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Like this review which I just boosted, I found some really good stuff. In addition to the articles mentioned in the linked review, I thought chapter 27 (EXCERPT FROM “MOVING BEYOND CRITIQUE”) was good because it looked at how one TJ project worked from the inside, and highlighted how messy that project was structurally. A lot of the items got hand-wavery in their discussion of what the issues could be; that one was very specific.

This book is a collection of texts from and/or about the transformative justice movement. Some of the texts are recycled material from zines or guides. Some are very practical guides, some are theoretical reflections; some real-life testimonials, some interviews. Many of the texts are really excellent: special mention to "What to do when you've been abusive", "Facing shame" and "Pod-mapping", for especially moving and growing things in me. However, the book as a whole lacks a good throughline. There is some logic to the basic four-part structure that the texts were ordered in, but it still feels like an unsorted, random collection of material. The fact that the material itself contains some absolute diamonds doesn't completely redeem the lack of editorial effort.

On a personal level though, reading this was an enlightening and healing experience.

Reach decides to hitchhike to the Canadian border, where he befriends a pair of hikers who've decided to trek across the border via a wilderness path. Reacher is about to head on when the military arrives and seals off the trail, but our hikers have already snuck in. Will the government track down the hikers? Will Reacher help them? Do the hikers have an ulterior motive and has the governent laid a clever trap for them?

Maaaaayyyybe.

Main character goes to a big city in the neighboring empire because he believes he was the lover of a famous poet of that city in a previous life. The famous poet is old now, and hasn't really published poetry like she had when she was younger. Can our MC's dreams awaken the poet she once was? Am I going to care? No.

Truly a perfect fun-house mirror to our future, present, and recent past. A thoughtful, precise, inspiring knife to the gut which Tchaikovsky twists with unparalleled empathy and insight.

A story of a robot who does not fully understand his own actions, and does not consciously believe in his own agency. A series of trials like Old Mebbeth's tasks each point a glowing and uncomfortable finger at one of the ways our society is utterly failing. Pinocchio on a modern odyssey of apocalyptic parables silently screaming at the top of their lungs to do something about what's wrong. Truly more Literature in here than I can shake a stick at. Sublime, beautiful, and painful to the core.

Unquestionably going to come back to this several times, hopefully with a book club where we can study one section in depth before moving to the next. An absolute banger.

In early 2021, (IIRC) Nikkita Oliver helped develop and lead a class on restorative justice. I bought this book, part of the curriculum, at the time because of that but work started taking over much of my time, so I didn't read any of it. Gonna see how it sits with me now though.