Mother's Day Reading

Best Historical Fiction Books for Mother’s Day Reading

Looking for a last minute Mother’s Day gift? A good book is always a hit! Check out this round up of great historical fiction picks for Mother’s Day Reading!

Mother's Day Reading

Mother’s Day Reading Picks

Mother’s Day is here! And I know there are probably some out there who are still scrambling to find gifts to honor Mom. But if she’s like me, all she wants is a good book and a glass of wine to enjoy. So for the HF Bookworm Moms out there- here is a round up of the best historical fiction books for Mother’s Day Reading! Enjoy!

Caroline Little House, Revisited by Sarah Miller

In this novel authorized by the Little House Heritage Trust, Sarah Miller vividly recreates the beauty, hardship, and joys of the frontier in a dazzling work of historical fiction. It’s a captivating story that illuminates one courageous, resilient, and loving pioneer woman as never before–Caroline Ingalls, “Ma” in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved Little House books.

In the frigid days of February, 1870, Caroline Ingalls and her family leave the familiar comforts of the Big Woods of Wisconsin and the warm bosom of her family, for a new life in Kansas Indian Territory.

Packing what they can carry in their wagon, Caroline, her husband Charles, and their little girls, Mary and Laura, head west to settle in a beautiful, unpredictable land full of promise and peril.

The pioneer life is a hard one, especially for a pregnant woman with no friends or kin to turn to for comfort or help. The burden of work must be shouldered alone, sickness tended without the aid of doctors, and babies birthed without the accustomed hands of mothers or sisters. But Caroline’s new world is also full of tender joys. In adapting to this strange new place and transforming a rough log house built by Charles’ hands into a home, Caroline must draw on untapped wells of strength she does not know she possesses.

For more than eighty years, generations of readers have been enchanted by the adventures of the American frontier’s most famous child, Laura Ingalls Wilder, in the Little House books. Now, that familiar story is retold in this captivating tale of family, fidelity, hardship, love, and survival that vividly reimagines our past.

Mother's Day Reading

Mother's Day Reading

The Last Story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim

A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A profoundly moving and unconventional mother-daughter saga, The Last Story of Mina Lee illustrates the devastating realities of being an immigrant in America.

Margot Lee’s mother, Mina, isn’t returning her calls. It’s a mystery to twenty-six-year-old Margot, until she visits her childhood apartment in Koreatown, LA, and finds that her mother has suspiciously died. The discovery sends Margot digging through the past, unraveling the tenuous invisible strings that held together her single mother’s life as a Korean War orphan and an undocumented immigrant, only to realize how little she truly knew about her mother.

Interwoven with Margot’s present-day search is Mina’s story of her first year in Los Angeles as she navigates the promises and perils of the American myth of reinvention. While she’s barely earning a living by stocking shelves at a Korean grocery store, the last thing Mina ever expects is to fall in love. But that love story sets in motion a series of events that have consequences for years to come, leading up to the truth of what happened the night of her death.

Told through the intimate lens of a mother and daughter who have struggled all their lives to understand each other, The Last Story of Mina Lee is a powerful and exquisitely woven debut novel that explores identity, family, secrets, and what it truly means to belong.


Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY • Two estranged siblings delve into their mother’s hidden past—and how it all connects to her traditional Caribbean black cake—in this immersive family saga, “a character-driven, multi-generational story that’s meant to be savored” (Time).
 
“Wilkerson transports you across the decades and around the globe accompanied by complex, wonderfully drawn characters.”—Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Daisy Jones & The Six, and Malibu Rising

In development as a Hulu original series produced by Marissa Jo Cerar, Oprah Winfrey (Harpo Films), and Kapital Entertainment

We can’t choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become?

In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves.

Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor’s true history, and fulfill her final request to “share the black cake when the time is right”? Will their mother’s revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever?

Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names can shape relationships and history. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch.

Mother's Day Reading

Mother's Day Reading

The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson

REESE’S FEBRUARY 2023 BOOK CLUB PICK
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“A triumph of historical fiction” (The Washington Post) set in 1950s Philadelphia and Washington, DC, that explores what it means to be a woman and a mother, and how much one is willing to sacrifice to achieve her greatest goal.


1950s Philadelphia: fifteen-year-old Ruby Pearsall is on track to becoming the first in her family to attend college, in spite of having a mother more interested in keeping a man than raising a daughter. But a taboo love affair threatens to pull her back down into the poverty and desperation that has been passed on to her like a birthright.

Eleanor Quarles arrives in Washington, DC, with ambition and secrets. When she meets the handsome William Pride at Howard University, they fall madly in love. But William hails from one of DC’s elite wealthy Black families, and his par­ents don’t let just anyone into their fold. Eleanor hopes that a baby will make her finally feel at home in William’s family and grant her the life she’s been searching for. But having a baby—and fitting in—is easier said than done.

With their stories colliding in the most unexpected of ways, Ruby and Eleanor will both make decisions that shape the trajectory of their lives.


Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall

#1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
“Clever and satisfying…has the potential to remain pertinent for generations.” —Associated Press

This “powerful debut” (Hello! Canada) for fans of Kristin Hannah and Jennifer Chiaverini about three women whose lives are bound together by a long-lost letter, a mother’s love, and a secret network of women fighting for the right to choose—inspired by true stories.

