Here are my favorite books associated with the USA. Click on a book title or image to purchase.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. That means at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission from your purchase which will go toward bringing you more travel tips, tricks, and tidbits!

Giants in the Earth: A Saga of the Prairie – O.E. Rölvaag

A vivid and realistic portrayal of the harsh life settlers faced during the 1800s. Per Hansa, his wife, and their children are Norwegian immigrants who settle in the Dakota Territory with three other immigrant families in the 1870s. Their pursuit of happiness in the land of plenty is dashed time and time again though as they battle plague, deadly snow storms, poverty, and loneliness. Per Hansa works diligently to provide for his family and be successful. However, the jarring unpredictable conditions of the new land make it hard for Per Hansa to stay ahead. As his wife slips deeper and deeper into depression, Per Hansa must fight to keep his family and their newly established community alive.

“It’s the only book I’ve read more than once… Other than Harry Potter of course.” – My mom

Thoughts: This is my mother’s favorite book, and it has become one of mine as well. Rölvaag drew upon his own experiences as a Norwegian immigrant settler along with his wife’s family’s experience to create this story. I think this is one of the reasons the story has had such a resounding impact on so many. It is honest. It is powerful It does not sugar coat the incredibly hard circumstances settlers endured. Brace yourself, and dive into one of the best novels of all time.

Becoming – Michelle Obama

In her inspiring autobiography, Michelle Obama shares intimate moments from her life with the world in a reflective and captivating way. She takes us from her humble beginnings in the south side of Chicago, down the path of her struggles with fertility, to how she grappled to find balance between her career and motherhood. She tells heartwarming stories, such as how she and Barack fell in love, and also gut wrenching ones, like how her roommate at Princeton switched dorms because her mother did not want her rooming with a black girl. After often feeling out of place in life, she worked hard to create the most open and welcoming White House in our nation’s history so that all would feel included in the bettering of not just the United States, but the world. Through her humble account, readers will find themselves doing their own bit of soul searching.

Thoughts: I LOVED this book. It is so well written and her story is incredibly inspiring. It was refreshing to hear her story in her own words, instead of the often misconstrued way the media portrayed her family in their 8 years in the White House. I especially enjoyed hearing about the various programs she spearheaded in Chicago and Washington in efforts to motivate people to reach their full potential. She recognizes that she is in a position to enact positive change and works earnestly to do so. I listened to this book on Audible, which I cannot recommend enough, because Michelle Obama is the narrator!

Radium Girls – Kate Moore

During the First World War, hundreds of young women were recruited to paint watch faces with luminous paint so that they would glow. Unbeknownst to these poor women, the radium they were painting with was deadly and would soon begin wreaking havoc on their bodies. The women used to find it fun that they would glow on their walks home from work, the radium dust sticking to every inch of their bodies after a long day working in the factories. What they didn’t know, was that their work would cause them years of drawn out pain and suffering. This book tells of the harrowing struggles the Radium Girls faced together, and their determined fight to secure better labor laws so that others would not have to suffer their same terrible fate.

Thoughts: I found out about this book after reading a BuzzFeed article written by the author herself. It is a hard book to read at times, because the girls suffered immensely. However, it is a necessary story that needed to be told. Moore includes the stories of numerous women. She takes you from their first days at the factory all the way to how their fight for better labor laws resulted in the creation of OSHA. The women fought hard against massive corporations for years, in the hopes that their dedication would improve the lives of others, even when their own futures were bleak. The book is a solid mixture of biography and narrative.

11/22/63 – Stephen King

What if you could change the course of history for the better? Jake Epping is faced with this question in this award winning novel by Stephen King. The high school English teacher is shown a portal that can take him back in time, where he plans to change the world as we know it by stopping Lee Harvey Oswald from assassinating John F. Kennedy. He comes to love mid century America with its charm, classic cars, and neighborly people… but not everyone is as innocent as they seem. Throughout Jake’s journey to stop the president’s murder, he finds himself entangled in other people’s lives. People he wants to help. With each person he becomes involved with though, he risks causing a butterfly effect that could alter the future in all sorts of ways … and the past is resistant to change.

Thoughts: This is one of the best books I’ve read in a long while. I listened to it on Audible, which I highly recommend because the narrator does a fantastic job creating voices for each character. The story is captivating. At one stressful point in the book, I found myself sitting in Atlanta traffic with my hand pressed to my mouth and eyes wide. It is a gripping story. Of course, because it is a Stephen King book, there are some frightful bits, but it is much more of a time travel/historical fiction book than a scary one.

The Great Alone – Kristin Hannah

When Leni’s father returns home from the Vietnam War as a truculent alcoholic, the family’s lives are turned upside down. Unable to hold down a job and prone to rash decisions, Ernt Allbright convinces his family that they should move to the wild terrain of Alaska in the hopes that it will make him a happier man. The family is surprised to find that their new home is dilapidated and has no running water or electricity. Their nearest neighbors are miles away. Heeding the warnings of locals that they should start immediately preparing for the harsh winter ahead, Leni’s family must quickly learn to adapt to their new surroundings. As the Alaskan winter begins creeping in, darkness is prolonged, and her father’s outbursts become more frequent and worse. Leni and her mother find themselves not only trying to survive Alaska’s unpredictable environment, but also their own home.

Thoughts: I loved The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, and subsequently had high hopes for The Great Alone. My expectations were far exceeded with this fantastic novel. Hannah describes Alaska’s rugged landscape in vivid detail, that made me immediately want to book a trip there so I can see it for myself. The story is a roller coaster of suspense, heartache, love, and survival. I could not put this book down, finishing it in under 2 days.