Voracious reader needs feeding

[keefer]

Some of my earliest childhood memories were weekly visits to the local library with my mom.  I remember the first book I read, bursting with pride when I was allowed my first library card, and weekends with her and grandpa browsing old bookstores in NYC. 

Now 90, mom lives in an "active" retirement community in Arizona, is still active, mobile, and reasonably sharp.  At the start of the covid pandemic, my sister and I persuaded her to stay indoors -- and we remotely managed regular deliveries of food.   She had a primitive TV so I took over the task of ensuring regular deliveries of DVDs and books;  the DVDs stopped once we replaced her television and broadband/internet...  the books became an entirely different problem.   

I knew mom was a reader, but never appreciated how voracious her appetite was.  Since start of pandemic (March 2020) I've sent 130 books, some singly, some in large packs, many from Amazon, many more from Bookshop.org (to support local/independent bookshops).   I've spent hours reading recommendation lists, NY Times best seller lists, Amazon lists; set up accounts on GoodReads, visited bookstores around London...   

Here's my problem:  I'm running out of ideas, I don't want to sound desperate, but I'm desperate.   Does anyone have any recommendations?  As a New Yorker her appetite matched her life experience -- anything related to strong women, civil rights, American and British history, American Presidents, immigration, American theater.   She loathes romance novels, and refuses to be tricked into reading fiction.

Here's just a small sampling of the books I've sent her in the past 20 months...

Help ???

