Here are 85 books that Fair Labor Lawyer fans have personally recommended if you like Fair Labor Lawyer. Book DNA is a community of 13,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality

Tracy Thomas Author Of The First Woman Judge

From my list on uncovering women’s legal history by women authors who get it.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a law professor specializing in women’s legal history who has long held a passion for women’s biography. As a young girl at my first school library, I was drawn to the section on girls’ biographies, color-coded orange to segregate them from the green books about boys, which I had no interest in. The more I practice and teach constitutional law, the more I am drawn to stories of how women have navigated this profession and changed the law along the way. So much of this history is unknown, making reading an adventure into new ideas and new facts that continually change the way I understand the world.

Tracy's book list on uncovering women’s legal history by women authors who get it

Tracy Thomas Why Tracy loves this book

I was impressed by the unique narrative of this book that delivers exhaustive research in short chapters in a way that offers voluminous information in bite-size pieces that can be sampled over time.

I liked that the book provided a sense of the person behind the robes of this first Black woman federal judge without diminishing her accomplishments.

I learned much about Motley’s origins as a lawyer fighting in the trenches of racism that revealed her bravery and determination, narrated by an author who understands the momentum of the civil rights movement.

By Tomiko Brown-Nagin ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Civil Rights Queen as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

With the US Supreme Court confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson, “it makes sense to revisit the life and work of another Black woman who profoundly shaped the law: Constance Baker Motley” (CNN). The first major biography of one of our most influential judges—an activist lawyer who became the first Black woman appointed to the federal judiciary—that provides an eye-opening account of the twin struggles for gender equality and civil rights in the 20th Century.

“A must-read for anyone who dares to believe that equal justice under the law is possible and is in search of a model for how to…


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Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

Book cover of Shortlisted

Tracy Thomas Author Of The First Woman Judge

From my list on uncovering women’s legal history by women authors who get it.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a law professor specializing in women’s legal history who has long held a passion for women’s biography. As a young girl at my first school library, I was drawn to the section on girls’ biographies, color-coded orange to segregate them from the green books about boys, which I had no interest in. The more I practice and teach constitutional law, the more I am drawn to stories of how women have navigated this profession and changed the law along the way. So much of this history is unknown, making reading an adventure into new ideas and new facts that continually change the way I understand the world.

Tracy's book list on uncovering women’s legal history by women authors who get it

Tracy Thomas Why Tracy loves this book

This book had a big wow factor for me, revealing the many—many—women who were considered for a US Supreme Court nomination long before the first, Sandra Day O’Connor.

The discoveries were eye-opening from the moment I first heard these two women scholars present their initial research at a conference. The authors dug deep into the archives and newspapers to recover the evidence of the multiple women considered for the Court by multiple presidents.

I enjoyed reading short biographies of each of these first ten women—so much so that the introduction of Florence Allen as the first nominee led me to further exploration that resulted in my book.

By Renee Knake Jefferson , Hannah Brenner Johnson ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Shortlisted as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Winner, Next Generation Indie Book Awards - Women's Nonfiction
Best Book of 2020, National Law Journal

The inspiring and previously untold history of the women considered-but not selected-for the US Supreme Court
In 1981, Sandra Day O'Connor became the first female justice on the United States Supreme Court after centuries of male appointments, a watershed moment in the long struggle for gender equality. Yet few know about the remarkable women considered in the decades before her triumph.
Shortlisted tells the overlooked stories of nine extraordinary women-a cohort large enough to seat the entire Supreme Court-who appeared on presidential lists…


Book cover of Constitutional Orphan

Tracy Thomas Author Of The First Woman Judge

From my list on uncovering women’s legal history by women authors who get it.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a law professor specializing in women’s legal history who has long held a passion for women’s biography. As a young girl at my first school library, I was drawn to the section on girls’ biographies, color-coded orange to segregate them from the green books about boys, which I had no interest in. The more I practice and teach constitutional law, the more I am drawn to stories of how women have navigated this profession and changed the law along the way. So much of this history is unknown, making reading an adventure into new ideas and new facts that continually change the way I understand the world.

Tracy's book list on uncovering women’s legal history by women authors who get it

Tracy Thomas Why Tracy loves this book

I liked this book for its resurrection of a long-forgotten amendment—the one about women.

This author redeems what has been wrongly labeled an “irrelevant” amendment and reveals how the Nineteenth Amendment was challenged in its aftermath. Some women were still discriminated against on the basis of race, while the majority of states refused to extend voting rights to related political rights of public office and jury service.

Even though I teach this subject, I learned much from this impeccably researched book that details the history of women as constitution makers.

