We, the Data
Wendy H. Wong
In 'We, the Data,' Wendy H. Wong explores the profound impact of pervasive data collection—or 'datafication'—on fundamental human rights in the digital age. Through compelling examples like video doorbells and tenant screening, Wong reveals how our digital footprints, or 'sticky data,' challenge our autonomy, dignity, equality, and sense of community. She argues for a re-evaluation of human rights frameworks to address the power dynamics created by Big Tech and advocates for data literacy and collective action to ensure a more human-centered digital future.
Unmasking AI
Joy Buolamwini
In 'Unmasking AI,' Joy Buolamwini, a pioneering AI researcher and activist, recounts her journey from an MIT graduate student discovering algorithmic bias to a leading advocate for ethical AI. Through personal anecdotes, scientific exploration, and a call for algorithmic justice, Buolamwini exposes the 'coded gaze'—the embedded prejudices in AI systems—and reveals how these technologies can perpetuate discrimination, from facial recognition failures to harmful decision-making in critical sectors. This book is a powerful and urgent call to action, inviting readers to understand and reshape the future of AI to protect humanity.
Americanah
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Americanah is a sweeping and incisive novel that follows Ifemelu, a young Nigerian woman, as she navigates the complexities of race, identity, and belonging in America. After leaving military-ruled Nigeria for a promising academic career in the United States, Ifemelu discovers that her blackness is suddenly defined in new and unexpected ways. Through her insightful and often humorous blog, "Raceteenth or Various Observations About American Blacks (Those Formerly Known as Negroes) by a Non-American Black," she explores the nuances of race in America, while grappling with her own evolving sense of self. Meanwhile, her first love, Obinze, struggles with his own immigrant journey in London, facing the harsh realities of undocumented life. As their paths diverge and converge, the novel delves into themes of love, loss, ambition, and the enduring question of where one truly belongs.
Salvage the Bones
Jesmyn Ward
In the rural Mississippi Gulf Coast, fifteen-year-old Esch is pregnant and navigating a life of poverty, violence, and the raw, visceral love of her family. As her brother Skeetah obsessively trains his fighting pit bull, China, and their alcoholic father prepares for an impending hurricane, Esch grapples with her own burgeoning motherhood and the harsh realities of their existence. This powerful novel explores themes of resilience, survival, and the unbreakable bonds of family against the backdrop of an unforgiving landscape on the eve of Hurricane Katrina.
Wandering Stars
Tommy Orange
A powerful and sweeping multi-generational novel that delves into the enduring impact of historical trauma on Native American families. From the brutal realities of the Sand Creek Massacre and Indian boarding schools to the complexities of contemporary life in Oakland, the narrative intricately weaves together the lives of characters grappling with identity, addiction, and the profound search for belonging. It explores how the echoes of history shape individual destinies and the collective spirit of a people striving for survival and self-discovery.
What Not
Rose Macaulay
Set in a post-Great War Britain, this 'prophetic comedy' introduces a bureaucratic and absurd 'Ministry of Brains' tasked with regulating society's intelligence and reproduction. Through the eyes of Ivy Delmer, a naive typist, and Kitty Grammont, a sharp-wwitted pamphleteer, the novel satirizes government overreach, social engineering, and the very notion of 'improving' humanity. As the Ministry's influence grows, the characters navigate a world where personal freedom and individual thought are increasingly under scrutiny, raising profound questions about the future of society.
Season of Migration to the North
Tayeb Salih
After years of study in Europe, a young Sudanese narrator returns to his village along the Nile, only to encounter the enigmatic Mustafa Sa’eed, a man whose past in London reveals a shocking and violent clash of cultures, identity, and sexuality. Tayeb Salih's acclaimed novel delves into the profound complexities of postcolonialism, East-West relations, and the search for self amidst conflicting worlds, leaving the narrator to confront Mustafa's haunting legacy and his own place in a rapidly changing society.
The Annihilation of Caste
B.R. Ambedkar
Originally an undelivered speech from 1936, B.R. Ambedkar's 'The Annihilation of Caste' is a searing, intellectual indictment of the Hindu caste system. Ambedkar argues that caste is not merely a division of labor but a hierarchical division of laborers, deeply entrenched in religious scriptures and practices, and fundamentally incompatible with liberty, equality, and fraternity. He challenges the notion of gradual reform, asserting that true progress for India requires nothing less than the complete annihilation of caste and the religious beliefs that sanction it. This seminal work, famously debated with Mahatma Gandhi, remains a powerful and urgent call for radical social and religious transformation, exposing the profound injustices at the heart of Indian society.