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Book Links: Society & Culture

Books about societies and cultures address the topics of our time. Whether the author is arguing for or against a particular position, these books are designed to make a point.

20 items

  • American Portrait

    the Story of Us, Told by Us

    Based on the popular and groundbreaking PBS multiplatform documentary project, this is an inspiring and striking photographic portrait that brilliantly captures the tumultuous, historic year that was 2020.
    Book, 2021[San Francisco, California?] : HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2021] — 779.2 AME
  • Demystifying Disability

    What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be An Ally

    Ladau, Emily, 1991-
    A guide for how to be a thoughtful, informed ally to disabled people, with actionable steps for what to say and do (and what not to do) and how you can help make the world a more accessible place.
    Book, 2021Emeryville : Ten Speed Press, [2021] — 305.908 LAD
  • The Gospel of Wellness

    Gyms, Gurus, Goop, and the False Promise of Self-care

    Raphael, Rina,
    Women are pursuing their health like never before. Whether it’s juicing, biohacking, clutching crystals, or sipping collagen, today there is something for everyone, as the wellness industry has grown from modest roots into a $4.4 trillion entity and…
    Book, 2022New York : Henry Holt and Company, 2022. — 613.04244 RAP
  • Over My Dead Body

    Unearthing the Hidden History of America's Cemeteries

    Melville, Greg,
    Exploring what it really means to memorialize, this lively and wide-ranging history of U.S. cemeteries unearths how these places have influenced architecture, literature and politics, and how they've been used as important symbols of our country's…
    Book, 2022New York : Abrams Press, [2022] — 363.75 Mel
  • Rooted in spiritual energy and centered in black liberation, womanism and Afrofuturism, the founder of The Nap Ministry sheds new light on our troubled relationship with rest and how to imagine and dream our way to a future where rest is exalted –…
    Book, 2022New York : Little, Brown Spark, 2022. — 155.2 HER
  • Nerd

    Adventures in Fandom From This Universe to the Multiverse

    Phillips, Maya, 1990-
    Spanning from the 90s through today, this humorous and insightful essay collection from the New York Times critic at large explores race, gender expression, religion and more through the lens of her favorite pop culture fandoms, analyzing the mark…
    Book, 2022New York : Atria Books, 2022. — 302.23 P545n
  • Nomadland

    Surviving America in the Twenty-first Century

    Bruder, Jessica,
    Jessica Bruder spent several years traveling with older Americans who have become itinerant workers in order to make ends meet. In Nomadland, she describes how they assume a "wheel estate" existence as they travel from one seasonal job to the next,…
    Book, 2017New York : W. W. Norton & Company, [2017] — 331.398 BRU
  • The 99% Invisible City

    a Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design

    Mars, Roman,
    The creators of the record-setting 99% Invisible podcast celebrate the achievements of modern urban design and architecture, sharing the origin stories behind fundamental innovations, from power grids and fire escapes to drinking fountains and…
    Book, 2020Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, [2020] — 720 M35n
  • The Sum of Us

    What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together

    McGhee, Heather, 1980-
    A powerful new exploration about the self-destructive bargain of white supremacy and its rising cost to all of us--including white people--from one of today's most insightful and influential thinkers.
    Book, 2021New York : One World, [2021] — 305.8 MCG
  • The Chaos Machine

    the Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World

    Fisher, Max,
    Max Fisher, using years of his own international reporting for the New York Times, tells the inside story of how the social networks fundamentally altered the world, detailing the roots of their ideology, their race to maximize engagement, and the…
    Book, 2022New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2022. — 302.231 F535c
  • To Raise a Boy

    Classrooms, Locker Rooms, Bedrooms, and the Hidden Struggles of American Boyhood

    Brown, Emma (Journalist),
    Emma Brown interviewed hundreds of people—educators, parents, coaches, researchers, men, and boys—to understand the challenges boys face and how to address them.
    Book, 2021New York, NY : One Signal Publishers/Atria, 2021. — 649.132 B812r
  • Based on the Pulitzer-finalist series on the effects of gun violence on children, a urgent call to action investigates the effectiveness of gun safety reforms and the ongoing realities of traumatized survivors of community and campus shootings.
    Book, 2021New York City : Ecco, An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2021] — 371.782 C839c
  • Talking to Strangers

    What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know

    Gladwell, Malcolm, 1963-
    Something is very wrong, Gladwell argues, with the tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don't know. And because we don't know how to talk to strangers, we are inviting conflict and misunderstanding in ways that have a profound…
    Book, 2019New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2019. — 302 GLAD
  • Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

    a Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed

    Gottlieb, Lori,
    The national advice columnist presents a behind-the-scenes tour of a therapist's world from the perspective of both a patient and a psychotherapist who found answers in her client's journeys.
    Book, 2019Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019. — 618.89 GOT
  • Tribe

    on Homecoming and Belonging

    Junger, Sebastian,
    Takes readers on an investigation of how we overcome trauma and seek something bigger than ourselves.
    Book, 2016New York : Twelve, 2016. — 302.3 Jun
  • The Secret Life of Groceries

    the Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket

    Lorr, Benjamin,
    In the tradition of Fast Food Nation and The Omnivore's Dilemma, an extraordinary investigation into the human lives at the heart of the American grocery store.
    Book, 2020New York : Avery, an imprint of Penguin Random House, 2020. — 381.45 Lor
  • Halfway Home

    Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration

    Miller, Reuben Jonathan,
    A Chicago Cook County Jail chaplain and mass-incarceration sociologist examines the lifelong realities of a criminal record, demonstrating how America's justice system is less about rehabilitation and more about structured disenfranchisement.
    Book, 2021New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2021. — 364.8 Mil
  • Made in China

    a Prisoner, An SOS Letter, and the Hidden Cost of America's Cheap Goods

    Pang, Amelia, 1991-
    After an Oregon mother finds an SOS letter in a box of Halloween decorations, a story unfolds about the man who wrote it: a Chinese political prisoner, sentenced without trial to work grueling hours at a "reeducation" camp-manufacturing the products…
    Book, 2021Chapel Hill, North Carolina : Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2021. — 331.11 PAN
  • Me and White Supremacy

    Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor

    Saad, Layla F.,
    Me and White Supremacy teaches readers how to dismantle the privilege within themselves so that they can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too.
    Book, 2020Naperville, Illinois : Sourcebooks, [2020] — 305.8 SAA
  • This Is All I Got

    a New Mother's Search for Home

    Sandler, Lauren,
    Chronicles a year in the life of a young, homeless single mother and her quest to find stability and shelter in New York City.
    Book, 2020New York : Random House, [2020] — 362.592 SAN