[This weekend on the Artblog Reader Advisor, we advise you to make like a middle-schooler and dig into some books. If you decide to buy one of our selections, don’t forget to start at http://smile.amazon.com/ch/27-2881264 so part of your purchase supports Artblog! Thanks. — the Artblog editors]
Summer Reading List!
Although I am skeptical that there are people who take the summer as an opportunity to read outside rather than to watch Netflix outside, I offer here a selection of recent and not-so-recent publications that would fit nicely into a tote bag headed for a nature-oriented environment.
By Ta-Nehisi Coates
“I’ve been wondering who might fill the intellectual void that plagued me after James Baldwin died. Clearly it is Ta-Nehisi Coates.” – Toni Morrison
By Harper Lee
The long awaited sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird. Apparently, Atticus Finch, years later, is revealed to be a racist old man. Many people are not happy because it spoils that morally uplifting capstone from that one time they thought about race in the the seventh grade.
By Toni Morrison
Speaking of Toni Morrison, this one is my favorite.
Tales for Little Rebels: A Collection of Radical Children’s Literature
Edited by Julia Mickenberg and Philip Nel
While most children’s literature carries a subtle yet elegant leftist streak (a book that wants you to share your toys is basically instilling the habit of Marxist distribution of resources), this collection of mostly out-of-print children’s fables provides its young readers with a more direct connection with collective action, civil rights, and environmental protection. From a chapter introduction: “In Revolt of the Beavers, two children aid the beavers in returning their exiled leader and liberating Beaverland from its corrupt Chief and his gang, securing ample food and clothes for all.”
By Kim Kardashian
I hear this photo book actually isn’t that bad.
