Welcome to Litsy!

I talk about 6 books I‘ve read recently plus three live theatre events in my latest video:
Recent Reads March 14: The Power of the Powerless; pests, ghosts, migrants, shepherdesses & a magpie
https://youtu.be/ttyev5abdGA

A booktuber‘s review of Celeste Ng‘s Our Missing Hearts, a book which shows the power of art used as protest, led me to read Czech playwright & statesman Vàclav Havel‘s classic essay (written in 1978). It took me two weeks—I find philosophy slow-going—but I loved it. He wrote that living within the truth would cause the Soviet post-totalitarian system—which was founded on lies—to crumble. And it did. Havel is critical of western democracy too.

You do not become a “dissident” just because you decide one day to take up this most unusual career. You are thrown into it by your personal sense of responsibility, combined with a complex set of external circumstances. You are cast out of the existing structures and placed in a position of conflict with them. It begins as an attempt to do your work well, and ends with being branded an enemy of the people.

Currently on top of the #TBR stax is a collection of essays on political totalitarianism, written by Eastern Bloc dissenters in the mid-1980s. On the left, library loans; and on the right, selects from my own shelves for January reading. Not pictured: audiobooks I've got going (2); eBooks for work (2); and #bookmail (2 more books to be delivered before the end of the month.) I'm nothing if I'm not a reading optimist! 😄

Timothy Snyder, a Yale professor, wrote a "20-point guide to defending democracy under a Trump presidency" (link below in comments.) Under "6. Be kind to our language"", he recommends 6 books, of which 'The Power of the Powerless" is the first one listed. I decided to create a "Social Justice League Library" of politically relevant titles; and added this title today. Hopefully I'll be able to start this week-end! N.b. Ignore the litsy description!