Reporter Emily Brady embedded in an insular community for a year to produce Humboldt, her book-length portrait of a California region getting rich on marijuana farming. Below, she names some favorite books that served as inspiration.
The View From the Ground by Martha Gellhorn (Grove/Atlantic, $14). Gellhorn was a pioneering female journalist who taught me about fearlessness and how to write with unflinching honesty. This collection spans six decades of reporting, from a 1930s lynching in Mississippi to torture in El Salvador during the country’s 1980s civil war.
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Random Family by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (Scribner, $17). LeBlanc spent a decade following a South Bronx, N.Y., family in order to create this beautiful book, a riveting tale that captures the human drama of poverty’s challenges.
The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea (Back Bay, $14). In haunting, lyrical language, Urrea digs deep into a tragedy: In 2001, 26 men attempted to cross illegally from Mexico into the U.S., and only 12 survived. Urrea’s book explores what drove those men to walk across a desert in search of a better life, as well as the codependent relationship that binds two neighboring nations.
Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder (Random House, $16). Kidder is a master of narrative nonfiction. His 2009 book about a young medical student who decided to give back after surviving ethnic violence in Burundi, genocide in Rwanda, and homelessness in New York City contains lessons for us all about the power of both resilience and forgiveness.
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo (Random House, $18). How are ordinary Indians navigating this era of globalization? Boo spent years in a Mumbai slum searching for the answers and wove her reporting into this spellbinding National Book Award winner, a work of nonfiction that reads like a novel.
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JD Vance wades into choppy religious waters about wife UshaTHE EXPLAINER By emphasizing his hope that the Second Lady convert to Christianity, the Vice President of the United States is inviting controversy from across the religious spectrum
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Beth Macy’s 6 favorite books about living in a divided nationFeature The journalist recommends works by Nicholas Buccola, Matthew Desmond, and more
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Gilbert King’s 6 favorite books about the search for justiceFeature The journalist recommends works by Bryan Stevenson, David Grann, and more
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Nathan Harris’ 6 favorite books that turn adventures into revelationsFeature The author recommends works by Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McGuire, and more
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Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetimeFeature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
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Lou Berney’s 6 favorite books with powerful storytellingFeature The award-winning author recommends works by Dorothy B. Hughes, James McBride, and more
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Elizabeth Gilbert’s favorite books about women overcoming difficultiesFeature The author recommends works by Tove Jansson, Lauren Groff, and more
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Fannie Flagg’s 6 favorite books that sparked her imaginationFeature The author recommends works by Johanna Spyri, John Steinbeck, and more
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Jessica Francis Kane's 6 favorite books that prove less is moreFeature The author recommends works by Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie-Helene Bertino, and more
