Walking Practice Dolki Min 2022 Science Fiction, LGBT https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61150781-walking-practice After crashing their spacecraft in the middle of nowhere, a shapeshifting alien find themself stranded on an unfamiliar planet and disabled by Earth's gravity. To survive, they will need to practice walking. And what better way than to hunt for food? As they discover, humans are delicious. Dolki Min's haunting debut novel is part psychological thriller, part searing critique of the social structures that marginalize those who are different--the disabled, queer, and nonconformist. Walking Practice uncovers humanity in who we consider to be alien, and illuminates how alienation can shape the human experience.
The Guns of August, by Barbara W. Tuchman, 1962. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/128755430-the-guns-of-august-by-barbara-w-tuchman "Historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Barbara Tuchman has brought to life again the people and events that led up to World War I. With attention to fascinating detail, and an intense knowledge of her subject and its characters, Ms. Tuchman reveals, for the first time, just how the war started, why, and how it could have been stopped but wasn't. "
Force and Freedom Arthur Ripstein 2009 Law, Political Philosophy https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6951843-force-and-freedom In this masterful work, both an illumination of Kant’s thought and an important contribution to contemporary legal and political theory, Arthur Ripstein gives a comprehensive yet accessible account of Kant’s political philosophy. Ripstein shows that Kant’s thought is organized around two central first, that legal institutions are not simply responses to human limitations or circumstances; indeed the requirements of justice can be articulated without recourse to views about human inclinations and vulnerabilities. Second, Kant argues for a distinctive moral principle, which restricts the legitimate use of force to the creation of a system of equal freedom. Ripstein’s description of the unity and philosophical plausibility of this dimension of Kant’s thought will be a revelation to political and legal scholars.
Written in the Stars Alexandria Bellefleur 2020 Queer Romance https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51179990-written-in-the-stars After a disastrous blind date, Darcy Lowell is desperate to stop her well-meaning brother from playing matchmaker ever again. Love—and the inevitable heartbreak—is the last thing she wants. So she fibs and says her latest set up was a success. Darcy doesn’t expect her lie to bite her in the ass.
Blueprint for Revolution Srdja Popovic, Matthew Miller 2015 Nonfiction https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22107280-blueprint-for-revolution An urgent and accessible handbook for peaceful protesters, activists, and community organizers—anyone trying to defend their rights, hold their government accountable, or change the world
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller 2011 . Historical fiction, romance https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13623848-the-song-of-achilles Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice
American Pastoral Philip Roth 1997 Historical fiction https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11650.American_Pastoral Seymour 'Swede' Levov—a legendary high school athlete, a devoted family man, a hard worker, the prosperous inheritor of his father's Newark glove factory—comes of age in thriving, triumphant post-war America. And then one day in 1968, Swede's beautiful American luck deserts him.
Harrow the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir 2020 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39325105-harrow-the-ninth the sequel to Gideon the Ninth, turns a galaxy inside out as one necromancer struggles to survive the wreckage of herself aboard the Emperor's haunted space station
Thank you for your servitude: Donald Trump’s Washington and the price of Submission, by Mark Leibovich 2022. Nonfiction, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60545811-thank-you-for-your-servitude Inside look at the machinations and ineptitude of the first Trump term.
The Anarchy by William Dalrymple, 2019. History. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/42972023-the-anarchy The story of how the East India Company took over large swaths of Asia, and the devastating results of the corporation running a country