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Recommendations based on Waking Up White: And Finding Myself in the Story of Raceby Debby Irving
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Between the World and Me
by Ta-Nehisi Coates
A letter to his son, exploring the realities of racism in America.
“This is your country, this is your world, this is your body, and you must find some way to live within the all of it.” In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American ... (Goodreads)
Rising Strong: The Reckoning. The Rumble. The Revolution.
by Brené Brown
An exploration of how to courageously confront hardship and use it to build strength and resilience.
Social scientist Brené Brown has ignited a global conversation on courage, vulnerability, shame, and worthiness. Her pioneering work uncovered a profound truth: Vulnerability—the willingness to show ... (Goodreads)
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
by Michael Pollan
Argument for a return to traditional diets and away from processed, industrialized food.
Michael Pollan's last book, The Omnivore's Dilemma , launched a national conversation about the American way of eating; now In Defense of Food shows us how to change it, one meal at a time. Pollan ... (Goodreads)
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants
by Robin Wall Kimmerer
An exploration of the reciprocal relationship between humans and nature, utilizing both Indigenous wisdom and scientific knowledge.
As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals ... (Goodreads)
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
by Bryan Stevenson
A powerful true story of justice and redemption, exposing the flaws of America's criminal justice system.
In 1989, idealistic young Harvard law graduate Bryan Stevenson travels to Alabama hoping to help fight for poor people who cannot afford proper legal representation. Teaming with Eva Ansley, he ... (Wikipedia)
The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother
by James McBride
A memoir of a black man's journey to understand his white mother's past and how it shaped his own identity.
Touches readers of all colors as a vivid portrait of growing up, a haunting meditation on race and identity, and a lyrical valentine to a mother from her son. Who is Ruth McBride Jordan? A ... (Goodreads)
Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion
by Gregory Boyle
A memoir of Father Boyle's work with gang members in Los Angeles, emphasizing the power of compassion and kinship to heal and transform lives.
Father Gregory Boyle’s sparkling parables about kinship and the sacredness of life are drawn from twenty years working with gangs in LA. How do you fight despair and learn to meet the world with a ... (Goodreads)
Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power
by Rachel Maddow
Investigation of the US military's unchecked growth and its consequences for American democracy.
"One of my favorite ideas is, never to keep an unnecessary soldier," Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1792. Neither Jefferson nor the other Founders could ever have envisioned the modern national security ... (Goodreads)
The Life of Elizabeth I
by Alison Weir
Biography of the influential 16th-century English queen, detailing her rise to power and rule.
NEW YORK TIMES, BESTSELLER Perhaps the most influential sovereign England has ever known, Queen Elizabeth I remained an extremely private person throughout her reign, keeping her own counsel and ... (Goodreads)
The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League
by Jeff Hobbs
A poignant biography of a man's rise and fall, caught in the crossfire of economic and social inequality.
An instant, New York Times, bestseller, named a best book of the year by, The New York Times Book Review, Amazon, and, Entertainment Weekly, among others, this celebrated account of a young ... (Barnes & Noble)
Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?
by Beverly Daniel Tatum
Exploration of racial identity and the role of schools in creating and maintaining racial divides.
Walk into any racially mixed high school and you will see Black, White, and Latino youth clustered in their own groups. Is this self-segregation a problem to address or a coping strategy? Beverly ... (Goodreads)
I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness
by Austin Channing Brown
A memoir exploring the author's experiences as a Black woman in predominantly white spaces, and the struggle for dignity and belonging.
From a powerful new voice on racial justice, an eye-opening account of growing up Black, Christian, and female in middle-class white America. Austin Channing Brown's first encounter with a racialized ... (Goodreads)
Thunderstruck
by Erik Larson
Fascinating true story of the invention of the wireless and its effect on two men's lives.
The interwoven stories of two men whose lives intersect during one of the greatest criminal cases of all time - Hawley Crippen, a very unlikely murderer, and Guglielmo Marconi, the obsessive creator ... (Goodreads)
Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation
by Parker J. Palmer
A guide to finding one's true calling by listening to one's inner voice and living an authentic life.
PLEASE NOTE: Some recent copies of, Let Your Life Speak, included printing errors. These issues have been corrected, but if you purchased a defective copy between September and December 2019, please ... (Goodreads)
Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness
by Jon Kabat-Zinn
Comprehensive guide to using mindfulness meditation to manage stress, pain, and illness.
