{"id":1612,"date":"2016-12-29T22:25:57","date_gmt":"2016-12-30T05:25:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1612"},"modified":"2016-12-29T22:56:32","modified_gmt":"2016-12-30T05:56:32","slug":"this-chapter-says-put-it-out-of-your-mind-book-read-in-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1612","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThis chapter says \u2018Put it out of your mind\u2019\u201d: Books Read in 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a title=\"Untitled\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/anterobot\/31596173910\/in\/dateposted-public\/\" data-flickr-embed=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/c7.staticflickr.com\/1\/386\/31596173910_5257b3a0d3_z.jpg\" alt=\"Untitled\" width=\"640\" height=\"509\" \/><\/a><script src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m slowly flipping through Tim Ferris\u2019s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Tools-Titans-Billionaires-World-Class-Performers\/dp\/1328683788\/\">Tools of Titans<\/a><\/em> and a couple of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Constructivism-Computer-Jean-Piaget-Symposia\/dp\/0805801014\/\">academic<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Politics-Bitcoin-Right-Wing-Extremism-Forerunners\/dp\/1517901804\/\">books<\/a>, so I think it\u2019s time for my annual tally:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Books read in 2016: 156<\/strong><br \/>\nComics and graphic novels included in reading total: 30<br \/>\nBooks of poetry included in reading total: 2<br \/>\nBooks reread included in reading total: 2<br \/>\nAcademic &amp; Education related books included in reading total: 26<br \/>\nYA and Junior Fiction books included in reading total: 13<br \/>\nRoleplaying Game-related books (rules, modules, settings \u2013 related to\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.naeducation.org\/NAED_166282.htm#Garcia\">this<\/a>\u00a0research): 14<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>A few thoughts (As usual, here are my posts on books read in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1573\">2015<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1483\">2014<\/a>, \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1317\">2013<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1141\">2012<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=971\">2011<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=616\">2010<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=450\">2009<\/a>):<\/p>\n<p>For gaming research that will probably start to see the light of day in 2017, I\u2019ve been thinking a lot about systems. Taking a large portion of the early part of 2016, Robert Caro\u2019s hefty biography of Robert Moses, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Power-Broker-Robert-Moses-Fall\/dp\/0394720245\/\"><em>The<\/em>\u00a0<\/a><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Power-Broker-Robert-Moses-Fall\/dp\/0394720245\/\">Power Broker<\/a>,<\/em> was just as good as everyone says. It points to how sprawling inequities and stratified geographies in New York weren&#8217;t accidents but rather <em>human<\/em>-driven activities. Likewise, Matthew Desmond\u2019s <em>Wire-<\/em>like opus <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Evicted-Poverty-Profit-American-City\/dp\/0553447432\/\"><em>Evicted<\/em><\/a>\u2014as full as it is of vignettes and nuanced depictions of individuals\u2014points to how systems beget further systems of financial and social hardship. It\u2019s the most accessible academic book I read this year (and for the nerds, I think this book has the best footnotes I\u2019ve come across!). Finally, I have been revisiting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Systemantics-Systems-Work-Especially-They\/dp\/070450331X\/\">this<\/a> quirky book on system theory from the \u201870s. With pages of random doodles alongside significant contributions to why system-driven individuals build layers of problems, Gall\u2019s text has been helpful in connecting gaming concepts to broader social and learning connections in my own research.<\/p>\n<p>The best music-related read all year was Jace Clayton\u2019s (aka DJ Rupture) book <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Uproot-Travels-21st-Century-Digital-Culture\/dp\/0374533423\/\"><em>Uproot<\/em><\/a>. Looking at the globalized nature of digital music, Clayton\u2019s book connected much of the broader music ecosystem to concerns I\u2019ve had with celebratory digital <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Tinkering-toward-Utopia-Century-Public\/dp\/0674892836\/\"><em>tinkering<\/em><\/a> in education. The online <a href=\"http:\/\/uprootbook.com\/listening-guide\/\">listening guide<\/a>\u00a0for the book is excellent.\u00a0I hadn\u2019t been this\u00a0fascinated by <a href=\"http:\/\/uprootbook.com\/listening-guide\/auto-tune-gives-you-a-better-me\">autotune<\/a> as I had since its absence in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=CIjXUg1s5gc\">this<\/a> T-Pain performance.<\/p>\n<p>I read all six of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Leviathan-Wakes-James-S-Corey\/dp\/0316129089\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1483074502&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=leviathan+wakes\">Expanse<\/a>-series books. I haven\u2019t seen the TV <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Dulcinea\/dp\/B018BZ3SCM\/\">adaptation<\/a> yet, but I appreciate the direction and world-building across each of the lengthy tomes. For page-turning sci-fi, I think <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Leviathan-Wakes-James-S-Corey\/dp\/0316129089\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1483074502&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=leviathan+wakes\"><em>Leviathan Wakes<\/em><\/a> is a good beginning to a series that only starts to show some stress from the weight of\u00a0its many storylines in the most recent, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Babylons-Ashes-Expanse-James-Corey\/dp\/031633474X\/ref=bseries_primary_0_031633474X\">sixth<\/a> volume.<\/p>\n<p>This also seemed like a great year for comic books. And despite the titles of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.avclub.com\/article\/roxane-gays-black-panther-prequel-gives-women-stor-245784\">Wakanda<\/a> gathering mainstream accolades, two trades by Tom King most impressed me. The current run of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Vision-Vol-Little-Worse-Than\/dp\/0785196579\/\"><em>Vision<\/em><\/a> is the stop-what-you\u2019re-doing-and-read-this-already title I would universally recommend. In both content and form, King and colleagues are doing some incredible work here. Likewise, King\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Omega-Men-Here-Tom-King\/dp\/1401261531\/\"><em>Omega Men<\/em><\/a> was a continually surprising read. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KQzXcFmf98I\">This<\/a> video breaks down some of the ways King is reinventing the possibilities of the traditional, 9-panel, comic page.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, I\u2019m not sure where I heard about or why I decided to read <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Man-Who-Heard-Voices-Shyamalan\/dp\/1592402135\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1483074641&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=man+who+heard+voices\"><em>The Man Who Heard Voices<\/em><\/a>. But for a book about a film director I don\u2019t like (M. Night Shyamalan) making a movie I despise (<em>Lady in the Water<\/em>), it\u2019s a pretty fascinating look at an uncompromising artist\u00a0and a deeply flawed film. Go figure.