The RMA Book Club is very democratic about choosing books. When we are near the end of the list of chosen books, everyone is invited to suggest books by a specific deadline. Then all members vote on 12 books for the next 12 months. The books with the most votes are placed on the reading list as shown below. But why do individuals suggest certain books? That is where the Book Blog comes in. Each month, we invite the person who suggested that book to write a short paragraph about why they made their selection. The book for January is Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America, by John McWhorter. Here is Lois' paragraph about why she chose it.
John McWhorter is a linguist and a professor at Columbia University. I have been following him for a couple of years, listening to podcasts and reading his articles. I've been very impressed with his calm, cool logic and reasoning about issues of the day. In fact, while listening to a podcast, I learned a little about myself. I realized that my attitude about being a woman in science was very much like his attitude about being a black man. Neither of us fit the mould. So, when his latest book came out, I was very interested in learning about his perspective on woke ideology, a topic about which there is currently a lot of controversy.
Upcoming books for 2024:
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