Books to Read under the Trump Administration
Book recommendations for those under the rule of the 45th President of the United States.
1,162 books ·
509 voters ·
list created November 14th, 2016
by Not Well Read (votes) .
Tags:
america, banned-books, black-lives-matter, blm, citizenship, donald-trump, fascism, feminism, homophobia, immigration, lgbtq, racism, sexism, trump, usa
Not Well Read
3536 books
98 friends
98 friends
Phoebe
81 books
0 friends
0 friends
Stef
6523 books
232 friends
232 friends
Dan
374 books
25 friends
25 friends
avis03
2814 books
17 friends
17 friends
Rainbowheart
2035 books
154 friends
154 friends
Kelly
2291 books
156 friends
156 friends
Anya
952 books
122 friends
122 friends
More voters…
Comments Showing 1-50 of 54 (54 new)

I think this list might just need a more elaborate description, as all sorts of books seem to be on it now. Or was this your intention?"
Hi - I intended for the list to be pretty general as to criteria, but I think the main issue is that more people have read (or at least heard of) the fictional classics that are put on the list, so they end up on top while the (perhaps more pertinent) non-fiction is pushed down. When I started the list it was a mix of fiction and non-fiction, though (and there are so many facets to the Trump phenomenon that a lot of books become relevant in one sense or another, so the list ends up being a pretty mixed bag).
(From your comment, I'm not sure if this is what you're getting at, but if it is then I hope I made sense. I'm not sure what the solution would be, though - maybe another list that specifies only books for political awareness?)

It's just that I came across another list:
The Post-Trump Big Questions Canon, which made me wonder.
I'm not American by the way, nor do I live in the States :-)

It's just that I came across another list:
The Post-Trump Big Questions Canon, which made me wonder.
I'm not American by the way, nor do I live in the States :-)"
The other list seems more non-fiction focused, while this one is a mixture of different things, so I think they make a fine pair. I would say I'm content with the state of the lists.
I'm not American or state-side either. :)


Joel, there's nothing about the list that makes it for 'liberals' - I designed it to be neutral, and it is: if more voters favour those particular books, then so be it. The books that top the list are all famous dystopians - are you seriously saying you don't think a message that's applicable to the real world can be conveyed through fiction? And I notice there's fiction on your profile, too - why the double standard? Why read fiction at all if you think there's no relevance to reality?

http://lithub.com/50-books-for-the-ne...

http://lithub.com/50-books-for-the-ne..."
That's a great list! It seems more partisan and less driven by established reputation than goodreads lists (chosen by select respondents rather than popular vote), so it's good to see some books included that aren't already so widely read. Feel free to add books from that list to this one, though, if you've read them.

http://lithub.com/50-books-for-the-ne..."
That's a great list! It seems more partisan and less dr..."
Yes, I agree that it is much more partisan and I am not all that familiar with most titles.
It is amazing how so many lists popping up, independently of one another. I suspect others will appear in the future as books are written on the actual subject of Trump's presidency. Speaking of which, this may be of interest:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/201...

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

I think Joel's comment reveals more about world perception than anything else here: the pathological need to defend one's own tribe in the face of a (presumably) monolithic other. For the record, Trump isn't conservative and opposing demagoguery isn't exclusively a liberal stance. Just ask John McCain.


We have tons of material to pull from now for subjects to read about after only 13 days of office. xC

[bookcover:Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass|3652..."
Good suggestion - I've voted it up my list too. It'll be interesting to see which books gain unexpected prevalence over the course of our new era.

Murder on the Bowling Green

Probably drop it back into my section of votes next to Orange Man, Small Hands, and Pig in a Wig.
Edit: Threw Brady and Belichick up to number 1 on my list for the Superbowl. Unreal ending. Trump tweeted calling them "winners" in the Trump sense of the word.

Edit 2: We got a new one folks.
Which is Better: A Strong or Weak Dollar?



Ministry of Magic. The book is a satire criticizing tyrannical bureaucracies.

Really? It shouldn't be partisan, Trump should be seen as horrible from both sides. Don't let tribalism cloud your judgement. Only 3 of the first four books are fiction, unless you're meaning the Constitution is to not be taken seriously (as Trump's administration has made a point of doing). Go read 1984, and you'll see some similarities to this administration, though it more closely relates to Stalinist Soviet Union or modern-day North Korea.

Only 3 of the first four books are fiction ..."
When I commented, the top four books were Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Handmaid's Tale, Fahrenheit 451, and Animal Farm.


Many of us believe that it is. I think that's reflected in the choice of books. You're of course welcome to pick different ones or start a "books to read under Obama" list.

I was going to say the same thing: the list isn't 'biased', it just reflects the views of the majority of Goodreads users. As conservatives are wont to say, 'the silent majority has spoken'.
Also, I'm not sure why he's complaining about the lack of an Obama list - it's a bit late.

