Recommendations based on The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons and an Unlikely Road to Manhoodby Ta-Nehisi Coates

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. Between the World and Me

    by Ta-Nehisi Coates
    A letter to his son, exploring the realities of racism in America.

    “This is your country, this is your world, this is your body, and you must find some way to live within the all of it.” In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American ... (Goodreads)

  2. Assata: An Autobiography

    by Assata Shakur
    A powerful memoir of her struggles and triumphs in the face of racism and oppression.

    On May 2, 1973, Black Panther Assata Shakur (aka JoAnne Chesimard) lay in a hospital, close to death, handcuffed to her bed, while local, state, and federal police attempted to question her about the ... (Goodreads)

  3. Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

    by Barack Obama
    An exploration of the Obama family history, tracing the threads of identity and race.

    In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American. It begins in New ... (Goodreads)

  4. The Fire Next Time

    by James Baldwin
    Reflection on the plight of African Americans in a candid and deeply moving essay.

    A national bestseller when it first appeared in 1963, The Fire Next Time galvanized the nation and gave passionate voice to the emerging civil rights movement. At once a powerful evocation of James ... (Goodreads)

  5. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

    by Michelle Alexander
    Exploring the roots and reality of systemic racism in the U.S. criminal justice system.

    "Jarvious Cotton's great-great-grandfather could not vote as a slave. His great-grandfather was beaten to death by the Klu Klux Klan for attempting to vote. His grandfather was prevented from voting ... (Goodreads)

  6. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

    by Atul Gawande
    An exploration of the human experience of mortality and the importance of end-of-life care.

    In, Being Mortal, author Atul Gawande tackles the hardest challenge of his profession: how medicine can not only improve life but also the process of its ending Medicine has triumphed in modern ... (Goodreads)

  7. Miles: The Autobiography

    by Miles Davis
    An autobiographical account of the life of jazz music legend and innovator Miles Davis.

    For more than forty years Miles Davis has been in the front rank of American music. Universally acclaimed as a musical genius, Miles is one of the most important and influential musicians in the ... (Goodreads)

  8. Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza

    by Gloria E. Anzaldúa
    Exploration of the hybrid identity of Chicana women, navigating between two cultures.

    Anzaldua, a Chicana native of Texas, explores in prose and poetry the murky, precarious existence of those living on the frontier between cultures and languages. Writing in a lyrical mixture of ... (Goodreads)

  9. The Souls of Black Folk

    by W.E.B. Du Bois
    An exploration of the African-American experience and the struggle for racial equality.

    This landmark book is a founding work in the literature of black protest. W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) played a key role in developing the strategy and program that dominated early 20th-century black ... (Goodreads)

  10. When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times

    by Pema Chödrön
    A guide to finding peace and strength in times of chaos and uncertainty, using Buddhist teachings and personal anecdotes.

    Pema Chödrön's perennially best-selling classic on overcoming life's difficulties cuts to the heart of spirituality and personal growth—now in a newly designed 20th-anniversary edition with a new ... (Barnes & Noble)

  11. We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy

    by Ta-Nehisi Coates
    An exploration of the Obama years, and the racial injustices that still plague America.

    "We were eight years in power" was the lament of Reconstruction-era black politicians as the American experiment in multiracial democracy ended with the return of white supremacist rule in the South. ... (Goodreads)

  12. David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

    by Malcolm Gladwell
    An exploration of unlikely success stories, examining conventional wisdom and biases.

    In his #1 bestselling books The Tipping Point , Blink , and Outliers , Malcolm Gladwell has explored the ways we understand and change our world. Now he looks at the complex and surprising ways the ... (Goodreads)

  13. Yes Please

    by Amy Poehler
    Humorous memoir of a celebrated comedian, exploring her life, career, and relationships.

    In Amy Poehler’s highly anticipated first book, Yes Please , she offers up a big juicy stew of personal stories, funny bits on sex and love and friendship and parenthood and real life advice (some ... (Goodreads)

  14. Everyday Food: Great Food Fast

    by Martha Stewart
    A cookbook with simple and quick recipes for everyday meals, including appetizers, entrees, and desserts.

    No matter how busy you are, at the end of the day you want fresh, flavorful meals that are easy to prepare. And you want lots of choices and variations—recipes that call for your favorite foods and ... (Barnes & Noble)

  15. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

    by Alison Bechdel
    An autobiographical story of a daughter's complex relationship with her father and her own journey of self-discovery.

    The narrative of Fun Home is non-linear and recursive. , Incidents are told and re-told in the light of new information or themes. , Bechdel describes the structure of Fun Home as a labyrinth , ... (Wikipedia)

  16. History of Art

    by H.W. Janson
    Comprehensive overview of art history, from prehistoric times to modern day. Includes analysis of major works and movements.

