Weekly Non-Fiction Reading List 1.22.24
This week, we have four books from some incredible authors. The list starts with two of my new favorite books. The first one is all about separating the art from the artist, and the second book is about why bad feelings may be a good thing. We also have a book about dealing with being a perfectionist as well as a mindfulness book. Enjoy!
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Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Dederer
I’m so grateful that I randomly came across this book. I haven’t read any of Claire’s previous work, but as soon as I read the title and synopsis, I knew I had to grab a copy. One of the greatest dilemmas many of us face is whether or not we can separate the art from the artist. Too often this is turned into a black-and-white conversation, but as you learn from this book by Claire Dederer, it’s much more complex and nuanced than that.
I didn’t know how Dederer was going to write an entire book on this topic, but she nailed it. Not only is she an incredible writer, but she’s very insightful and philosophical throughout the book, which I absolutely loved. This book gave the author room to really dive into nuances of specific instances of “monsters” like Roman Polanski, Pablo Picasso, Hemingway, Sylvia Plath, Michael Jackson, and so many more.
Dederer discusses the inner turmoil she has consuming the art by some of these people while discussing her own trauma of abuse while also loving art. She also forces the reader to take a look at themselves and realize that all of us are monsters, which then dives into the interesting topic of capitalism and how it’s difficult/impossible to be ethical in a capitalist system.
I could go on about this book for days, but I think Dederer did an incredible job of making it clear how abhorrent some of the crimes these artists committed were while also discussing our role as the consumers of art. Her final thoughts on the topic really bring everything together, and I really hope a ton of people read this book.
Dancing with the Devil: Why Bad Feelings Make Life Good by Krista K. Thomason
I was so excited when I learned that Krista K. Thomason had a new book out. She’s an extremely thoughtful philosopher who discusses topics that I don’t see from anyone else. As far as this book goes, it quickly became one of my new all-time favorite books.
I’ve been sober for 12 years and got sober through 12-step meeting. In addition to that, I’ve been practicing mindfulness, going to therapy, and reading self-help books of all sorts. At a certain point, you can feel like a “failure” for still experiencing negative emotions, but Krista brings a whole new perspective on the topic.
At the start of the book, she relates negative emotions to worms in soil. They may seem bad, but they may be doing some good. After laying a foundation, each chapter in the second half of this book discusses different emotions such as anger, envy, jealousy, spite, and contempt. Krista gives the perspective of many philosophers while also giving her thoughts as well as personal experiences.
This is the first book I’ve read in a while that gives permission to experience some of these negative emotions that are part of the human experience. Krista does explain how these emotions can cause additional suffering in our lives, but she also offers advice for how to tame them. But best of all, she discusses how we can just let some of these emotions be and explains why it’s fine if we experience some of these negative emotions now and then and sometimes their a call to action to make a change.
This is a book that I know I’ll revisit again and again. I could have easily finished this book in a day, but I decided to take little breaks from it to give it time to really soak in as I thought on each of the chapters. If I’m being totally honest, I’ll probably read it again this year. Fantastic read.
The Perfection Trap: Embracing the Power of Good Enough by Thomas Curran
Many of us like to label ourselves perfectionists, and of those of us who hold that label, we also know that it’s not necessarily a good thing. In this excellent book by Thomas Curran, he discusses his research into perfectionism and explains how a lot of this boils down to our personal insecurities as well as a screwed up capitalist system. The first half of this book is for the reader and offers some great insight into why we’re perfectionists and what we can do about it.
The second half really digs into the competitiveness of late-stage capitalism. Curran discusses our need to keep up with the Joneses, the insane competition of higher education, and the job market. He really helps open up the reader’s eyes as to how we’ve been conditioned to consume due to our need for perfection and how it feeds this screwed-up system that’s keeping us all sick. This was an excellent book, and you should definitely get a copy.
No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering by Thich Nhat Hanh
This was another great short one from Thich Nhat Hanh. He’s an excellent mindfulness teacher, and this book focuses on the inevitable suffering we all face and how to deal with it. There’s some great wisdom in this book along with some helpful mindfulness practices.
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