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Another busy year in the book lounge! Our annual roundup includes books about places far flung — from Central America to Palestine — on diverse topics — from art to politics — but always with an activist twist.
Here is a month by month look at rabble’s most popular reviews this year. Click the book titles to read the full review.
January
Freeing Ourselves: A Guide to Health and Self Love for Brown Bois
by The Brown Bois Project
(The Brown Bois Project, 2011; By donation)
Review by Mercedes Allen
Freeing Ourselves is a health guide written first and foremost for trans-masculine, genderqueer and male-identified trans people, a group that is often otherwise invisible, facing barriers and taboos.
February
Lester Pearson’s Peacekeeping: The Truth May Hurt
by Yves Engler
(Fernwood Publishing, 2012; $15.95)
Review by Paul Weinberg
In his new book, Yves Engler sets to demolish the near saintly status of Lester Bowles (“Mike”) Pearson in the public sphere, Canadian foreign policy circles and even on the social democratic left.
March
Palestinians in Israel: Segregation, Discrimination and Democracy
by Ben White
(Pluto Press,2012; $24.97)
Review by Ramona Wadi
Ben White argues in his new book that Israel’s insistence on declaring itself a Jewish state leads to discrimination, segregation and a guarantee of continued conflict.
April
VIVA! Community Arts and Popular Education in the Americas
by Deborah Barndt, ed.
(Between The Lines, 2011; $24.95)
Review by Zainab Amadahy
From Central America to Canada, the ¡VIVA! Project, summarized in a colourful book and an accompanying DVD set, features communities engaged in transformational arts processes.
May
Power of Youth: Youth and community-led activism in Canada
by Brigette DePape, ed.
(Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2012; $15.00)
Review by Kaitlin McNabb
Power of Youth is more than just a book about youth activism, it is a testament to all generations of activists who continue to fight, informed by passion and experience.
June
The Enpipe Line: 70,000 km of poetry written in resistance to the Northern Gateway pipeline proposal
by The Enpipe Line contributors
(Creekstone Press, 2012; $18.00)
Review by Tyler McCreary
A recently released volume from Creekstone Press, The Enpipe Line, presents a poetic manifestation of resistance.
July
Undesirables: White Canada and the Komagata Maru, An Illustrated History
by Ali Kazimi
(Douglas & McIntyre, 2012; $39.95)
Review by Matthew Behrens
As Parliament passes sweeping, repressive immigration legislation, Toronto filmmaker Ali Kazimi’s timely book, Undesirables, should be required reading for Jason Kenney and his cohorts.
August
Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution
by Andrew Boyd and Dave Oswald Mitchell, eds.
(OR Books, 2012; $28.00)
Review by Murray Dobbin
Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution is a unique guide on how to take on powerful adversaries to win.
September
Too Asian?: Racism, Privilege, and Post-Secondary Education
by RJ Gilmour, Davina Bhandar, Jeet Heer, and Michael C.K. Ma, eds.
(Between The Lines, 2012; $26.95)
Review by Cara Ng
“Too Asian?”: Racism, Privilege, and Post-Secondary Education, a new anthology, takes Maclean’s magazine to task and explores race and representation in Canadian universities.
October
Social Democracy After the Cold War
by Bryan Evans and Ingo Schmidt, eds.
(Athabasca University Press, 2012; $29.95)
Review by John Warnock
In the present economic and financial crisis, we are seeing the collapse of the social democratic parties in Europe. How can they bring their former supporters back into the party?
November
Fractured Homeland: Federal Recognition and Algonquin Identity in Ontario
by Bonita Lawrence
(UBC Press, 2012; $37.81)
Review by Mara Munro
Fractured Homeland is Bonita Lawrence’s stirring account of the Algonquins’ 20-year struggle to reclaim their traditional territories.
December
Revolution 2.0: The Power of the People Is Greater Than the People in Power: A Memoir
by Wael Ghonim
(Mariner Books, 2012; $18.95)
Review by Amira Elghawaby
Reading Revolution 2.0 against the backdrop of the current unrest in Egypt, one can’t help but feel nostalgic.
Books photo by Shutterhacks.
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Nick Seebruch, editor
