16 Books to Understand Trump's America

The United States rated as a "flawed democracy" by the Economist Intelligence Unit

I was in shock the day of the election this past November. I was quite young when 9/11 happened, relatively speaking. It was my freshman year of highschool and it just didn’t have much of an emotional or cognitive impact on me. Only now do I really understand the consequences of that day. For many others, however, 9/11 was a day that changed their entire worldview, similar to JFK being shot or Pearl Harbor being bombed. Everyone seems to remember what they were doing and where they were.

Donald Trump being elected President of the United States had the same world altering impact on me. It was just beyond the realm of what was possible for Americans to do and beyond my comprehension. In response to not understanding something, I have one habitual reaction.

Read, study, learn.

Below are the books I’ve read since the election and a handful I’d still like to read. Please do let me know if you’ve found anything not on the list worth reading.

Books I’ve Read Since Trump’s Election (Most Recently Read First)

1. Hillbilly Elegy
2. Between the World and Me
3. The ALL NEW Don’t Think of an Elephant
4. White Rage*
5. The Rise and Fall of American Growth**
6. White Trash
7. Technocracy in America
8. The New Minority
9. The Shipwrecked Mind
10. The Populist Explosion
11. The New Geography of Jobs
12. The Coming Jobs War
13. Men Without Work
14. The Post-American World
15. Strangers in Their Land
16. The Myth of the Rational Voter

Books I’d Still Like to Read (Most Amazon Reviews First)

1. 1984
2. Dark Money
3. What’s the Matter with Kansas?
4. The Politics of Resentment
5. Those Who Work, Those Who Don’t
6. Asymmetric Politics

* I just started this one, but it’s short.
** I haven’t finished this one yet. It’s massive.