Name Change Welcome to BookDNA.com (formerly Shepherd.com)
  • Fiction
  • Nonfiction
  • Kids
  • YA
  • 🥇 Best Books 2025
  • My Book DNA
  • Profile
  • Refer friends
  • 🐇 🕳️ ✨
  • Logout
Browse
  • Fiction
  • Nonfiction
  • Kids
  • YA
  • Best Books 2025
  • My Book DNA
  • Home
  • For Authors
  • Our Story
  • Membership
Poverty All Time Best All Time Best Trending New By Book DNA List by Experts

Poverty

  • All Time Best
  • Trending
  • New
  • By Book DNA
  • List by Experts

The best nonfiction poverty books of all time

The books our community loved the most.

Nonfiction

Filter books

By Type
  • All Books
  • Fiction
  • Nonfiction
By Decade
  • 2020s
  • 2010s
  • 2000s
  • 1990s
By Age
  • Children
  • Middle school
  • Tween
  • Junior high
  • Young adult
  • High school
  • Teen
  • Adult
  • By Type
    • All Books
    • Fiction
    • Nonfiction
  • By Decade
    • 2020s
    • 2010s
    • 2000s
    • 1990s
  • By Age
    • Children
    • Middle school
    • Tween
    • Junior high
    • Young adult
    • High school
    • Teen
    • Adult
  • Related shelves
    • Political
    • History
    • Business
    • American history
    • European history
    • Modern history
    • Asian history
    • Black history
    • Native American history
    • Literary fiction
    • Family
    • Romance
    • Contemporary romance
    • Historical romance
    • Young adult romance
The Glass Castle
Loved by 27 people

The Glass Castle

By Jeannette Walls ,

Book cover of The Glass Castle
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
Loved by 10 people

Evicted

By Matthew Desmond ,

Book cover of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Angela's Ashes
Loved by 7 people

Angela's Ashes

By Frank McCourt ,

Book cover of Angela's Ashes
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
The White Tiger
Loved by 6 people

The White Tiger

By Aravind Adiga ,

Book cover of The White Tiger
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America
Loved by 5 people

Nickel and Dimed

By Barbara Ehrenreich ,

Book cover of Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Poverty, by America
Loved by 5 people

Poverty, by America

By Matthew Desmond ,

Book cover of Poverty, by America
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor
Loved by 4 people

The Wealth and Poverty of Nations

By David S. Landes ,

Book cover of The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World
Loved by 4 people

Mountains Beyond Mountains

By Tracy Kidder , Michael French ,

Book cover of Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth
Loved by 4 people

Heartland

By Sarah Smarsh ,

Book cover of Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty
Loved by 3 people

Poor Economics

By Abhijit V. Banerjee , Esther Duflo ,

Book cover of Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Lowborn
Loved by 3 people

Lowborn

By Kerry Hudson ,

Book cover of Lowborn
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World
Loved by 2 people

The Blue Sweater

By Jacqueline Novogratz ,

Book cover of The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret
Loved by 2 people

Waste

By Catherine Coleman Flowers ,

Book cover of Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Manifesto for a Moral Revolution: Practices to Build a Better World
Loved by 2 people

Manifesto for a Moral Revolution

By Jacqueline Novogratz ,

Book cover of Manifesto for a Moral Revolution: Practices to Build a Better World
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
This Is All I Got: A New Mother's Search for Home
Loved by 2 people

This Is All I Got

By Lauren Sandler ,

Book cover of This Is All I Got: A New Mother's Search for Home
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Everybody Loves a Good Drought
Loved by 2 people

Everybody Loves a Good Drought

By P. Sainath ,

Book cover of Everybody Loves a Good Drought
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Storming Caesars Palace: How Black Mothers Fought Their Own War on Poverty
Loved by 2 people

Storming Caesars Palace

By Annelise Orleck ,

Book cover of Storming Caesars Palace: How Black Mothers Fought Their Own War on Poverty
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa
Loved by 2 people

Dead Aid

By Dambisa Moyo ,

Book cover of Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
The Haves and the Have-Nots: A Brief and Idiosyncratic History of Global Inequality
Loved by 2 people

The Haves and the Have-Nots

By Branko Milanovic ,

Book cover of The Haves and the Have-Nots: A Brief and Idiosyncratic History of Global Inequality
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Expelling the Poor: Atlantic Seaboard States and the Nineteenth-Century Origins of American Immigration Policy
Loved by 2 people

Expelling the Poor

By Hidetaka Hirota ,

Book cover of Expelling the Poor: Atlantic Seaboard States and the Nineteenth-Century Origins of American Immigration Policy
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
The Injustice of Place: Uncovering the Legacy of Poverty in America
Loved by 2 people

The Injustice of Place

By Kathryn J. Edin , H. Luke Shaefer , Timothy J. Nelson

Book cover of The Injustice of Place: Uncovering the Legacy of Poverty in America
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Reckoning with Homelessness
Loved by 2 people