• Abrams, Dan -- Lincoln's Last Trial: The Murder Case that propelled him to the Presidency
• Adie, Kate -- The Kindness of Strangers
• Albright, Madeleine -- Hell and Other Destinations: A 21st-Century Memoir
• Albright, Madeleine -- Madam Secretary: A Memoir
• Albright, Madeleine -- Prague Winter: A personal story of remembrance and war
• Albright, Madeleine -- Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat's Jewel Box
• Applebaum, Anne -- Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism
• Attenborough, Sir David -- Adventures of a Young Naturalist: The Zoo Quest Expeditions
• Baime, A. J. -- The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World
• Barrios, Richard -- West Side Story: The Jets, the sharks and the making of a classic
• Barry, John M. -- The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History
• Belafonte, Harry -- My Song: A Memoir
• Birmingham, Stephen -- Life at the Dakota: New York's Most Unusual Address
• Bleyer, Bill -- Long Island and the Sea: A Maritime History
• Bob Woodward -- The Secret Man: The Story of Watergate's Deep Throat
• Borchert, Scott -- Republic of Detours: How the New Deal Paid Broke Writers to Rediscover America
• Brands, H. W. -- Heirs of the Founders: The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants
• Brands, H. W. -- The Zealot and the Emancipator: John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, and the Struggle for American Freedom
• Brands, H.W. -- The General vs. The President: MacArthur and Truman at the brink of nuclear war
• Bren, Paulina -- The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free
• Brower, Kate Andersen -- Team of Five: The Presidents Club in the Age of Trump
• Bryson, Bill -- Mother Tongue: The Story of the English Language
• Bryson, Bill -- Notes from a Small Island
• Bundles, A'Lelia -- Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker
• Bush, George W. -- Out of Many, One: Portraits of America's Immigrants
• Bythell, Shaun -- Confessions of a Bookseller
• Cadbury, Deborah -- Queen Victoria's Matchmaking: The Royal Marriages that Shaped Europe
• Caro, Robert A. -- The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
• Carter, Jimmy -- A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety
• Carville, James -- All's Fair: Love, War, and Running for President
• Chang, Jung -- Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China
• Chang, Jung -- Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China
• Chernow, Ron -- Alexander Hamilton
• Chernow, Ron -- Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.
• Colman, Penny -- A Woman Unafraid: The Achievements Of Frances Perkins
• Cornejo Villavicencio, Karla -- The Undocumented Americans
• Damrosch, Leo -- The Club: Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age
• Demarest, Janet Emily -- Tales from the General Store: The Legends of Long Island
• Downey, Kirstin -- The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life and Legacy of Frances Perkins, Social Security, Unemployment Insurance,
• Dray, Stephanie -- My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton
• Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne -- An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States (REVISIONING HISTORY)
• Egan, Timothy -- The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
• Epstein, Daniel Mark -- The Loyal Son: The War in Ben Franklin's House
• Essinger, James -- Ada's Algorithm
• Evans, Harold -- My Paper Chase: True Stories of Vanished Times
• Fagone, Jason -- The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America's Enemies
• Feiffer, Jules -- Conspiracy in the Streets: The Extraordinary Trial of the Chicago Seven
• Ginsburg, Ruth Bader -- My Own Words
• Glenconner, Anne -- Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown
• Gornick, Vivian -- Fierce Attachments (FSG Classics)
• Graham, Katharine -- Personal History
• Grasso, Dr. Joanne S. -- The American Revolution in Long Island (Military)
• Gunn, Cameron -- Ben & Me: From Temperance to Humility--Stumbling Through Ben Franklin's Thirteen Virtues,O ne Unvirtuous Day at a Time
• Holland, Jesse -- Black Men Built the Capitol: Discovering African-American History In and Around Washington, D.C.
• Hoose, Phillip -- Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
• Hurston, Zora Neale -- Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo"
• James Essinger -- Ada's Algorithm: How Lord Byron's Daughter Launched the Digital Age Through the Poetry of Numbers
• Jules Feiffer -- Conspiracy in the Streets: The Extraordinary Trial of the Chicago Seven
• Kamman, Madeline -- When French Women Cook
• Katz, Catherine Grace -- The Daughters of Yalta: The Churchills, Roosevelts, and Harrimans: A Story of Love and War
• Kerrison, Catherine -- Jefferson's Daughters: Three Sisters, White and Black, in a Young America
• Kolker, Robert -- Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family
• Kurin, Richard -- The Smithsonian's History of America in 101 Objects
• Landdeck, Katherine Sharp -- The Women with Silver Wings: The Inspiring True Story of the Women Air force Service Pilots of World War II
• Lanier, Shannon -- Jefferson's Children: The Story of One American Family
• Larson, Erik -- The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
• Levine, Suzanne Braun -- Bella Abzug: How One Tough Broad from the Bronx Fought Jim Crow and Joe McCarthy, Pissed Off Jimmy Carter, Battled …
• Lewis, Michael -- The Fifth Risk
• MacGregor, Neil -- A History of the World in 100 Objects
• Mapes, Mary -- Truth: The Press, the President, and the Privilege of Power
• Margot Lee Shetterly -- Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race
• Marlon, James -- A Brief History of Seven Killings
• Matteson, John -- A Worse Place Than Hell: How the Civil War Battle of Fredericksburg Changed a Nation
• McCarthy, Tom -- Satin Island
• McNeal, Violet -- Four White Horses and a Brass Band: True Confessions from the World of Medicine Shows, Pitchmen, Chumps, Suckers, Fixers, and Shills
• Meyers, Stephen L -- Lost Trolleys of Queens and Long Island
• Milton, Giles -- Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat
• Moore, Donovan -- What Stars Are Made Of: The Life of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
• Moore, Kate -- The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of Americas Shining Women
• Morrison, David D. -- Jamaica Station (Images of Rail)
• Mundy, Liza -- Code Girls
• Obama, Barack -- A Promised Land
• Obama, Michelle -- Becoming
• Obioma, Chigozie -- The Fisherman
• Olson, Lynne -- Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour
• Olson, Lynne -- Madame Fourcade's Secret War: The Daring Young Woman Who Led France's Largest Spy Network Against Hitler
• Orlean, Susan -- The Library Book
• Owen, Amanda -- Adventures Of The Yorkshire Shepherdess
• Purdum, Todd -- Something Wonderful
• Purnell, Sonia -- A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II
• Rather, Dan -- What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism
• Reid, Jan -- Let the People In: The Life and Times of Ann Richards
• Richards, Ann -- Straight from the Heart
• Roberts, Andrew -- Churchill: Walking with Destiny
• Roosevelt, Eleanor -- The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt
• Rose, Alexander -- Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring
• Rothstein, Richard -- The Colour of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
• Sahota, Sunjeeve -- The Year of the Runaways
• Shapiro, James -- Shakespeare in a Divided America: What His Plays Tell Us About Our Past and Future
• Shetterly, Margot -- Hidden Figures: The true story of four black women and the space race
• Simpson, John -- We Chose To Speak Of War & Strife
• Skloot, Rebecca -- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
• Souza, Pete -- Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents
• Spady, Matthew -- The Neighbourhood Manhattan Forgot: Audubon Park and the Families Who Shaped It
• Stanton, Brandon -- Humans
• Stanton, Brandon -- Humans of New York
• Stanton, Brandon -- Humans of New York: Stories
• Steinbeck, John -- Travels with Charley in Search of America
• Steinhauer, Jennifer -- The Firsts: The Inside Story of the Women Reshaping Congress
• Stevenson, Bryan -- Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
• Teachout, Terry -- Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong
• Trethewey, Natasha -- Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir
• Trump Ph.D., Mary L. -- Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man
• Tyler, Anne -- A spool of Blue Thread
• Viertel, Jack -- The Secret Life of the American Musical: How Broadway Shows Are Built
• Wallach, Janet -- The Richest Woman in America: Hetty Green in the Gilded Age
• Warren, Frank -- A Lifetime of Secrets: A PostSecret Book
• Warren, Frank -- PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives
• Watson, Christie -- The Language of Kindness: A Nurse's Story
• Wilkerson, Isabel -- The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
• Winegard, Timothy -- The Mosquito
• Wine-Banks, Jill -- The Watergate Girl: My Fight for Truth and Justice Against a Criminal President
• Wolff, Michael -- Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House
• Woodward, Bob -- All the President's Men
• Woodward, Bob -- Rage
• Woodward, Bob -- The Final Days
• Yanagihara, Hanya -- A little Life : A novel
• Yang, Jia Lynn -- One Mighty and Irresistible Tide: The Epic Struggle Over American Immigration, 1924-1965
   