By Paula A. Monopoli ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Constitutional Orphan as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In Constitutional Orphan, Professor Paula Monopoli explores the significant role of former suffragists in the constitutional development of the Nineteenth Amendment the woman suffrage amendment ratified in 1920. She sheds new light on the connection between the suffragists as institutional actors in civil society and the emergence of a "thin" conception of the Nineteenth Amendment as a mere nondiscrimination in voting rule, rather than a robust equality norm. In this compelling legal history, Monopoli illuminates how the Nineteenth had implications for federalism, women's citizenship and the definition of equality, as well as how gender, race and class intersect to affect…


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Book cover of The Parent's Guide to Birdnesting: A Child-Centered Solution to Co-Parenting During Separation and Divorce

The Parent's Guide to Birdnesting by Dr. Ann Gold Buscho,

Based on research about how divorce can affect children, you will learn how to best support your children's resilience, as well as your own. For parents who are separating and want to put their children first, birdnesting could be the interim or long-term shared parenting solution you’ve been looking for.…

Book cover of Justice Was Her Calling

Tracy Thomas Author Of The First Woman Judge

From my list on uncovering women’s legal history by women authors who get it.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a law professor specializing in women’s legal history who has long held a passion for women’s biography. As a young girl at my first school library, I was drawn to the section on girls’ biographies, color-coded orange to segregate them from the green books about boys, which I had no interest in. The more I practice and teach constitutional law, the more I am drawn to stories of how women have navigated this profession and changed the law along the way. So much of this history is unknown, making reading an adventure into new ideas and new facts that continually change the way I understand the world.

Tracy's book list on uncovering women’s legal history by women authors who get it

Tracy Thomas Why Tracy loves this book

I had literally been searching for this book.

In my own research, I kept coming across Dorothy Kenyon’s name, but could not find any substantial examination of the life or work of this foremother of women’s legal equality.

This book combines a story of Kenyon’s provocative life with her pivotal leadership of women’s rights and the development of equal protection law to give a full picture of the legal movement for gender equality.  

By Jennifer L. Brinkley ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Justice Was Her Calling as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Before Ruth Bader Ginsburg persuaded the Supreme Court to strike down sex discrimination, Dorothy Kenyon drew the legal blueprint.

Justice Was Her Calling is the first full-length biography of the New York judge, lawyer, and civil liberties champion whose litigation strategies helped transform the Equal Protection Clause into a powerful tool for women's rights. Across decades, from the Progressive Era through the New Deal and into the rise of second-wave feminism, Dorothy Kenyon stood at the forefront of reform.

A longtime ACLU national board member, the only woman appointed by the League of Nations to study women's legal status worldwide,…


Book cover of Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945

Iwan W. Morgan Author Of FDR: Transforming the Presidency and Renewing America

From my list on why FDR was the greatest American president.

Why am I passionate about this?

I consider FDR the greatest of all presidents for leading America with distinction in the domestic crisis of the Great Depression and the foreign crisis of World War 2 and creating the modern presidency that survives today in the essential form he established. I have written books on Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan during fifty years as a US history professor in UK universities. I always intended to write a book about how FDR reinvented the presidency that these Republicans inherited, something I finally did in ‘retirement’. My five chosen books explain the challenging times he faced and the leadership skills he displayed in meeting them.     

Iwan's book list on why FDR was the greatest American president

Iwan W. Morgan Why Iwan loves this book

This Pulitzer Prize-winning study is the best single-volume history of America in the Age of FDR. Meticulously researched, ambitiously conceived, and vividly written, it crafts superb portraits of the presidencies of Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Kennedy offers a balanced assessment of FDR’s New Deal, concluding that his reforms enhanced the socio-economic security of millions of Americans despite their overall failure in the 1930s to achieve economic recovery, which would only come about through the crucible of war in the early 1940s. However, the real heroes of the book are the American people for their resilience and resolve in the face of the Great Depression and World War 2, the two greatest challenges the United States faced in the twentieth century.  

By David M. Kennedy ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Freedom from Fear as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Between 1929 and 1945, two great travails were visited upon the American people: the Great Depression and World War II. Freedom from Fear tells the story of how Americans endured, and eventually prevailed, in the face of those unprecedented calamities.

The Depression was both a disaster and an opportunity. As David Kennedy vividly demonstrates, the economic crisis of the 1930s was far more than a simple reaction to the alleged excesses of the 1920s. For more than a century before 1929, America's unbridled industrial revolution had gyrated through repeated boom and bust cycles, wastefullly consuming capital and inflicting untold misery…


Book cover of Beyond the New Deal Order: U.S. Politics from the Great Depression to the Great Recession

Richard R. Weiner Author Of Sustainable Community Movement Organizations: Solidarity Economies and Rhizomatic Practices

From my list on understanding regimes of law and political economy.

