My 2021 Books

Seeing the 2021 booklists of my Twitterspace, I can't help but feeling slightly belittled. Firstly because I feel like I haven't read nearly as many books as I would've wanted, and secondly because, thinking back about it, my titles aren't going to be as interesting.

In my mind, I am aware that both feelings are consequences of spending most of my free time to research and write my own (fiction) book, which I hope I can manage to publish along 2022. That meant reading lots of primarily non-fiction titles with the specific intent of deepening my understanding on how some aspects of our societies came to be. In that light, some of thse books can be enjoyed (and very insightful) to lots of people regardless of their interests.

So, here we go, in no particular order:

Settlers (J. Sakai) – A long but complete and untaught history of how the USA erected their empire, from a handful of uncoordinated colonies to colonial superpower, through consistent sabotage of indigenous and African populations. Heavy focus on class struggle and American history.

Left Hand of Darkness (U. Le Guin) – Almost alienating, Le Guin shoots us onto a planet where none of our social norms hold. An unsettling but eye-opening journey through gender, sexuality and non-hostile contact with others.

Feminist City (L. Kern) – We give our living spaces for granted, as if they were neutral ground, but they're very often absolutely not, especially for women. This is a quick guide on how to see through the political reasons that made our cities look like what they are now, and what we can demand for better living spaces. By empowering women, we all draw benefits.

La Fabbrica Totale (L. Guiotto) – The Italian version of Settlers: focusing on Northern Italian industrial development, the author runs through the untaught history of the true conflict that had torn Italy apart since the early 1800s: the industrial class against the workers.

Ministry for the Future (K. S. Robinson) – I put this last because I want you to remember it (and read it) the most. Climate catastrophe is here, we're all noticing, but the climate fiction (cli-fi) genre is taking advantage of our anxiety to sell us more books and movies. KSR defeats the paradigm: with his unique and hectic writing style, he paints a solarpunk timeline where everything is pulled back from the brink of disaster – in style. This book is what we need at the moment: the ability to imagine and realize that a better future is possible.