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Musically, this was a rough year. I listened to Kanye West\u2019s <em>The Life of Pablo\u00a0<\/em>much\u00a0more than any other release. The album is a flawed masterpiece\u00a0and I think it\u2019s release points to the possibilities of what it means to make an <em>\u201calbum<\/em>\u201d in the 21<sup>st<\/sup> century. That being said, as much as I\u2019ve written <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1301\">lots<\/a> (and <a href=\"http:\/\/radicalteacher.library.pitt.edu\/ojs\/index.php\/radicalteacher\/article\/view\/38\/22\">lots<\/a>) about Kanye in the past, I can\u2019t overlook his recent statements or behavior. I am also cautious not to disregard the fact that Kanye\u2019s every word is scrutinized, he became the father of his second child this year, and his wife was held captive and robbed. I\u2019ve been thinking about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=J7-s0rCvXFk\">this Chappelle interview<\/a> in regards to Kanye, lately.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, I haven\u2019t been able to face Prince or Bowie\u2019s deaths head on this year. (I teared up listening to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=yb5P_ci0uqM\">Starfish and Coffee<\/a> recently.) Instead, the\u00a0Prince collaboration with Kate Bush is probably the singular song I played the most this year (and lends it\u2019s opening line to this blog\u2019s title):<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/B3j4pgqdwNA\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Likewise, the NY Times Popcast speculated that the title of Bowie\u2019s final album comes from an Elvis Presley song. This too, has been a haunting track echoing across a harrowing year:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/h0Jkv1cs6PE\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I can\u2019t say 2017 looks to bode better than 2016. I\u2019m hoping to temper what looks like a battle-heavy year politically with texts of optimism and laughter. Suggestions are welcomed.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Tell people this is awesome:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-email\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-email sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1612&amp;share=email\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to email this to a friend\"><span>Email<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-1612\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1612&amp;share=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-1612\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1612&amp;share=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-print\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-print sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1612\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to print\"><span>Print<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pinterest\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-pinterest-1612\" class=\"share-pinterest sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1612&amp;share=pinterest\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Pinterest\"><span>Pinterest<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-tumblr\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-tumblr sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1612&amp;share=tumblr\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Tumblr\"><span>Tumblr<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-reddit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-reddit sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1612&amp;share=reddit\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Reddit\"><span>Reddit<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-linkedin\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-linkedin-1612\" class=\"share-linkedin sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1612&amp;share=linkedin\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on LinkedIn\"><span>LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pocket\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-pocket sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1612&amp;share=pocket\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Pocket\"><span>Pocket<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019m slowly flipping through Tim Ferris\u2019s Tools of Titans and a couple of academic books, so I think it\u2019s time for my annual tally: Books read in 2016: 156 Comics and graphic novels included in reading total: 30 Books of poetry included in reading total: 2 Books reread included in reading total: 2 Academic &amp; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Tell people this is awesome:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-email\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-email sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1612&amp;share=email\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to email this to a friend\"><span>Email<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-1612\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1612&amp;share=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-1612\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1612&amp;share=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-print\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-print sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1612\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to print\"><span>Print<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pinterest\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-pinterest-1612\" class=\"share-pinterest sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1612&amp;share=pinterest\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Pinterest\"><span>Pinterest<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-tumblr\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-tumblr sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1612&amp;share=tumblr\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Tumblr\"><span>Tumblr<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-reddit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-reddit sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1612&amp;share=reddit\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Reddit\"><span>Reddit<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-linkedin\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-linkedin-1612\" class=\"share-linkedin sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1612&amp;share=linkedin\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on LinkedIn\"><span>LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pocket\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-pocket sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=1612&amp;share=pocket\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Pocket\"><span>Pocket<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[7,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lit","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe04s-q0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1612"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1616,"href":"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1612\/revisions\/1616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}