9. A book about a problem facing society today

[Sara]

Oh my...where to even start! One of the books on my list to read is The Hate U Give. I have it checked out of the library right now, but I may save it for next year.

[Ruth]

Ugh. Right now I'm reading an ARC of Shots Fired! Would have been perfect. I'll find another good one though.

[Marilyn]

The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus

[Tara]

Flight behaviour is good, it's about climate change and is a really interesting perspective

[Michelle]

I have 2 books on my TBR list that would cover this. Will see which one I can get hold of.

Make Way for the Superhumans: How the science of bio enhancement is transforming our world, and how we need to deal with it


A Crack in Creation: The New Power to Control Evolution

[Tytti]

This might be a prompt that I would have a hard time with, so I will probably just skip it. I can't really think of an problem which would be easily defined and I don't want to read about unemployment or something like that. I get enough of that from the news.

[Tara]

The Dorito effect and so you've been publicly shamed would both work for this as well

[Kenya]

10:04 by Ben Lerner.

[Catie]

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is another good choice.

[Naomi]

I am going to read This Is Where It Ends for this one.

[Chinook]

I’m so excited for this one! I think I will read something about race relations, poverty or the environment. Maybe the refugee crisis.

[Bridgette]

Here are a few ideas:

Books about poverty
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

Books about sexual assault/rape culture
Asking for It: The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture and What We Can Do about It
Asking For It
Unsportsmanlike Conduct: College Football and the Politics of Rape
Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town
Beyond Blurred Lines: Rape Culture in Popular Media

Books about the opioid epidemic
Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic
American Pain: How a Young Felon and His Ring of Doctors Unleashed America's Deadliest Drug Epidemic
Opium: A History
Drug Dealer, MD: How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked, and Why It's So Hard to Stop
Narconomics: How to Run a Drug Cartel
Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction
Tweak: Growing Up On Methamphetamines

[Tara]

What about Still Alice by Lisa Genova? That's a great book!

[Kristy]

I just finished Dear Martin. It’s a YA book. Super short and easy to read, but very powerful. I loved it.

I have Who We Be on my kindle, so I’m going to use that for this category.

[Whitney]

Does anybody have any good recommendations for books about the mass shooting epidemic we're currently experiencing? Everything that's happening lately in the world has me worried and confused, and I'd like a better understanding of it all.

[Tara]

Whitney they're fiction and not set specifically now but We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver and Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult are both about school shootings. I hated WNTTAK but it was popular.

[Tara]

For non fiction Gunfight: the battle over the right to bear arms in America by adam winkler is supposed to be really good

[Whitney]

Tara wrote: "Whitney they're fiction and not set specifically now but We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver and Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult are both about school shootings. I hated WNTTAK but it wa..."

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize the categories were fiction. Thank you for letting me know and for the recommendations. I'll be looking into them! :)

[Tara]

No you misunderstood , I meant that the books I recommended are about that but they are fiction so if you're looking for non fiction then they may not be what you're looking for :)

[Chrissy]

Whitney wrote: "I didn't realize the categories were fiction..."

Whitney, you can read either fiction or nonfiction for this prompt. I think the issue of gun violence is a great idea for this prompt, though - I'll be looking for something too.

[Lily]

Perhaps a slightly different slant on this prompt: have been involved in some discussion groups about the cultural divisions that seem to be riving the United States today. We watched together the TED talk linked below, which led naturally to the book by Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion, which I intend to read again in 2018 along with his The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom.

https://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_ha...

My curiosity: how will the ideas differ from Sara's suggestion of Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give ?

[Whitney]

Tara wrote: "No you misunderstood , I meant that the books I recommended are about that but they are fiction so if you're looking for non fiction then they may not be what you're looking for :)"

Omg, that makes sense. Thanks for clarifying lol. Clearly, I'm still pretty new to this group!

[Whitney]

Chrissy wrote: "Whitney wrote: "I didn't realize the categories were fiction..."

Whitney, you can read either fiction or nonfiction for this prompt. I think the issue of gun violence is a great idea for this prom..."

Chrissy,
Thanks for clearing that up for me! :) And I agree that it's a good choice, considering everything that's been happening lately.

[Kelly]

Fiction YA - Thirteen Reasons Why

Covers many topics facing teenagers today, the main one being teenage suicide. I will refrain from listing them all in case somehow you have not seen the Netflix TV series!

[Lindi]

Whitney wrote: "Does anybody have any good recommendations for books about the mass shooting epidemic we're currently experiencing? Everything that's happening lately in the world has me worried and confused, and ..."

I can't recommend it as I haven't read it myself, but I'm planning on reading The Second Amendment for this prompt. It seems to have great reviews and covers the gun debate in the United States.

[Conny]

In my efforts to try and stick to my TBR pile as much as I can (as opposed to getting even more new books), I am going to read Don't Tell by Karen Rose for this prompt, which is a thriller, but the plot hinges on violence against women and the story is centered at a women's shelter.

[Whitney]

Lindi wrote: "Whitney wrote: "Does anybody have any good recommendations for books about the mass shooting epidemic we're currently experiencing? Everything that's happening lately in the world has me worried an..."

Lindi,
I'll keep it in mind - thanks!

[Stina]

I think Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City is on a book club list for next year, so that will probably be my pick for this one.

[Taylor]

I would recommend The Hate U Give for anyone wanting to explore race relations, police brutality, gun violence, etc. It's a great read and 100% relevant to today's world unfortunately.

[Raquel (Silver Valkyrie Reads)]

Options for those who are specifically looking for something a little lighter. If you're up for tackling some of the really dark issues, then of course, go for it! But there are also options in between facing the very worst head on, and avoiding world issues completely.

