Blog
95 books I plan to read in 2025
Here’s my New Year’s reading resolution. I scanned the 3,000 titles on my ‘to be read’ list and selected the ones I’ll prioritize in 2025.
Trans women frenemies mirror each other’s needs in this novel
June Martin’s debut novel ‘Love/Aggression’ showcases a tragedy of queer housemates. If you’ve had a housemate situation with a queer friend, you’ll recognize the pattern. A real-life incident feels this rude, this chaotic, this intense.
New year’s resolution: I’ll pare down my reading list — to just 50 books!
Transforming my ‘to be read’ list into an achievable goal. I’ve put effort into identifying those books, so I’d prefer that my list be useful. The point is to consult the list. If it’s enormous, it isn’t practical.
10 ways trans people are told we shouldn’t exist
Here’s why transphobia sounds like an eradication campaign. If someone were denying your gender, would you understand them as literally telling you to stop having your gender? Comply, and everything will be OK?
Do we shine a light into the dark ages…
…or does it illuminate what we know of ourselves? Gabriele and Perry’s ‘Bright Ages’. We might see a time that isn’t “isolated, savage, primitive,” but “messy and human.” Studying medieval Europe can teach us more about ourselves.
What do we talk about when we talk about vaccines?
The 2014 book ‘On Immunity’ by Eula Biss. ‘On Immunity’ reflects on the human immune system and on vaccination. There are broad philosophical implications: balance, safety, interdependence.
3 things I learned from ‘The Disordered Cosmos’
Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein’s 2021 book on physics and identity. Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein shares meta-insights about how science and society can prevent us from asking questions and obtaining insights. Who’s included?
Does Moll Flanders know whether her mother is cheerful?
The Gettier problem in Daniel Defoe’s novel. Moll’s justified true belief (“My mother was a mighty cheerful, good-humoured old woman”) wasn’t knowledge. The novelist put an irony there.
Toward a better epistemology: Why do we care about what we know?
A reaction to the ‘Gettier problem’. Maybe there isn’t just one definition of knowledge. Maybe every type of knowledge is related in a “family resemblance.” Some are propositions. Some aren’t.