2017: When Angela Creighton discovers a mysterious letter containing a life-shattering confession, she is determined to find the intended recipient. Her search takes her back to the 1970s when a group of daring women operated an illegal underground abortion network in Toronto known only by its whispered code name: Jane.

1971: As a teenager, Dr. Evelyn Taylor was sent to a home for “fallen” women where she was forced to give up her baby for adoption—a trauma she has never recovered from. Despite harrowing police raids and the constant threat of arrest, she joins the Jane Network as an abortion provider, determined to give other women the choice she never had.

1980: After discovering a shocking secret about her family, twenty-year-old Nancy Mitchell begins to question everything she has ever known. When she unexpectedly becomes pregnant, she feels like she has no one to turn to for help. Grappling with her decision, she locates “Jane” and finds a place of her own alongside Dr. Taylor within the network’s ranks, but she can never escape the lies that haunt her.

Looking for Jane is “a searing, important, beautifully written novel about the choices we all make and where they lead us—as well as a wise and timely reminder of the difficult road women had to walk not so long ago” (Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author).


The Lost English Girl by Julia Kelly

The acclaimed author of the “sweeping and beautifully written novel” (Woman’s World) The Light Over London weaves an epic saga of love, motherhood, and betrayal set against World War II.

Liverpool, 1935: Raised in a strict Catholic family, Viv Byrne knows what’s expected of her: marry a Catholic man from her working-class neighborhood and have his children. However, when she finds herself pregnant after a fling with Joshua Levinson, a Jewish man with dreams of becoming a famous Jazz musician, Viv knows that a swift wedding is the only answer. Her only solace is that marrying Joshua will mean escaping her strict mother’s scrutiny. But when Joshua makes a life-changing choice on their wedding day, Viv is forced once again into the arms of her disapproving family.

Five years later and on the eve of World War II, Viv is faced with the impossible choice to evacuate her young daughter, Maggie, to the countryside estate of the affluent Thompson family. In New York City, Joshua gives up his failing musical career to serve in the Royal Air Force, fight for his country, and try to piece together his feelings about the family, wife, and daughter he left behind at nineteen. However, tragedy strikes when Viv learns that the countryside safe haven she sent her daughter to wasn’t immune from the horrors of war. It is only years later, with Joshua’s help, that Viv learns the secrets of their shared past and what it will take to put a family back together again.

Telling the harrowing story of England’s many evacuated children, bestselling author Julia Kelly’s The Lost English Girl explores how one simple choice can change the course of a life, and what we are willing to forgive to find a way back to the ones we love and thought lost.


The Night Travelers by Armando Lucas Correa

Four generations of women experience love, loss, war, and hope from the rise of Nazism to the Cuban Revolution and finally, the fall of the Berlin Wall in this sweeping novel from the bestselling author of the “timely must-read” (People) The German Girl.

Berlin, 1931: Ally Keller, a talented young poet, is alone and scared when she gives birth to a mixed-race daughter she names Lilith. As the Nazis rise to power, Ally knows she must keep her baby in the shadows to protect her against Hitler’s deadly ideology of Aryan purity. But as she grows, it becomes more and more difficult to keep Lilith hidden so Ally sets in motion a dangerous and desperate plan to send her daughter across the ocean to safety.

Havana, 1958: Now an adult, Lilith has few memories of her mother or her childhood in Germany. Besides, she’s too excited for her future with her beloved Martin, a Cuban pilot with strong ties to the Batista government. But as the flames of revolution ignite, Lilith and her newborn daughter, Nadine, find themselves at a terrifying crossroads.

Berlin, 1988: As a scientist in Berlin, Nadine is dedicated to ensuring the dignity of the remains of all those who were murdered by the Nazis. Yet she has spent her entire lifetime avoiding the truth about her own family’s history. It takes her daughter, Luna, to encourage Nadine to uncover the truth about the choices her mother and grandmother made to ensure the survival of their children. And it will fall to Luna to come to terms with a shocking betrayal that changes everything she thought she knew about her family’s past.

Separated by time but united by sacrifice, four women embark on journeys of self-discovery and find themselves to be living testaments to the power of motherly love.

Mother's Day Reading

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Agatha Christie Books

Why Agatha Christie Books Make Her the Queen of Mystery!

Agatha Christie- the Queen and Legend!

About Agatha Christie and Her Books

Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, these are some of the most classic mysteries ever written. And who hasn’t heard of the famous Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple? Agatha Christie books are legendary, as is the author herself. Is that what has made her pop up so much again now in new recent writings? Let’s explore why Agatha Christie is the Queen of Mystery.

Born on September 15th in 1890, Agatha Christie became and remains the best-selling novelist of all time. She was a prolific writer, writing 66 detective novels, 14 short story collections, and the world’s longest running play of all time, The Mousetrap

Why Agatha Christie is the Queen of Mystery

Agatha Christie- The Early Years

Agatha Christie had a difficult start in life. She had an unorthodox upbringing where she was homeschooled and told she was not allowed to learn to read until she was at least eight years old. She taught herself at the age of five instead. Her father died when she was eleven and she and her mother were left with major financial problems. They were forced to leave their house relying on the hospitality of friends until eventually traveling to Egypt for Agatha’s “economized” coming out season.

Although Agatha received many marriage proposals in Egypt, it was not until she met a young pilot, Archie Christie, that she first fell in love. It was a whirlwind affair that ended in a wartime marriage.

