Recommendations based on Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depressionby Mildred Armstrong Kalish

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

  1. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life

    by Barbara Kingsolver
    A family's journey to eat locally grown, sustainable food.

    Author Barbara Kingsolver and her family abandoned the industrial-food pipeline to live a rural life—vowing that, for one year, they'd only buy food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it ... (Goodreads)

  2. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid

    by Bill Bryson
    A humorous recounting of a boy's childhood in the 1950s and his fantastical adventures.

    Bryson was born on December 8, 1951. He spent his childhood growing up in Des Moines, Iowa , part of the baby-boom generation born in the post-war years. He describes his early life and his parents, ... (Wikipedia)

  3. Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West

    by Hampton Sides
    An exploration of the westward expansion of the United States, recounting the lives of those who lived it.

    A Magnificent History of How the West Was Really Won - a Sweeping Tale of Shame and Glory, In the fall of 1846 the venerable Navajo warrior Narbona, greatest of his people’s chieftains, looked down ... (Goodreads)

  4. Three Little Words

    by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
    Memoir of a girl's journey through foster care, adoption, and finding her voice. A story of resilience and hope.

    An inspiring true story of the tumultuous nine years Ashley Rhodes-Courter spent in the foster care system, and how she triumphed over painful memories and real-life horrors to ultimately find her ... (Barnes & Noble)

  5. Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time

    by Greg Mortenson
    A man's mission to build schools in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan to promote peace.

    The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Taliban’s backyard Anyone who despairs of the individual’s ... (Goodreads)

  6. Same Kind of Different as Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together

    by Ron Hall
    A story of unlikely friendship and redemption, set in the backdrop of racial and economic divides.

    A dangerous, homeless drifter who grew up picking cotton in virtual slavery. An upscale art dealer accustomed to the world of Armani and Chanel. A gutsy woman with a stubborn dream. A story so ... (Goodreads)

  7. Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking

    by Jeff Hertzberg
    A revolutionary guide to baking artisan bread, with a simple and easy method.

    The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, is a fully revised and updated edition of the bestselling, ground-breaking, and revolutionary approach to bread-making—a perfect gift for foodies and ... (Barnes & Noble)

  8. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

    by Doris Kearns Goodwin
    A comprehensive study of the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, and the unique cabinet he assembled.

    Winner of the Lincoln Prize Acclaimed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin illuminates Lincoln's political genius in this highly original work, as the one-term congressman and prairie lawyer rises from ... (Goodreads)

  9. Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think

    by Brian Wansink
    An exploration of the psychological, environmental and physiological factors that drive us to eat more than we need.

    This book will literally change the way you think about your next meal. Food psychologist Brian Wansink revolutionizes our awareness of how much, what, and why we’re eating—often without realizing ... (Goodreads)

  10. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World

    by Vicki Myron
    The heartwarming true story of a library cat who touched the lives of a small-town community.

    How much of an impact can an animal have? How many lives can one cat touch? How is it possible for an abandoned kitten to transform a small library, save a classic American town, and eventually ... (Goodreads)

  11. I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away

    by Bill Bryson
    A humorous and insightful collection of essays about Bryson's experiences returning to America after living in England for two decades.

    After living in Britain for two decades, Bill Bryson recently moved back to the United States with his English wife and four children (he had read somewhere that nearly 3 million Americans believed ... (Goodreads)

  12. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

    by Michael Pollan
    Exploration of the modern food chain, examining the impact of food choices on our health and the environment.

    What should we have for dinner? The question has confronted us since man discovered fire, but according to Michael Pollan, the bestselling author of The Botany of Desire , how we answer it today, at ... (Goodreads)

  13. The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

    by Pema Chödrön
    A guide to overcoming fear and embracing life, through spiritual practice and self-reflection.

    Lifelong guidance for learning to change the way we relate to the scary and difficult moments of our lives, showing us how we can use all of our difficulties and fears as a way to soften our hearts ... (Barnes & Noble)

  14. Ball Four

    by Jim Bouton
    A candid account of the life of a professional baseball player, exposing the realities of the sport.

    Twentieth-anniversary edition of a baseball classic, with a new epilogue by Jim Bouton. When first published in 1970, Ball Four stunned the sports world. The commissioner, executives, and players ... (Goodreads)

  15. Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

    by Eben Alexander
    A neurosurgeon's account of his near-death experience and his spiritual journey towards understanding the afterlife.

