Weekly Non-Fiction Reading List 12.5.22

This week, I finished 4 books from some amazing authors. I read an incredible new book about the wellness industry, and I also reread a fantastic book from Oliver Burkeman. There’s also a book about the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer and one more about polarization, which was written by a conservative. 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).

Shame: How America's Past Sins Have Polarized Our Country by Shelby Steele

This book came so close to being decent on numerous occasions throughout the read, but it kept failing repeatedly. If you look at the title, clearly the author presents this book as though he’s going to explain why we’re polarized. Unfortunately, his entire thesis is “why that side polarized us and my side didn’t.” 

Shelby Steele is a Black conservative who grew up in the 60s and definitely experienced racism, which you learn due to this being a partial memoir. The book comes out the gate with a first chapter that’s the longest chapter, and it completely poisons the well. Throughout it’s entirety, he repeats over (and over and over and over) that the left doesn’t care about the truth or reality while giving maybe one example. This is a hack move for any author because you’re completely poisoning the well before you even try to argue your point.

The author argues that affirmative action and other race-based policies are actually holding Black people back. He makes a ton of great points that I’ve often contemplated, such as Black people being looked down upon as though they didn’t earn anything based on merit. He also has an interesting story about visiting Africa.

But although he makes some good arguments here and there, he keeps coming back to ridiculous conspiracy theories about the left and ends the book with one that made me audibly laugh out loud. He does this strange dot connecting saying that the left only tries to help Black people as an ultimate move for power and control based on moral authority.

It’s all really strange, and this could have been such a good book. I maybe would have enjoyed the book more if the title of the book wasn’t trying to act like it was about the overall polarization as a whole and not just do what we see every day, which is both sides blaming each other for the current mess we’re in.

The Gospel of Wellness: Gyms, Gurus, Goop, and the False Promise of Self-Care by Rina Raphael

This is easily one of the best books of the year. I didn’t have high expectations going into this book because I’ve read many books on the topic, but Rina Raphael did an excellent job. This book is about the wellness industry and the pseudoscientific products and practices pushed on people, but it’s much more than that. Raphael discusses how women are targeted by the wellness industry and how challenges in their lives make them drawn toward these products and methods. Whether it’s the need for a community, keeping up with the ideal body type or dealing with everyday stress, women are dealing with a lot. And the wellness industry is right there to take their money.

My favorite part of this book is how Rina discusses how our medical industry is failing women as well as how it’s even worse for women of color. Due to a lack of care from the medical industry, women are being pushed toward these wellness gurus, and we’re seeing a big lack of trust in modern medicine and science. 

Rina offers a ton of scientific research throughout the book as well as potential solutions. This is a must-read, and I really hope it’s getting the attention it deserves since it was released.

Arthur Schopenhauer: Knowledge Products (Giants of Philosophy) by Mark Stone

I’ll keep this one short and sweet. I’ve been curious about Schopenhauer’s philosophy and wanted a short and sweet intro. This did the trick. I’ll definitely read some more in-depth stuff at some point.

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

As I continued looking for books to help me with my mental health, I decided to read this book by Oliver Burkeman for a second time. I read an early copy of this book and was fortunate enough to have Arthur on my podcast when the book first came out. The second time reading it, I enjoyed it even more. This book is a great reminder of how we get so caught up in doing as much as possible and how time dictates our lives while we miss out on what really makes life meaningful. This book had some great tools and reminders in it, and I’ll definitely revisit it again when I need a refresher.

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