Agatha Christie Books

It was during the war that Agatha took to writing detective stories. She used her newfound experience in poisons (she worked at a hospital dispensary during the war) as a basis for the plot of her debut novel,The Mysterious Affair at Styles. The murderer’s use of poisons in the book was so accurate that she received an unusual honorable tribute- a review in The Pharmaceutical Journal. 

Despite Agatha’s newfound success, her personal life was in shambles. Her marriage was falling apart, and there were rumors of a nervous breakdown. After a mysterious disappearance, Agatha decided it was time to start anew. She fulfilled a lifelong goal of traveling on the Orient Express, and spent time on an archeological dig in Baghdad. It was there she met a young archeologist in training, Max Mallowan, who became her second husband. 

In the years that followed, Agatha finally found happiness. She and her husband divided their time between England and digs around the world. She devoted her time to writing, enjoying success until her death in 1976.


Agatha Christie Books To Read List

And Then There Were None


“If you’re one of the few who haven’t experienced the genius of Agatha Christie, this novel is a stellar starting point.” — DAVID BALDACCI, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

An exclusive authorized edition of the most famous and beloved stories from the Queen of Mystery.

Ten people, each with something to hide and something to fear, are invited to an isolated mansion on Indian Island by a host who, surprisingly, fails to appear. On the island, they are cut off from everything but each other and the inescapable shadows of their own past lives. One by one, the guests share the darkest secrets of their wicked pasts. And one by one, they die…

Which among them is the killer, and will any of them survive?

“Agatha Christie is the gateway drug to crime fiction both for readers and for writers. . . .  Just one book is never enough.” — VAL MCDERMID, Internationally Bestselling Author.

Agatha Christie Books

Agatha Christie Books
Why Agatha Christie is the Queen of Mystery

Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery 

The exclusive authorized edition of the most widely read mystery of all time. Now a major motion picture directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh. 

“The murderer is with us—on the train now . . .”

Just after midnight, the famous Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by a snowdrift. By morning, the millionaire Samuel Edward Ratchett lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Without a shred of doubt, one of his fellow passengers is the murderer.

Isolated by the storm, detective Hercule Poirot must find the killer among a dozen of the dead man’s enemies before the murderer decides to strike again.

This edition includes a photo insert of images from the film. 


The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot)

One of Agatha Christie’s most famous novels, featuring her beloved detective Hercule Poirot—and her most surprising twist.

The story that made Agatha Christie famous ends with one of her most dramatic twists. The villagers of King’s Abbot are shocked when a wealthy local widow commits suicide, and the very next day her fiancé, Roger Ackroyd, is stabbed to death. Dr. James Sheppard, the local physician, discovers the body of his friend and narrates the ensuing hunt for the killer. All the guests and staff at Ackroyd’s country house seem to have solid alibis—except for his missing stepson. But as the authorities home in on their most obvious suspect, the recently retired detective Hercule Poirot unexpectedly turns up and joins the fray. Dr. Sheppard gamely assists the legendary Poirot as he untangles one of the most fiendish mysteries in Christie’s extensive oeuvre.


Agatha Christie Books
Why Agatha Christie is the Queen of Mystery

The A. B. C. Murders: A Hercule Poirot Mystery

In this official authorized edition from the Queen of Mystery, Hercule Poirot sets out on the trail of a serial killer.

There’s a serial killer on the loose, working his way through the alphabet and the whole country is in a state of panic.

A is for Mrs. Ascher in Andover, B is for Betty Barnard in Bexhill, and C is for Sir Carmichael Clarke in Churston. With each murder, the killer is getting more confident—but leaving a trail of deliberate clues to taunt the proud Hercule Poirot might just prove to be the first and fatal mistake.

FYI: This was the first novel ever to follow the trail of a serial killer in a “whodunnit” mystery.


Sleeping Murder

In this exclusive authorized edition from the Queen of Mystery, the indomitable Miss Marple turns ghost hunter and uncovers shocking evidence of a perfect crime.

Soon after Gwenda moved into her new home, odd things started to happen. Despite her best efforts to modernize the house, she only succeeded in dredging up its past. Worse, she felt an irrational sense of terror every time she climbed the stairs.

In fear, Gwenda turned to Miss Marple to exorcise her ghosts. Between them, they were to solve a “perfect” crime committed many years before.


More Recent books about Agatha Christie-

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER!

AN AMAZON BEST BOOK OF 2021!

“A stunning story… The ending is ingenious, and it’s possible that Benedict has brought to life the most plausible explanation for why Christie disappeared for 11 days in 1926.”―The Washington Post.

The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Only Woman in the Room returns with a thrilling reconstruction of one of the most notorious events in literary history: Agatha Christie’s mysterious 11-day disappearance in 1926.

In December 1926, Agatha Christie goes missing. Investigators find her empty car on the edge of a deep, gloomy pond, the only clues are some tire tracks nearby and a fur coat left in the car―strange for a frigid night. Her World War I veteran husband and her daughter have no knowledge of her whereabouts, and England unleashes an unprecedented manhunt to find the up-and-coming mystery author. Eleven days later, she reappears, just as mysteriously as she disappeared, claiming amnesia and providing no explanations for her time away.

