My Book Recommendations on Bookshop.org
I am a worker-owner at my local bookstore, Rozzie Bound, and I was asked to create a list of my favorite books.
About Talia Whyte
Posts by Talia Whyte:
I Love Cicely Tyson!
I happened to be browsing on YouTube when I saw this gem. This educational video was marketed to high schools and universities and hosted by the fabulous Cicely Tyson! Talk about a blast from the past; I remember watching this video when I was in school. It was also lovely to watch because Ms. Tyson looks like my mother – the epitome of class, integrity, and grace.
I hope to get around to reading her book, Just As I Am, in the near future!
Book Review: The Address Book
This is one of those books I had on my Kindle for a while and finally got around to reading. I’m glad I read it; I highly recommend it.
I learned so much about the importance of having an address, and how in some parts of the world, not having one can literally be a life or death issue. For instance, in India being address-less can block access to vital social services and even schooling for children. I also didn’t know that house numbering was largely an American invention and the address system was not invented to help us get around or receive mail, but for the government to find us. There is also a conversation about what street names say about a community, like those named after Confederate soldiers, Bobby Sands and Martin Luther King Jr, and lingering antisemitism in Germany.
There was also an interesting conversation in the book about banning employers from asking job applicants to provide addresses. Many homeless people are not able to obtain employment because they don’t have a proper address. Not having to list an address would give homeless people more confidence that they won’t be discriminated against during the application process. But many employers use addresses to do background checks on job applicants. It’s an interesting, but complicated issue.
My takeaway: you might own a home, but not your address. An address is an identity.
Bring Back The Automat!
I saw this on YouTube the other day, and I thought this might be the future of eating out in a socially distanced world. I remember going to an automat in Germany many years ago, and I always loved the concept. Of course, Japan takes this concept to another level with vending machines for everything!
The automat model attempts to solve many problems in the restaurant industry right now – labor shortages, COVID-19, impatient guests. I think contactless dining might catch on.