1957, a Black couple buys a home in a white neighborhood.
“...troopers were dispatched when the police failed to end the harassment... the state troopers also declined to perform their duty...
“One sergeant was demoted to patrolman because he objected to orders he had been given not to interfere with the rioters.”
“Perhaps to their surprise, the officials found that integration presented few problems among the workers, so the biracial character of the project was maintained when workers‘ families arrived. After a few years, however, private housing in the area became available to whites, and the Marin project, too, became predominantly African American.”
Imagine if WWII housing hadn‘t been intentionally segregated. How much further ahead could we be?
bailedThis is the first book I‘ve actually bailed on. I‘ve forced my way through painfully bad writing out of stubbornness, but the one thing I can‘t handle is animal cruelty. Just over halfway through, there is a graphic and traumatizing scene of dog murder that made me wonder if the author is a sadist for writing it and also for tricking others into reading it.
The story itself was too slow and aimless to justify continuing after that.
“Reading a book four times in one day is perfectly normal behavior. He buttons his wool coat. Having a physical response to a lack of book is not unusual. He tugs his knit hat down over his ears. Everyone spends nights on the floor of their closet during grad school. He pulls on his boots. Finding an incident from your childhood in an authorless mystery book is an everyday occurrence. He slips his hands into his gloves. Happens to everyone.”
“But knowledge is power. As I learn the laws of learning I use them to manipulate others through advertisements, through propaganda, through prediction of their responses and the control of those responses. It is not too strong a statement to say that the growth of knowledge in the social sciences contains within itself a powerful tendency toward social control, toward control of the many by the few.” —Rogers on scientific vs experiential therapy
“Caring for the corpse went from visceral, primeval work performed by women to a “profession,” an “art,” and even a “science,” performed by well-paid men. The corpse, with all its physical and emotional messiness, was taken from women... Maybe a process like recomposition is our attempt to reclaim our corpses. Maybe we wish to become soil for a willow tree, a rosebush, a pine—destined in death to both rot and nourish on our own terms.”
#7Days7Covers #CoverCrush Day 7
7 days, 7 covers you love, no explanation. Try to tag someone new each day.
Anyone else interested, consider yourself tagged as well!
panVirtually every page had paragraphs of unnecessary exposition bogging it down. I also have to wonder whether the author‘s ever had a conversation with a real person. And for some reason there was a Potter-esque points system, but for adults at a governmental level...?
Still, I give credit for a sort-of-interesting magical system, magical society, and main problem. Overall, this would be a solid first draft for a high school B student.
#7Days7Covers #CoverCrush Day 6
7 days, 7 covers you love, no explanation. Try to tag someone new each day.
Anyone else interested, consider yourself tagged as well!
#7Days7Covers #CoverCrush Day 5
7 days, 7 covers you love, no explanation. Try to tag someone new each day.
Anyone else interested, consider yourself tagged as well!
#7Days7Covers #CoverCrush Day 4
7 days, 7 covers you love, no explanation. Try to tag someone new each day.
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“Sonny had a quintuple bypass in 2003, when he was fifty-six years old—the last thing he remembered before falling unconscious under the anesthesia was a doctor standing over him saying his mother‘s cells were one of the most important things that had ever happened to medicine. Sonny woke up more than $125,000 in debt because he didn‘t have health insurance to cover the surgery.”
“When Christoph projected Henrietta‘s cells on the monitor in his lab a few days earlier, Deborah said, “They‘re beautiful.” She was right. Beautiful and otherworldly—glowing green and moving line water, calm and ethereal, looking precisely like heavenly bodies might look. They could even float through the air.”
#7Days7Covers #CoverCrush Day 3
7 days, 7 covers you love, no explanation. Try to tag someone new each day.
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@emilyrose_x
#7Days7Covers #CoverCrush Day 2
7 days, 7 covers you love, no explanation. Try to tag someone new each day.
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@Charityann
#7Days7Covers #CoverCrush
7 days, 7 covers you love, no explanation. Try to tag someone new each day.
Anyone else interested, consider yourself tagged as well!
