Books from or about 2001-2026 (America250 Challenge)

Updated April 11, 2026
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A $500 house in Detroit : rebuilding an abandoned home and an American city
Philp, Drew
Paper Book
A young college grad buys a house in Detroit for $500 and attempts to restore it--and his new neighborhood--to its original glory in this "deeply felt, sharply observed personal quest to create meaning and community out of the fallen...A standout" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).
107 days
Harris, Kamala
Paper Book
For the first time, and with surprising and revealing insights, former Vice President Kamala Harris tells the story of one of the wildest and most consequential presidential campaigns in American history. Your Secret Service code name is Pioneer. You are the first woman...
All this could be different
Mathews, Sarah Thankam
Paper Book
2022 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST ONE OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES' TOP 5 FICTION BOOKS OF THE YEAR ONE OF TIME AND SLATE'S TOP 10 BOOKS OF THE YEAR Named one of the BEST BOOKS OF 2022 by NPR, Vogue, Vulture,...
An American dreamer : life in a divided country
Finkel, David
Paper Book
A man navigates the deep divisions in America today and discovers that sometimes change can start by finding common ground with your neighbors in this immersive account by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Thank You for Your Service and The Good Soldiers. "A...
Ancestor trouble : a reckoning and a reconciliation
Newton, Maud
Paper Book
"Extraordinary and wide-ranging . . . a literary feat that simultaneously builds and excavates identity."--The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)   Roxane Gay's Audacious Book Club Pick * Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Prize *...
Between the world and me
Coates, Ta-Nehisi
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER * NAMED ONE OF TIME'S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE * PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST * NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST * ONE OF OPRAH'S "BOOKS THAT HELP ME THROUGH" * NOW AN HBO ORIGINAL SPECIAL EVENT ...
Charlottesville : an American story
Baker, Deborah
Paper Book
In August 2017, over a thousand neo-Nazis, fascists, Klan members, and neo-Confederates descended on a small southern city to protest the pending removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee. Within an hour of their arrival, the city's historic downtown was a scene of bedlam as armored far right cadres...
Cue the sun : the invention of reality TV
Nussbaum, Emily
Paper Book
The rollicking saga of reality television, a "sweeping" (The Washington Post) cultural history of America's most influential, most divisive artistic phenomenon, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning New Yorker writer--"a must-read for anyone interested in television or popular culture"...
The fall of Roe : the rise of a new America
Dias, Elizabeth
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER The "Best and Most Current Primer" - The New York Times "Searing and intimate... with masterly, white-hot reporting." - The New York Times "The most important book in this election." - Nicolle Wallace, MSNBC...
The family Chao : a novel
Chang, Lan Samantha
Paper Book
One of Literary Hub's and The Millions' Most Anticipated Books of 2022 A Goodreads Readers' Most Anticipated Mystery of 2022 An acclaimed storyteller returns with "a gorgeous and gripping literary mystery" that explores "family, betrayal, passion, race, culture and the American...
Firekeeper's daughter
Boulley, Angeline
Paper Book
An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller! A Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick! A Printz Medal AND Morris Award Winner! Soon to be adapted at Netflix for TV with President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama's production company, Higher Ground.
Five Days at Memorial Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital
Fink, Sheri.
Ebook
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The award-winning book that inspired an Apple Original series from Apple TV+ * A landmark investigation of patient deaths at a New Orleans hospital ravaged by Hurricane Katrina--and the suspenseful portrayal of the quest for truth and justice--from a Pulitzer...
Fourteen days : a literary project of the Authors Guild of America
Atwood, Margaret
Paper Book
Set in a Lower East Side tenement in the early days of the COVID-19 lockdowns, Fourteen Days is an irresistibly propulsive collaborative novel from the Authors Guild, with an unusual twist: each character in this diverse, eccentric cast of New York neighbors has been secretly written by...
The Griffin Sisters' greatest hits : a novel
Weiner, Jennifer
Paper Book
The New York Times bestseller, now in development as a feature film from Universal Pictures, written and directed by Amy Sherman-Palladino (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Gilmore Girls)! A captivating family saga filled with heart, humor, secrets, and second chances, about two...
His name is George Floyd : one man's life and the struggle for racial justice
Samuels, Robert
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2023 PULITZER PRIZE IN NONFICTION WINNER OF THE DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD AND LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE; FINALIST FOR THE J. ANTHONY LUKAS PRIZE; A BCALA 2023 HONOR NONFICTION AWARD WINNER. A landmark...