Why am I passionate about this?

Rich Weiner co-edited this featured volume with Francesca Forno. He is a political sociologist with a strong foundation in the history of political and social thought. He has served for twenty-two years as dean of the faculty of arts and sciences. His focus has been on non-statist political organizations and social movements with a perspective of middle-range theorizing enriched by three generations of Frankfurt School critical theory of society.

Richard's book list on understanding regimes of law and political economy

Richard R. Weiner Why Richard loves this book

A collection of exceptional scholars explore what replaced the New Deal Order’s focus on economic justice at the end of the 1970s with a regime that came to be known as neoliberalism.

This very accessible book approaches the possibility of new forms of life known as solidarity economies and with it a turn toward social-economics.

I appreciate the attempt this history book makes to both take a long view and to create a conceptual framework regarding empirical cases.

By Gary Gerstle (editor) , Nelson Lichtenstein (editor) , Alice O'Connor (editor)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Beyond the New Deal Order as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Ever since introducing the concept in the late 1980s, historians have been debating the origins, nature, scope, and limitations of the New Deal order-the combination of ideas, electoral and governing strategies, redistributive social policies, and full employment economics that became the standard-bearer for political liberalism in the wake of the Great Depression and commanded Democratic majorities for decades. In the decline and break-up of the New Deal coalition historians found keys to understanding the transformations that, by the late twentieth century, were shifting American politics to the right.
In Beyond the New Deal Order, contributors bring fresh perspective to the…


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Book cover of All They Need to Know

All They Need to Know by Eileen Goudge,

A runaway finds sisterhood, love, and danger in a mountain town.

On the run from her abusive husband, Kyra Smith hits the road. Destination unknown. With a dog she rescued in tow, she lands in the peaceful California mountain town of Gold Creek and is immediately befriended by an openhearted…

Book cover of Days of Hope: Race and Democracy in the New Deal Era

Jill Watts Author Of The Black Cabinet: The Untold Story of African Americans and Politics During the Age of Roosevelt

From my list on Black Americans and the Roosevelt era.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a Professor of History at California State University San Marcos where I teach United States Social and Cultural History, African American History, Film History, and Digital History. In addition to The Black Cabinet, I am also the author of three other books. Two of my books have been optioned for film and I have consulted on PBS documentaries. I believe that knowing history is necessary and practical, especially in these times. At this critical point, we can draw much wisdom from the lessons of Black history and the history of the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Jill's book list on Black Americans and the Roosevelt era

Jill Watts Why Jill loves this book

In a pathbreaking examination of the New Deal and race, Patricia Sullivan does a deep dive into how the Roosevelt administration’s policies played out and, in most cases, failed Black people. While that story is a disappointing one, she also shows how the era created opportunities for a biracial coalition of Black and white progressives to come together to push for a vision of a revitalized American Democracy based in racial equality. Sullivan offers compelling accounts of the dynamic leadership provided by the NAACP, Black New Dealers, and Black activists in challenging American racism as they worked with white allies. It was these interracial crusades that began to flourish during the Roosevelt era that would provide a model for later collaboration during the Freedom Movement campaigns of the 1950s and 1960s.

By Patricia Sullivan ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Days of Hope as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the 1930s and 1940s, a loose alliance of blacks and whites, individuals and organizations, came together to offer a radical alternative to southern conservative politics. In Days of Hope , Patricia Sullivan traces the rise and fall of this movement. Using oral interviews with participants in this movement as well as documentary sources, she demonstrates that the New Deal era inspired a coalition of liberals, black activists, labor organizers, and Communist Party workers who sought to secure the New Deal's social and economic reforms by broadening the base of political participation in the South. From its origins in a…


Book cover of My America 1928-1938

Dale Maharidge Author Of Fucked at Birth: Recalibrating the American Dream for the 2020s

From my list on to understand America in the 2020s.

Why am I passionate about this?

How I grew up in Ohio informs my work: my raging war-ravaged father dreams of being his own boss; in our basement he grinds steel tools on massive iron machines, a side business after his day job in a factory; as a teen, I begin grinding with him; Dad is hit by a drunk driver and he cannot work for months; I am not old or skilled enough as a machinist to save the business; our mother who drives a school bus feeds our family with charity food. I fear I will grow up to be a blue-collar worker facing all the precarity that comes with this existence.

