Greetings everyone!
Please tell us about what you've been reading over the last month. Books or magazines, fiction or non-fiction, socialist or anti-socialist - it can be anything! Give as much detail as you like, whether that be a simple mention, a brief synopsis, or even a review.
When reviewing, please do use the Official /r/Socialism Rating Scale:
★★★★★ - Awesome!
★★★★☆ - Pretty good!
★★★☆☆ - OK
★★☆☆☆ - Pretty bad
★☆☆☆☆ - Ayn Rand
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- Biographies
- Suggested Readings
- Black Socialists of America (BSA)'s Resource Guide
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Foundations of Leninism
Pretty wild, considering every question I've had in my head, I've wanted to ask in these subs, and this book pretty well explains it.
The methodical processes and well explained meanings make this a great read if you're fairly new to ML. I think a lot of the content could be applied in today's time, and it would still fit. Pretty sick, they were already coming to these conclusions about the bourgeois and global capitalism so long ago.
Started reading Stalin: History and Critique of A Black Legend by Domenico Losurdo recently and can not recommend it enough to those who are still not sure about their stand on Stalin.
Definitely ⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Socialism Reconstruction by the Party for Socialism and Liberation. It has been fantastic so far. Currently on Chapter 4. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Picked up some V.I Lenin books to read after via Amazon (work gave me gift cards along with double pay for doing OT so I didn’t give them MY money heh)
It is wild that I used to be a liberal.
I’m glad my socialist comrades showed me the way.
I’m open to more books btw 🙂
what's the book about?
What socialism in the US would look like after a socialist revolution, it includes socialist planning ideas, how we break down the old oppressive system, and how we can make the US a far better state for the people. It is a really fantastic read.
Assata Shakur's Autobiography.
One thing I know for sure, she's one of the most baddest motherfuckers I've ever heard about.
Would love some recommendations on black and indigenous liberation.
George Jacksons Blood in My Eye is one hell of a read in that same realm. The autobiography of Malcom X is also an extremely influential book if your interested in black radical movements. Also another old timer whose still around and can be found in quite a bit of interviews on youtube is former BLA/BPP member Dhoruba Bin Wahad, some of his stories are pretty wild, and his explanations of the realities of policing are a great listen.
Nick Estes has a few books on native american liberation, and I admit I havent read them yet, but I listen to him fairly regularly on The Red Nation podcast and his takes are always excellent, Ive heard many good things about his books.
Yo, thank you so much. I really appreciate the recs.
I'm currently reading, "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This" by Omar El Akkad. I'm only 50 or so pages in but it's pretty good so far. It absolutely tugs at the heart strings pretty heavily. I can't truly recommend it only because I haven't finished it yet, but I would definitely advise looking into the book.
Same, but I’m only on the start of chapter 2 so far.
Bell hooks - the will to change.
Ibrahim Kaypakkaya - On the national question
Stephen King- doctor sleep
Trying to get better with reading habits.
That's a fun question!
The past month I read Edward Bernays "Propaganda" and "Public Relations" to gain a better understanding of capitalist propaganda. They are fascinating books that tell the story of how business took to reshaping its interactions with the public after the turn of the century.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Fascinating but diabolical
Reading Bernays however left me feeling cynical so I've turned my attention to Enlightenment philosophy because I find that era inspiring. I've started with Hume's "A Treatise On Human Nature" because, why not?
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Everything from Descartes to Kant is worth reading!!
Mark Rupert. Marxism, in International Relations Theories: Discipline and Diversity. 2010.
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Currently working on 4
Fiction:
The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monae
Nonfiction:
Viral Justice by Ruha Benjamin
Becoming Abolitionist by Derecka Purnell
The Hundred Years of War in Palestine by Rashid Khalidi
Geopolitical Economy by Radhika Desai
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I'm about halfway through but it is such an interesting analysis of Geopolitical Economy. She resurrects a Trotsky/Bolshevik theory of Combined and Uneven Development to analyze the way states in the global stage stand in a dialectic with each other. She makes the case that the US has never attained hegemonic stability, and instead used globalization, imperialism, and empire to maintain its economic dominance.
