18 books
—
137 voters
to-read
(578)
currently-reading (4)
read (446)
did-not-finish (0)
started-but-abandoned (9)
tournament-of-books-2018 (18)
currently-reading (4)
read (446)
did-not-finish (0)
started-but-abandoned (9)
tournament-of-books-2018 (18)
tournament-of-books-2013
(16)
tournament-of-books-2012 (14)
tournament-of-books-2023 (14)
tournament-of-books-2024 (14)
tournament-of-books-2015 (13)
tournament-of-books-2014 (12)
tournament-of-books-2012 (14)
tournament-of-books-2023 (14)
tournament-of-books-2024 (14)
tournament-of-books-2015 (13)
tournament-of-books-2014 (12)
The rule makers don’t want us to know each other in real life, they want us to know “of” each other only, and fearfully at that; you’ll see it on the nightly news in every region. Meeting, in person, as many people as possible is what
...more
“If we now want to nudge our country back in that direction, we might begin by embracing a principle that seemed self-evident to Americans a century ago, but is less widely acknowledged today: Our collective public education benefits us all.”
― The Years That Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us
― The Years That Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us
“History isn't a premade tapestry that we've got to suffer, a closed world with no exit. We can form it. Make it. We just have to choose to make it.”
― Babel
― Babel
“And so we must imagine a new country. Reparations—by which I mean the full acceptance of our collective biography and its consequences—is the price we must pay to see ourselves squarely. The recovering alcoholic may well have to live with his illness for the rest of his life. But at least he is not living a drunken lie. Reparations beckon us to reject the intoxication of hubris and see America as it is—the work of fallible humans. Won’t reparations divide us? Not any more than we are already divided. The wealth gap merely puts a number on something we feel but cannot say—that American prosperity was ill gotten and selective in its distribution. What is needed is an airing of family secrets, a settling with old ghosts. What is needed is a healing of the American psyche and the banishment of white guilt. What I’m talking about is more than recompense for past injustices—more than a handout, a payoff, hush money, or a reluctant bribe. What I’m talking about is a national reckoning that would lead to spiritual renewal. Reparations would mean the end of scarfing hot dogs on the Fourth of July while denying the facts of our heritage. Reparations would mean the end of yelling “patriotism” while waving a Confederate flag. Reparations would mean a revolution of the American consciousness, a reconciling of our self-image as the great democratizer with the facts of our history”
― We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy
― We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy
“Pain is usually essential to healing. When it comes to healing America of racism, we want to heal America without pain, but without pain, there is no progress.”
― How to Be an Antiracist
― How to Be an Antiracist
“An America that asks what it owes its most vulnerable citizens is improved and humane. An America that looks away is ignoring not just the sins of the past but the sins of the present and the certain sins of the future. More important than any single check cut to any African American, the payment of reparations would represent America’s maturation out of the childhood myth of its innocence into a wisdom worthy of its founders.”
― We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy
― We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy
The Rooster!
— 307 members
— last activity Feb 26, 2019 11:53PM
Tournament of books commentariat, all year long!
Tournament of Books
— 2361 members
— last activity 18 hours, 40 min ago
This book group was established for those interested in participating in The Morning News's Tournament of Books. Please do not feel the need to finish ...more
Neil’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Neil’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Polls voted on by Neil
Lists liked by Neil































































