It’s not summer everywhere, and maybe your vacation plans have been changed because of Covid-19.
Still, whether you’re curled up by a radiator, cradled in a hammock, or trying to carve out a few moments of peace in a packed household; this reading list will keep you inspired and entertained.
A huge thank you to the Apolitical community for their recommendations and thoughtful reflections. Happy reading!
Books to make you smarter
1. Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall-Kimmerer
“This book explores ways to merge and meld seemingly opposing viewpoints - science and Indigenous ways of knowing. The idea of 'being in relationship' is integral to the work we do as public servants, and this book is a beautifully written exploration of how we can think, live and work together.”
— Kendra Ferris, Senior Policy Advisor, Ontario Ministry of Economic Development Job Creation and Trade
2. Range, David Epstein
“This book explores the benefits of being a generalist in a world that increasingly tries to force everyone to specialize. It's a call against the increasing silos we all find ourselves in and opened my eyes to a lot of the issues specialization has caused in my own workplace as well as more generally.”
3. We the Possibility: Harnessing Public Entrepreneurship to Solve Our Most Urgent Problems, Mitchell Weiss
“Government is stereotyped as slow and bureaucratic. Today's world moves fast and needs innovative solutions that tend to come from entrepreneurial thinking. Those of us who have been in gov't a while could especially use a mindset refresh.”
— American contract specialist in state government
4. Distributed Teams: the art and practice of working together while physically apart, John O'Duinn
“Really good practical advice on hybrid working and how to keep the team together while based in different locations with differing distractions and differing goals.”
— Suzie Rafter, Assistant Librarian
5. The Nation City: Why Mayors are Now Running the World, Rahm Emanuel
Home to a majority of the world’s population, and free from much of the sclerosis that holds back national governments, cities are increasingly powerful. Former Mayor of Chicago and Obama’s Chief-of-Staff Rahm Emanuel shares why he believes cities are the laboratory for the future.
6. Well Spent: How strong infrastructure governance can end waste in public investment, International Monetary Fund
Grand infrastructure projects are the flavour of the day in many parts of the world. This book by the IMF (also available as a free download) explores how smart governance of infrastructure can deliver maximum value to citizens.
7. Capitalism after Covid: Conversations with 21 Economists, Vox EU
Crisis is the midwife of change. In this collection of essays (free to download as a pdf), 21 economists reflect on the ways in which the pandemic both has and could change our economic system forever.
8. The Tyranny of Merit, Michael Sandel
What if the belief that “you can make it if you try” was doing more harm than good? In the context of stalled social mobility, entrenched inequality, and harsh ideas of “winners” and “losers”; the philosopher Michael Sandel offers an alternative understanding of success. If we give more importance to the role of luck, we open up space for humility and solidarity.
9. My Seditious Heart, Arundhati Roy
The Booker Prize-winning author of God of the Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness is also an astute political and social commentator. This collection of unflinching essays critiques cronyism, the perils of nationalism and the caste system in India.
10. El Norte: The Epic and Forgotten Story of Hispanic North America, Carrie Gibson
Memory is the foundation of identity, which itself is the foundation of action. Fairly recently (as world history goes), most of South-Western USA was part of Mexico. Although you likely wouldn’t know it from the politics around migration and borders.
Beautiful fiction
11. The Dry, Jane Harper
“The Dry is a great read for those who like intrigue and mystery.”
— Donna, Administration Coordinator and Policy Officer
12. Little Dorrit, Charles Dickens
A classic for public servants, this novel follows the story of the Dorrit family as misfortune lands them in a debtor’s prison. Dickens uses the story to satirise the ugly side of bureaucracy in the form of the dreaded “Circumlocution Office”.
13. The Castle, Frantz Kafka
Another cautionary tale for public servants (although the same could be said for most of Kafka’s stories). The Castle follows a character called K., who is a land surveyor stuck in an administrative grey zone between “The Castle” and “The Village”. Anyone who faced visa issues during the pandemic can likely relate.
14. A Small Island, Andrea Levy
Three interwoven stories trace the entangled histories of Jamaica and the UK. This beautiful novel explores migration, race, and the mismatch between dreams and reality.
15. Luster, Raven Leilani
This novel has scooped up so many awards this year (and will likely continue to do so). Once you read, you’ll see why. It’s a dizzying, witty and, at times, a soul-crushing account of being 23, broke, black, and living in New York.
16. Flights, Olga Tokarczuk
“A novel about travel in the twenty-first century and human anatomy”. An unlikely crossover, perhaps, but it follows fascinating accounts of bodies — alive or otherwise — as they journey through intriguing circumstances.
17. Exit West, Mohsin Hamid
A Man Booker prize winner and soon-to-be Obama-produced movie, Exit West tracks a young couple as they witness their city fall victim to rising violence. A possibility for escape comes in the form of “doors” that’ll whisk them away to unknown lands… but at a price.
18. Once More with Feeling, Ceridwen Covey
“Once More with Feeling is an inspirational story, full of laughs and sadness, acceptance and forgiveness but ultimately a joy to read.”
— Donna, Administration Coordinator and Policy Officer
19. Beginning, End, Jessica Soffer
This moving piece of flash fiction condenses two lives into a handful of paragraphs. Have tissues to hand.
Something a little different
20. Blockchain Chicken Farm, Xiaowei Wang
A deeply human account of the surprising reach of futuristic technology into rural China.
21. Amber Waves — The Extraordinary Biography of Wheat, Catherine Zabinski
How did a strain of grass become the engine for world history? This ambitious “biography” charts the story of wheat and what it has meant and continues to mean for humanity.
22. Extraterrestrial Languages, Daniel Oberhaus
If aliens made contact with us, would we understand them? This fascinating book explores what language could look like if detached from its earthly form.
23. The Rings of Saturn, W.G. Sebald
A walk along the East Anglian coastline is the thread that holds together an exquisite meandering of memory and history. The late Professor Sebald illuminates the magical interconnectedness behind seemingly ordinary objects.
(Picture Credit: Unsplash)
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