Reckoning with Homelessness

By Kim Hopper ,

Book cover of Reckoning with Homelessness
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Memoirs of a Breton Peasant
Loved by 1 person

Memoirs of a Breton Peasant

By Jean-Marie Déguignet ,

Book cover of Memoirs of a Breton Peasant
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt
Loved by 1 person

Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt

By Chris Hedges , Joe Sacco ,

Book cover of Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Charles Booth's London Poverty Maps: A Landmark Reassessment of Booth's Social Survey
Loved by 1 person

Charles Booth's London Poverty Maps

By Mary S. Morgan ,

Book cover of Charles Booth's London Poverty Maps: A Landmark Reassessment of Booth's Social Survey
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Partner to the Poor: A Paul Farmer Reader
Loved by 1 person

Partner to the Poor

By Paul Farmer ,

Book cover of Partner to the Poor: A Paul Farmer Reader
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
The Italian Boy: Murder and Grave-Robbery in 1830s London
Loved by 1 person

The Italian Boy

By Sarah Wise ,

Book cover of The Italian Boy: Murder and Grave-Robbery in 1830s London
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
It's All Good
Loved by 1 person

It's All Good

By Boogie ,

Book cover of It's All Good
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Revolutionary Power: An Activist's Guide to the Energy Transition
Loved by 1 person

Revolutionary Power

By Shalanda Baker ,

Book cover of Revolutionary Power: An Activist's Guide to the Energy Transition
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
The Billionaire Raj: A Journey Through India's New Gilded Age
Loved by 1 person

The Billionaire Raj

By James Crabtree ,

Book cover of The Billionaire Raj: A Journey Through India's New Gilded Age
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex
Loved by 1 person

The Revolution Will Not Be Funded

By INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence ,

Book cover of The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Rethinking the Welfare Rights Movement
Loved by 1 person

Rethinking the Welfare Rights Movement

By Premilla Nadasen ,

Book cover of Rethinking the Welfare Rights Movement
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Patients of the State: The Politics of Waiting in Argentina
Loved by 1 person

Patients of the State

By Javier Auyero ,

Book cover of Patients of the State: The Politics of Waiting in Argentina
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America
Loved by 1 person

$2.00 a Day

By Kathryn J. Edin , H. Luke Shaefer ,

Book cover of $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
The People of the Abyss
Loved by 1 person

The People of the Abyss

By Jack London ,

Book cover of The People of the Abyss
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Laughter Out of Place: Race, Class, Violence, and Sexuality in a Rio Shantytown
Loved by 1 person

Laughter Out of Place

By Donna M. Goldstein ,

Book cover of Laughter Out of Place: Race, Class, Violence, and Sexuality in a Rio Shantytown
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
The Life You Can Save: How to Do Your Part to End World Poverty
Loved by 1 person

The Life You Can Save

By Peter Singer ,

Book cover of The Life You Can Save: How to Do Your Part to End World Poverty
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
The Great Surge: The Ascent of the Developing World
Loved by 1 person

The Great Surge

By Steven Radelet ,

Book cover of The Great Surge: The Ascent of the Developing World
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
The Limits of Racial Domination: Plebeian Society in Colonial Mexico City, 1660–1720
Loved by 1 person

The Limits of Racial Domination

By R. Douglas Cope ,

Book cover of The Limits of Racial Domination: Plebeian Society in Colonial Mexico City, 1660–1720
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
The Moral Economy: Poverty, Credit, and Trust in Early Modern Europe
Loved by 1 person

The Moral Economy

By Laurence Fontaine ,

Book cover of The Moral Economy: Poverty, Credit, and Trust in Early Modern Europe
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Trade and Poverty: When the Third World Fell Behind
Loved by 1 person

Trade and Poverty

By Jeffrey G. Williamson ,

Book cover of Trade and Poverty: When the Third World Fell Behind
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
The Myth of American Inequality: How Government Biases Policy Debate
Loved by 1 person

The Myth of American Inequality

By Phil Gramm , Robert Ekelund , John Early

Book cover of The Myth of American Inequality: How Government Biases Policy Debate
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Red Tape: Bureaucracy, Structural Violence, and Poverty in India
Loved by 1 person

Red Tape

By Akhil Gupta ,

Book cover of Red Tape: Bureaucracy, Structural Violence, and Poverty in India
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
The Myth of Marginality: Urban Poverty and Politics in Rio De Janeiro
Loved by 1 person

The Myth of Marginality

By Janice Perlman ,

Book cover of The Myth of Marginality: Urban Poverty and Politics in Rio De Janeiro
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Faces of Hunger: An Essay on Poverty, Justice and Development
Loved by 1 person