    Thousands of people have had near-death experiences, but scientists have argued that they are impossible. Dr. Eben Alexander was one of those scientists. A highly trained neurosurgeon, Alexander knew ... (Goodreads)

  16. Half Broke Horses

    by Jeannette Walls
    A novel based on the life of the author's grandmother, Lily Casey Smith, a resilient and adventurous woman who overcomes numerous obstacles in the American West.

    Jeannette Walls's memoir The Glass Castle was "nothing short of spectacular" (Entertainment Weekly). Now, in Half Broke Horses, she brings us the story of her grandmother, told in a first-person ... (Goodreads)

  17. My Life in France

    by Julia Child
    A memoir of Julia Child's life in Paris, cooking and exploring French cuisine.

    The bestselling story of Julia's years in France–and the basis for Julie & Julia , starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams--in her own words. Although she would later singlehandedly create a new approach ... (Goodreads)

  18. Why Me?

    by Sarah Burleton
    A memoir of a young girl's traumatic childhood, surviving abuse and neglect at the hands of her mother.

    In the blink of an eye, Mom ran up behind me and pushed me into the fence. Instinctively, I reached out my arms to stop my fall and ended up grabbing the live fence. My hands clamped around the thin ... (Barnes & Noble)

  19. Nickel and Dimed: On

    by Barbara Ehrenreich
    A journalist's exploration of poverty in the U.S., exposing the struggles of low-wage workers.

    Millions of Americans work full-time, year-round, for poverty-level wages. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them. She was inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which ... (Goodreads)

  20. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures

    by Anne Fadiman
    Exploring the cultural divide between the Hmong people and the medical establishment.

    Lia Lee was born in 1982 to a family of recent Hmong immigrants, and soon developed symptoms of epilepsy. By 1988 she was living at home but was brain dead after a tragic cycle of misunderstanding, ... (Goodreads)

  21. Cook with Jamie

    by Jamie Oliver
    A cookbook filled with delicious recipes and cooking tips from celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.

    This is my guide to making you a better cook and it's the biggest book I've ever done! I think it looks beautiful and is full of simple and accessible recipes (160 of them!) that will blow the socks ... (Goodreads)

  22. Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back

    by Todd Burpo
    A young boy's spiritual journey of dying and visiting Heaven, and the aftermath of his visions.

    Unglaublich oder erstaunlich? Urteilen Sie selbst: Colton ist vier Jahre alt, als er lebensgefährlich erkrankt und operiert werden muss. Er überlebt um Haaresbreite. Später erzählt er seinen Eltern, ... (Goodreads)

  23. 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)

  24. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

    by Anne Lamott
    A witty and honest guide to writing and life, encouraging writers to embrace imperfection and find their own voice.

    A newer edition of this title can be found, here., "Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to ... (Goodreads)

  25. Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child

    by Marc Weissbluth
    Guide to creating healthy sleep habits in children to ensure a lifetime of restful sleep.

    The child care classic is now totally revised and updated as Dr. Weissbluth, a leading researcher on sleep and children, promotes a revolutionary program to ensure healthy, happy sleep for a ... (Goodreads)

  26. Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder

    by Arianna Huffington
    A call to redefine success beyond money and power, emphasizing well-being, wisdom, wonder, and giving back to society.

    In Thrive, Arianna Huffington makes an impassioned and compelling case for the need to redefine what it means to be successful in today's world. Arianna Huffington's personal wake-up call came in the ... (Goodreads)

  27. Hidden Figures

    by Margot Lee Shetterly
    A recounting of the true story of three African-American women's contributions to NASA during the space race.

    The uplifting, amazing true story—a New York Times bestseller This edition of Margot Lee Shetterly’s acclaimed book is perfect for young readers. It is the powerful story of four African-American ... (Goodreads)

  28. 1776

    by David McCullough
    A riveting account of the events leading up to and during the American Revolution.

    In this masterful book, David McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence - when the whole American ... (Goodreads)

  29. The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia

    by Candace Fleming
    A detailed account of the Romanov family's rise to power, their downfall, and the events leading up to their tragic end.

    Here is the tumultuous, heartrending, true story of the Romanovs—at once an intimate portrait of Russia's last royal family and a gripping account of its undoing. Using captivating photos and ... (Goodreads)

  30. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook

    by Marion Cunningham
    Classic cookbook with over 1,400 recipes, including traditional American dishes and international cuisine.

    Here is the great basic American cookbook–with more than 1,990 recipes, plain and fancy--that belongs in every household. Originally published in 1896 as The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book by Fannie ... (Goodreads)