#nonewbooks2019 and #100📚2020
By: Sean Estelle
Tags: Dsa, New Years Resolutions, Books, Goodreads, 2020

About a month ago, I made peace with the fact I wasn’t going to hit my goal of 100 books this year. I would have had to read a book every 1.5 days in order to do that, and I knew I would rather focus on enjoying what I was reading at the moment and re-assessing at the end of the year.

I had a two-part goal for reading (which was also my sole New Year’s Resolution this year): not to buy any books for the whole year, and to read 100 books (whether mine, the library’s, or friends’). I hit the first part of that goal out of the park — the only content I bought this year was a print issue of Jacobin; and I came close with the second part of the goal — 85 books in total.

This was a huge year of change — I transitioned out of my non-profit youth organizing job after more than 4 years of working there; I moved from a comfortable Logan Square apartment I had lived in for 4 years to a new place in Bridgeport, a neighborhood I had spent almost no time in; and, I was elected to the leadership body of the largest socialist organization in the United States in nearly a century on a mandate of building a socialist #GreenNewDeal program and a strong national organization. And somehow, in between all of that, I was able to read more than I’ve ever read in a single year (that I can remember/have tracked!)Not to be too corny with the ‘pointing out organizing lessons from life’, but setting a goal and working towards it really does make a huge difference, even if you don’t make that goal.

I definitely prioritized breadth over depth — which, frankly, has been the case since the 2016 election. That slap in the face made me realize that there’s still a lot I need to learn about politics, economics, and the way the world works in order to have a grasp on the material conditions that we’re trying to influence with our strategies for change. For me that looks like listening to 20+ podcasts instead of music on a daily basis, and having my non-fiction wildly outweigh my fiction intake, and making peace with the fact that I am going to be the person introduced at the party as the ‘organizer who used to be an artist’ and I’ll probably never go back to a balance of both.

I don’t read very many books that I don’t enjoy, but there were definitely some highlights this year that were personally enjoyable (and that I think should be read by others). So, in no particular order, here are my highlights from the year:

Thanks GoodReads Books for the page count!

Cixin Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past Trilogy — This trilogy (made up of The Three Body Problem, The Dark Forest, and Death’s End) was a blast to read, although the tone and pacing varied wildly throughout. A great deep-dive into Chinese science fiction (to whatever extent that is or is not its own ‘genre’), it moves from first contact to something beyond your wildest imagination.

This trilogy (made up of The Three Body Problem, The Dark Forest, and Death’s End) was a blast to read, although the tone and pacing varied wildly throughout. A great deep-dive into Chinese science fiction (to whatever extent that is or is not its own ‘genre’), it moves from first contact to something beyond your wildest imagination. Taylor Branch’s America During the King Years Trilogy — This trilogy (made up of Parting the Waters, Pillar of Fire, and At Canaan’s Edge) was the main reason why I didn’t make it to my goal this year, because it’s over 3000 pages in length. But, if you have the patience to read it, do. You’ll see the big picture and the daily insecurities that comprise the considerations necessary in building a movement.

This trilogy (made up of Parting the Waters, Pillar of Fire, and At Canaan’s Edge) was the main reason why I didn’t make it to my goal this year, because it’s over 3000 pages in length. But, if you have the patience to read it, do. You’ll see the big picture and the daily insecurities that comprise the considerations necessary in building a movement. American War, by Omar El-Akkad — I wish more journalists decided to hop over to fiction, because this book felt like it was ripped from the headlines. Only recommended for folks like myself that enjoy reading work more dystopic than the current reality for whatever reason.

I wish more journalists decided to hop over to fiction, because this book felt like it was ripped from the headlines. Only recommended for folks like myself that enjoy reading work more dystopic than the current reality for whatever reason. Stolen: How to Save The World from Financialisation, by Grace Blakeley — Easily the most important book I’ve read on financialization and the financial crisis — mostly because it lays things out in such a clear, no-nonsense narrative style while also leaving lots of time at the end to propose specific solutions. Although Labour may not have won this round electorally, I’m excited to see what comes from the program laid out in this book.

Easily the most important book I’ve read on financialization and the financial crisis — mostly because it lays things out in such a clear, no-nonsense narrative style while also leaving lots of time at the end to propose specific solutions. Although Labour may not have won this round electorally, I’m excited to see what comes from the program laid out in this book. Dhalgren, by Samuel Delany OR Black Leopard, Red Wolf, by Marlon James — The reason I’m putting both of these together and recommending you choose one is because they both read like an extended (900 pages for Delany, 620 for James) hallucination that will give you nightmares, guaranteed. They both happen to be by Black men and are deeply influenced by Black myth/storytelling traditions, but also have entirely different settings/plots/worlds that are built. That being said, though, there’s some kind of connecting thread about the animal nature of human existence and how we can, or can’t, survive it without going crazy.

The reason I’m putting both of these together and recommending you choose one is because they both read like an extended (900 pages for Delany, 620 for James) hallucination that will give you nightmares, guaranteed. They both happen to be by Black men and are deeply influenced by Black myth/storytelling traditions, but also have entirely different settings/plots/worlds that are built. That being said, though, there’s some kind of connecting thread about the animal nature of human existence and how we can, or can’t, survive it without going crazy. We Make The Road By Walking, by Myles Horton & Paulo Freire AND A Planet to Win by Kate Aronoff, Alyssa Battistoni, Daniel Aldana Cohen, and Thea Riofrancos AND Ella Baker & The Black Freedom Movement by Barbara Ransby — These three were the books that I read this year that every organizer must read next year. Ransby lays out a deeply political biography of a crucial organizer that built a movement we should all draw inspiration from; Horton + Freire have a book-length conversation about the methodology for how to weave eduction + movement-building together in dialogic unity; and the GND crew lay out the program for an ecosocialist politic that can actually put us on the path to climate justice without a martyr complex.

These three were the books that I read this year that every organizer must read next year. Ransby lays out a deeply political biography of a crucial organizer that built a movement we should all draw inspiration from; Horton + Freire have a book-length conversation about the methodology for how to weave eduction + movement-building together in dialogic unity; and the GND crew lay out the program for an ecosocialist politic that can actually put us on the path to climate justice without a martyr complex. New York 2140 OR Red Moon, by Kim Stanley Robinson — Every leftist should be reading a lot more science fiction, and KSR is arguably the best leftist science fiction author. Both of these, his two most recent works, are not nearly as good as the Mars Trilogy (which I read in 2017), but both are arguably still worth reading — one for the post-climate disaster adaptation realism, and the other for its gripping plot (but not its Orientalist undertones).

There were so many other good books I read this year — The Shock Doctrine, Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism, The Making of Global Capitalism, At The Dark End of The Street, No Shortcuts, Our Common Wealth, A Little Life, Our History Is the Future, Marxism and Politics, Red State Revolt, and The Great Derangement stand out as highlights — but I don’t want to just rehash the reviews I posted on Goodreads/Instagram all year long.

When I started the year, I stayed off social media for over a month to get a jump on reading, solely posting my reviews. This felt like a good practice overall, but this technology really has imprinted so deep into the way that we interact with each other on a basic level that it feels impossible to stay off and still have a connection to what’s happening in my city and my political/social sphere.

Although I didn’t meet my goal this year, I’m setting basically the same goal for 2020:

100 books in one year — #100📚2020

It feels like this will be a good way to start a new decade — continuing an extended sprint to read a lot of the books I already own, falling in love with the library, and focusing on building the concentration necessary for extended study. It won’t be easy to maintain a serious relationship, a Presidential election year, a growing political organization, bills and more- but it’s a goal that feels worth setting. We’ll see if I meet it this time around.