Posted on August 28, 2019 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
There are handful of obvious choices for bookworms wanting to tie their long-weekend reading in with the holiday it celebrates.
While The Grapes of Wrath, The Jungle, and any César Chávez biography are obvious — and spot-on — choices for Labor Day reading, you have many, many more options.
We rounded up older fiction, newer novels, history texts, and memoirs from several sources; added a few of our own suggestions; and present you with this final product.
Older fiction
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The Tortilla Curtain, by T.C. Boyle.
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The Princess Casamassima, by Henry James.
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Sometimes a Great Notion, by Ken Kesey.
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Beloved, by Toni Morrison.
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Lyddie, by Katherine Paterson.
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In Dubious Battle, by John Steinbeck.
21st-century fiction
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The Last Ballad, by Wiley Cash.
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Work Song, by Ivan Doig.
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Severance, by Ling Ma.
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Labor Day, by Joyce Maynard.
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Triangle, by Katharine Weber.
Nonfiction
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The Man Who Never Died: The Life, Times, and Legacy of Joe Hill, American Labor Icon, by William M. Adler.
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There Is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America, by Philip Dray.
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Revolt On Goose Island: The Chicago Factory Takeover, and What it Says About the Economic Crisis, by Kari Lydersen.
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Fire and Brimstone: The North Butte Mining Disaster of 1917, by Michael Punke.
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Trapped: The 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster, by Karen Tintori.
Memoirs
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The American Revolution: Pages from a Negro Worker’s Notebook, by James Bogg.
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Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, by Barbara Ehrenreich.
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The Rebel Girl: An Autobiography, My First Life (1906-1926), by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn.
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Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive, by Stephanie Land.
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Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth, by Sarah Smarsh.
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Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, by J. D. Vance.
Curious why these books were chosen? We've linked to our sources below. And if you prefer not to feel political but like the thought of Labor Day reading, Literary Hub has an occupational-themed book list for you.
Categories: Today in Books