2005 15th anniversary edition reprint Kabat-Zinn, founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, is perhaps the best-known proponent of using meditation to ... (Goodreads)
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
by Angela Duckworth
Examining how passion and perseverance can unlock hidden potential, and the power of resilience in achieving success.
In this must-read book for anyone striving to succeed, pioneering psychologist Angela Duckworth shows parents, educators, students, and business people both seasoned and new that the secret to ... (Goodreads)
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
by Robin DiAngelo
A critical analysis of the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially. It explores the dynamics of white fragility and how it perpetuates racial inequality.
Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt and by behaviors including argumentation ... (Goodreads)
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
by Isabel Wilkerson
An exploration of the life-changing journeys of the millions of African-Americans who migrated from the South to the North, Midwest, and West from 1915 to 1970.
In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black ... (Goodreads)
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
by Erik Larson
Exploration of Lusitania's fateful voyage and its lasting impact on World War I.
#1 New York Times Bestseller,From the bestselling author and master of narrative nonfiction comes the enthralling story of the sinking of the, Lusitania, On May 1, 1915, with WWI entering its tenth ... (Barnes & Noble)
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
by Michelle Alexander
Exploring the roots and reality of systemic racism in the U.S. criminal justice system.
"Jarvious Cotton's great-great-grandfather could not vote as a slave. His great-grandfather was beaten to death by the Klu Klux Klan for attempting to vote. His grandfather was prevented from voting ... (Goodreads)
Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy
by Anne Lamott
Anne Lamott explores the concept of mercy and how it can be rediscovered in our lives, even in the midst of chaos and pain.
“Anne Lamott is my Oprah.” —,Chicago Tribune,From the bestselling author of, Help, Thanks, Wow, and, Stitches, comes a powerful exploration of mercy, its limitless (if sometimes hidden) presence, why ... (Goodreads)
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
by Eric Schlosser
An exploration of the industrial food system and its effects on U.S. society.
Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled American cultural imperialism abroad. That's a lengthy list ... (Goodreads)
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
by Daniel James Brown
An inspiring story of a rowing crew battling against the odds to win gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
This novel is about the University of Washington eight-oared crew that represented the United States in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, and narrowly beat out Italy and Germany to win the gold medal. The ... (Wikipedia)
Boy Erased: A Memoir of Identity, Faith, and Family
by Garrard Conley
A young man's struggle with his sexuality and the pressure from his religious family to undergo conversion therapy.
A beautiful, raw and compassionate memoir about identity, love and understanding. Now a major motion picture starring Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, and Lucas Hedges, directed by Joel Edgerton.. The ... (Goodreads)
Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
by H.W. Brands
A biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, exploring his privileged upbringing and his radical presidency that transformed America.
A sweeping, magisterial biography of the man generally considered the greatest president of the twentieth century, admired by Democrats and Republicans alike. Traitor to His Class sheds new light on ... (Goodreads)
Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?
by Steven Tyler
Memoir of Steven Tyler, lead singer of Aerosmith, detailing his life, struggles with addiction, and rise to fame.
“Steven Tyler is one of the giants of American music, who’s been influential for a whole generation of Rock ’n’ Roll fans around the world. Long May He Rock!”,—Sir Paul McCartney,, Does the Noise in ... (Barnes & Noble)
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End
by Atul Gawande
An exploration of the human experience of mortality and the importance of end-of-life care.
In, Being Mortal, author Atul Gawande tackles the hardest challenge of his profession: how medicine can not only improve life but also the process of its ending Medicine has triumphed in modern ... (Goodreads)
Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High
by Melba Pattillo Beals
An autobiographical account of a young African American student's struggle to attend an all-white high school in 1957.
In this essential autobiographical account by one of the Civil Rights Movement’s most powerful figures, Melba Pattillo Beals of the Little Rock Nine explores not only the oppressive force of racism, ... (Goodreads)
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
by J.D. Vance
An exploration of the struggles of working-class Americans, and the power of family and culture to shape one's life.
Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class Americans. The disintegration of this group, a process that has been slowly occurring now for ... (Goodreads)
Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth
by Sarah Smarsh
A memoir of growing up poor in rural Kansas, exploring the struggles and resilience of the working-class in America.
During Sarah Smarsh’s turbulent childhood in Kansas in the 1980s and 1990s, the forces of cyclical poverty and the country’s changing economic policies solidified her family’s place among the working ... (Goodreads)