Dale's book list on to understand America in the 2020s

Dale Maharidge Why Dale loves this book

I grew up listening to my elders about the 1930s. I’ve read dozens of books about that decade, and this is the best in terms of the documentation of average Americans. We absolutely must understand the 1930s to deal with what faces us in the nation and world in the 2020s. Adamic was an immigrant who believed in the potential of America, and about half of this book is his reporting around America, with a focus on the working class. The other half is memoir. The reporting is deep, the writing beautiful. 

Book cover of Invisible Hands: The Businessmen's Crusade Against the New Deal

Donald Cohen Author Of The Privatization of Everything: How the Plunder of Public Goods Transformed America and How We Can Fight Back

From my list on the battle between democracy and oligarchy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been reading, researching, and writing on the limitations of market capitalism and the unique and important role of government in meeting public needs for almost 30 years. I have come to firmly believe that we can’t – as a nation and planet – solve our most pressing problems without rebuilding trust in government and the capacity and authority of governing institutions. We can’t eliminate poverty, eradicate structural racism, protect our environment and the planet without democratic institutions that have the power to do so. We need markets, but transferring too much power to the market has created many of the problems we face today. 

Donald's book list on the battle between democracy and oligarchy

Donald Cohen Why Donald loves this book

This book had an enormous impact on my understanding about the long road economic conservatives and corporations took to establish the dominance of neoclassical and neoliberal economic approaches in the U.S.

It tells a detailed story about a small group of American businessmen who ultimately succeeded in building a political movement that transformed the country. It describes what they were heading for and the ways they went about it. 

By Kim Phillips-Fein ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Invisible Hands as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the wake of the profound economic crisis known as the Great Depression, a group of high-powered individuals joined forces to campaign against the New Deal-not just its practical policies but the foundations of its economic philosophy. The titans of the National Association of Manufacturers and the chemicals giant DuPont, together with little-known men like W. C. Mullendore, Leonard Read, and Jasper Crane, championed European thinkers Friedrich von Hayek and Ludwig von Mises and their fears of the "nanny state." Through fervent activism, fundraising, and institution-building, these men sought to educate and organize their peers as a political force to…


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Book cover of The Strange Case of Guaritori Diolco

The Strange Case of Guaritori Diolco by Bill Hiatt,

Guaritori awakens from a coma to find that he's lost twenty years--and his entire world.

Fiancée, family, and friends are all missing, perhaps dead. Technology has failed, and magic has risen, leaving society in ruins. Most survivors are at the mercy of anyone who has strong enough magic. Guaritori has…

Book cover of Black Culture and the New Deal: The Quest for Civil Rights in the Roosevelt Era

Jill Watts Author Of The Black Cabinet: The Untold Story of African Americans and Politics During the Age of Roosevelt

From my list on Black Americans and the Roosevelt era.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a Professor of History at California State University San Marcos where I teach United States Social and Cultural History, African American History, Film History, and Digital History. In addition to The Black Cabinet, I am also the author of three other books. Two of my books have been optioned for film and I have consulted on PBS documentaries. I believe that knowing history is necessary and practical, especially in these times. At this critical point, we can draw much wisdom from the lessons of Black history and the history of the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Jill's book list on Black Americans and the Roosevelt era

Jill Watts Why Jill loves this book

Sandwiched between the creative outpourings of the Harlem Renaissance and the Cold War, Black cultural expression during the Roosevelt years is often overlooked. Lauren Skalroff corrects this by exploring the various venues where Black artists contributed during the New Deal era. Black cultural workers encountered overwhelming discrimination as they navigated the world of art, theater, music, writing, radio, film, and other cultural outlets that were controlled by white Americans. But the New Deal’s arts programs did offer some opportunities for Black artistic autonomy and genuine expression. In some cases, Black artists were able, to a degree, to challenge negative stereotypes. Sklaroff builds the story chronologically and takes the reader through WWII showing how culture and political activism were intricately linked during two of the nation’s most historically challenging times.

By Lauren Rebecca Sklaroff ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Black Culture and the New Deal as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the 1930s, the Roosevelt administration - unwilling to antagonize a powerful southern congressional bloc - refused to endorse legislation that openly sought to improve political, economic, and social conditions for African Americans. Instead, as historian Lauren Rebecca Sklaroff shows, the administration recognized and celebrated African Americans by offering federal support to notable black intellectuals, celebrities, and artists.

Sklaroff illustrates how programs within the Federal Arts Projects and several war agencies gave voice to such notable African Americans as Lena Horne, Joe Louis, Duke Ellington, and Richard Wright, as well as lesser-known figures. She argues that these New Deal programs…


Book cover of Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality
Book cover of Shortlisted
Book cover of Constitutional Orphan

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