15 Books to Read After You Finish Class by Stephanie Land

Maid set the bar incredibly high for Stephanie Land, opening up a whole discourse on working conditions and the lives of those with the chips stacked against them. Class sees that bar, and raises it. Weaving together themes of motherhood and ambition, it is deeply personal, universally felt and profoundly moving.

Sometimes we read something so fundamentally stirring that we find ourselves speechless in the face of so many tumbling thoughts. Caste is one of those books. Isabel Wilkerson is one of those writers. She reminds us that “we are responsible for our own ignorance or, with time and openhearted enlightenment, our own wisdom.” In this magnificent work of history, narrative, social commentary, philosophy and inspired storytelling, she offers us a new frame, a deeper focal point and new language to help us toward a reckoning long overdue. Quite a gift.

James McBride’s endearing voice has already won over a generation of readers and here that voice translates into a profoundly moving personal narrative ripe with real-world implications that resonate across audiences. 

Sarah Smarsh’s poignant memoir also serves as a necessary dissection of the truths and lies of the American Dream. It’s an emotionally charged narrative that levies a damning indictment on inequality, but without losing an underlying hope in a better future. 

A Living Remedy is both Nicole Chung’s moving personal journey to understand her adoptive family and a universal and exacting journey exploring class, race and grief. Steeped in humor and written with tact, this is a read that inspires.

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sympathizer, Man of Two Faces is a much more personal narrative of nonetheless remarkable quality. This is the story of a complicated relationship with America that will resonate with a generation. Do yourself a favor and read it.

Nearly forty million in the wealthiest democracy on the planet “live” at or below the poverty line, crushed by it. Poverty, By America answers why that is. We are all culpable, witting and unwitting. How did we get here, how do we collectively perpetuate poverty’s reach and how might we be able to undo this suffering? Fierce, unflinching, and crytsal clear, Matthew Desmond lays down a line in the sand and yet imagines that with some hard work, there is a path to a more accountable, equitable, compassionate nation.

Part running book and part personal narrative, Spirit Run is a resounding success in both departments. This is the story of Yakima native Noé Álvarez coming to terms with his place in America and what, if any, power he had to change it. 

A title that says it all, Women, Race & Class is a scholarly examination of the influence of whiteness and classism from the lens of feminism. This is a courageous perspective, one that needed telling and one best told by Angela Davis. 

An emotionally charged and downright angry memoir that sizzles against the racial inequalities of America. Julia Lee writes of her search for place in the “land of the free” in a deeply accessible voice tinted with biting humor that adds to the joy it is to read. 

An essential history of America focusing on the overt urban policies that fortified widespread segregation. This is an exacting and damning indictment of the American government that is essential reading for all.

The Devil’s Highway is a necessary read on the discourse of illegal immigration, giving an exacting personal account of the journey from Mexico to America. With an engaging narrative voice that never loses either the personal immediacy or the greater implications, this is a modern classic. 

From the author who blessed the world with Factory Man, Dopesick tells the story of the opioid epidemic from the cause to the ongoing effect. This is a masterclass in journalistic writing, equal parts engaging and urgent.

Invisible Child tackles the question of what power potential has against poverty. It’s the story of one young girl, her brilliant imagination and the various, ongoing forces determined to keep her down. This is a compulsive read, rich in prose and infinitely compelling. 

Twenty years ago, a national debate about welfare inspired Barbara Ehrenreich to see if she could support herself on minimum wage. She took the cheapest lodging available, any minimum wage job offered, and tried to make it work. This book helped set a path for writers to dig into complicated social issues with personal narrative (books like Maid, Heartland and Nomadland), framing how we talk about these issues even now. As relevant today as it was when first published, this anniversary edition includes a foreword by Matthew Desmond, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Evicted.

A monumental work that has transcended from the time it was first published (1961) to the modern day, The Wretched of the Earth is essential reading on race, colonialism and the like. It’s a cornerstone text among modern activists that has lost none of its relevance and impact.