Our world is in a moment of political and societal upheaval and many people are stressed, tired, overwhelmed, scared. Others are in the midst of painfully dire situations. In this resource, I've assembled some fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and speeches that offer hope, comfort, encouragement, and energy -- It's up to you which of these you need right now. If you have any suggestions for materials that might belong on this list, please reach out to me at contact.undergroundbookshelf@gmail.com with your suggestion.
Reading Material for Times of Political Turmoil
Fiction
- Internment by Samira Ahmed
- 1984 by George Orwell
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
- Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler
- The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
- The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
- A Woman Does It Better: A Political Satire by A Very Lucky Lady
- Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi
Image Description: Two hands, one black and one white, grip each other tightly in symbolic unity.
Credit: Marcelo Chagas / Pexels
Poetry/Anthologies
- "Let America Be America Again" by Langston Hughes (poem)
- "The Hill We Climb" by Amanda Gorman (poem)
- Freedom and Success by DeQuan Wren
- Dare to Let Go: Poems About Healing and Finding Yourself by Alexandra Vasiliu
- Super Gay Poems: LGBTQIA+ Poetry After Stonewall by Stephanie Burt
- Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz
- Make Believe: Poems for Hoping Again by Victoria Hutchins
- Girls on the Rise by Amanda Gorman and Loveis Wise
- Writings on the Wall: Inspirational Poems & Quotes by Robert Hensel
- Sing: Poetry from the Indigenous Americas edited by Allison Adelle Hedge Coke
- Against Erasure: A Photographic Memory of Palestine Before the Nakba by Teresa Aranguren, Sandra Barrilaro, and Mohammed El-Kurd
- Poemhood: Our Black Revival, edited by Amber McBride, Taylor Byas, and Erica Martin
- How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude by James Crews
Speeches
- "I've Been to the Mountaintop" by Martin Luther King Jr.
- "Tilbury Speech" by Queen Elizabeth I
- "Address to Congress" (April 2, 1917) by Woodrow Wilson
- "Ain't I A Woman" by Sojourner Truth
- "The Gettysburg Address" by Abraham Lincoln
- "Woman's Right to the Sufferage" by Susan B. Anthony
- "First Inaugural Speech" by Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- "The Hypocrisy of American Slavery" by Frederick Douglass
- "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou
- "Inaugural Address" by John F. Kennedy
- "The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action" by Audre Lorde
- "1965 Cambridge Union Hall Speech" by James Baldwin
- "I Am Prepared to Die" by Nelson Mandela
- "1974 National Book Award Speech" by Adrienne Rich, Alice Walker, Audre Lorde
- "The Struggle for Human Rights" by Eleanor Roosevelt
- "The Ballot or The Bullet" by Malcolm X
- "The Last Words of Harvey Milk" by Harvey Milk
- “Be Your Own Story” by Toni Morrison
Nonfiction
- John Lewis: A Life by David Greenberg (biography)
- His Truth is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope by Jon Meacham (biography)
- How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
- The Women's History of the Modern World: How Radicals, Rebels, and Everywomen Revolutionized the Last 200 Years by Rosalind Miles
- Cassandra Speaks: When Women Are the Storytellers, the Human Story Changes by Elizabeth Lesser
- A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
- On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder
- The Making of Biblical Womanhood How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth by Beth Allison Barr
- Surviving Autogracy by Masha Gessen
- The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
- Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women that a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall
- Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
- Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D.
- Hope in the Dark: The Untold History of People Power by Rebecca Solnit
- Almost Everything: Notes on Hope by Anne Lamott
- Social Justice for the Sensitive Soul: How to Change the World in Quiet Ways by Dorcas Cheng-Tozun
- Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
- Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness by Jamil Zaki
- The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama
- Ladder to the Light: An Indigenous Elder's Meditation on Hope and Courage by Steven Charleston
- Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
- Imagination: A Manifesto by Ruha Benjamin
- How We Heal: A Journey Toward Truth, Racial Healing, and Community Transformation from the Inside Out by La June Montgomery Tabron
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Calling In: How to Start Making Change with Those You'd Rather Cancel by Loretta Ross
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Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America by Heather Cox Richardson
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Be a Revolution: How Everyday People Are Fighting Oppression and Changing the World—And How You Can, Too by Ijeoma Oluo
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Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
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Democracy in Retrograde: How to Make Changes Big and Small in Our Country and in Our Lives by Sami Sage, Emily Amick
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Hope for Democracy: How Citizens Can Bring Reason Back into Politics by John Gastil, Katherine Knobloch
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The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times by Jane Goodall, Douglas Abrams, Gail Hudson
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Everything Is F*cked: A Book About Hope by Mark Manson
- The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Autocracy, Inc. by Anne Applebaum
- One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
Sources
- Let America Be America Again by Langston Hughes (Poetry Foundation): https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/langston-hughes
- Transcript of Amanda Gorman's inaugural poem (The Hill): https://thehill.com/homenews/news/535052-read-transcript-of-amanda-gormans-inaugural-poem/
- John Lewis: A Life by David Greenberg (Simon & Schuster): https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/John-Lewis/David-Greenberg/9781982142995
- His Truth is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope by Jon Meacham (Amazon): https://www.amazon.com/His-Truth-Marching-Lewis-Power/dp/1984855026
- "I've Been to the Mountaintop by Martin Luther King, Jr. (American Rhetoric): https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkivebeentothemountaintop.htm
- Books for Healing and Renewal in Difficult Political Times (GoodReads): https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/223350.Books_For_Healing_And_Renewal_In_Difficult_Political_Times
- Political Books You'll Want to Read Going into 2025 (Penguin Random House): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/the-read-down/books-about-politics/
- Political Fiction (GoodReads): https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/11635.Political_Fiction
- Famous Persuasive Speeches (HighSpark): https://highspark.co/famous-persuasive-speeches/
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