It makes the case that even at the world scale, capitalism's tendency for the rate of profit to fall is still at the heart of the last 50 years of global economic crisis. By internationalizing the dollar and attempting to be the world's bank, the US found itself incentivizing financialization over industrialization and fueling the rise of contender states.
She asserts that this pattern is similar to the rise and fall of the UK Empire but because of UCD the success of the UK Empire could not be replicated by the United States.
I'm really interested in seeing the later half of the book. It seems like a very valuable analysis.
I honestly still have yet to finish The Martian. So far I'd say it's a 4/5, but I can only really give complete thoughts on it once I've gotten to the end.
Less is More Jason Hickel
Thomas Sowell's Economic Facts and Fallacies.
★★★★★
Che by John Lee Anderson
Vassilis Palaiokostas: A Normal Life
Available from
https://freedompress.org.uk/product/a-normal-life/
The Autobiography of Vassilis Palaiokostas.
Blurb:
"I never legislated, I never enforced, and I never obeyed any laws! Laws dictated by the interests of a handful of rulers. I came across their laws everywhere, but I never found justice. I'll remain with the unique ones; the uncatchables. Those that consciously chose to lead their lives normally, reacting to an abnormal world..."
A Normal Life is the autobiography of Vassilis Palaiokostas, known to some as the 'Greek Robin Hood', to others as 'The Uncatchable'. His is a life of kidnappings and robberies. A life lived in defiance of the police and of the state. For decades it has been a life lived as a fugitive. It is a life led extraordinarily. He has become a modern folk hero of sorts, earning millions in robbed banks and kidnapped CEOs whilst distributing his gains to those who need it most. He is most famous for not only one but two helicopter escapes from the Korydallos Prison in Athens.
Vassilis Palaiokostas is hated by the authorities, deemed a terrorist, his freedom a continued insult to the Greek state. Now, translated to English for the first time, Palaiokostas tells his story in his own words. He does not justify his actions, but elaborates his motivations and dreams and their totality.
A Normal Life is a gripping account of life on the run and in prison, of car chases, prison life, daring escapades and the camaraderie of bandit life. It is also the story of his motivations.
He is still free.
5 stars so far but I haven't finished yet
Capital by Karl Marx--a Marxist classic that puts people before profits. ★★★★★
I like to bounce around a few books at a time lately
The moderators of https://www.reddit.com/r/AskSocialists/ support Putin and his war on Ukraine. Tell them they are wrong.
Blood in the Machine by Brian Merchant.
It's a history of Luddism and the beginnings of the workers movement in the UK... with lessons for the rebellion against big tech.
It is good, modern and easy to read. Can be a little slow in parts. Helps if you have a thing for that period in history.
Like many people, I had imbibed the passed-down and very incorrect message that the Luddites were change-phobic malcontents who couldn't handle new technology and wanted to live in the past.
This book has definitely disabused me of that falsehood! I learned lots. My grasp on that period is much better and my understanding of socialism's origins has deepened.
★★★★☆ - Pretty good!
Anarchy by Malatesta
Conquest of Bread by Kropotkin
I’ve been reading “I Want to Teach You How To Be Rich” by Ramit Sethi.
It’s not actually teaching you how to be rich, it’s more about how to be financially responsible, than to be become financially stable, and than to become financially independent. Sethi is a progressive and he knows that this current system we live in is against us so he’s trying to give us the tools to use their system against them. It’s been a fascinating read so far.