Edited January 1, 2022 by keefer
bevity

[+ Charlie]

I could probably make another list as long, but let me start with a half dozen favorites of mine.

•     Catherine Allgor--A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation
•     Lorene Cary--Black Ice (memoir)
•     Eric Foner--Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad
•     Mary S. Lovell--The Churchills: In Love and War
•     Peter Shinkle--Ike's Mystery Man: The Secret Lives of Robert Cutler  
•     Raleigh Trevelyan--Sir Walter Raleigh (biography)

All of them seem to fit your mother's interests, but most of them come to my mind immediately because of personal connections; i.e., Cary was a friend and neighbor of mine; Foner's history revealed the surprising fact that my first New York apartment was in what had been the private home of prominent  abolitionists in the 19th century; and when I opened Shinkle's book, I saw a photo of a man I once knew. The Raleigh biography is by one of his descendants, who was also an old friend of mine.

[keefer]

6 minutes ago, Charlie said:

... let me start with a half dozen favorites of mine.

•     Catherine Allgor--A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation
•     Lorene Cary--Black Ice (memoir)
•     Eric Foner--Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad
•     Mary S. Lovell--The Churchills: In Love and War
•     Peter Shinkle--Ike's Mystery Man: The Secret Lives of Robert Cutler  
•     Raleigh Trevelyan--Sir Walter Raleigh (biography)

These are absolutely perfect.  Have just started to find and order them on Amazon -- THANKS! 

[rn901]

Anything by Eric Foner is great, particularly on Reconstruction. Two of my favorites were The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution, and the other, Reconstruction Updated Edition: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877. Of course if one were to dive into that topic they would also need to check out the classic Black Reconstruction in America, 1860-1880 by W.E.B Du Bois. Just finished reading the biography of John Brown by Du Bois this year and it was pretty good, but nothing beats his book on Reconstruction. 

On the civil rights movement, I highly recommend Harvard Sitkoff's The Struggle for Black Equality. It offers a very concise coherent overview of the movement's development and history. Two others on the topic would be Howard Zinn's SNCC: The New Abolitionists  and Francis Fox Piven's and Richard Cloward's Poor People's Movements: Why They Succeed, How They Fail. The latter discusses social movements in general, one being the civil rights movement but also the mobilization of the unemployed during the Great Depression, the CIO/labor movement and the welfare rights movement. Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States is also a classic must read on American history. It covers every social movement in American history: the labor movement, the women's movements, the civil rights movement, anti-war movements, ect. 