The puzzle of those missing eleven days has persisted. With her trademark historical fiction exploration into the shadows of the past, acclaimed author Marie Benedict brings us into the world of Agatha Christie, imagining why such a brilliant woman would find herself at the center of such murky historical mysteries.

What is real, and what is mystery? What role did her unfaithful husband play, and what was he not telling investigators?

Agatha Christie novels have withstood the test of time due in no small part to Christie’s masterful storytelling and clever mind that may never be matched, but Agatha Christie’s untold history offers perhaps her greatest mystery of all.

Fans of The Secrets We Kept, The Lions of Fifth Avenue, and The Alice Network will enjoy this riveting saga of literary history, suspense, and love gone wrong.


The Christie Affair by Nina De Gramont

Why would the world’s most famous mystery writer disappear for eleven days? What makes a woman desperate enough to destroy another woman’s marriage? How deeply can a person crave revenge?

“Sizzles from its first sentence.” – The Wall Street Journal

A Reese’s Book Club Pick

In 1925, Miss Nan O’Dea infiltrated the wealthy, rarefied world of author Agatha Christie and her husband, Archie. In every way, she became a part of their life––first, both Christies. Then, just Archie. Soon, Nan became Archie’s mistress, luring him away from his devoted wife, desperate to marry him. Nan’s plot didn’t begin the day she met Archie and Agatha.

It began decades before, in Ireland, when Nan was a young girl. She and the man she loved were a star-crossed couple who were destined to be together––until the Great War, a pandemic, and shameful secrets tore them apart. Then acts of unspeakable cruelty kept them separated.

What drives someone to murder? What will someone do in the name of love? What kind of crime can someone never forgive? Nina de Gramont’s brilliant, unforgettable novel explores these questions and more.


Hope you enjoy this list of Agatha Christie Books! For more of my book lists, check out the Book List page here!

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Labor Day Books

Looking for Labor Day Books?

Our Workplace History and Potential Future

Labor Day Books

Labor Day Books to Read

The first Labor Day Parade took place in NYC on September 5th, 1882. It was a demonstration for worker’s rights. Twelve years later, Labor Day was signed into a law as a national holiday to celebrate and honor the working class by giving them a day off.

Sadly, we still have a long way to go in regards to truly celebrating and honoring the workers of our country. We’re continuing to widen the wage gap, are facing more controversy and debate than ever between political opinions, and we’re experiencing one of the largest face-offs between workers and employers in our history.

So, where does that leave us for the future? Will American workplaces ever look the same again? Will we ever again have booming office buildings and daily commutes? Or has this been the reckoning that was needed after years of an imbalance in American working culture?

In honor of this year’s Labor Day- I wanted to provide you with a book list of some Labor Day books that will hopefully make you think and force some conversation about these issues and examine not only our present-day working issues, but also those from our past. You might find many systemic issues that have been present for a while. And most importantly, if this is our time of reckoning, we might need to look deeper to truly fix what is broken.

I want to add, it has been brought to my attention that some might question one or two of the books on the list. I want to explain that I chose these books not necessarily because I believe they will individually provide a solution, but because they will hopefully open a dialogue. One of the biggest problems facing us today is our distrust of the “other side”. We have become so polarized and defensive, we’ve forgotten how to listen and learn. But looking at all sides and beliefs and being open to why a solution is being offered is important to finding compromise. As Walter Cronkite once said, “In seeking truth you have to get both sides of the story.”

With that thought in mind, I’d love to continue to add to this list. If you have other resources or books you think I should add, please add them to the comments or feel free to reach out.

Labor Day Books To Read List


The Great Resignation: Why Millions are Leaving Their Jobs and Who Will Win the Battle for Talent by Russ Hill and Jared Jones

The era of adult daycare is over. The way we work has changed permanently. Leaders who fail to adapt will lose their best people. It’s why millions are leaving their jobs!

“We’ve had every leader in our organization read The Great Resignation. Employees are demanding more flexibility and other changes in how we lead. We must adapt or risk losing our best people.” – John Dawson

You can’t send 70% of the global workforce home for an extended period of time and not expect their priorities to shift. Add to that the discontent that’s been growing in most companies for years and you can start to see why there’s so much movement in the job market.

Labor Day Books

In The Great Resignation, Russ Hill and Jared Jones show how two trends have been building for years and how the pandemic accelerated both of them. Hill and Jones share data from Microsoft, Deloitte, McKinssey, LinkedIn, and Gallup alongside stories from their consulting and coaching clients that include executives at some of the world’s largest companies like Amazon, Cigna, Lockheed Martin, Johnson & Johnson, Fox, Kohler, and many others.

The Great Resignation is a casual, insightful read that gives you actionable ideas you can implement with your team immediately. Whether you’re a seasoned senior executive of a Fortune 50 company or a new leader seeking to strengthen your ability to lead in today’s competitive environment you’ll find tons of value in The Great Resignation.


Wage Theft by Kim Bobo

“This book will give you an entirely new perspective on work in America.” ―Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed
 
In what has been described as “the crime wave no one talks about,” billions of dollars’ worth of wages are stolen from millions of workers in the United States every year―a grand theft that exceeds every other larceny category. Even the Economic Policy Foundation, a business-funded think tank, has estimated that companies annually steal an incredible $19 billion in unpaid overtime. The scope of these abuses is staggering, but activists, unions, and policymakers―along with everyday Americans in congregations and towns across the country―have begun to take notice.
 
