Weekly Non-Fiction Reading List 11.21.22
This week, I finished 3 books from some great authors. There’s a book about what we can learn from debate and how to have better conversations. There’s also a moral philosophy book I read with my son. But the list starts with a book about wellness that I really didn’t like. Enjoy!
Each of the links to the books are affiliate links, so if you use my link to purchase any of these books, some comes back to support what I do (and it also helps fund my reading habit).
Who Is Wellness For?: An Examination of Wellness Culture and Who It Leaves Behind by Fariha Roisin
I really wish I could be kinder about this book, but I can’t. It had a lot of potential to be a great book, which is why I bought it, but it’s just not. Fariha Roisin wrote a book that’s part memoir and part commentary on the wellness industry and social inequality. She has a very touching, traumatic story, and she’s passionate about racial injustices and how it affects the mental health of people of color. When it comes to that topic, I’m glad she points out a ton of issues within the wellness and mental health issues.
The thing that made this book bad, which is unavoidable, is the amount of pseudoscience she pushes throughout the book. Basically, she believes it’s racist to think that science is what we should rely on when it comes to wellness. She doesn’t ever make a solid argument. She just says that if you don’t believe in chakras, energy healing and all this other woo woo stuff, then that’s a racist issue. That’s a major problem and I’m sure a lot of people are lacking proper mental health support from stuff like this.
Good Arguments: How Debate Teaches Us to Listen and Be Heard by Bo Seo
This was a surprisingly great book. I wasn’t sure what it was about, so I was pleasantly surprised. Bo Seo has been a debater his entire life. He joined the debate team at a young age and made it all the way to one of the best colleges in the USA for debate and traveled the world. In this book, he discusses the various aspects of debate and how we can use it to have better conversations in our life during these polarized times. I think more of us need to know how to debate properly, and I’m still learning myself, so I loved this book.
How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question by Michael Schur
This book just came out this year, and this was my second time reading it. I have a 13-year-old son, and I’ve been introducing him to books that will (hopefully) make him a better person. Michael Schur and his advisor Todd May did an incredible job breaking down moral philosophy in a way that anyone could understand. I wasn’t sure what my son would think about this book and the topic because philosophy can be a headache. He loved it, and I loved talking with him about it throughout our time reading it.
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