Mariana Ortega, "Carnalities: The Art of Living in Latinidad" (Duke UP, 2024)

Camera Lucida is a seminal work by Roland Barthes that delves into the nature of photography, distinguishing between the studium and punctum. It is both an inquiry into photography and a personal eulogy for his late mother. The book explores how photographs can evoke powerful emotional responses and how they capture past realities.

Borderland by Anna Reid offers a deeply researched and engaging narrative that spans over seven centuries of Ukrainian history. The book delves into the country's complex past, exploring its role as a borderland and battlefield, and its ongoing quest for a unified national identity. Reid's work includes firsthand accounts from the 2022 Russia-Ukraine war, making it essential reading for understanding Ukraine's current situation.

In 'Being and Time', Heidegger delves into the fundamental question of what it means to 'be'. The book is divided into two main divisions: the first analyzes the existentials of Dasein, or 'being-in-the-world', while the second grounds these existentials in temporality. Heidegger introduces key concepts such as 'Dasein', 'Being-with', and the three temporal ecstases (having-been, present, and to-come), emphasizing that Dasein's existence is essentially futural and characterized by its possibilities and projects. The work challenges traditional philosophical notions of subject and object, instead positing that Dasein is inseparable from its world and historical context.

In 'The Myth of Sisyphus', Albert Camus delves into the concept of the absurd, which arises from the conflict between humanity's desire for meaning and the apparent indifference of the universe. Camus argues that this absurdity does not justify suicide but rather requires a revolt against it. He introduces Sisyphus, a figure from Greek mythology condemned to eternally push a boulder up a mountain only for it to roll back down, as the ideal absurd hero. Camus suggests that Sisyphus's acceptance of his fate and his continued effort to push the boulder up the mountain, despite its futility, exemplify the human condition and the possibility of finding happiness in the face of absurdity. The essay also discusses other examples of absurd lives and includes an appendix on the works of Franz Kafka.