Task #14: A book of social science

[Amanda]

Mona wrote: "Amanda wrote: "I believe I will go with Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal for this one. I also need motivation to stop eating this junk."

That book should do the..."
Excellent, that's what I'm hoping for😁

[Renee]

I read The Anatomy of Motive by John Douglas. It was most informative.

[Barbara]

I went with Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools for this task. None of the information in it was all that surprising, but having it all laid out in one place with the personal stories of the girls and young women she interviewed made it very powerful.

[[deleted user]]

I went with Nomadland : surviving America in the twenty-first century by Jessica Bruder. It was a really interesting read and quite disturbing. After reading this book, about people living out of cars, vans, RVs, and trucks and traveling around to work in low wage jobs, I want to save every penny I have, never retire and I look at RVs and other vans in a whole new light. I have also started looking at places where I would park my car overnight if I ever had to live in my car!

[Tammy]

Maureen wrote: "I went with Nomadland : surviving America in the twenty-first century by Jessica Bruder. It was a really interesting read and quite disturbing. After reading this book, about people living out of c..."

Thanks for this review, Maureen. It sounds interesting! It makes me think of the book The Big Tiny: A Built-It-Myself Memoir, for some reason- which is probably pretty different but a good read nonetheless.

[Megan]

would Women Who Run with the Wolves work?

[Julie]

I read When the English Fall by David Williams. While it is fiction, it certainly falls into this category. It is told from the eyes of an Amish man, and it really makes you think about how people in America act when disasters strike.

[Maggie]

I'm reading A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America for this task and so far I'm finding it very fascinating.

[Leslie]

I read No One Cares About Crazy People: My Family and the Heartbreak of Mental Illness in America for this category. Very interesting, especially given the current discussions surrounding those with mental illness.

[Karen]

Megan wrote: "would Women Who Run with the Wolves work?"

Yes, it falls in the Dewey Decimal Class 300 -- Social Sciences. Just makes it at 398.082 (Customs, etiquette, and folklore.

[Christy]

I'm reading Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America (305.8) for this.

[Lauren]

I read The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu Goldratt (at a college's urging at work).

[Barbara]

Finished reading Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. Thought provoking, enlightening, timely, and well written. I highly recommend it.

[Jessie]

I just finished Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card and I'm wondering if this would count as social science? It's a memoir about a girl who finds out she's an "illegal alien" from Iran and her and her family's journey to become American citizens. It talks about Iranian culture and American culture too.

[Mya]

Jessie wrote: "I just finished Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card and I'm wondering if this would count as social science? It's a memoir about a girl who finds out she's an "illegal alien" f..."

I think it's more of a memoir. While any given memoir may touch on a range of social sciences, they are more about the individual, & less about an aspect, or aspects, of society-at-large.

[Joy]

I think the nature of that memoir is very much social science - politics, immigration policies, sociology. Sometimes we seem to get stuck on a specific type of nonfiction for this task. In my opinion, memoir and fiction also educate and explore issues and fit this task.

[Bonnie G.]

So many perspectives. I would consider a social science book one that includes the science part of social science, i.e, exposition and analysis of data complied using approved methodologies. Traditional memoir and fiction don't do that, though many, if not most, personal stories certainly deal with social issues. Also, most books about politics or public policy are definitely not social science (or even political science) books. They are just books about politics unless they address an issue is a scientific manner.

[Brent]

I'm listening to the audiobook of god is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, read by Hitch himself!

[Jessie]

Thanks Mya, Joy and Bonnie. I'm going to pencil it in for now and if I read a different one I'll put that on there!

[Eujean2]

I am doing this challenge with books and with graphic novels. I thought I was just going to have to be creative with my social science graphic novel, but I just found out that the San Francisco public library categorizes The Influencing Machine: Brooke Gladstone on the Media in the social sciences (302.23).

[Mya]

Mona wrote: "Book Riot published their post about this task today:
https://bookriot.com/2018/02/08/read-...

I looked up their picks in the library catalog and many are not in the 300s. ..."