Some books on the women's movement and feminism I've enjoyed were Angela Davis' Women, Race & Class and Rebecca Solnit's Men Explain Things to Me. Anything by either of those writers will make for a good read. Rickie Solinger's Abortion Wars: A Half Century of Struggle, 1950–2000 will give an extensive look at the fight over Roe v Wade and other abortion laws in the United States. Roxane Gay's Bad Feminist is good as I'm sure her other writings are. 

If your mother enjoyed Bob Woodward's books then she probably would like John Dean's. He wrote a book on the Trump administration titled Authoritarian Nightmare: Trump and His Followers and another on the Bush administration titled Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush. My favorite book of his is Conservatives Without Conscience. In it he describes a lot of the psychology and personality traits that go into an ardent right-wing conservative. Another two books with a similar theme would be Lisa McGirr's Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right and Chip Berlet's and Matthew Lyon's Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort. One book on my list on the topic I haven't read but plan on reading is David Nelwert's Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump. 

Some other books on my list for this year on American history and that your mother may enjoy are Harvey Kayes' The Fight for the Four Freedoms: What Made FDR and the Greatest Generation Truly Great and his other book Thomas Paine And The Promise Of America. I listened and watched some interviews of Harvey Kaye and loved him. I plan on also getting to Chalmers Johnson's book Blowback, Second Edition: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire and Michael Parenti's Against Empire. Noam Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival and Manufacturing Consent are also classics on American foreign policy. I also have been putting off and need to finally get to Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz's An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States. Hope your mother enjoyed it. It's a popular read that I have no excuse to not get to. I also plan on diving into Shelby Foote's three volume series on the Civil War and James M. McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom. If she likes Steinbeck then of course there are the classics Grapes of Wrath and my favorite In Dubious Battle. Given her appetite, I wouldn't be surprised she has already read both. If she likes Steinbeck, then she probably also would be a fan of the classic writings of Upton Sinclair. However, she has probably gotten to those as well. (but those are all fiction, so maybe not)

Hope that helps. Looking at that extensive list, I would say she has good taste. Good for her on having such an active mind at the age of 90!

Edited January 2, 2022 by rn901

[rn901]

Oh and how could I forget Gore Vidal's nonfiction writings on American history and politics:

- Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace: How We Got to Be So Hated

- Imperial America: Reflections on the United States of Amnesia

- United States: Essays 1952-1992

- The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000

- Inventing a Nation: Washington, Adams, Jefferson (Icons of America)

To name a few

[+ E.T.Bass]

I am reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, which fits several of the categories you listed.  I am loving it.  Seems to be well researched.  Many historical references.  But it is fiction.

Fredrick Douglass Prophet of Freedom by David Blight was a very timely read for me.  Great book about a great man.

Both of the above books were awarded a Pulitzer.

 

[keefer]

@Charlie, @rn901, @E.T.Bass,

 

I can't thank you enough for these recommendations - after spending time browsing Amazon, looking at ones  @Charlie recommended, I decided a much better approach was to visit my favorite quasi-independent bookstore in London, and actually touch the books and see if I get lost reading a few pages, as it'll also introduce me to new shelves I've not visited or haven't visited in a while.    Will spend a few hours tomorrow lost in Foyles (Charing Cross Road)... may also use it as an excuse to wander down Compton Street for further browsing.  Thank you!

[+ Charlie]

I don't think I could count the number of hours I have spent on Charing Cross Road looking at books in Foyles.

[keefer]

They bought, renovated, and moved into the old/adjacent arts college six or seven years ago.  Still an incredible bookstore, but I'm still nostalgic for the old building, especially when it was still run by the founders daughter (Christina Foyle?) in the late '90s.   It was everything a book lover wanted a bookshop to be.