(for obesity) The Secret Life of Fat: The Science Behind the Body's Least Understood Organ and What It Means for You

The Obesity Paradox: When Thinner Means Sicker and Heavier Means Healthier

(for technology use) Hands Free Life: 9 Habits for Overcoming Distraction, Living Better, and Loving More

Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better

(for consumerism) The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

[Naina]

I think I'll be using Fierce Kingdom for this prompt, since I have that book from Book of the Month and haven't had a chance to read it yet. Since it's about a shooting, it seems timely, sadly.

[Amy]

Wishtree is a new juvenile book by Katherine Applegate. It is about racism against Muslims.

[Christine]

I immediately thought of We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy.

But some other ideas are percolating as I read this thread:

Fat! So?: Because You Don't Have to Apologize for Your Size
Lessons from the Fat-o-sphere: Quit Dieting and Declare a Truce with Your Body
The Beauty Myth
The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women
All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood
Free-Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry

and of course there's always

Assholes: A Theory

[Monnie]

Whitney wrote: "Does anybody have any good recommendations for books about the mass shooting epidemic we're currently experiencing? Everything that's happening lately in the world has me worried and confused, and ..."


We Need To Talk About Kevin or Columbine.

[Jennifer]

Im thinking about Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance.

[Debbie]

Whitney wrote: "Does anybody have any good recommendations for books about the mass shooting epidemic we're currently experiencing? Everything that's happening lately in the world has me worried and confused, and ..."

I can't recommend Long Way Down enough, with this in mind. A boy loses his brother, so he decides to take an elevator down to avenge him, but, the elevator makes a whole bunch of stops along the way. It's YA, incredibly engrossing and powerful, and a quick read for adults (level-wise) - it's a verse novel.

Other books in my classroom library related to school shootings and our reactions to them (all fiction):
- The Hate U Give
- Homeboyz
- Give a Boy a Gun
- Mockingbird
- The Taking of Room 114

[Lisa]

A couple I am thinking about are Fast Food Genocide: How Processed Food is Killing Us and What We Can Do About It by Joel Fuhrman and Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer.

[Bridget]

Whitney wrote: "Does anybody have any good recommendations for books about the mass shooting epidemic we're currently experiencing? Everything that's happening lately in the world has me worried and confused, and ..."

A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of the Columbine Tragedy

[JoAnna]

Whitney wrote: "Does anybody have any good recommendations for books about the mass shooting epidemic we're currently experiencing? Everything that's happening lately in the world has me worried and confused, and ..."

I am reading "Another Day in the Death of America" by Gary Younge for this prompt. It is a look at gun violence in the US.

[JoAnna]

Bridget wrote: "Whitney wrote: "Does anybody have any good recommendations for books about the mass shooting epidemic we're currently experiencing? Everything that's happening lately in the world has me worried an..."

Another good one would be "We Need to Talk about Kevin" by Lionel Shriver.

[Shelly]

JoAnna wrote: "Bridget wrote: "Whitney wrote: "Does anybody have any good recommendations for books about the mass shooting epidemic we're currently experiencing? Everything that's happening lately in the world h..."

JoAnna: You might like [bookcover:Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. It is written in verse, so I'm not sure if it's your thing, but. . . .for me, the message and the mode are so powerful.

[Maia]

What about Small Great Things ? It tackles prejudice, race and justice. I really liked it.

[Chrissy]

What about Making Faces by Amy Harmon? I read it earlier this year. It's characters deal with the aftermath of 9/11. It's a very powerful and touching book.

[Alicia]

Tytti wrote: "This might be a prompt that I would have a hard time with, so I will probably just skip it. I can't really think of an problem which would be easily defined and I don't want to read about unemploym..."

I hope you come back and read everyone else's responses because there are so many more things going on in just the US alone. There are even a few fiction books that would work for this prompt.

[Alicia]

A Million Little Pieces

[Tytti]

Alicia wrote: "I hope you come back and read everyone else's responses because there are so many more things going on in just the US alone."

But I am not American. I live in the most stable country in the world and whatever problems we may have now, most things have probably been worse before and are now getting better (and many problems have been a LOT bigger, like the whole country facing famine). I can think of plenty of issues facing USA but here even the drug problem was worse after WWII. The presidential election is coming and the biggest problem seems to be that our current president is too popular (80% would vote now) and will win them easily, so there is no healthy debate. Also I have been hearing about problems facing other countries and societies all my life, so I can't think of an issue that would interest me enough at the moment (and which would have books available to choose from).

[Shelly]

Tytti wrote: "Alicia wrote: "I hope you come back and read everyone else's responses because there are so many more things going on in just the US alone."

But I am not American. I live in the most stable countr..."

Almost half of Finnish women - 47 percent - reported having experienced physical and/or sexual violence since the age of 15, compared to a Europe-wide average of 33 percent.

[Tara]

Global warming is affecting everywhere. Flight behaviour by Barbara kingsolver is a great fiction book about it

[Deb]

Tytti wrote:
But I am not American. I live in the most stable countr..."

I visited Finland a few years ago and loved it! So, I was surprised to find that seasonal depression was high there - it is linked to the high number of dark hours you get in winter, I am pretty sure I saw a book published in Sweden about this. Would that do?

Also, Finland is in the fascinating situation of having a lowering sea-level (rather than the rising one the rest of the world is facing), perhaps there is something about that? If you find a book on this topic I would love to hear about it too.

[Caitlin]

Lily wrote: "Perhaps a slightly different slant on this prompt: have been involved in some discussion groups about the cultural divisions that seem to be riving the United States today. We watched together the ..."

I like this thinking, the Jonathan Haidt book sounds very good and I would definitely count this. In fact I am, totally reading this one! Thanks you!