Category archives: ★★★★

Straight Outta Crawley: Memoirs of a Distinctly Average Human Being

by Romesh Ranganathan

The mystique is obliterated. I was disappointed by his shallow, regurgitating defence at the end of chapter nine; punching down subverts nothing. I am however heavily into self-deprecation and anecdotes of social inoperativeness (plus laid-back veganism) so this book had the highest laugh rate out of any comic … Read more

Who Really Feeds the World?: The Failures of Agribusiness and the Promise of Agroecology

by Vandana Shiva

Important, including addressing the work of women made invisible and endangered alongside planet-wide casualties under capitalist patriarchy. Would be much more powerful if the repetition were edited out. I was especially inspired learning about the different mixed-cropping systems.

Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor

by Layla F. Saad

Layla covers the basics incisively, spelling out the beliefs, behaviours, and dynamics of white supremacy. The prompts get a bit repetitive and may not necessarily reinforce the challenge of each day’s focus but they do call on self-excavation.

I appreciated that Layla’s definitions were not detached and … Read more

The World According to Monsanto: Pollution, Corruption, and the Control of the World’s Food Supply

by Marie-Monique Robin

It’s understandably a challenge to distil a colossal amount of research into a flowing document. Also the author’s Frenchness seeps through in regular reminders, including when she cannot refrain from commenting on how well colonised the tongues are of the Vietnamese doctors and scientists she interviews.

It is … Read more