While the first edition of Wage Theft In America documented the scope of the problem, this new edition adds the latest research on wage theft and tells what community, religious, and labor activists are now doing to address the crisis―from passing state and local wage-theft bills to establishing mayoral task forces and tapping agencies that help low-wage workers in spotting wage theft.
 
Citing hard-hitting statistics and heartbreaking first-person accounts of exploitation at the hands of employers, this updated edition of Wage Theft In America offers concrete solutions and a roadmap for putting an end to this insidious practice.


Stayin’ Alive The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class by Jefferson Cowie

A wide-ranging cultural and political history that will forever redefine a misunderstood decade, Stayin’ Alive is prize-winning historian Jefferson Cowie’s remarkable account of how working-class America hit the rocks in the political and economic upheavals of the 1970s. In this edgy and incisive book―part political intrigue, part labor history, with large doses of American music, film and television lore―Cowie, with “an ear for the power and poetry of vernacular speech” (Cleveland Plain Dealer), reveals America’s fascinating path from rising incomes and optimism of the New Deal to the widening economic inequalities and dampened expectations of the present.

Winner of the 2011 Francis Parkman Prize from the Society of American Historians for the Best Book on American History

Winner of the 2011 Merle Curti Prize from the Organization of American Historians for the Best Book in American Social History

Winner of the 2011 Labor History Best Book Prize

Winner of the 2011 Best Book Award from the United Association for Labor Education


Labor Day Books
Labor Day Books

We Own the Future: Democratic Socialism- American Style by Kate Aronoff

A stunningly original and timely collection that makes the case for “socialism, American style”

It’s a strange day when a New York Times conservative columnist is forced to admit that the left is winning, but as David Brooks wrote recently, “the American left is on the cusp of a great victory.” Among Americans under thirty, 43 percent had a favorable view of socialism, while only 32 percent had a favorable view of capitalism. Not since the Great Depression have so many Americans questioned the fundamental tenets of capitalism and expressed openness to a socialist alternative.

We Own the Future: Democratic Socialism—American Style offers a road map to making this alternative a reality, giving readers a practical vision of a future that is more democratic, egalitarian, inclusive, and environmentally sustainable. The book includes a crash course in the history and practice of democratic socialism, a vivid picture of what democratic socialism in America might look like in practice, and compelling proposals for how to get there from the age of Trump and beyond.

With contributions from some of the nation’s leading political activists and analysts, We Own the Future articulates a clear and uncompromising view from the left—a perfectly timed book that will appeal to a wide audience hungry for change.


Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor by Kim Kelly

“Kelly unearths the stories of the people- farm laborers, domestic workers, factory employees—behind some of the labor movement’s biggest successes.” —The New York Times

A revelatory and inclusive history of the American labor movement, from independent journalist and Teen Vogue labor columnist Kim Kelly.

Freed Black women organizing for protection in the Reconstruction-era South. Jewish immigrant garment workers braving deadly conditions for a sliver of independence. Asian American fieldworkers rejecting government-sanctioned indentured servitude across the Pacific. Incarcerated workers advocating for basic human rights and fair wages. The queer Black labor leader who helped orchestrate America’s civil rights movement. These are only some of the working-class heroes who propelled American labor’s relentless push for fairness and equal protection under the law.

The names and faces of countless silenced, misrepresented, or forgotten leaders have been erased by time as a privileged few decide which stories get cut from the final copy: those of women, people of color, LGBTQIA people, disabled people, sex workers, prisoners, and the poor. In this assiduously researched work of journalism, Teen Vogue columnist and independent labor reporter Kim Kelly excavates that history and shows how the rights the American worker has today—the forty-hour workweek, workplace-safety standards, restrictions on child labor, protection from harassment and discrimination on the job—were earned with literal blood, sweat, and tears.

Fight Like Hell comes at a time of economic reckoning in America. From Amazon’s warehouses to Starbucks cafes, Appalachian coal mines to the sex workers of Portland’s Stripper Strike, interest in organized labor is at a fever pitch not seen since the early 1960s.

Inspirational, intersectional, and full of crucial lessons from the past, Fight Like Hell shows what is possible when the working class demands the dignity it has always deserved.


$2.00 A Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America by Kathryn J. Edin and H. Luke Shaefer

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
The story of a kind of poverty in America so deep that we, as a country, don’t even think exists—from a leading national poverty expert who “defies convention.” (The New York Times)
Jessica Compton’s family of four would have no income if she didn’t donate plasma twice a week at her local donation center in Tennessee. Modonna Harris and her teenage daughter, Brianna, in Chicago, often have no food but spoiled milk on weekends.
After two decades of brilliant research on American poverty, Kathryn Edin noticed something she hadn’t seen before—households surviving on virtually no cash income. Edin teamed with Luke Shaefer, an expert on calculating incomes of the poor, to discover that the number of American families living on $2.00 per person, per day, was one and a half million households, including about three million children. Where do these families live? How did they get so desperately poor?
Through this book’s eye-opening analysis and many compelling profiles, moving and startling answers emerge. $2.00 a Day delivers provocative ideas to our national debate on income inequality.
“Powerful . . . Presents a deeply moving human face that brings the stunning numbers to life. It is an explosive book . . . The stories will make you angry and break your heart.”—American Prospect
“Harrowing . . . [An] important and heart-rending book, in the tradition of Michael Harrington’s The Other America.”—Los Angeles Times


