#BookReview

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reviewed Account Rendered by Melita Maschmann

Melita Maschmann: Account Rendered (Paperback, 2016, Plunkett Lake Press)

A cog in the Nazi machine

Autobiography of a woman who was a committed & diligent National Socialist (#Nazi), of her experience in youth work & propaganda, and her journey coming to terms with the truth of what she participated in. Description of the clinical dispossession of the Poles is disturbing (and new to me), as is the readiness with which everyday mediocre people were led into misguided beliefs, alternative facts & constrained thinking, to do prosaic work with horrifyingly evil outcomes.

Reading time 11 days, 26 pages/day

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reviewed Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (Earthseed, #1)

Octavia E. Butler: Parable of the Sower (Paperback, 2000, Warner Books)

In 2025, with the world descending into madness and chaos, one woman begins a fateful …

Prophetic for its time

Adapting & building community during social collapse. Prophetic for its time, remains unsettling. God as Change could be a genuinely useful belief system. Only half a book, with ending sudden & too convenient (there is a sequel).

Reading time 5 days, 62 pages/day

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reviewed Africa Is Not a Country by Dipo Faloyin

No cover

Dipo Faloyin: Africa Is Not a Country (2022, Penguin Random House)

Lively, enlightening & optimistic

Dismantles the many myths & prejudices outsiders hold about monolithic "Africa", along with a startling reminder of its colonial history and an overview of its many forms of dictatorship. Lively, enlightening & optimistic without being overly simplistic.

Reading time 6 days, 59 pages/day

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reviewed Wizard of the Crow by Ngugi wa Thiong'o

Ngugi wa Thiong'o: Wizard of the Crow (Paperback, 2007, Anchor)

From the exiled Kenyan novelist, playwright, poet, and literary critic--a magisterial comic novel that is …

Amusing & insightful but long

A satire of African dictatorships and coups. Nearly everyone is stupid, superstitious or greedy. Lightly amusing & insightful but exceeedingly long.

Reading time 24 days, 32 pages/day

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reviewed Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (2016, Scholastic)

Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (also known as Alice Through the Looking-Glass …

reviewed White Tears Brown Scars by Ruby Hamad

Ruby Hamad: White Tears Brown Scars (2020, Orion Publishing Group, Limited)

For readers of White Fragility, White Tears/Brown Scars is an explosive book of history and …

reviewed Eat My Shadow by Linda Cockburn

Linda Cockburn: Eat My Shadow (Paperback, 2022, Together Press)

20 years ago the world went quiet. Father is suspended between the living world and …

Climate collapse close to home

Post-climate apocalypse in #HuonValley & #Hobart. Mostly believable (ex-PM was a caricature, and questionable lack of planning for expedition) with survivors being both humane & loving, but also merciless when called for. Unnerving to see local area in this light.

Reading time 7 days, 47 pages/day

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