Quarantine book list getting short?
We’re trying something new here– a monthly reading (and watching) recommendation list! Here are the books and documentaries that I’m consuming this month. Everything is related to humanitarian issues in some way.
Bitter Chocolate
If you know me, or have read my articles, you know that I’ve been on a chocolate kick lately. That’s to say, I’ve been writing a lot about the humanitarian issues within the cocoa industry.
I bought Bitter Chocolate by Carol Off earlier this year, but I’m just getting around to reading it this April. The book tells the history of chocolate– with a heavy emphasis on exploitation and violence in West Africa, where most of the world’s cocoa is grown. I’m excited to get into some of the history of the industry and to learn more about the role of war and violence in perpetuating poverty and child labor.
This book’s historical perspective is already changing how I think (and write) about the issue of slavery in chocolate supply chains. It’s the perfect quarantine book.
The True Cost
This is *the* documentary to watch about the impact of fashion on people and the environment. Many activists and leaders that I respect have talked about it, so I’ve been planning on watching it for several months. I’ll be sitting down with my family to watch The True Cost this weekend.
Disposable People
I’ve been making my way through this book for a few weeks– it’s an in-depth look at modern slavery around the world. Written by Kevin Bales, a leading slavery researcher, Disposable People was the first book about slavery and its current forms in the global economy. It’s about two decades old now, but the stories and description are incredibly powerful.
This is the third book by Bales that I have read (check out what I learned from Blood and Earth and Slavery Today, and I learn something from everything that he writes. Disposable People shows how slavery and exploitation thrive in the global economy, and as a former economics major, I’m learning so much from this perspective.
I also have King Leopold’s Ghost and The Good Food Revolution on my quarantine book list– I might have to cover those next month!
What are your quarantine book recommendations?
- College Football, Ariana Grande, and Water - September 3, 2023
- Livestock and Land Use: How Are We Feeding The Planet? Impactfull April 2022 - April 19, 2022
- What Does Voluntourism Look Like? A Case Study in a Cambodian Orphanage - March 28, 2022