In a Day’s Work: The Fight to End Sexual Violence Against America’s Most Vulnerable Workers by Bernice Yeung

“A timely, intensely intimate, and relevant exposé.” ―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

The Pulitzer Prize finalist’s powerful examination of the hidden stories of workers overlooked by #MeToo

Apple orchards in bucolic Washington State. Office parks in Southern California under cover of night. The home of an elderly man in Miami. These are some of the workplaces where women have suffered brutal sexual assaults and shocking harassment at the hands of their employers, often with little or no official recourse. In this heartrending but ultimately inspiring tale, investigative journalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist Bernice Yeung exposes the epidemic of sexual violence levied against the low-wage workers largely overlooked by #MeToo, and charts their quest for justice.

Labor Day Books

In a Day’s Work reveals the underbelly of hidden economies teeming with employers who are in the practice of taking advantage of immigrant women. But it also tells a timely story of resistance, introducing a group of courageous allies who challenge the status quo of violations alongside aggrieved workers―and win.


Hope you enjoy this list of Labor Day Books! For more of my book lists check out the Book List page here!

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Women Revolutionary War Heroes

What Do You Know About Women Revolutionary War Heroes?

We hear about the Founding Fathers, but what about the Founding Mothers? Check out this book list about Women Revolutionary War Heroes!

Women Revolutionary War Heroes

Let’s Talk About Women Revolutionary War Heroes!

Happy 4th of July everyone! In a year fraught with debate over so much when it comes to the true meanings of liberty and independence, it seems more than ever that it’s important to take a deeper look at what brought us here.

We ALWAYS here about the Founding Fathers and the brave men involved in the Revolutionary War. Paul Revere’s ride, George Washington’s brilliance etc. But you know how the saying goes, behind every great man there is a….? Even more amazing woman!! Sure enough, there were some absolutely pivotal women revolutionary war heroes as well! Let’s do as Abigail Adams once said- “Remember the Ladies!” Check out this book list below to celebrate these ladies!


From #1 New York Times bestselling author, Cokie Roberts, comes New York Times bestseller Founding Mothers, an intimate and illuminating look at the fervently patriotic and passionate women whose tireless pursuits on behalf of their families—and their country—proved just as crucial to the forging of a new nation as the rebellion that established it.

While much has been written about the men who signed the Declaration of Independence, battled the British, and framed the Constitution, the wives, mothers, sisters and daughters they left behind have been little noticed by history. #1 New York Times bestselling author, Cokie Roberts, brings us women who fought the Revolution as valiantly as the men, often defending their very doorsteps. Drawing upon personal correspondence, private journals, and even favored recipes, Roberts reveals the often surprising stories of these fascinating women, bringing to life the everyday trials and extraordinary triumphs of individuals like Abigail Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, Deborah Read Franklin, Eliza Pinckney, Catherine Littlefield Green, Esther DeBerdt Reed and Martha Washington— proving that without our exemplary women, the new country might have never survived.

Women Revolutionary War Heroes

“Not since I read Erik Larson’s Dead Wake have I had such an edge-of-my-seat immersion into historical events. […] No study of Alexander Hamilton would be complete without reading this book.”-Karen White, New York Times bestselling author

From the New York Times bestselling authors of America’s First Daughter comes the epic story of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton–a revolutionary woman who, like her new nation, struggled to define herself in the wake of war, betrayal, and tragedy. In this haunting, moving, and beautifully written novel, Dray and Kamoie used thousands of letters and original sources to tell Eliza’s story as it’s never been told before–not just as the wronged wife at the center of a political sex scandal–but also as a founding mother who shaped an American legacy in her own right.

A general’s daughter…

Coming of age on the perilous frontier of revolutionary New York, Elizabeth Schuyler champions the fight for independence. And when she meets Alexander Hamilton, Washington’s penniless but passionate aide-de-camp, she’s captivated by the young officer’s charisma and brilliance. They fall in love, despite Hamilton’s bastard birth and the uncertainties of war.

A Founding Father’s wife…

But the union they create–in their marriage and the new nation–is far from perfect. From glittering inaugural balls to bloody street riots, the Hamiltons are at the center of it all–including the political treachery of America’s first sex scandal, which forces Eliza to struggle through heartbreak and betrayal to find forgiveness.

The last surviving light of the Revolution…

When a duel destroys Eliza’s hard-won peace, the grieving widow fights her husband’s enemies to preserve Alexander’s legacy. But long-buried secrets threaten everything Eliza believes about her marriage and her own legacy. Questioning her tireless devotion to the man and country that have broken her heart, she’s left with one last battle–to understand the flawed man she married and imperfect union he could never have created without her…


Every schoolchild knows about Paul Revere’s 20-mile ride to warn that the British were coming. Far fewer know that 16-year-old Sybil Ludington rode twice as far to help her father, Colonel Ludington, muster his scattered troops to fight a marauding enemy. Few know about Martha Bratton, who blew up a supply of gunpowder to keep it from approaching British troops and boldly claimed, “It was I who did it!” Susan Casey gives Ludington, Bratton, and 18 other remarkable girls and women of the Revolution the spotlight they deserve in this lively collection of biographical profiles. Drawing on interviews with historians and descendants as well as primary source material, this is an invaluable resource for any student’s or history buff’s bookshelf.

