Welcome to Litsy!

I started reading this 2, maybe 3, months ago. I could only take it in small chunks because it is just brutal. How Lavin managed to maintain some semblance of sanity while immersing herself in the world of racists, anti-Semites, white supremacists, neo-Nazis, homophobes, misogynists, incels, and conspiracy theorists is beyond me. Important to shed light on the violence and hatred consuming the world, but this was NOT an “enjoyable” read.

#Booked2022

Played catch up and now all is left is Winter. Here's my Spring read list.
The Priory of the Orange Tree 5⭐️
The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks 5⭐️
The Promise 4⭐️
Cultural Warlords 4⭐️
On wilder seas 3⭐️
The Twyford Code 4⭐️

@Cinfhen @BarbaraTheBibliophage @alisiakae

It‘s taken me awhile to process this one and write a review for it. It is full of triggers and all of that makes it difficult to read and difficult to review, but anything that reveals the darkest heart of humanity, no matter how disturbing that may be to the reader, IS essential reading. Turning our backs to it because that‘s easier, less traumatic for us the viewer, allows that darkness to grow and metastasize unchecked. ⤵️

I um just finished this a couple of days ago. Oops. It's informative and detailed and well written. But I did not exactly enjoy this experience. If I wasn't at least pretending to read this with the group, this would have been a bail for me.

#SheSaid @Riveted_Reader_Melissa

I have no idea how to rate this, so I‘ll write my review without a rating.

For a considerable amount of time Lavin is infiltrating the far right and Neo-Nazis online. This must have been hard for her being surrounded by so much hate towards Jews, Blacks and women. But she doesn‘t bring in anything new. That Neo-Nazis and the far right will be even more extreme in their viewpoints online on their own forums speaking to likeminded, doesn‘t shock

This is one of those books that is highly important to read, especially as white supremacy has been on the rise in the US over the last few years (per the Southern Poverty Law Center tracks hate groups). It is disturbing to read what goes on in some of these chat groups. I don‘t know how Lavin endured it. It was very eye opening. It wants me to get rid of all social media/google/you tube & keep my kids off of all of it. Definitely a must read.

I‘m glad I read this because I think it‘s important to know the reality of hate, but it was a tense reading experience.I can‘t imagine being the author and actually immersing myself into this online. It was helpful to read this with our #SheSaid group.

A deep powerful dive into the far right in the United States: Lavin explores how ultra right and fascist groups operate, with the courage to go undercover as a fake girlfriend, a young incel man, a conference reporter, and eventually a girlfriend who extracts secret info from a Ukrainian fascist leader. Analysis of history and practices, especially of antisemitism, are woven throughout.
#Nonfiction2022 #ComfortZone
#SheSaid

Anti-fascism rises as fascism rises, and falls as fascism falls…the principal goal is to prevent violence from happening in the first place. Anti-fascist aim to be wherever fascists are, working to sow discord, engender paranoia and discouragement, and to ensure that there is, above all else, a social cost to fascism, racism, and virulent homophobia and transphobia. In the Trump era, that social cost has been vastly eroded.

Hello #SheSaid!

I can‘t believe we‘ve come to the end of another month and another book. As powerful as this read was, and as much as I know I needed to hear it all…I‘m hoping the next is a bit lighter 😂. I‘ll try to get that schedule up as soon possible for you. Again, next book is Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong.

So what are your thoughts now that you‘ve finished this book?

Hello #SheSaid! Happy Sunday!

Anyone else watching the Jan. 6th commission hearing while reading this? For me it‘s adding another whole layer to that and to most of the mass shooting stories. It‘s stuff I knew, but not how truly deep it ran..It‘s a hard read, and one I often what to stop thinking about. But…BUT…if we don‘t know it‘s there and how it‘s metastasizing, we can‘t fight it either. As a country we need to address white supremacy.

Hello #SheSaid.

This book is a tough read for me, I don‘t know how she managed to do this…not only get in the door, but not blow her cover or fall into a deep depression being immersed in this stuff day in and out. My thoughts right now are, more power to her & I couldn‘t have done it. 😬 it‘s definitely a tough one just to read after the hard work was done by her… necessary to know it all exists and to that extreme, but tough to read anyway.

I'm looking forward to joining in with @Andrew65 #jubilantjuly readathon. Need to have a think on my goals, maybe a mix of mood reading and focused reading for my reading challenges. Including catching up with the tagged with
#shesaid

I finished it, partly because I have a trip coming up and couldn‘t follow the timeline anyway, and partly because I didn‘t want to stew in the subject matter.

