January Talking Meme Day 23: Non-fiction recs of 2023

Talking Meme Index

For today, glassesofjustice asked what I'd recommend out of the nonfiction I read last year. I'll do short pitches for three of'em.

If you wanna know why the rent is so damn high and you like breezy policy books,

I recommend Arbitrary Lines by M. Nolan Gray. It's about how zoning laws in the US have contributed to the housing crisis, many of the laws having ugly roots and essentially making it so that the time-honored tradition of moving to a bigger city to make more money is no longer as financially good deal for many working-class people, given the comparative increase in salaries and rent such a move would require. This wasn't always the case, and it doesn't have to be. Longer review here, and book quotes here

If you wanna read about growing up in Iran at the time of the revolution and you like graphic novel-style memoirs,

I recommend The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. The black-and-white comic style is effective, Satrapi is so deft with her use of levity in dark moments, and the depictions of her interacting with her family were my favourite parts.

If you wanna read about being gay in the federal government at the height of the Cold War and you don't mind more academic history books,

I recommend The Lavender Scare by David K. Johnson. It's a pretty detailed look into how the freakout against gay men and lesbians arose from the original McCarthy nonsense, and how those whose jobs were in danger responded to the threat. I should get around to watching that Fellow Travelers show that has the Anthony Bridgerton guy in it.