The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

The story of one woman’s ferocious determination to escape the horrors of slavery and a shattering, powerful meditation on the history all Americans share, this beautiful, exquisite book is so important for us to read right now.

Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

With incredible empathy, intelligence, and candor, Jodi Picoult tackles race, privilege, prejudice, justice, and compassion—and doesn’t offer easy answers. This is also an important book about race in America. I think it’s her best book yet.

The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying by Nina Riggs

Nina Riggs was 38 and dying when she wrote this  book, a gift to her sons and husband – so beautiful and life affirming. It’s a book about how to love all the days, even the bad ones, and how literature can be a source of comfort.”