Here are 100 books that Selfies fans have personally recommended if you like
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I have been a feminist for as long as I can remember. I recall seeing a billboard featuring Sophie Dahl sprawling on a sofa, completely naked. I recognized that I had no control over the images that dominate the visual landscape I inhabit, and I wanted to change this. These books might seem varied, but they all critique aspects of contemporary culture and offer ways to change things. In my academic writing and artwork, I examine these issues through a queer, feminist, and anti-capitalist lens, and these books offer a glimpse into the struggles that I think are important and the methods for change that I think could work.
To be honest, I could’ve picked any book by David Harvey–he writes about capitalism and how it affects people and the places we inhabit in a really accessible way. This brief introduction is a great way to get into his writing (a gateway book!). It is also a useful guide to thinking about contemporary issues with hope rather than despair.
Like the book by Ahmed, this one offers ideas for a socially just society, giving the reader solutions and not just problems. I think it is important when critiquing society to come up with tangible ways that we can move away from unequal systems to more equitable ones. This book makes change feel possible.
Neoliberalism - the doctrine that market exchange is an ethic in itself, capable of acting as a guide for all human action - has become dominant in both thought and practice throughout much of the world since 1970 or so. Its spread has depended upon a reconstitution of state powers such that privatization, finance, and market processes are emphasized. State interventions in the economy are minimized, while the obligations of the state to provide for the welfare of its citizens are diminished. David Harvey, author of 'The New Imperialism' and 'The Condition of Postmodernity', here tells the political-economic story of…
I have been a feminist for as long as I can remember. I recall seeing a billboard featuring Sophie Dahl sprawling on a sofa, completely naked. I recognized that I had no control over the images that dominate the visual landscape I inhabit, and I wanted to change this. These books might seem varied, but they all critique aspects of contemporary culture and offer ways to change things. In my academic writing and artwork, I examine these issues through a queer, feminist, and anti-capitalist lens, and these books offer a glimpse into the struggles that I think are important and the methods for change that I think could work.
I love this book because it is written in a poetic and accessible way to talk about a subject that I am really passionate about. It is genuinely a joy to read, and I couldn’t put it down. It also helped me when I was writing the conclusion of my book. I wanted to end on positive actions rather than a summary of everything that is wrong with the world.
Ahmed’s book is an instruction book and a call to arms. The conclusion is in two parts, and the first part, A Killjoy Survival Kit, contains a list of things that will make the feminist struggle easier to handle–including books by your favorite feminist. This one is definitely in my survival kit.
In Living a Feminist Life Sara Ahmed shows how feminist theory is generated from everyday life and the ordinary experiences of being a feminist at home and at work. Building on legacies of feminist of color scholarship in particular, Ahmed offers a poetic and personal meditation on how feminists become estranged from worlds they critique-often by naming and calling attention to problems-and how feminists learn about worlds from their efforts to transform them. Ahmed also provides her most sustained commentary on the figure of the feminist killjoy introduced in her earlier work while showing how feminists create inventive solutions-such as…
I have been a feminist for as long as I can remember. I recall seeing a billboard featuring Sophie Dahl sprawling on a sofa, completely naked. I recognized that I had no control over the images that dominate the visual landscape I inhabit, and I wanted to change this. These books might seem varied, but they all critique aspects of contemporary culture and offer ways to change things. In my academic writing and artwork, I examine these issues through a queer, feminist, and anti-capitalist lens, and these books offer a glimpse into the struggles that I think are important and the methods for change that I think could work.
This book appeals to me as both an academic and an artist. In my art practice, I critique gender stereotypes in commercial and commodity culture, and this book provides a brief history of advertising and why it is bad for societies, followed by brilliant creative case studies of activist artists and artworks.
It contains lots of images of poster campaigns and graphic designs that uncover the ways that adverts play with our fears and desires–a subject that I talk about in relation to body and beauty ideals in my book. The artists in this book are very clever and hugely talented, so the book is a constant source of inspiration.
Advertising Shits in Your Head calls adverts what they are—a powerful means of control through manipulation—and highlights how people across the world are fighting back. It diagnoses the problem and offers practical tips for a DIY remedy. Faced with an ad-saturated world, activists are fighting back, equipped with stencils, printers, high-visibility vests, and utility tools. Their aim is to subvert the adverts that control us.
With case studies from both sides of the Atlantic, this book showcases the ways in which small groups of activists are taking on corporations and states at their own game: propaganda. This international edition includes…
The constellation we know as Taurus goes all the way back to cave paintings of aurochs at Lascaux. This book traces the story of the bull in the sky, a journey through the history of what has become known as the sacred bull.
I have been a feminist for as long as I can remember. I recall seeing a billboard featuring Sophie Dahl sprawling on a sofa, completely naked. I recognized that I had no control over the images that dominate the visual landscape I inhabit, and I wanted to change this. These books might seem varied, but they all critique aspects of contemporary culture and offer ways to change things. In my academic writing and artwork, I examine these issues through a queer, feminist, and anti-capitalist lens, and these books offer a glimpse into the struggles that I think are important and the methods for change that I think could work.
