How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates: After reading Essentialism last month, I decided I needed to read more books about things that are important to me and climate change is one of those topics. This book, published in 2021, was the perfect crash course on where we are right now and where we need to get to in terms of reversing the the course of climate change. I know some of you guys might be like what does Bill Gates know about climate science, but after watching his documentary (Inside Bill’s Brain on Netflix) I saw how much he read and researched the topic. And you can tell in his book. He covers the top 4 carbon emitting activities (making things like concrete and steel, electricity generation, agriculture, transportation, and heating & cooling) with thoroughness but without getting too much into the weeds. And he comes up with solutions on what we need to do to get to zero net carbon emissions (hopefully by 2050). A lot of the solutions rely on government, corporations, and tech, so one can’t help feeling a little helpless about it all. On the individual level, he says “engaging in the political process is the most important single step that [one] can take to help avoid a climate disaster” whether it be to make calls, write letters, or attend town hall meetings. But along with that as a consumer we can “signal to the market that people want a zero carbon alternative and are willing to pay for them…[whether we] pay more for an electric car, a heat pump, or a plant-based burger.” Through this book I also decided to see where my electricity comes from (is it coal, oil, hydropower, or gas). In some states you can sign up for a green pricing program (paying about $9-$18 more per month for a clean renewable energy source). To see whether your state participates you can look up “Green Pricing Program C2ES.” I was pleasantly surprised to see that my county gets their power through MCE, a not-for-profit clean energy provider that gets their energy from solar and wind and that my city council voted to go 100% green starting 2021. Now it’s time to go back to an electric car so my transportation is carbon neutral (and of course to start getting more engaged in the political process). Suffice it to say I learned a lot from this book and I highly recommend everyone to read it. Climate change is everyone’s problem and the only way we’re going to fix it is by working together.
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra: This is my first book of fiction so far this year. As you can see from my reading history I’m not much of a fiction reader. And I’m not sure how this got on my library holds list, but wow this book just took my breath away. It’s one of the most beautifully written novels I’ve read in a long time. It’s based in Chechnya during the First and Second Chechen wars, which were fought again Russia for Chechen independence (that ultimately failed). Reading some of the descriptions of these Chechen cities reminded me of the images I’ve seen of Ukraine in recent history. I can’t help but feel Russia is repeating history with Ukraine, and the devastation of war must stop. Hands-down this is one of the best novels I’ve read in a very long time, and I highly recommend it to everyone. It’s one of those book that haunts you long after finishing it.
The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking: After reading Wiking’s latest book The Art of Making Memories last month (which I enjoyed), I decided to go back and read all his books starting with his first. I remember this was a huge hit back when it was first published about 5 years ago, but I wasn’t reading much then thanks to the Airstream biz. If you haven’t read this book or heard about hygge yet (were you living under a rock lol, I kid), hygge (pronounced hoo-ga) is the feeling and atmosphere of cozy togetherness. Think of having a fireside chat with good friends with good comfort food in a room with dim light and dark furniture, with rain pattering against the windows. For me, hygge is camping with friends or our family Airstream trips. Anyway this was a fun and easy read all about the concept of hygge. I am all for hygge and am looking forward to bringing even more of it into my life now.
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee: I checked out this book from the library after hearing so much buzz about it on the internet. And wow I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to finish this 485 page tome, but I couldn’t put it down and read it in about a week. This is a story of multiple generations of Koreans living in Japan, spanning from Japan’s occupation of Korea (1910) to 1989, and the difficulties and racism they’ve faced as Korean-Japanese. As a Japanese-American with close ties to Japan (my family still lives there and I would spend all my summer and winters there as a child), I’m not surprised about the closed-mindedness of Japanese society. I think when a lot of people visit there, they’re treated so well when they’re tourists and thus everyone loves going to Japan (and think the Japanese are such gracious and kind people—which is not untrue). But Japanese society is also big on showing a good “face” and oftentimes their true feelings are often masked (and their treatment of foreigners who try to assimilate are usually different than how they treat visitors). Of course this is not true of everyone, and things have probably changed in the last 20 years. As for the book, it’s a great story but my heart still belongs with A Constellation of Vital Phenomena above.
Nicely Said: Writing for the web with style and purpose by Nicole Fenton and Kate Kiefer Lee: I picked up this book thinking it might make me a better blog writer, but really it’s for those who work as a copywriter for business websites. It’s a great guide for corporate writing, and definitely something I would pick up if I were to ever go in that career direction. But as a casual writer like myself, there weren’t a lot of great tips and it was a bit dry.
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner: Let me just say I see what all the fuss is about when it comes to this book. Zauner writes in a such a clear and honest way, and so much of her book really hit home for me. I understand some of what she went through being raised my an Asian immigrant mother: their strictness/need to control, their love conveyed through constant criticisms and never a complement, and the mix of their native tongue and English that leads to a variety of words or idioms that you grow up thinking are common when they’re not (in my case it was a mix of Japanese and English). I too had my difficult moments rebelling against my mother (though definitely not as extreme as Zauner’s), for which my mom holds against me to this day. But luckily for me, I still have my mom in my life (though at a distance in Hawaii) and we’ve gotten closer with the birth of my daughter. Now as a mother, I see that her parenting style is just what she knew best. At a time without the internet (and I’m pretty sure she never read any parenting books since I was raised in the “mother knows best and a slap on the leg as punishment if I did otherwise” school of parenting), and as a single mother, she did her best. I parent differently, and lucky for me I have a lot of resources at my fingertips, but I also plan to try my best (and that’s all a daughter can really ask for). Anyways sorry to have gone on about myself other than this book but suffice it to say this memoir has stirred a lot of personal feelings about my own relationship with my mother, not to mention the grief of losing a parent (in my case my father). On top of all that, this book had such wonderful descriptions of Korean food that I’ve been on a Korean food binge for the last week, and have consequently gone to H Mart to satisfy my cravings. 10/10 would recommend this book!
Couldn’t Finish
May Cause Miracles by Gabrielle Bernstein: This book was referenced in Quit Like A Woman, by Holly Whitaker, a book that I enjoyed and inspired me to better my life and continue being alcohol-free. So I thought I would read some of Whitaker’s source material, the book that changed her life, first hand. Unfortunately I could not get through this book (and I really hate to give-up on a book—I’ll read through most things even if I’m not that interested like Nicely Said above). But I just couldn’t deal with a book that gives the reader daily homework. Plus a lot of the “woo-woo” language it uses was a turn-off (and this is coming from someone who’s read and likes Eckhart Tolle books). In the end I decided to save my time and effort and move on.