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
“The presence of telomerase meant cells could keep regenerating their telomeres indefinitely. This explained the mechanics of HeLa‘s immortality: telomerase constantly rewound the ticking clock at the end of Henrietta‘s chromosomes so they never grew old and never died.”
“...a pair of researchers... discovered that human-mouse hybrids lost their human chromosomes over time, leaving only the mouse chromosomes. This allowed scientists to begin mapping human genes to specific chromosomes by tracking the order in which genetic traits vanished. If a chromosome disappeared and production of a certain enzyme stopped, researchers knew the gene for that enzyme must be on the most recently vanished chromosome.”
“The most effective teachers help students keep the larger questions of the course constantly at the forefront. Donald Saari... invokes the principle of what he calls “WGAD”—“Who gives a damn?” ...He tells his students that they are free to ask him this question on any day during the course, at any moment in class. He will stop and explain... why the material... is important, and how it relates to the larger questions and issues of the course.”
Prepping to teach my first classes this fall! #bookhaul #teaching #HigherEd #psychology
“...what social psychologists call moral credentialing. ‘People are more willing to express attitudes that could be prejudiced when their past behavior has established their credentials as nonprejudiced‘... It‘s the ‘some of my best friends are black‘ hall pass. If you‘ve stored enough credits in the bank of equality, you‘re entitled to behave badly.” #bias #socialpsychology #psychology
“The mistake we keep making—the mistake we all keep making—is in thinking that our work is done. That whatever heroic effort we‘ve made will keep moving us forward. That whatever progress we‘ve seen will keep us from sliding back to burning crosses and hiding Torah scrolls.” #bias #racism #antisemitism
pickI literally laughed AND cried listening to this audiobook (and that's almost never true of me). I came to know and love Lori's patients (even the asshole), despise her ex, and admire her therapist. Lori's story was both therapeutic and made me think: maybe we should all talk to someone? Interspersed with therapy techniques and psychological theories, this book revealed its characters' humanity in a very personal way. I highly recommend this.
pickI finished this book yesterday and am still obsessing over it. The stories of so many different characters were woven so beautifully throughout it. There were things I correctly guessed and others that completely surprised me. There were things left unresolved at the end, and things that resolved in ways that frustrated me. But I think it‘s a sign of a good book that it‘s gotten so under my skin. #fiction #ghost
Currently angry at this book for scenes of animal cruelty (the one bit of violence I cannot stand). But it had already sucked me in. The writing is beautiful and the stories are compelling. #currentlyreading
so-soThis is a book I‘d only recommend for other academics. Published in 1998, the discussion of gender is very dated and leaves some glaring questions about transgender people, for example. Even the interviews with the children at the end have some obvious flaws that tell me this isn‘t a modern guide for raising healthy feminist children. But if you recognize the name Bem from the Bem Sex Role Inventory, this is a quick, fascinating read. #psychology
“...a splendid example of the aversion characteristic of scientific men to learning something new... If there were such a thing in science as a right to revenge, I in turn should be justified in ignoring the literature since the appearance of this book. The few accounts... are so full of folly and misconception that my only possible answer to my critics would be to request them to read this book over again.”
Freud was SASSY.
Continuing through my list of unfinished books, this is the #illustrated edition of The Interpretation of Dreams, full of #surrealist art. #currentlyreading #psychology
pickHeartbreaking. Most of the book is the ordinary communications of an imprisoned man with his family as they all cope with the bombings, rationing, and uncertainty of daily life in Germany during WWII. In the second half, he begins writing on theology and poetry to his friend Eberhard. Only the editor‘s introduction puts the letters in context: Dietrich was involved in a plot against Hitler and executed just before the end of the war.
“It‘s true that not everything that happens is simply ‘God‘s will.‘ But in the end nothing happens ‘apart from God‘s will‘ (Matt. 10:29), that is, in every event, even the most ungodly, there is a way through to God.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer #currentlyreading
pickThis was a great mystery and a great social commentary on race in Texas. A black Texas Ranger testifies before a grand jury on behalf of a friend accused of killing an Aryan Brotherhood member, then investigates the murders of a black man and a white woman in a small East Texas town. It‘s a story about ethics and questioning your own assumptions.