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley - Fun take on a dystopia disguised as a utopia, a lot of exposition dumps about the world, the world building is great but its page after page of it and can get very monotonous. However, I like the critiques of such an authoritarian world and consumer culture, where if you just keep consuming, you can ignore the atrocities of society, turn up your Televisor if you start getting uncomfortable thoughts, take some soma if you start to question why things are the way they are, so what if your life was decided for you, you are happy, and you always will be happy, or else. ☆☆☆
Terrible Humans, Patrick Alley - Lots of different accounts of journalists, and their fight against the corrupt or criminals, the trials they had to go through, and the what it takes for good to prevail even when government officials from all over the world don't want it to. ☆☆☆☆
The Complete Works of HP Lovecraft - I was mixed on this, and the debate of separating art from the artist, he was a gross bigot, but his contributions to the horror space were monumental and felt like something I had to read. His stories are mostly good. You need to be in the correct headspace to feel the dread he was trying to create, but then some stories fill you with dread from the get-go. It's all his works in one, I haven't finished it yet, but so far, I'd give it 2 and a half stars because I'm very much split. 2.5/5
I'm also in the process of making my way through A Song of Ice and Fire, currently on Novel 4 but haven't started it yet, and I'm waiting to start On Anarchism by Noam Chomsky, I'd never heard of it but grabbed it for a measly 4 quid, and Radicalized by Corey Doctorow.
I'm not sure where I place myself on the socialist spectrum. If anybody would like to recommend me some reading to help me figure out where I land, I'd greatly appreciate it!
Just realised this is a post from March, do we have a more up to date thread? Posting this here anyway, 20/07/2025
I've been re-reading On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder, and for the first time Lectures on Fascism by Palmiro Togliatti for my monthly commie book club.
Re-reading Austerity Apparatus by JMP because The Communist Necessity was so good! Both are very short but excellent in my opinion.
Currently reading Confessions of An Economic Hitman and finished reading this history of “V.I. Lenin’s” tracked Rolls Royce:
https://www.svvs.org/LeninRolls3.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com
'An Economy of Want' which re-works economics from a social justice and environmental point of view. It provides an underpinning for why unregulated markets are not going to provide adequate employment or fix climate change.
'Post Growth - Life after Capitalism' also challenges the perpetual growth paradigm and the use of GDP as the primary measure of economic success. It spends less time on the detailed 'how' than the first book, being rather more philosophical.
Just finished reading the Soviet Century by Moshe Lewin. Thoroughly resourced and thoughtful. A very nuanced analysis of the USSR, in my opinion. ☆☆☆☆
I've been reading Das Kapital over the last 2 months... gonna be honest, going at a snail's pace because it's very dense and he speaks in a lot of flowery 19th-century language. It is pretty eye-opening, I can't say I agree with everything in it so far, especially since the labour theory of value has been found not to be true. Nonetheless, it's fascinating to read this book and see ideas that changed the course of the 20th century. ★★★★★
I just finished Collapse: Fall of the Soviet Union by Zubok.
Does anyone have any recommendations on what to follow that up with? I'd like to learn more about what happened in the period of 1992 - 1999 in Russia. I have read the Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein so I'm aware of the economic shock therapy implemented during that time and the results. Thanks!
Human comedy vol 3
currently reading imperialism by harry magdoff. If ur a beginner who's looking for works on American and European imperialism, then this is for u. It also gives an analysis why multi nationals are a disaster for the third world countries. So, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Trotskij's History of the Russian Revolution, ⭐⭐⭐⭐ very good marxist storiography
Looking for a rec about Leninism and the Gulags. Been reading a lot about US intervention in communist and socialist countries but haven't gotten into the USSR much. Much appreciated
I picked up "The Political Thought of Xi Jinping" by Steve Tsang and Olivia Cheung. It's by Oxford University Press, so I thought, how bad can it be? In the introduction, they talk about how Xi signalled his power by expelling Hu Jintao at the 2022 Congress. Hu was simply ill. The book didn't even acknowledge that there was any dispute about this. Pure liberal propaganda. Plus, it continually gets the CPC's name wrong, calling it the "CCP" I decided to return it. ★★☆☆☆ - Pretty bad
As a friendly reminder, China's ruling party is called Communist Party of China (CPC), not Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as western press and academia often frames it as.
Far from being a simple confusion, China's Communist Party takes its name out of the internationalist approach sought by the Comintern back in the day. From Terms of Admission into Communist International, as adopted by the First Congress of the Communist International:
Similarly, the adoption of a wrong name to refer to the CPC consists of a double edged sword: on the one hand, it seeks to reduce the ideological basis behind the party's name to a more ethno-centric view of said organization and, on the other hand, it seeks to assert authority over it by attempting to externally draw the conditions and parameters on which it provides the CPC recognition.
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