Women Revolutionary War Heroes

“When Harry Met Sally” is only the most iconic of popular American movies, books, and articles that pose the question of whether friendships between men and women are possible. In Founding Friendships, Cassandra A. Good shows that this question was embedded in and debated as far back as the birth of the American nation. Indeed, many of the nation’s founding fathers had female friends but popular rhetoric held that these relationships were fraught with social danger, if not impossible.

Elite men and women formed loving, politically significant friendships in the early national period that were crucial to the individuals’ lives as well as the formation of a new national political system, as Cassandra Good illuminates.

Abigail Adams called her friend Thomas Jefferson “one of the choice ones on earth,” while George Washington signed a letter to his friend Elizabeth Powel with the words “I am always Yours.” Their emotionally rich language is often mistaken for romance, but by analyzing period letters, diaries, novels, and etiquette books, Good reveals that friendships between men and women were quite common. At a time when personal relationships were deeply political, these bonds offered both parties affection and practical assistance as well as exemplified republican values of choice, freedom, equality, and virtue. In so doing, these friendships embodied the core values of the new nation and represented a transitional moment in gender and culture.

Northern and Southern, famous and lesser known, the men and women examined in Founding Friendships offer a fresh look at how the founding generation defined and experienced friendship, love, gender, and power.


“An engrossing look at the human side of Benjamin Franklin . . . Using a post-feminist lens that’s critical of gender essentialism, Stuart rescues these women from obscurity . . . This is a terrific read: poignant, provocative, and probing.”
—Library Journal, Starred Review

A vivid portrait of the women who loved, nurtured, and defended America’s famous scientist and founding father.

Everyone knows Benjamin Franklin—the thrifty inventor-statesman of the Revolutionary era—but not about his love life. Poor Richard’s Women reveals the long-neglected voices of the women Ben loved and lost during his lifelong struggle between passion and prudence. The most prominent among them was Deborah Read Franklin, his common-law wife and partner for 44 years. Long dismissed by historians, she was an independent, politically savvy woman and devoted wife who raised their children, managed his finances, and fought off angry mobs at gunpoint while he traipsed about England.

Weaving detailed historical research with emotional intensity and personal testimony, Nancy Rubin Stuart traces Deborah’s life and those of Ben’s other romantic attachments through their personal correspondence. We are introduced to Margaret Stevenson, the widowed landlady who managed Ben’s life in London; Catherine Ray, the 23-year-old New Englander with whom he traveled overnight and later exchanged passionate letters; Madame Brillon, the beautiful French musician who flirted shamelessly with him, and the witty Madame Helvetius, who befriended the philosophes of pre-Revolutionary France and brought Ben to his knees.

What emerges from Stuart’s pen is a colorful and poignant portrait of women in the age of revolution. Set two centuries before the rise of feminism, Poor Richard’s Women depicts the feisty, often-forgotten women dear to Ben’s heart who, despite obstacles, achieved an independence rarely enjoyed by their peers in that era.


Hope these empowering list of books about Women Revolutionary War Heroes provides you some inspiration this summer. Enjoy!

Looking for other book recommendations? Check out Joyana’s Book Lists page!

Juneteenth Book List

Check Out My Juneteenth Book List!

Books to Commemorate Freedom on this important day in history!

Juneteenth Book List

Juneteenth commemorates the official end of slavery in the United States.

On June 19th, 1865 federal troops arrived in Galveston, TX to take control of the state and ensure all enslaved people be freed. The troops’ arrival was a full two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.

Juneteenth celebrates this momentous day and is finally a federal holiday! In the spirit of celebration, I’ve put together a Juneteenth Book List below. Happy Reading!


Juneteenth Book List

On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed

The essential, sweeping story of Juneteenth’s integral importance to American history, as told by a Pulitzer Prize–winning historian and Texas native.

Weaving together American history, dramatic family chronicle, and searing episodes of memoir, Annette Gordon-Reed’s On Juneteenth provides a historian’s view of the country’s long road to Juneteenth, recounting both its origins in Texas and the enormous hardships that African-Americans have endured in the century since, from Reconstruction through Jim Crow and beyond. All too aware of the stories of cowboys, ranchers, and oilmen that have long dominated the lore of the Lone Star State, Gordon-Reed―herself a Texas native and the descendant of enslaved people brought to Texas as early as the 1820s―forges a new and profoundly truthful narrative of her home state, with implications for us all.


Juneteenth: A Novel by Ralph Ellison

The radiant, posthumous second novel by the visionary author of Invisible Man.

In Washington, D.C., in the 1950s, Adam Sunraider, a race-baiting senator from New England, is mortally wounded by an assassin’s bullet while making a speech on the Senate floor. To the shock of all who think they know him, Sunraider calls out from his deathbed for Alonzo Hickman, an old black minister, to be brought to his side. The reverend is summoned; the two are left alone. “Tell me what happened while there’s still time,” demands the dying Sunraider.

