Giving Compass' Take:

• Scholars and staff from the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings provide a list of book recommendations in this time of social distancing. 

• How is reading helping curb mental health issues during this time? What else can you do for your community to focus on addressing mental health during COVID-19?

• Learn more about mental health risks during COVID-19. 

During this unusual time of flexible schedules and more time at home, many of us may have increased opportunities for long-form reading. Below, the scholars and staff from the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings offer their recommendations for books to read during this time.

The Nation City: Why Mayors Are Now Running the World
The toughest problems we’re facing today—climate change, migration crises, income inequality, and obviously pandemics—know no national borders.  Their effects concentrate in cities. Yet, cities and their leaders often lack the resources and support to solve these challenges.

AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order 

In “AI Superpowers,” author Kai-Fu Lee writes on everything you need to know about the genesis of artificial intelligence, its evolution, and its geopolitics.

The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty 

It is a long (more than 500 pages) but very readable book by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, the authors of “Why Nations Fail,” with a huge amount of history from all over the world. Its length may be acceptable in these stay at home times. It reminds the reader that every generation has to win the battle for liberty and good governance again and again.

A Man of Good Hope 

This 2014 book by Jonny Steinberg tells the unimaginable but true life story of Asad, a Somalian refugee whom Steinberg meets in South Africa while preparing a book on xenophobia. Narrative nonfiction at its best, the book is a powerful introduction to the challenges and complexities faced by displaced populations and the many ways in which the international community fails to support them. A book that never leaves your mind after you’ve read it.

Read the full article about social distance reading list by Max Bouchet, Brahima Sangafowa Coulibaly, Kemal Derviş, Pascaline Dupas, Helena Hlavaty, George Ingram, Addisu Lashitew, Payce Madden, John McArthur, and Sebastian Strauss at Brookings.