How did the RMA Book Club choose the upcoming books listed below? When we are approaching the end of the list, our fearless leader, David Spencer, opens the floor to suggestions. Any Book Club member can suggest as many books as they wish. Then members vote on up to twelve books. The books getting the most votes are put on the list for the upcoming months. But why were the books suggested?
The book for November is The Climate Book: The Facts and Solutions created by Greta Thunberg. It is a collection of short chapters by a variety of climate experts. Brent Loubert, a true environmentalist, suggested the book, and when we asked him why, here is what he told us.
Discussions about climate change can be hotly debated with a lot of armchair experts cherry-picking data to meet their biased opinions. Personal attacks are also widely used in an attempt to discredit people who try to focus on the evidence presented for climate change and Greta Thunberg has often been one of the targets. Her response: engage over one hundred experts to cover many subjects influencing climate, thus removing (or at least reducing) the distraction of personality from the discussion. The topics in the book are widespread (at times dry reading and most times alarming) but necessary to inform the reader on how we influence our world and affect its future.
Booklist for the upcoming year:
Dec 14, 2023: Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, by Max Tegmark
Jan 11, 2024: Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America, by John McWhorter
Feb 8, 2024: Stolen Focus, by Johann Hari
Mar 14, 2024: A Grain of Salt, The Science and Pseudoscience of What We Eat, by Joe Schwarcz
Apr 11, 2024: Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior, by Leonard Mlodinow
May 9, 2024: Best Things First: The 12 most efficient solutions for the world’s poorest and our global SDG promises, by Bjorn Lomborg
June 13, 2024: How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence, by Michael Pollan
July 11, 2024: Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization, by Neil deGrasse Tyson
Aug 8, 2024: The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure, by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff
Sep 12, 2024: Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism, by Bradley Onishi
Oct 10, 2024: The Petroleum Papers: Inside the Far-Right Conspiracy to Cover Up Climate Change, by Geoff Dembicki
Nov 14, 2024:Your Brain, Explained: What Neuroscience Reveals About Your Brain and its Quirks, by Marc Dingman, PhD