when it comes to Benjamin.
Recommended by CJ H.
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Rebecca Solnit
[isbn]
Reading this book (an analysis of the life of one of the most prolific writers and anti-fascists of the twentieth century, from a woman whom I consider to be one of the most insightful writers of the 21st), I came to understand a truth at the core of Orwell's writing, as well as that of my own disaffection: any movement, whether political or otherwise, that refuses the promise of peace and joy to its adherents, is not a movement worth struggling... (read more)
Recommended by CJ H.
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Dilar Dirik
[isbn]
The story of the Kurdish women's movement is a story that every feminist, egalitarian, anarchist — whatever you call yourself, if you dream of a more equal world, you should read this book. Defying impossible challenges, the women of Rojava have proven that they will struggle from here to utopia for a world worth saving.
Recommended by CJ H.
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Sebastian Junger
[isbn]
It had been a long time since I'd read Junger's short, egalitarian manifesto, but his insight never fails to stun me. A wonderful, somewhat nerve-wracking story about the intrinsic desire for freedom within all of us.
Recommended by CJ H.
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Tim Higgins
[isbn]
One of my New Years' Resolutions is to not read one more single word about Elon Musk or Tesla — but I read this book in December, so it doesn't count. Higgins seems to understand something about Tesla and the economy that most of Musk's critics (and supporters) really can't bring themselves to grasp: mainly that (1) lying to the public is in no way illegal, and (2) if a company's only merit is that it's too big to fail, well, then... it's not... (read more)
Recommended by CJ H.
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George Orwell
[isbn]
Down and Out is the book I revisit when I find myself spending a lot of time walking around the city without much more than a tote bag full of half-thought-out ideas and vehement ideals. Orwell assures you can make it if you don't have much more than that, and he was a smarter man than I am: I'll take his word for it.
Meanwhile, Homage to Catalonia is the book I revisit when I want to learn about how to drunkenly use 1930's... (read more)
Recommended by CJ H.
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John Darnielle
[isbn]
The perfect Halloween read, Devil House is the We Do it Different on the West Coast of novels, the alternating light and dark of a picturesque Golden State story with something indiscernibly and undeniably sinister between its pages. John Darnielle (or, Mr. Goats, as I lovingly refer to him) has never disappointed me before, and it is both a relief and a joy to see his artistic talent transcend from my stereo to my bookshelf.
Recommended by CJ H.
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Margaret Killjoy
[isbn]
A fast-paced, compelling, and truly marvelous collection: Killjoy delivers the queer, anarchist, and (dare I say it) utopian science fiction I didn't realize I needed until I read this book.
Recommended by CJ H.
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Vonnegut, Kurt
[isbn]
Possibly Vonnegut's most underrated work, Jailbird is my personal favorite story of his and one that deserves the same level of commendation as Slaughterhouse Five. An astonishing portrait of the true love and solidarity at the center of the American labor movement: love they neighbor, and solidarity forever.
Recommended by CJ H.
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Joan Didion
[isbn]
Didion articulates my mixed feelings towards my home state in a way I've never encountered before. California is a garden of Eden, populated by a dozen or so men who for some godforsaken reason thought the oil underneath Eden was more important than the fruit she bore.
Recommended by CJ H.
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Ben Urwand
[isbn]
A fun tale to revisit as Disney once again unfurls its yearly banner of rainbow capitalism. A truly wild piece of history and a reminder that Hollywood has always and will always have a single overcooked noodle where its moral backbone is supposed to be.
Recommended by CJ H.
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Nic Goodrick Clarke
[isbn]
A deeply important story to understand, especially for us folks here in the PNW. This lady is the unfortunate link that exists between modern environmentalist movements and literal 20th century Nazis. The mother of what we today call Esoteric Hitlerism: the religion-izing of Nazism and the deification of Hitler. Her beliefs are very very stupid and I do not like her one little bit, but they've spread like a cancer to all corners of the world.... (read more)
Recommended by CJ H.
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Bradley W. Hart
[isbn]
A very readable and pertinent history about the (not lacking in quantity, mind you) Americans that would have been happier had Nazism swallowed Europe whole.
Recommended by CJ H.
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Janet Biehl and Peter Staudenmaier
[isbn]
Ever hear an environmental warrior you thought was a leftist suddenly say the most racist thing you've ever heard in your entire life? Chances are, they've fallen prey to ecofascist propoganda. Biehl and Staudenmaier break down the origins of fascist ecology, the reasons behind its resilience throughout the twentieth century, and how to combat ecofascist rhetoric when it emerges in ecological politics.
Recommended by CJ H.
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Dale Beran
[isbn]
A wonderfully told though deeply unfortunate story that leaves you furious with the con artists and sympathetic towards, though exhausted by, the countless young men that got conned.
Recommended by CJ H.
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Robert Evans
[isbn]
A wonderful science-fiction story from one of my favorite contemporary journalists.
Recommended by CJ H.
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Rebecca Solnit
[isbn]
A treatise on the fundamental goodness of humankind, and a condemnation of the powerful people that work to snuff out our impulse to take care of each other.
Recommended by CJ H.
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Nicole Aschoff
[isbn]
Came for the shade to Sheryl Sandberg, stayed for the shade to Bill Gates. Overall, a very readable and enjoyable indictment of neoliberalism as a whole.
Recommended by CJ H.
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