We get it, it’s hard to be hopeful sometimes. Although it doesn’t always feel like it, positive change is constantly happening… more accurately, people are creating progress and directly improving the world around us all the time. With the rights tools and information, you can be part of that positive change too. So instead of picking up an aggressive self-help book or a deflating analysis of why the world sucks for your next read, why not try one these? Seven books, all written by Australian authors who have made a real impact, sharing their knowledge, wisdom and motivation to help you do the same.
If you’ve been feeling defeated or flat, these books will help bring some hope and purpose back to your life.
How To Lose Friends and Influence White People, by Antoinette Lattouf
If you’ve ever been criticised or had eyes rolled at you for bringing up ” progressive nonsense” – especially when it comes to race – Antoinette Lattouf has written the book.
How to Lose Friends is a powerful and personal guide on how to be effective in navigating those tough conversations. Latouf shares ideas that can help you influence anyone for the better – including those who might have more power than you, like racist or oblivious bosses and CEO. Lattouf has been a champion of change and equality in Australia’s media industry, and her book will help you do the same in your world.
Get a copy here.
Talking About a Revolution, by Yassmin Abdel-Magied
It’s no secret we’re big fans of Yassmin Abdel-Magied here at Zee Feed, and with good reason! Talking About A Revolution is a collection of essays about the world, how it has and hasn’t changed over the past decade of Abdel-Magied’s writing career. If we’re serious about changing Australian society for the better, we have to have bigger conversations that define the world we want to create. Talking About a Revolution sets up those very discussions.
Yassmin reminds us that change is possible and it is indeed coming. She gives you the shake up you need to feel hopeful and re-energised again by sharing her personal experiences with activism, growth, identity, language and progress.
Full Circle, by Scott Ludlam
Do you ever just look at the world and think to yourself…How the fuck did we even get here? Same. Luckily, former Greens senator Scott Ludlam’s Full Circle walks us through the financial and political systems that has led us to this point with the natural world is on the brink of collapse. Although that sounds bleak, the book still keeps an optimistic outlook by focusing on the progression towards radical change.
By examining the underlying patterns of life, throughout history, Ludlam highlights new and old ways to make our systems humane, regenerative and more in tune with nature.
Get a copy here.
Australia Reimagined, by Hugh Mackay
Reading the news about Australia right now can definitely send you… spiraling. There is a major lack of trust with our political leaders, we are more anxious and depressed than ever before, individualism is rampant and that’s before we even get to petrol prices. As a counterpoint to all of that, influential social researcher Hugh Mackay offers us optimistic proposals for a more compassionate and socially cohesive country in Australia Reimagined.
Although released pre-pandemic, the ideas in this book still hold. As the follow up to his iconic work from 1993, Reinventing Australia, Mackay lays out the blueprint for what we should all be actively working towards.
Get a copy here.
How Powerful We Are, by Sally Rugg
Everybody wants to make a difference, but figuring out what that means and where to start can be extremely overwhelming. Through this book, Sally Rugg, one of Australia’s most renowned activists, will teach you everything she learnt from her involvement in the marriage equality campaign.
Rugg goes through all the essentials from how to develop a strategy, how to frame your messages, how to get your campaign to the media and build community power. She also shares the not-so-pretty reality of making a difference, including the consequences of campaign decisions and how to deal with criticism and harassment.
Get a copy here.
Sand Talk, by Tyson Yunkaporta
If you want to better understand Indigenous thinking and culture this is the book for you. Tyson Yunkaporta generously shares his knowledge of the Indigenous perspective in a way that is not only funny, smart and insightful but also accessible to all readers. He explores how the Indigenous perspective affects our global systems, including the way we see history, money, power and learning.
This book shows how alive and essential Indigenous ways of being and thinking are, and vital the First Nations perspective is to changing the world for the better.
Get a copy here.
How to Talk About Climate Change in a Way That Makes a Difference, by Rebecca Huntley
Climate anxiety is real. Are you doing enough to help the planet? Can you even make a difference as just one person? What about all the jobs and livelihoods that it affects? The world is literally dying, why can’t my parents just get it? Rebecca Huntley believes that the key to progress on climate change is in the psychology of human attitudes and our ability to change.
Whether you’re already alarmed and engaged with the issue, concerned but disengaged, a passive skeptic or an active denier, this book acknowledges all of the emotions that come up when talking about climate change. It gives you the tools to have meaningful conversations that will actually make a difference and won’t lead to a blow up at the dinner table. Essential reading.
Get a copy here.
