Author: Mallee Stanley

Laura Bates’s—The New Age of Sexism

This is a very difficult book to read. It’s not the language—it’s the content. But an important present day view especially important for all women as it explores misogynistic software such as Deepfakes and Metaverse as well as the long term influences this has on men and therefore women’s safety and relationships. There are also chapters on sex robots, image based sexual abuse that is rampant. For example, in Korea, women fear using public washrooms because men are placing hidden cameras in them. Then the author fact checks AI and finds it is not always correct. Additionally, it is stereotyping its responses.

Well written and researched. I highly recommend this book.

Danny Craine’s—How to resist Amazon and why

This informative book is an eye opener for those purchasing from Amazon. It not only details the company’s treatment of its workers and its unscrupulous business practices, but also Jeff Bezos’s future plans are frightening. Although repetitive at times and focuses mainly on the company’s effect on the book industry, it is still an important read.

Anchee Min’s—The last Empress

In the 1850s, Orchid is a concubine to the Emperor Tzu Hsi, but when he dies she is thrust into the position of empress because she is the only concubine/wife to birth a son. She learns to govern with the help of her trusted friend, Yung Lu until her son, Tung Chih, is old enough to become emperor. China has gone through difficult times, it’s lost the first opium war and European and Japanese powers demand China cede control of ports and claim its wealth for themselves.

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Sultan Somjee’s—Bead Bai

During the 1900s in East Africa, Sakina has a happy childhood amongst stories her family tell her of their troubled lives in India, the difficulty of travelling by sea from Bombay to Mombasa and the jamat’s help when they first arrived. It is a detailed historical experience of Asians coming to East African told though the eyes of young Sakina. But when she marries, leaving her loved ones far behind, the only comfort she has from her nagging mother-in-law and constant housework, is Maasai beadwork.

This is the second time I’ve read this book. I could smell the dust and feel the vastness of the landscape through the experiences of Sakina travelling in Kenya early last century. In particular, I loved the beautiful meaning behind the beadwork explained by the old Maasai to Sakina.