Dear John,

We hope you’re excited for a special summer edition of the Digest, thanks to all of your incredible book recommendations. We’re excited to dive into this slice of the literature world while staying cool this summer. 

Now that we know what you’ve been reading, we’re excited to learn - what are you listening to? For that walk around the neighborhood, mid-day dance party, or tackling chores around the home, what tunes - or podcasts - are playing in your earbuds or from your speakers? Reply to this email with your top music and podcast preferences for a future summer Digest edition! 

In the meantime, here's what's been lining your bookshelves and tablet queues:
 

1. Parable of the Sower

By Octavia Butler. A News Digest reader shares about Parable of the Sower, “Oh, my. Painful at times. Deeply insightful. Spiritual.” Octavia Butler’s writing is also a favorite of your News Digest authors! Check out this New Yorker review! We recommend adrienne maree brown and Toshi Reagon's podcast about Butler's work as well, "Octavia's Parables."

2. Embassytown

By China Miéville. “It's nominally a sci-fi novel about life on an important shipping colony planet in a universe where faster-than-light travel is possible. In practice, it's also about colonization, empire, exploitation of indigenous peoples, how you can manipulate the tools of your oppressor for your own liberation (and where that leaves you),” shares our colleague, Max. Try a sample with this Washington Post review!

3. When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm

By Michael Forsyth and Walt Bogdanich. Our News Digest editor, Laura, explains this book is “about this super-evil consulting firm that's basically connected to/behind everything bad in the U.S. and beyond - helping tobacco companies make cigarettes more addictive, marketing vaping to kids, the opioid crisis, transforming the U.S. auto/home insurance industry into a steal-as-much-money-as-possible industry, climate change, and many more! It's wild.” The Guardian digs into the truth here.

4. The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture

By Gabor Mate. This book is “2/3 takedown of racial capitalism's impact on mind-body and collective-body told through the framework of the human life cycle; 1/3 possible solutions to that,” says a News Digest reader. Check out this piece on happiness, hope, and healing our deepest wounds.

5. The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story

By Nikole Hannah-Jones. Writes one of our readers, “From traffic to sugar to caregiving to capital, all the different aspects of American life that are way worse than need be because of our systems' roots in labor trafficking and racial capitalism.” Learn more about The 1619 Project here.

6. Demon Copperhead

By Barbara Kingsolver. Our coworker Lindsay shares, “I devoured the 500+ page novel in less than a week. The main character's life drives home injustices in all the systems/oppressions: poverty, misogyny, foster care, race, toxic masculinity, health care, education, substance use. There's a clear indictment of fat cats extracting natural resources and human potential from Appalachia through mining, tobacco, and pill-pushing, and a swan song for what's possible with human connection and hope, and a dash of ‘art is powerful.’ The narration is matter-of-fact and heart-achingly beautiful.” Check out this NPR piece on Demon Copperhead, opioids, poverty, and resilience.

7. On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Price Women Pay to Be Good

By Elise Noehnen. Writes one of our readers, “I cannot recommend this enough. It’s a religious history, cultural analysis, memoir and simply brilliant.” Read more at Bookshop.org. 

8. Solito

By Javier Zamora. Recommended by colleague Nadine, this memoir by poet Javier Zamora is a powerful story that chronicles Zamora’s 3,000 mile journey from his home in El Salvador to the United States at the age of nine. Read more about the author's personal story of immigration at NPR.

9. Mimosa

I (Jessica) couldn’t put down TakeAction member Archie Bongiovanni’s clever and heartwarming graphic novel about four queer characters in their 30s navigating life and friendship. The Minneapolis references were a special bonus. Check it out at New York Times here!

10. Seven Days in June

By Tia Williams. Says one of our readers, “Summertime reading calls for romances in my book! 🥁 This one was good. Also check out romance novel reviews from Hennepin County Library staff.”

And that’s a wrap!

Send us what you’re reading, watching, and listening to.

Until next time,

Katie Blanchard (she/her)
Basebuilding Director

Jessica Zimmerman (she/her)
Development Director