The Dewey Decimal system is a limited way of deciding if a book counts as a book of social science. Knowing a book is shelved in the 300s in one way to decide it counts. However there are multiple social sciences shelved in other places. History & geography are in the 900s. Linguistics is in the 410s. Psychology - 150. Etc.

It may be simpler to look at the wikipedia entry on the subject & see if your book falls within one of the disciplines they list.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline...

[Deb]

I am thinking of something by Malcolm Gladwell. Probably Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking but maybe David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

[Cendaquenta]

Completed this with Women & Power: A Manifesto. :)

[Kate]

I just finished Text Me When You Get Home by Kayleen Schaefer. One of the subject headings is “Ethics of social relations” and the book is about female friendship. Can’t quite decide if it fits. Anyone else read it and have thoughts?

[Mya]

Kate wrote: "I just finished Text Me When You Get Home by Kayleen Schaefer. One of the subject headings is “Ethics of social relations” and the book is about female friendship. Can’t quite decide if it fits...."

How people interact is key to sociology & social science, so it fits. :)

[Kate]

Mya wrote: "Kate wrote: "I just finished Text Me When You Get Home by Kayleen Schaefer. One of the subject headings is “Ethics of social relations” and the book is about female friendship. Can’t quite decide i..."

Thanks! I had hoped so since I was having a heck of a time coming up with anything I wanted to read that fit this challenge. I can't say I loved the book but it coincidentally fit the bill :)

[Ashley]

I read In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom for a book club and I'm having trouble fitting it in to a category, but I feel like it fits this as it covers politics, law, geography, and economics.

[Melissa]

Right now I'm reading The Feminist's Guide to Raising a Little Princess by Devorah Blachor. I didn't originally pick it up for this task but now that I'm reading it I wonder if it would fit. It is primarily a parenting book to be sure but it also goes into child psychology and talks about different academic studies on princess culture and its impacts. So now I'm wondering if it could count for this task. What do you guys think?

[Mya]

Melissa wrote: "Right now I'm reading The Feminist's Guide to Raising a Little Princess by Devorah Blachor. I didn't originally pick it up for this task but now that I'm reading it I wonder if it would fit. It is ..."

How a society treats its children, including expectations & interactions, is very much sociology, & I perceive sociology as the eponymous social science. :)

[Kristin]

I am leaning heavily towards Bunk: The True Story of Hoaxes, Hucksters, Humbug, Plagiarists, Forgeries, and Phonies. I was actually a little surprised that no one else had mentioned it.

LOC call numbers for social sciences start with an H. It has an LOC call number starting with BJ (Ethics) so I have been arguing with my brain about whether this is a social science book. Personally I would call all of the topics under B Social Sciences as well; Psychology, Philosophy, Religion, Ethics, etc...

Any opinions on this?

[Mya]

Kristin wrote: "I am leaning heavily towards Bunk: The True Story of Hoaxes, Hucksters, Humbug, Plagiarists, Forgeries, and Phonies. I was actually a little surprised that no one else had mentioned..."

I'm not familiar wit the LOC call numbers, but I know that saying a book has to be in the 300s of the Dewey decimal system limits out a lot of books that are also within the realm of the social sciences. History, geography, linguistics, & psychology are examples of social sciences that have call numbers outside the 300s.

As for Bunk: The True Story of Hoaxes, Hucksters, Humbug, Plagiarists, Forgeries, and Phonies, I think it sounds very apt for this challenge. It also sounds really interesting. I have had Kevin Young's poetry on my to-read shelf for a while, & didn't know he also wrote non-fiction.

[Hafsa | حفصہ]

Changed my choice from The Vagina Monologues (was under 900s, apparently I was far off) to A Room of One's Own since that falls in the 300s in DDC... looking forward to reading it!

[Melissa]

Just dropping in to recommend What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia for anyone has read Hillbilly Elegy and/or would like to read a response to it. It may be a little inaccessible for folks who don't know much about the region, but Catte does a great job of exposing the horrible origins of many of Vance's arguments and other misconceptions about the area and its people.