This book deals with a subject that I feel strongly about–fat discrimination. It includes diet culture and the damage caused by the medicalization of fat. Lupton’s book was the first I read on this subject, and it is a brilliant, concise introduction to the social and political meanings of fat today.
Importantly, it debunks things like the BMI (body mass index commonly used in medicine to determine a person’s health level) and introduced me to movements such as the Health at Every Size Movement. It describes ways that anti-fat biases are being fought against, and I try to practice them in my life and academic work.
In contemporary western societies, the fat body has become a focus of stigmatizing discourses and practices aimed at disciplining, regulating and containing it. Despite the fact that in many western countries fat bodies outnumber those that are thin, fat people are still socially marginalized, and treated with derision and even repulsion and disgust. Medical and public health experts continue to insist that an 'obesity epidemic' exists and that fatness is a pathological condition which should be prevented and controlled.
Fat is a book about why the fat body has become so reviled and reviewed as diseased, the target of such…
I’ve researched children’s digital lives since the internet first arrived in many people’s homes. Recently, I noticed parents’ concerns weren’t listened to – mostly, researchers interview parents to find out about their children rather than about parents themselves. Worse, policymakers often make decisions that affect parents without consulting them. So, in Parenting for a Digital Future we focused on parents, following my previous books on Children and the Internet and The Class: Living and Learning in the Digital Age. As a professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, I love that moment of knocking on a family’s door, and am always curious to see what I will find!
One of the questions I am most often asked by parents and the public is – is it OK to share pictures of my children online? (Other questions, by the way, are – at what age can my child get their own mobile phone? And how much screen time is too much? See my book for my answers).
The extraordinary amount of photos of children that are shared online from before their birth and every step of the way to adulthood – is simply unprecedented. And while these photos can give a lot of pleasure to family and friends, there’s so much that can go wrong.
I find it fascinating that Stacey Steinberg approaches this topic as an attorney and she really digs into the legal issues about privacy, legal redress, and children’s rights. At the same time, she’s super practical and parents can learn a lot about how to…
Is it okay to share details about my child's life on social media? What kinds of pictures should I avoid posting? Am I taking away my kids' ownership over their future online footprint? It has never been easier to share our lives online-from meals to selfies and relationship statuses to locations, information about our daily activities flows freely. But what about our right to share our kids' lives? In today's age of "sharenting", striking the right balance between engaging in online communities and respecting a child's privacy and safety can be difficult. In Growing Up Shared, Stacey Steinberg, law professor,…
It occurred to me that if someone wanted to design a method of introduction for people who don’t actually want to date, then they’d design online dating as we know it today! One can't help feeling that many people using dating sites have no intention of forming a relationship (for a host of personal reasons). And that’s what makes it ripe for failure, and for fiction. Anyone who’s ever looked for the right connection (IRL or online), or tried to make an existing connection work, will recognise something in the story collection.
Many excellent story collections would fit on this list but with Treats you’re squarely in contemporary territory; arranging a date via the internet and then returning home to open the laptop again when the date wasn’t successful. Or finding a boyfriend online, only to discover his strange fetish for penguin costumes. Or realising that your girlfriend is checking out of the relationship when she refuses to pose for a selfie. There are twenty-plus stories, some just a few pages long, but the details are rich enough to evoke a whole life. There’s a unifying milieu where realism meets absurdism, preventing the dysfunction from feeling too desperate, and I appreciated the author’s inclusion of knowing one-liners, to great comic effect.
"It was the curse of the modern age, options; who needed options, when everything was essentially meaningless?" So says one of the characters in this extraordinary debut collection. This fresh, beguiling new voice paints a portrait of contemporary womanhood, balancing wry humor with a pervading sense of alienation. These characters struggle with how to negotiate intimacy within relationships and isolation when single. Meanwhile the dilemmas of contemporary adulthood play out, including abortion, depression, extra-marital affairs, infatuation, new baby anxiety, bereavement, hair loss, sexual ethics, cats and taxidermy.
Marriage and Fatherhood in the Nazi SS
By
Amy Carney,
When I was writing this book, several of my friends jokingly called it the Nazi baby book, with one insisting it would make a great title. Nazi Babies – admittedly, that is a catchy title, but that’s not exactly what my book is about. SS babies would be slightly more…
Hi! I’m M. Malone, a NYT, USA Today Bestseller, and RITA award winner. My ultimate goal in life is to make readers laugh in the most inappropriate places possible. When I moved away from home after college, it was difficult to make friends in a brand new city. Romantic comedies provided the joy I needed to go out into the real world and thrive. Now I get to make up stories that make other people laugh and in some cases pee their pants just a little (hey, I’m not judging).
Billionaire books are all the rage. Who doesn’t love a bit of fantasy, right? But this book takes it to an unexpected place when a woman who works for a dating app unknowingly matches with the boss of the whole company. It’s an unusual twist with the characters falling in love online and in person. Between copy room dance routines and cases of mistaken identity, this book will have you laughing until you cry.