    For 1000s of art lovers both amateur & professional, esthetic life began with Janson, as his History of Art is often called. In the 1st edition, published in 1962, he spoke to that perennial reader ... (Goodreads)

  17. Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids

    by Kim John Payne
    A guide to parenting with less stress and fewer material possessions, while creating more meaningful relationships with children.

    Today’s busier, faster, supersized society is waging an undeclared war . . . on childhood. As the pace of life accelerates to hyperspeed–with too much stuff, too many choices, and too little ... (Goodreads)

  18. The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World

    by Melinda French Gates
    Melinda Gates shares stories of empowering women and girls around the world, and how it can transform societies and lift people out of poverty.

    A debut from, Forbes', third most powerful woman in the world, Melinda Gates, a timely and necessary call to action for women's empowerment. For the last twenty years, Melinda Gates has been on a ... (Goodreads)

  19. We Should All Be Feminists

    by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
    A call to action for an inclusive, gender-equal society through an examination of feminism.

    What does “feminism” mean today? That is the question at the heart of We Should All Be Feminists , a personal, eloquently-argued essay—adapted from her much-viewed TEDx talk of the same name—by ... (Goodreads)

  20. Coming of Age in Mississippi: The Classic Autobiography of a Young Black Girl in the Rural South

    by Anne Moody
    A brave memoir of a young woman's strength and resilience growing up in the Jim Crow South.

    Born to a poor couple who were tenant farmers on a plantation in Mississippi, Anne Moody lived through some of the most dangerous days of the pre-civil rights era in the South. The week before she ... (Goodreads)

  21. A Wolf at the Table

    by Augusten Burroughs
    A memoir of childhood trauma, dark family secrets, and the power of forgiveness.

    “As a little boy, I had a dream that my father had taken me to the woods where there was a dead body. He buried it and told me I must never tell. It was the only thing we’d ever done together as ... (Goodreads)

  22. How Doctors Think

    by Jerome Groopman
    A look into the decision-making process of doctors, exploring how biases and assumptions can lead to misdiagnosis and medical errors.

    On average, a physician will interrupt a patient describing her symptoms within eighteen seconds. In that short time, many doctors decide on the likely diagnosis and best treatment. Often, decisions ... (Goodreads)

  23. Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success

    by Phil Jackson
    Phil Jackson's memoir of his journey to becoming the most successful coach in NBA history, with insights on leadership and teamwork.

    During his storied career as head coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, Phil Jackson won more championships than any coach in the history of professional sports. Even more important, he ... (Goodreads)

  24. The Honest Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone - Especially Ourselves

    by Dan Ariely
    Examines why people lie and how dishonesty affects our lives.

    Het wetenschappelijk bewijs liegt er niet om: zelfs de meest eerlijke mensen nemen meerdere keren per dag een loopje met de waarheid. Hóé (on)eerlijk we zijn blijkt verrassend genoeg afhankelijk van ... (Goodreads)

  25. The Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics

    by Leonard Susskind
    A physicist's account of his debate with Stephen Hawking over the nature of black holes and the implications for quantum mechanics.

    What happens when something is sucked into a black hole? Does it disappear? Three decades ago, a young physicist named Stephen Hawking claimed it did, and in doing so put at risk everything we know ... (Goodreads)

  26. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

    by Mary Wollstonecraft
    A pioneering work advocating for the political, social, and educational rights of women.

    In the present state of society, it appears necessary to go back to first principles in search of the most simple truths, and to dispute with some prevailing prejudice every inch of ground. To clear ... (Goodreads)

  27. The Devil's Highway: A True Story

    by Luis Alberto Urrea
    A harrowing account of a group of Mexican migrants crossing the US-Mexico border, and their struggle for survival.

    "The single most compelling, lucid, and lyrical contemporary account of the absurdity of U.S. border policy." (The Atlantic), The author of Across the Wire offers brilliant investigative reporting of ... (Goodreads)

  28. My Life on the Road

    by Gloria Steinem
    Steinem's memoir of her travels as a feminist activist, sharing stories of the people and experiences that shaped her life and work.

    Gloria Steinem—writer, activist, organizer, and one of the most inspiring leaders in the world—now tells a story she has never told before, a candid account of how her early years led her to live an ... (Goodreads)

  29. Heavy

    by Kiese Laymon
    A memoir of a black man's struggle with weight, trauma, and identity in America.

    *Named a Best Book of 2018 by the, New York Times,, Publishers Weekly,, NPR,, Broadly, Buzzfeed (Nonfiction), The Undefeated,, Library Journal ,(Biography/Memoirs),, The Washington Post ... (Barnes & Noble)

  30. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

    by Anthony Bourdain
    A humorous and unflinching account of life in restaurant kitchens, exploring the culture and camaraderie of the culinary world.

    A deliciously funny, delectably shocking banquet of wild-but-true tales of life in the culinary trade from Chef Anthony Bourdain, laying out his more than a quarter-century of drugs, sex, and haute ... (Goodreads)