If you know me at all, you know that I love to read. Over the last several months, my reading has been focused on the broad subject of poverty. Within this area, there are books that range from case studies and lived experiences to data-driven discussion. The list below includes books that I find authentic, well written, and insightful.
The list keeps growing, imagine that! Scroll down to the end to see new books we’ve added.
Happy reading!
Zoë
- Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America
- by Barbara Ehrenreich
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive
- by Stephanie Land
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America
- by Kathryn Edin, H. Luke Shaefer
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- Strangers at My Door: An Experiment in Radical Hospitality
- by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- The Art of Neighboring: Building Genuine Relationships Right Outside Your Door
- by Jay Pathak, Dave Runyon (Contributor)
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- The LOT Project: Learning from the Least of These
- by Kerry Burns Gailey
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Kerry’s Website
- Loving Our Neighbor: A Thoughtful Approach to Helping People in Poverty
- by Beth Lindsay Templeton
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Beth’s website
- Understanding Poverty in the Classroom
- by Beth Lindsay Templeton
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Beth’s website
- Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America
- by Paul Tough
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People
- by Bob Goff
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion
- by Gregory Boyle
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship
- by Gregory Boyle
- Link to Goodreads
- Same Kind of Different as Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together
- by Ron Hall, Denver Moore, Lynn Vincent
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- Under the Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America
- by Mike Yankoski, Francis Chan (Foreword)
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- Letters to a Young Brother: Manifest Your Destiny
- by Hill Harper
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- Places in Need: The Changing Geography of Poverty
- by Scott W Allard
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
- by Matthew Desmond
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- I See You: How Love Opens Our Eyes to Invisible People
- by Terance Lester
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think
- by Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- Warriors Don’t Cry: a searing memoir of the battle to integrate Little Rock’s Central High
- by Melba Beals
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- Singlewide: Chasing the American Dream in a Rural Trailer Park
- by Sonya Salamon and Katherine Mactavish
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
- by Bryan Stevenson
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- The Other Wes More: One Name, Two Fates
- by Wes Moore
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
- by Richard Rothstein
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?
- by Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America
- by John Lewis
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration
- by Isabel Wilkerson
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
- by Isabel Wilkerson
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- The Voucher Promise: Section 8 and the Fate of an American Neighborhood
- by Eva Rosen
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library (soon)
- White Space, Black Hood: Opportunity Hoarding and Segregation in the Age of Inequality
- by Sheryll Cashin
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- How the Other Half Eats: The Untold Story of Food and Inequality in America
- by Priya Fielding-Singh
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
- Poverty, by America
- by Matthew Desmond
- Link to Goodreads
- Link to Anderson Library
Please feel free to reach out to me and ask for details about any of these. My hope is you will make an effort to read 2 or 3 of these by the end of the year. Be prepared to have your eyes opened, as Beth Templeton would say!