On My Shelf
Books That Have Shaped Me
Caroline Criado Perez's research- and story-based look at the gender data gap has radically changed my view of the world. The gender data gap stems from the assumption that the male perspective and the male body are "standard," and everything else is abnormal. This de-prioritization of the female perspective and female body has created a gap in how we approach data.
Deidre Mask's study of addresses was an enlightening book for me. From the history of street names and naming, why streets and highways are where they are, and what it means to be a person without an address, her viewpoint has opened my eyes in my own community and beyond.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's witty and honest look at raising a daughter in the twenty-first century has become a book I keep on hand to give to friends and family when they become parents.
Resmaa Menakem's look at how trauma and conflict live in the body and must be metabolized is an incredible resource for me. The practices in this book range from the internal and personal work of healing and the external and community work of processing trauma as a collective.