Home front
Hannah, Kristin.
Paper Book
In her bestselling novels Kristin Hannah has plumbed the depths of friendship, the loyalty of sisters, and the secrets mothers keep. Now, in her most emotionally powerful story yet, she explores the intimate landscape of a troubled marriage with this provocative and timely portrait of a husband...
Inheritance : a memoir of genealogy, paternity, and love
Shapiro, Dani
Paper Book
An Instant NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A LOS ANGELES TIMES, BOSTON GLOBE, WALL STREET JOURNAL, and NATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLER A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR according to Elle, Real Simple, and Kirkus Reviews
Joan is okay : a novel
Wang, Weike
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE * A witty, moving, piercingly insightful new novel about a marvelously complicated woman who can't be anyone but herself, from the award-winning author of Chemistry LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL * "A deeply felt portrait...
The kindest lie : a novel
Johnson, Nancy
Paper Book
Recommended by O Magazine * GMA * Elle * Marie Claire * Good Housekeeping * NBC News * Shondaland * Chicago Tribune * Woman's Day * Refinery 29 * Bustle * The Millions * New York Post * Parade * Hello! Magazine * PopSugar * and more! "The Kindest Lie is a deep dive into how we define...
The lager queen of Minnesota
Stradal, J. Ryan
Paper Book
Edith Magnusson's rhubarb pies are famous in the Twin Cities. Still, she lays awake wondering how her life might have been different if her father hadn't left their family farm to her sister Helen. With the proceeds from the farm Helen built her husband s soda business into the top selling brewery...
Long bright river
Moore, Liz
Paper Book
ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NPR, PARADE, REAL SIMPLE, and BUZZFEED AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK "[Moore's] careful...
Lucy by the sea : a novel
Strout, Elizabeth
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of My Name is Lucy Barton and Olive Kitteridge comes a "poised and moving" (Vogue) novel about a divorced couple stuck together during lockdown--and the love, loss, despair...
Maid : hard work, low pay, and a mother's will to survive
Land, Stephanie
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Evicted meets Nickel and Dimed in Stephanie Land's memoir about working as a maid, a beautiful and gritty exploration of poverty in America. Includes a foreword by Barbara Ehrenreich....
Margo's got money troubles : a novel
Thorpe, Rufi
Paper Book
Soon to be a series from A24 & Apple TV+ starring Elle Fanning, Nicole Kidman, Michelle Pfeiffer, & Nick Offerman! "Margo's Got Money Troubles is the feel-good novel we need right now." --The Washington Post  "[An] enormously entertaining and lovable...
The mighty red : a novel
Erdrich, Louise
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK * LONGLISTED FOR THE 2025 PEN/FAULKNER AWARD FOR FICTION A Best Book of the Year: New York Times, The New Yorker, Time, Kirkus, Harper's Bazaar "A novel set in a small prairie community. . . that somehow also captures the...
No one is talking about this
Lockwood, Patricia
Paper Book
FINALIST FOR THE 2021 BOOKER PRIZE & A NEW YORK TIMES TOP 10 BOOK OF 2021 WINNER OF THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE    "A book that reads like a prose poem, at once sublime, profane, intimate, philosophical, witty and, eventually, deeply moving." --New York Times Book...
Nomadland : surviving America in the twenty-first century
Bruder, Jessica
Paper Book
New York Times Bestseller From the beet fields of North Dakota to the National Forest campgrounds of California to Amazon's CamperForce program in Texas, employers have discovered a new, low-cost labor pool, made up largely of transient older Americans. Finding that social...
Our towns : a 100,000-mile journey into the heart of America
Fallows, James M.
Paper Book
***NATIONAL BEST SELLER*** A vivid, surprising portrait of the civic and economic reinvention taking place in America, town by town and generally out of view of the national media. A realistically positive and provocative view of the country between its coasts. For...
Paradise : one town's struggle to survive an American wildfire
Johnson, Lizzie
Paper Book
The definitive firsthand account of California's Camp Fire, the nation's deadliest wildfire in a century, Paradise is a riveting examination of what went wrong and how to avert future tragedies as the climate crisis unfolds. "A tour de force story of wildfire and a...
Parkland : birth of a movement
Cullen, David
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller "A moving petition to America that it not look away from the catastrophes at Columbine, Newtown, Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, and, yes, Parkland. It succeeds as an in-depth report about the "generational campaign" in the aftermath of the Parkland tragedy, a bi...