Out of their conversation, and the inner rhythms of memories whose weight has been borne in silence for many long years, a story emerges. Senator Sunraider, once known as Bliss, was raised by Reverend Hickman in a black community steeped in religion and music (not unlike Ralph Ellison’s own childhood home) and was brought up to be a preaching prodigy in a joyful black Baptist ministry that traveled throughout the South and the Southwest. Together one last time, the two men retrace the course of their shared life in an “anguished attempt,” Ellison once put it, “to arrive at the true shape and substance of a sundered past and its meaning.” In the end, the two men confront their most painful memories, memories that hold the key to understanding the mysteries of kinship and race that bind them, and to the senator’s confronting how deeply estranged he had become from his true identity.


Reconstruction by Eric Foner

The prize-winning classic work on the post-Civil War period that shaped modern America.

Eric Foner’s “masterful treatment of one of the most complex periods of American history” (New Republic) redefined how the post-Civil War period was viewed.

Reconstruction chronicles the way in which Americans—black and white—responded to the unprecedented changes unleashed by the war and the end of slavery. It addresses the ways in which the emancipated slaves’ quest for economic autonomy and equal citizenship shaped the political agenda of Reconstruction; the remodeling of Southern society and the place of planters, merchants, and small farmers within it; the evolution of racial attitudes and patterns of race relations; and the emergence of a national state possessing vastly expanded authority and committed, for a time, to the principle of equal rights for all Americans.

This “smart book of enormous strengths” (Boston Globe) remains the standard work on the wrenching post-Civil War period—an era whose legacy still reverberates in the United States today.


Envisioning Emancipation by Deborah Willis and Barbara Krauthamer

The Emancipation Proclamation is one of the most important documents in American history. As we commemorate its 150th anniversary, what do we really know about those who experienced slavery?

In their pioneering book, Envisioning Emancipation, renowned photographic historian Deborah Willis and historian of slavery Barbara Krauthamer have amassed 150 photographs—some never before published—from the antebellum days of the 1850s through the New Deal era of the 1930s. The authors vividly display the seismic impact of emancipation on African Americans born before and after the Proclamation, providing a perspective on freedom and slavery and a way to understand the photos as documents of engagement, action, struggle, and aspiration.

Envisioning Emancipation illustrates what freedom looked like for black Americans in the Civil War era. From photos of the enslaved on plantations and African American soldiers and camp workers in the Union Army to Juneteenth celebrations, slave reunions, and portraits of black families and workers in the American South, the images in this book challenge perceptions of slavery. They show not only what the subjects emphasized about themselves but also the ways Americans of all colors and genders opposed slavery and marked its end.

Filled with powerful images of lives too often ignored or erased from historical records, Envisioning Emancipation provides a new perspective on American culture.


Happy Juneteenth Everyone! Hope this Juneteenth Book List helps you learn a bit more about what we’re celebrating and the history behind it.


For more of Joyana’s Book Lists- go to her Book List page here!

Historical Fiction Books For Men

Check Out These Historical Fiction Books for Men!

No time traveling romance, no love triangles (not that there’s anything wrong with those. In fact, I love them!)- But this is a list of historical fiction books for men to enjoy!

Historical Fiction Books for Men

Although men love history, I often find historical fiction considered to be a genre that geared towards women. I think with the popularity of Outlander, Regency romances etc, men are associating it as a romance genre. However, there are TONS of historical fiction books for men! Here is a list to try!


The Alienist by Caleb Carr

This is one of my favorites! With a four-star rating on Goodreads and over 165,000 reviews, you can trust this is a great read. Actually, anything by Caleb Carr is, in my opinion. But, if you’re looking for an old- school psychological thriller with a creepy vibe (basically follows the first recognized American serial killer)- you NEED to check out this book! There’s an accompanying TV series as well that is also very well done.

Historical Fiction Books for Men

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

For fans of All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr has a new book out! Cloud Cuckoo Land takes on the tapestry of time. Split into three perspectives woven together, Doerr spans time from ancient Constantinople through living in the future in space. (Rest assured, it is not sci/fi though).

Once again, “Doerr’s dazzling imagination transports us to worlds so dramatic and immersive that we forget, for a time, our own. Dedicated to ‘the librarians then, now, and in the years to come,’ Cloud Cuckoo Land is a beautiful and redemptive novel about stewardship–of the book, of the Earth, of the human heart.”


The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

You might know Amor Towles from his runaway hit- A Gentleman in Moscow. If you haven’t read that one yet, that’s another one you need to check out!

The Lincoln Highway came out in 2021 and has been another major hit. It takes place in 1950s America and is told from multiple perspectives. It’s a road trip type story that spans ten days and examines responsibility vs the wild ride of adventure.

Historical Fiction Books for Men

The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett

Have you tried the Kingsbridge series yet by Ken Follett? Set in Middle Age England, it is addictive!

The Evening and the Morning kicks off in 997 CE, the end of the Dark Ages. England is facing attacks from the Welsh in the west and the Vikings in the east. Those in power bend justice according to their will, regardless of ordinary people and often in conflict with the king. Without a clear rule of law, chaos reigns.

In these turbulent times, three characters find their lives intertwined.

Thirty years ago, Ken Follett published his most popular novel, The Pillars of the Earth. Follett’s prequel, The Evening and the Morning takes us on an epic journey into a historical past rich with ambition and rivalry, death and birth, love and hate, that will end where The Pillars of the Earth begins.


Hope you enjoy these Historical Fiction Books for Men- if you have other suggestions for me to add- please reach out and let me know! I’m ALWAYS open to book recommendations. 🙂

For more of Joyana’s Book Lists- check out her Book List page!