[Kristin]

Mya wrote: "Kristin wrote: "I am leaning heavily towards Bunk: The True Story of Hoaxes, Hucksters, Humbug, Plagiarists, Forgeries, and Phonies..."

Thanks Mya! I actually found this while putting together a poetry display and it looked really interesting. He has a couple non fiction books, but yes, mostly poetry. :) I say put the poetry books somewhere you are and sometimes need something short to read. It's not like you have to finish a poetry book all at once.

[[deleted user]]

I read The Theory of the Leisure Class by Thorstein Veblen for this task

[Cyndi]

Would the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks work for this challenge?

[Ashley]

Kari wrote: "I'm from Canada and looking to do a Canadian read on this one, but not too sure what counts as a "social science" book...I'm thinking of [book:Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths ..."

Definitely counts.

[Megan]

I just realized that a book I finished earlier this year counted, so I'm using Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit for this prompt. One of the books I'm currently reading, American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land by Monica Hesse, also fits this one, but I'm planning to use it for the "true crime" prompt.

[Candace]

Hey all! Do you think Hillbilly Elegy could count for this task?

[Mya]

Candace wrote: "Hey all! Do you think Hillbilly Elegy could count for this task?"

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis is a memoir, not social science. If it's the region that interests you, What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia, written by historian Elizabeth Catte, would count.

[Candace]

Mya wrote: "Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis is a memoir, not social science. If it's the region that interests you, What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia, written by historian Elizabeth Catte, would count. ."

Thanks! I'm adding this to my list.

[Cyndi]

Will Hispanics/Latinos in the United States: Ethnicity, Race, and Rights work for this challenge?

[Bonnie G.]

Candace wrote: "Mya wrote: "Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis is a memoir, not social science. If it's the region that interests you, What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia, written ..."

That is a great choice. You might also want to check out White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America

[Bonnie G.]

Cyndi wrote: "Will Hispanics/Latinos in the United States: Ethnicity, Race, and Rights work for this challenge?"

I have not read it, but it certainly sounds perfect for the prompt.

[Cyndi]

Thank you!

Bonnie wrote: "Cyndi wrote: "Will Hispanics/Latinos in the United States: Ethnicity, Race, and Rights work for this challenge?"

I have not read it, but it certainly sounds perfect for the prompt."

[Lauconn]

I just finished The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness for this prompt, and let me recommend it unreservedly. It's an insightful, depressing, well-researched look at how the "War on Drugs" has served to perpetuate the oppression of Jim Crow.

[Kerri]

Mya wrote: "Candace wrote: "Hey all! Do you think Hillbilly Elegy could count for this task?"

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis is a memoir, not social science. If it..."

According to the publisher and libraries (the call number is in the 300's-social sciences), it is social science. It is the book that I read for this task.

[Mya]

According to the publisher and libraries (the call number is in the 300's-social sciences), it is social science. ...."

My library does not shelve it with social sciences, but with biographies & memoirs, and the title of the book states that it is a memoir. The author is not a social scientist of any flavor, but a venture capitalist & lawyer from Yale. In addition, he grew up in Middletown, OH, which is almost to Indiana, & not in any of the counties of the Appalachian Regional Commission.

However, there are a couple hundred people on Goodreads who have shelved it as social science, it's an interesting book, & if it satisfies you for the challenge, that's cool. It's everyone's challenge to personalize. :)

[Harper]

Am wrote: "Jenica wrote: "Also, do books about feminism count? Because both Bad Feminist and Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture are on my owned TBR. I fe..."

Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture is a great book! Super highly recommended!!

[Harper]

I read Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage. It was an interesting, short book about single mothers in poor neighborhoods in Philadelphia. I felt like it challenged my viewpoints on the meanings of family and relationships. I'll be thinking about this book and its arguments for a long time. The author, Kathryn Edin, has done other interesting work on poverty in America.