A secret duo of romance authors team up under the pseudonym Max Monroe to bring you a sexy, laugh-out-loud new series. Are you ready to meet the Billionaire Bad Boys? Blind dates? Online dating profiles? Been there, done that. Georgia Cummings has zero luck with dating, and the era of the internet is not her friend. No matter how fast she runs, how many corners she turns, she can’t find her way out of this weird, alternate universe where men think dick pics are a replacement for small talk and getting to know a girl. One more crotch selfie and…
I’m a veterinarian, behaviorist, author, and dog trainer. I researched dog interactions for 10 years at UC Berkeley and in the early 80s, put theory to practice with SIRIUS® Puppy Training, introducing off-leash, puppy socialization and training classes, food lures and rewards, fun and games, and science-based, dog-friendly dog training to the doggy world. I spread the word by founding the Association of Professional Dog Trainers. Cueing your dog to act friendly and playful helps it feel friendly and playful. Also, presenting a less threatening picture to other dogs and their owners, softens their feelings, attitudes, preconceptions, and demeanor, thereby making sidewalks, trails, and parks a happier and safer place for you and your dog.
Most of you know Sara from America’s Got Talent? Originally from Canada, Sara and her dogs are peripatetic performers; she, living her childhood her dream, and her pups realizing theirs, all living in her car, traveling the States, and performing for enthusiastic crowds. I first met Sara when she was conducting an on-stage workshop at the APDT Annual Conference: Backward Leg Weaves, balancing on the souls of her feet, and even a Faux Pee. It was stunning.
Sara just loves trick training and dancing with her dogs because it fosters better communication, closeness, and attention. Her dogs get the opportunity to regularly ‘let off steam’ and wag with glee, but then they walk off stage, calmly by her side, because they want to walk by her side—the veritable tango of dog training. There’s more to ‘rhythm and tricks’ than meets the eye, much more: flexibility, balance, core-strengthening,…
You've seen them on TV, now learn from Sara and her Super Collies! You'll find easy-to-follow directions and photos for all the classic tricks as well as showstoppers like taking a selfie and skateboarding!
Whether you have a new puppy or have an "old dog" ready to learn some new tricks, Sara will get you and your dog working together in no time. Learn fundamentals like food and toy drive, leash walking, and crate training, as well as tips for important day-to-day bonding and behavior. Whenever you're ready, dive into the tricks! Chapters and tricks include:
I’ve struggled with weight and body issues most of my adult life. When I first wrote Worth The Weight (nearly 20 years ago), I had just lost a lot of weight and was coming to terms with what that meant to my self-image vs my body image. Package deal? Able to be separate the two? The weight loss romances on this list spoke to me. But the “love all those curves” books spoke to me on a different level. And the body-positivity movement has spoken to me on yet another level as I evolve into the imperfect, but hopefully always learning, person I am still becoming.
Rose is dumped by her boyfriend for a thinner woman, throwing her into a body image crisis. But a chef (a chef! How perfect! Or horrific?) makes her appreciate herself just the way she is.
Very, very sexy. It was the first Bella Andre I read (waaaaay back when) and I’ve been a fan since. Much like Too Much Temptation, the fully-realized love scenes with a plus-size heroine (at least, in her mind) are romantic, arousing and so, so satisfying.
In this trio of erotic stories, three friends take a road trip through the Napa Valley wine country and learn to indulge in a world where wine is a sensual delight, food is a decadent feast, and fulfilling pleasure is the only thing that matters. In Tempt Me, Carrie can't explain why she dumped Mr. Perfect...until she meets a gorgeous winemaker who knows as much about female erogenous zones as he does about creating the perfect Pinot Noir. In Taste Me, full-figured Rose isn't surprised when her boyfriend leaves her for a younger, thinner woman, but she's in for the…
I love computers, and especially computer systems. I’m interested in how different pieces of hardware and software, like processors, operating systems, compilers, and linkers, work together to get things done. Early in my career, as a software security tester, I studied how different components interacted to find vulnerabilities. Now that I work on compilers, I focus on the systems that transform source code into a running program. I’m also interested in how computer systems are shaped by the people who build and use them—I believe that creating safer, more reliable software is a social problem as much as a technical one.
This book gave me a new framework for thinking about how political change happens and how technology shapes our society. It analyzes how social media platforms like Facebook have helped antiauthoritarian movements achieve dazzling success almost overnight—and how those platforms have weakened and endangered those same movements. I loved that this book was clear and readable without oversimplifying the topic. It showed—as Tufecki writes, quoting another scholar—that “technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral.”
This isn’t exactly a book about computer systems, but I decided to include it because it gave me a deeper understanding of how technological and social systems influence each other—which I hope will change how I write software myself.
From New York Times opinion columnist Zeynep Tufekci, an firsthand account and incisive analysis of the role of social media in modern protest
"[Tufekci's] personal experience in the squares and streets, melded with her scholarly insights on technology and communication platforms, makes [this] such an unusual and illuminating work."-Carlos Lozada, Washington Post
"Twitter and Tear Gas is packed with evidence on how social media has changed social movements, based on rigorous research and placed in historical context."-Hannah Kuchler, Financial Times
To understand a thwarted Turkish coup, an anti-Wall Street encampment, and a packed Tahrir Square, we must first comprehend the…