Faces of Hunger

By Onora O'Neill ,

Book cover of Faces of Hunger: An Essay on Poverty, Justice and Development
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?
Loved by 1 person

Where Do We Go from Here

By Martin Luther King, Jr. ,

Book cover of Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Maximum Feasible Misunderstanding: Community Action in the War on Poverty
Loved by 1 person

Maximum Feasible Misunderstanding

By Daniel Patrick Moynihan ,

Book cover of Maximum Feasible Misunderstanding: Community Action in the War on Poverty
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Give a Man a Fish: Reflections on the New Politics of Distribution
Loved by 1 person

Give a Man a Fish

By James Ferguson ,

Book cover of Give a Man a Fish: Reflections on the New Politics of Distribution
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor
Loved by 1 person

Automating Inequality

By Virginia Eubanks ,

Book cover of Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
The New War on the Poor: The Production of Insecurity in Latin America
Loved by 1 person

The New War on the Poor

By John Gledhill ,

Book cover of The New War on the Poor: The Production of Insecurity in Latin America
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Favela: Four Decades of Living on the Edge in Rio de Janeiro
Loved by 1 person

Favela

By Janice Perlman ,

Book cover of Favela: Four Decades of Living on the Edge in Rio de Janeiro
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
The Color of Welfare: How Racism Undermined the War on Poverty
Loved by 1 person

The Color of Welfare

By Jill Quadagno ,

Book cover of The Color of Welfare: How Racism Undermined the War on Poverty
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor
Loved by 1 person

Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor

By Rob Nixon ,

Book cover of Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Inequality: What Can Be Done?
Loved by 1 person

Inequality

By Anthony B. Atkinson ,

Book cover of Inequality: What Can Be Done?
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
The Specter of "the People": Urban Poverty in Northeast China
Loved by 1 person

The Specter of "the People"

By Mun Young Cho ,

Book cover of The Specter of "the People": Urban Poverty in Northeast China
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
The Undeserving Poor: America's Enduring Confrontation with Poverty
Loved by 1 person

The Undeserving Poor

By Michael B. Katz ,

Book cover of The Undeserving Poor: America's Enduring Confrontation with Poverty
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Live to See the Day: Coming of Age in American Poverty
Loved by 1 person

Live to See the Day

By Nikhil Goyal ,

Book cover of Live to See the Day: Coming of Age in American Poverty
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City
Loved by 1 person

On the Run

By Alice Goffman ,

Book cover of On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor
Loved by 1 person

Off the Books

By Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh ,

Book cover of Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Social Impact Investing: New Agenda In Fighting Poverty
Loved by 1 person

Social Impact Investing

By Kim Tan , Brian Griffiths ,

Book cover of Social Impact Investing: New Agenda In Fighting Poverty
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
All Our Kin: Strategies For Survival In A Black Community
Loved by 1 person

All Our Kin

By Carol Stack ,

Book cover of All Our Kin: Strategies For Survival In A Black Community
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Hard Work: Life in Low-pay Britain
Loved by 1 person

Hard Work

By Polly Toynbee ,

Book cover of Hard Work: Life in Low-pay Britain
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
How Will Capitalism End?: Essays on a Failing System
Loved by 1 person

How Will Capitalism End?

By Wolfgang Streeck ,

Book cover of How Will Capitalism End?: Essays on a Failing System
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System
Loved by 1 person

Stuffed and Starved

By Raj Patel ,

Book cover of Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Letters of the Catholic Poor: Poverty in Independent Ireland, 1920-1940
Loved by 1 person

Letters of the Catholic Poor

By Lindsey Earner-Byrne ,

Book cover of Letters of the Catholic Poor: Poverty in Independent Ireland, 1920-1940
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York
Loved by 1 person

How the Other Half Lives

By Jacob A. Riis ,

Book cover of How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Teeth
Loved by 1 person

Teeth

By Mary Otto ,

Book cover of Teeth
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
The Life You Can Save
Loved by 1 person

The Life You Can Save

By Peter Singer ,

Book cover of The Life You Can Save
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...
Nickel and Dimed
Loved by 1 person

Nickel and Dimed

By Barbara Ehrenreich ,

Book cover of Nickel and Dimed
  • Read a chapter
  • Amazon
    • Bookshop.org
Loading book...

Loading book loading book...
Loading book...

Copyright © 2026 - Bookdna.com

NLP Powered By Wikifier.org

Book DNA is a participant in the Bookshop.org and Amazon Associate Affiliate Programs. As a participant, we may earn from qualifying purchases made on those sites.

Discover
  • Discover The Best Books
  • Follow Our Development
About
  • Our Story
  • For Authors
  • Media Inquiries
  • Contact Us
  • Become Founding Member
  • Donate
Legal
  • Affiliate Disclosure
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Website Disclosure

Login

Create Account

Continue with Google

or

Forgot Password?
Continue with Google

or