Books like Call them by their true names by Rebecca Solnit

James Baldwin’s 1963 essay collection, written as two letters for the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, confronts America’s racial injustices and urges both black and white citizens to confront the legacy of racism.

Rebecca Solnit explores the dynamics of gendered conversation, examining how men often presume authority while women are silenced, and linking this to broader patterns of sexism and violence.

319 pages ; 23 cm

James Baldwin’s first nonfiction collection, “Notes of a Native Son,” offers powerful essays on Harlem life, civil rights, and race relations that remain relevant today.

A groundbreaking memoir that blends personal narrative with rigorous theory, charting Maggie Nelson’s queer romance, pregnancy, and the politics of love and family.

Rebecca Solnit’s Hope in the Dark urges activists to reclaim optimism, arguing that hope is a practical commitment to action amid uncertainty.

In this memoir‑essay collection, Rebecca Solnit examines how we weave our identities from stories, using anecdotes of historical figures and her own family to show how empathy, narrative, and imagination connect us all.

A timely collection of essays by Rebecca Solnit that examines gender, feminism, misogyny, and the cultural treatment of women with sharp insight and humor.

Tells Malala Yousafzai's harrowing story of standing up for girls' education against the Taliban, being shot in the head, and surviving to continue the fight.

"Today, only twenty percent of Americans are wed by age twenty-nine, compared to nearly sixty percent in 1960. The Population Reference Bureau calls it a 'dramatic reversal.' [This book presents a] portrait of contemporary American life and how we got here, through the lens of the single American woman, covering class, race, [and] sexual orientation, and filled with ... anecdotes from ... contemporary and historical figures"-- In 2010, award-winning journalist Rebecca Traister started a book that she thought would be about the twenty-first-century phenomenon of the American single woman. Over the course of her research, Traister made a startling discovery: historically, when women have had options beyond early heterosexual marriage, their resulting independence has provoked massive social change. Unmarried women were crucial to the abolition, suffrage, temperance, and labor movements; they created settlement houses and secondary education for women. Today, only 20% of Americans are wed by age 29, compared to nearly 60% in 1960. The Population Reference Bureau calls it a "dramatic reversal." Traister sets out to examine how this generation of independent women is changing the world. This is a remarkable portrait of contemporary American life and how we got here, through the lens of the single American woman. Covering class, race, and sexual orientation, and filled with vivid anecdotes from fascinating contemporary and historical figures, this book is destined to be a classic work of social history and journalism.--Adapted from dust jacket. Working on a book about single women in the twenty-first-century, Traister made a startling discovery: historically, when women have had options beyond early heterosexual marriage, their resulting independence has provoked massive social change. Unmarried women were crucial to the abolition, suffrage, temperance, and labor movements; they created settlement houses and secondary education for women. Today, only 20% of Americans are wed by age 29, compared to nearly 60% in 1960. Through the lens of the single American woman, Traister covers issues of class, race, and sexual orientation.

Lisa Dodson’s study of women living in poverty in the United States offers real‐world insights into school dropout, teen pregnancy and welfare, challenging stereotypes and suggesting humane public‑policy reforms.