Important subject, and I‘m absolutely in awe of Lavin for the work she‘s done. That said, I don‘t think the book was written, or maybe edited, as well as it should have been. Lots of redundancy, especially talking about major figures (Tarrant, Roof). Can‘t really rate it. #SheSaid

Sorry for the massive delay ladies and gentlemen, my sincere apologies. My mom is having back surgery tomorrow, it‘s been planned and scheduled for a very long time… but today quickly became a long list of things to get done beforehand and I completely forgot to post until now. Again, my apologies, I‘ll check in tomorrow while I‘m hanging out in the hospital cafeteria for most of the day. Take care out there. #SheSaid

It‘s been a really busy week or so, plus I decided to try reading an issue of the NYT (Tuesday‘s copy, which I may finally finish today 😳), so I haven‘t been reading much. Yesterday and today I‘ve been trying to catch up on some nonfiction reads. Think I‘m going to need something light and fluffy next.

Hello #SheSaid

What an intro in this one… I am both very curious how she did this for months and recoiling a bit at what she‘s describing as everyday behavior for some. I was apparently still living in some denial 😬

How are you all doing with this book so far?

Obviously this author and I would be besties irl. Already hooked.

#SheSaid @Riveted_Reader_Melissa

The next schedule is here #SheSaid!

Again, a reminder to put in your library holds and/or interlibrary loans.

And again… we picked this book months ago, almost a year ago now… and again it pops up at a fitting time as the Jan 6 investigation are being held. You all have excellent taste and apparently premonition abilities 😉

I can‘t wait to dive into this one!

Warning: this is an intense read! ⚠️ Talia Lavin goes deep into America‘s white supremacist groups. It‘s an astonishing journey in its vast reaches: YouTube, social media, dating websites, and 8chan. What becomes crystal clear is that hate breeds hate; anti-semitism leads to racism which leads to misogyny which leads to homophobia, etc. Hate is a metastatic disease that sometimes reaches beyond the web to unleash IRL violence. Important read!!!

I have no words, but I'm informed, inspired, and enraged.

I did not *want* to read this book, but I figured I needed to get a better idea of what is going on in the corners of the internet I will never venture to from the safety of a book. So far it is both disturbing, and yet I don‘t know if I have a clearer picture or idea. Though I might have been hoping for answers or conclusions that just don‘t exist. But to remember that there are people who think this way is just so upsetting.

A really disturbing, scary listen. Maybe not the best audiobook for the past week, which has been a more hopeful one in America... though the reality is that the specter of white supremacy didn‘t disappear when Biden won, as has been widely and accurately observed. 😠

It seemed like a good time to read this account of the author's immersion in the extremely unsavory world of white supremacy. She outlines the variety of hate groups active on social media, where she has monitored them and even undertaken elaborate catfishing operations. I don't know how she could stand exposing herself to the toxic sludge these guys generate, but it's clear their hatred has real world implications. We can't afford to look away.

Well, after following Lavin into the world of online white supremacy groups, I now feel dirty. Given as she had been the subject of harassment by these groups, I don‘t know how she stood reading the postings of and interacting (not as herself, of course) with people who expressed such vociferous hate. The book was good but it could have been improved with a better organizational structure and less repetition.

So good! Riveting, upsetting and stark but ultimately reassuring to know that smart people are working hard to keep the bad guys at bay. So timely right now and it helped me better understand the terrible events taking place around the world. Gotta love a smart, tough woman outing nazis! Highly recommend!

Was curled up with a blanket last night just shitting bricks. I‘ve also been watching the news a bunch so maybe I should just pick one and go with it. Also to see people be all smug sitting in Canada thinking this doesn‘t happen here. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ IT IS HERE TOO

Tonight‘s reading.

Dipping into this book about white supremacy and American racism and fascism. Tough but timely subject. Whenever it gets too heavy, I look out my window and feel blessed by the glorious snow. Those of us in Texas don‘t see it often so it feels like a fist when we do!

Extremism has been propagating in the dark web as more and more sympathizers get entrenched in it's narratives. Most of us have no idea what takes place in the corners of the dark web. In Culture Warlords, Talia Lavin is unapologetically unafraid to dive into several online far-right communities to give us a glimpse of behind the scenes of radicalization.

4/5

Super interesting read about far right and white supremacist groups, particularly those that organize online. The audio book is read by the author.