A promised land
Obama, Barack
Paper Book
A riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making--from the president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NAACP IMAGE AWARD NOMINEE * NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK...
Riverman : an American odyssey
McGrath, Ben
Paper Book
"This quietly profound book belongs on the shelf next to Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild." --The New York Times   The riveting true story of Dick Conant, an American folk hero who, over the course of more than twenty years, canoed solo thousands of miles of...
Second life : having a child in the digital age
Hess, Amanda (Journalist)
Paper Book
"Second Life is not only a book for parents; it's for anyone intrigued (and concerned) by the ways in which our digital footprints impact the circle of life itself." --Elle "Engrossing....With a reporter's gimlet eye, Hess lenses out from her personal experience.....
Seek you : a journey through American loneliness
Radtke, Kristen
Paper Book
From the acclaimed author of Imagine Wanting Only This--a timely and moving meditation on isolation and longing, both as individuals and as a society. A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Century There is a silent epidemic in America: loneliness...
The sentence : a novel
Erdrich, Louise
Paper Book
"Dazzling. . . . A hard-won love letter to readers and to booksellers, as well as a compelling story about how we cope with pain and fear, injustice and illness. One good way is to press a beloved book into another's hands. Read The Sentence and then do just that."--USA Today, Four Stars ...
She said : breaking the sexual harassment story that helped ignite a movement
Kantor, Jodi
Paper Book
The instant New York Times bestseller. "An instant classic of investigative journalism...'All the President's Men' for the Me Too era." -- Carlos Lozada, The Washington Post From the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters who broke the news of Harvey Weinstein's...
So far gone : a novel
Walter, Jess
Paper Book
National Bestseller Finalist for the Aspen Words Literary Prize "A warm, funny, loving novel. . . . It's an American original."--Ann Patchett, New York Times bestselling author of Tom Lake "Searing and sublime ... Walter is a slyly adept...
Such a fun age : a novel
Reid, Kiley
Paper Book
A Best Book of the Year: The Washington Post * Chicago Tribune * NPR * Vogue * Elle * Real Simple * InStyle * Good Housekeeping * Parade * Slate...
Supremacy : AI, ChatGPT, and the race that will change the world
Olson, Parmy
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE FINANCIAL TIMES AND SCHRODERS 2024 BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD In November of 2022, a webpage was posted online with a simple text box. It was an AI chatbot called ChatGPT, and was unlike any app people had used before. It was more human than a customer...
There there
Orange, Tommy
Paper Book
PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A wondrous and shattering award-winning novel that follows twelve characters from Native communities: all traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow, all connected to one another in ways they may not yet realize. A contemporary classic, this...
This time tomorrow
Straub, Emma
Paper Book
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER "The pages brim with tenderness and an appreciation for what we had and who we were. I could not have loved it more."--Ann Patchett "One of the most moving and intelligent time travel novels I have ever read. Nostalgic, wise, funny, and filled with...
What happened to Ruthy Ramirez
Jimenez, Claire
Paper Book
Winner of the 2024 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction A powerful novel about a Puerto Rican family in Staten Island who discovers their long missing sister is potentially alive and cast on a reality TV show, and sets out to bring her home. ...
When it all burns : fighting fire in a transformed world
Thomas, Jordan (Anthropologist)
Paper Book
2025 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST FINALIST FOR THE LA TIMES BOOK PRIZE ONE OF PUBLISHERS WEEKLY'S TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2025 NAMED A BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR BY KIRKUS "Exceptional. . . . When It All Burns is one of...
When no one is watching : a thriller
Cole, Alyssa
Paper Book
An instant NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY BESTSELLER! "I was knocked over by the momentum of an intense psychological thriller that doesn't let go until the final page. This is a terrific read." - Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author *A Marie Claire Book...
The yellow house
Broom, Sarah M.
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Winner of the 2019 National Book Award in Nonfiction A brilliant, haunting and unforgettable memoir from a stunning new talent about the inexorable pull of home and family, set in a shotgun house in New Orleans East. In...
Zeitoun
Eggers, Dave.
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * From the bestselling author of The Circle * The true story of one family, caught between America's two biggest policy disasters: the war on terror and the response to Hurricane Katrina.  "Eggers' tone is pitch-perfect--suspense blended with just...

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