Welcome to Litsy!

Books for the overtime shift tonight. Might closeout the #readingchallenge a few months early.

Superbly written history showcasing yet another example about how injustice gets the okay from the US Supreme Court, this time to allow states to conduct forced sterilization of citizens deemed defective. The chapter about Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes is particularly illuminating (spoiler alert: he was NOT really any kind of progressive, and how he got that reputation is particularly eye-opening). Highly recommended ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I usually avoid TBR predictions because I'm terrible at sticking to them. Hopefully having a short #OctoberTBR will lead to success. Also, I'm reading Ng for the #LFEReadalong and I'm partially finished with Dr Thorne, so at least I'll finish two of them! 😜 #SpookyOctober

More great writing by Adam Cohen, one of the authors of American Pharaoh, an all time favorite of mine. This history of the American eugenics movement covers all aspects from the medical to the legal to the personal. My favorite part was the section on Oliver Wendell Holmes. Only complaint is I wish he had included more voice of those affected by forced sterilization. But all in all a great book.

Why I read it: 2016 NBA nonfiction longlist.

As a history, Imbeciles deals primarily with the men who shaped Carrie‘s fate rather than with the woman herself. No doubt these prestigious men left a larger record than a woman who had to leave school after the 5th grade & who did not speak publicly until the 1980s. Each man merits two chapters, a structure that bogs down the narrative & creates repetition as Cohen retreads portions of the timeline with each new figure.Full review: goo.gl/zGNg8W

Made fairly good headway on this one tonight, but now I need to put it down and unwind so that I don't go to bed bathed in rage about the misogynistic, xenophobic, racist pseudoscience bullshit Cohen is describing.

Taking a walk down America's regrettable memory lane.

Very well-written and, even though this occurred in 1924, shockingly relevant to today.

Powerful story of a grave and grand injustice. Author weaves together the stories of the principals into a compelling, accessible account of the worst SCOTUS decision ever. Many Nazi horrors trace directly to this racist, pseudoscientific American movement. Even better than the several other worthy entries in this genre -- Spectacle, Patient H.M., Truevine -- because the titular figure plays more than a supporting role in her own story.

'An advantage of castrating inmates was that "some nice male soprano voices could be obtained for the institutional choir."' WTF?!?!?

I probably won't even get to these #TBR for February. I usually focus on fiction for TFoB to avoid spoilers. Nonfiction...what's to spoil? I think. I hope.
#FeistyFeb

4/5 for me. I don't ready a lot of non-fiction but this one was very interesting. If you are interested in genetics, eugenics, law, or medical history this is one for you.

Ha🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡 men were afraid of vacuums even in the early 20th century

Didn't England deport their criminals to Australia? 😳. There are times when I am ashamed of our history

May need to take a break from my graduate work and read a little bit.....I always have to set a timer 🤓

Starting some non-fiction. I love books regarding eugenics and human experimentation. We really can learn from our past

All of these! I want to read all of these!

I do agree with our local chairperson, though. The fact that the executive director of the National Book Award will be at the Tucson Festival of Books to honor these authors really does mean that our little town's free festival has arrived on a national stage. 2017 will be the ninth Festival, so I'm pretty proud to count myself as a Tucsonan today.

definitely a good #nonfiction pick for me. It traces the history of eugenics over the course of the 20th century by following the one forced sterilization case that made it to the Supreme Court. Lest you think it's all ancient history, the last forced sterilization in the US happened in 1983. This book is only a small part of the overall story but it makes the connections to the bigger picture like the underlying racism and ties to the Nazis.

Interesting and important but a bit dry.

Some real-life horror reading tonight.

"(Harry) Laughlin used his access to create a database on the national origins and racial backgrounds of prisoners and institutionalized mentally ill across the nation...Laughlin would go on to use the data, in testimony, before Congress and elsewhere, to argue that certain nationalities had higher levels of mental and physical defects than others."

Many times history makes my heart hurt.

First time doing an audiobook for book club.

Bad photo, good beer 😍🍺

Now where have I heard that recently?