Obama's not president. Hasn't been for awhile now. Yes, Trump is dangerous and divisive. I don't know why you're even questioning those aspects at this point in time. If you can't understand why there's a list in respects to the current administration, that says more about you than it does your fellow readers.

This exercise is not beneficial. If you are someone with anxiety focusing on it to such an extend is not going to be relaxing or help the situation at all.
The list is fine and includes many great books, but the subject is ironic and highly derisive

I mean, it won't be written by Trump, since he had ghost writers write his last few books, but your second choice would be good.

The first book on this list is Nineteen Eighty Four, about making certain things forbidden to say in order to control how the population thinks. Sounds a lot like how the left today makes certain views forbidden to express - like pro-life, anti-illegal immigraion... Trump is the one who broke these taboos and gave frustrated voters a voice. So I guess it's an appropriate choice for this list.
The second book is The Handmaid's Tale. That book is about a society governed by a totalitarian religious order that subjugates women, reducing them to reproductive organs. Sounds like a lot of countries in the Middle East. Countries from which Trump is trying to cut down on illegal immigration through his travel ban so that the dangerous ideology described in that book doesn't spread to America. I guess it's an appropriate choice too.
The third book is Fahrenheit 451, once again about government control over published media. Sort of like where we were going with redefining the internet as a utility so it can be regulated by the FCC. Good thing Trump's administration put an end to that. Good choice of a book too!
Book four: The US Constitution. Trump nominated, so far, two SCOTUS judges who think that the Constitution should be interpreted as written and not twisted in pursuit of an activist agenda, like some of the old SCOTUS judges do. Great choice too!
Five: Animal Farm, about how the ruling class which comes to power promising free things for everyone gets fat by using government to make them rich. Sort of like the Clintons. Thank god we dodged that bullet and elected Trump instead of Napoleon, erm... Hillary.
Six: About race relations and the unequal treatment of Blacks in America. You know, things like segregating them to different schools, something that doesn't really exist anymore de jure, but does exist in our current public school system de facto. Thankfully, Trump's administration is in favor of school vouchers giving minorities the ability to send their kids to better schools. Good choice of a book for this list!
And so on down the list. This list is great. It should really make people hopeful that under the Trump Administration we've slowed down the descent into totalitarianism that has been occurring since Obama and would have accelerated under Clinton. We're not where we need to be, and we aren't even heading in the right direction, but at least we've slowed down going in the wrong direction. Keep that in mind when reading the books in this list.

The first book on this list is Nineteen Eighty Four, about making certain things forbidden to say in order to control how the population thinks. Sounds a lot like how the left today ..."
Ignorance is bliss for you, eh? Trump's administration is corrupt, but you've long accepted that.


There are several second hand copies to be found on Abebooks but unfortunately they are very expensive. New it is only to be found in a Spanish translation.


While some of these may have been of questionable relevance, not a word was spoken before this person decided to summarily delete them! I noticed because one of my top votes (A Handmaid's Tale - quite relevant!) was missing.
I've since added back The Handmaid's Tale, but the rest are still deleted unless other people decide to add them again.


My point was that it is against Listopia rules for librarians to go in and delete books based on personal prejudices. If the list creator disagrees with a certain addition and would like it removed, that is another matter.

Thank you for alerting to this. I'm not sure what would have motivated it given that there isn't a clear pattern to the removals. I agree that the books in question are highly relevant and there is no reason to remove them. I have submitted a query, and I suggest you do too.


Unfortunately, I have first-hand experience with this. Last October, a rogue librarian deleted the entire YA Novels of 2019 list. All ~1500 voters had their votes wiped out, and since the list was empty, Goodreads software deleted it. When something like that happens, there is no way to retrieve lost votes or lost lists.

Unfortunately, I have first-hand experience with this. Last October, a rogue libra..."
I flagged the deletions individually already and sent the profile to the Support Team. Yes, I have no idea why people do this. It seems very random, and makes me worry about whom they're giving librarian privileges to in the first place. We can't restore the list to its former state, but hopefully something is done about the person in question.

My book stands to overturn the conventions of modern political journalism, blending live on-the-spot reporting with deep analysis gleaned particularly from intensive dumpster-diving. I even provide links to some delicious political recipes.
Stay posted for my book release before 2019 is out, or follow me on Twitter in the meantime for scorching political commentary.
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Yep, but it's even funnier how so many of these books would be instructive under the current administration....while being far too complicated for either Joe or Kam to actually understand. #Progress


Yep, but it's even funnier how so m..."
Exactly, the current Numpty in charge doesn't even realize he is in charge. They have to have a whole White house set as a prop for him, and hire kid actors for his cackling assistant.


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Anyone can add books to this list.
I think this list might just need a more elaborate description, as all sorts of books seem to be on it now. Or was this your intention?