One way to understand everything that’s happening in the United States is to follow the media and scroll through Facebook. To add color and context I recommend these wonderful books:

The True Believer by Eric Hoffer is a a 1951 classic on mass movements and revolutions. Also a great way to understand what just happened in american politics.

Gang Leader for a Day, where Sudhir Venkatesh gives a firsthand account of his years spent hanging out with a Chicago gang.

Evicted shines light on how many poor americans cycle through housing, and how in many cases they pay more for less.

Meg Jay tells us about the importance of your 20s through intense stories of her clients in The Defining Decade.

The Three Body Problem is an immersive sci-fi novel from the very popular Chinese author Liu Cixin, translated by Ken Liu. Best of all it has a second and third book that continue the adventure. Ken grew up in Lanzhou (兰州市) which has the best beef noodle soup (牛肉面) I’ve ever tasted.

American Icon is a classic turnaround story, and shows just how narrowly Ford missed bankruptcy in 2008.

A great way to enjoy these is through the library. Mine offers kindle ebooks, eaudiobooks, as well as good old fashioned dead tree versions. But they’re also 100% worth the cost to own.