Returning to this for #AshWednesday and the beginning of #Lent. Is anyone else reading something for spiritual reflection? #currentlyreading
1) Singing; gardening (when I make the time and know what I‘m doing); I also play D&D with friends once a week
2) Fantasy, mystery, non-fiction
3) Two cats and a dog
4) TBR is accurate but not all unowned; I have a copy of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, but I haven‘t read it yet. It‘s a higher priority now that I‘m making progress on other unfinished books.
5) Pets?
6) I tagged my #currentlyreading book.
#litsylove @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
Having trouble putting this one down for the night. #currentlyreading
pickThough I admittedly took years to finish this book, I think that was as much on me as the book. The first half describes the SPE in great detail, which can get a little tedious. But the second half, which ties in other social psychology experiments and real-world events, is much more interesting and easier to get through. I recommend it for anyone interested in how social factors influence behavior in even good people.
The end of this book doesn‘t hold back. #currentlyreading #psychology #socialpsychology #torture
Starting my new #librarybook tonight. Should be fun to read a book set in my home state of #Texas.
I can‘t make another trip to the library until tomorrow, so today I‘m revisiting my longest-running #currentlyreading book (because I never “bail,” just haven‘t finished...). Here‘s to checking books off my list!
pickThis was such a fun, whimsical read. It‘s written in present tense with limited third person narration, so sacrifices relatability for mystery and excitement. It does have a choppy timeline (labeled with dates and places), and some scenes are out of chronological order, so I had to flip back and forth a lot; I wouldn‘t recommend it for audio. But I loved the setting and the story. I always want more closure, but I think the ending was appropriate.
“You could have been a ballerina,” Mme. Padva remarks to Celia. “You are quite good on your feet.”
“I am good off my feet as well,” Celia says, and Mr. Barris nearly knocks over his own glass while Mme. Padva cackles.
😂 #currentlyreading #fantasy
Picked up a new #librarybook to continue my #fantasy kick.
pickJust finished this book and I loved it. Murder mystery meets urban fantasy meets political intrigue. It definitely doesn‘t do a lot of exposition upfront, so be patient as you figure out the universe. In fact, I still have questions. There were things I wanted explained further, but I‘m also thinking of re-reading it (or reading it instead of listening next time). I just want to talk to someone about it!
Starting this for some #urbanfantasy. Still getting acquainted with the universe. This might be one of those times when a visual book is better for keeping up with names of places and people. We‘ll see.
pickI‘m so glad this was my first foray back into fantasy after a long hiatus; I was scared I wouldn‘t find one I‘d love enough. This feels very much like a fairy tale, but the plot is new, complex, and surprising. The female characters are satisfyingly complex, and there are no helpless damsels. There was one story element I questioned, and some things that maybe could have been explained further, but it‘s a great book. I binged it over a few days.
so-soThis was probably my least favorite Rob Bell book. It wasn‘t especially coherent, not least because of the formatting. Instead of chapters, it has 9 “parts”, all divided into titled sections of about 2-4 pages each. The whole thing felt disjointed and I‘m not really sure the thesis came together; it‘s just vaguely about finding what you should do with your life and pursuing it. There were a few interesting insights, but not a whole book‘s worth.
so-soIt took me a while to decide how to review this. I loved the overall mystery plot. But the smaller aspects of the book didn‘t work as well for me. I think the main character is named twice, and not at the beginning. Whether intentional or not, I cringed at his awkwardness with women. There wasn‘t much character development from anyone. Plus, it didn‘t have the feel I was expecting for a mystery centered on a bookstore; it was so computer-centric.
pickI initially read excerpts of the first edition in my graduate human development course, but honestly, everyone needs to read this book. While the author and her research are hugely important to social and developmental psychologists, this book is written for a wide audience. It will be particularly enlightening for White people, but everyone can learn something here. And the 20th anniversary edition has post-2016 election information. #race
