November's Musings Captured

November's Musings:
Well, I'm not happy with the election outcomes - I expect us to continue losing ground on women's rights, the environment, and international relations. The personal result is I'm feeling a need to be more politically active than I usually am. Not sure what that means yet - I have more power in my pen than anything else. I did go to some of the pre-war protests and peace vigils....

November's Reading Recommendations:
My reading recommendations for this month reflect my obsession with doing something - education and discussion are always key....
"Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books," by Azar Nafisi
I've been listening to this one tape. It's a delight - and scary. Azar Nafisi educates and inform about American literature, about how middle eastern countries view our literature, and about the beauty and horror of Iran (the good heart of many of the people, and the terror of the religious right running the country). The feeling of women who have been able to walk freely being forced to take the veil....a good strong read that illustrates the complexities of the war-torn middle east.
"An Ordinary Person's Guide to Empire," by Arundhati Roy
This is a time when politics matters. When we need to look beyond the boxes we've built ourselves into and search for different answers to the puzzle of how to create a sustainable world full of freedom and happiness. I don't agree with everything Arundhati has to say, and find some of her ideas overly simplistic. But I do agree with much of it, including her basic assessments of what is happening with the power in our current world set-up. She illustrates concepts and ideas clearly. More importantly, she has vision and voice. This is the kind of work that people all over the world should be reading and discussing, arguing about, thinking about, and contemplating.