  

[+ WilliamM]

On 1/1/2022 at 10:19 PM, rn901 said:

Anything by Eric Foner is great, particularly on Reconstruction. Two of my favorites were The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution, and the other, Reconstruction Updated Edition: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877. Of course if one were to dive into that topic they would also need to check out the classic Black Reconstruction in America, 1860-1880 by W.E.B Du Bois. Just finished reading the biography of John Brown by Du Bois this year and it was pretty good, but nothing beats his book on Reconstruction. 

On the civil rights movement, I highly recommend Harvard Sitkoff's The Struggle for Black Equality. It offers a very concise coherent overview of the movement's development and history. Two others on the topic would be Howard Zinn's SNCC: The New Abolitionists  and Francis Fox Piven's and Richard Cloward's Poor People's Movements: Why They Succeed, How They Fail. The latter discusses social movements in general, one being the civil rights movement but also the mobilization of the unemployed during the Great Depression, the CIO/labor movement and the welfare rights movement. Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States is also a classic must read on American history. It covers every social movement in American history: the labor movement, the women's movements, the civil rights movement, anti-war movements, ect. 

Some books on the women's movement and feminism I've enjoyed were Angela Davis' Women, Race & Class and Rebecca Solnit's Men Explain Things to Me. Anything by either of those writers will make for a good read. Rickie Solinger's Abortion Wars: A Half Century of Struggle, 1950–2000 will give an extensive look at the fight over Roe v Wade and other abortion laws in the United States. Roxane Gay's Bad Feminist is good as I'm sure her other writings are. 

If your mother enjoyed Bob Woodward's books then she probably would like John Dean's. He wrote a book on the Trump administration titled Authoritarian Nightmare: Trump and His Followers and another on the Bush administration titled Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush. My favorite book of his is Conservatives Without Conscience. In it he describes a lot of the psychology and personality traits that go into an ardent right-wing conservative. Another two books with a similar theme would be Lisa McGirr's Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right and Chip Berlet's and Matthew Lyon's Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort. One book on my list on the topic I haven't read but plan on reading is David Nelwert's Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump. 

Some other books on my list for this year on American history and that your mother may enjoy are Harvey Kayes' The Fight for the Four Freedoms: What Made FDR and the Greatest Generation Truly Great and his other book Thomas Paine And The Promise Of America. I listened and watched some interviews of Harvey Kaye and loved him. I plan on also getting to Chalmers Johnson's book Blowback, Second Edition: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire and Michael Parenti's Against Empire. Noam Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival and Manufacturing Consent are also classics on American foreign policy. I also have been putting off and need to finally get to Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz's An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States. Hope your mother enjoyed it. It's a popular read that I have no excuse to not get to. I also plan on diving into Shelby Foote's three volume series on the Civil War and James M. McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom. If she likes Steinbeck then of course there are the classics Grapes of Wrath and my favorite In Dubious Battle. Given her appetite, I wouldn't be surprised she has already read both. If she likes Steinbeck, then she probably also would be a fan of the classic writings of Upton Sinclair. However, she has probably gotten to those as well. (but those are all fiction, so maybe not)

Hope that helps. Looking at that extensive list, I would say she has good taste. Good for her on having such an active mind at the age of 90!

How can one write about civil rights without including Robert Caro's books about Lyndon Johnson?

[samhexum]

On 1/2/2022 at 4:01 PM, Charlie said:

I don't think I could count the number of hours I have spent on Charing Cross Road looking at books in Foyles.

Is that a euphemism?

[keefer]

@samhexum, nah.  My eccentric, oblique, impenetrable sense of humor is incapable of figuring out a pun on Foyles...   London is still full of independent and semi-independent booksellers...  when I first moved to London (almost 30 years ago), I fell in love with the massive old rabbit warren known as Foyles.  It was still housed in the old warehouse on Charing Cross Road, and one could literally get lost in the twisty maze of miles of bookshelves snaking through the building.   They bought and moved into an equally large derelict art college just next door, and the remodel kept the miles of bookshelves, but managed to unwind the hand-built maze of bookshelves.    Though now owned by Waterstones (also a wonderful shop), its still a treat to spend a rainy Sunday browsing the shelves...

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foyles