To commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the Books & Books team put together a group of essential fiction and non-fiction reads on the topic so we can all better understand the legacy and horror of that day and the events that followed.

Please be sure to join us and the Writers for Democratic Action as they reflect and discuss on Saturday, September 11, 2021 at 3 p.m. Click below to learn more and register. 

September 11th and its Aftermath: 

An Afternoon with Paul Auster, Heather Cox Richardson, Elias Khoury, 

Caroline Randall Williams and Jacki Lyden

CLICK HERE

 


READING LIST:

UNSETTLED BELONGING: Educating Palestinian American Youth after 9/11 

by Thea Renda Abu El-Haj (University of Chicago Press, $41.60) 

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REIGN OF TERROR: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump

by Spencer Ackerman (Viking, $30) 

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HARBOR: A Novel 

by Lorraine Adams (Vintage, $15)

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MAN IN THE DARK: A Novel 

by Paul Auster (Picador, $17)

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THE RISE AND FALL OF OSAMA BIN LADEN

 by Peter Bergen (Simon & Schuster, $30)

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CRUSADE: Chronicles of an Unjust War 

by James Carroll (Holt Paperbacks, $22.99)

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IMPERIAL LIFE IN THE EMERALD CITY: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone 

by Raijv Chandrasekaran (Vintage, $17)

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AGAINST ALL ENEMIES: Inside America’s War on Terror 

by Richard A. Clarke (Free Press, $16)

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THE TORTURE MEMOS: Rationalizing the Unthinkable 

edited by David Cole (New Press, $17.95)

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GHOST WARS: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 

by Steve Coll (Penguin Books, $22)

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THE DAY THE WORLD CAME TO TOWN: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland 

by Jim Defede (William Morrow Paperbacks, $16.99)

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FALLING MAN 

by Don DeLillo (Scribner, $17)

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TO START A WAR: How the Bush Administration Took America into Iraq

by Robert Draper (Penguin Books, $19)

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102 MINUTES: The Unforgettable Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers  

by Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn (Times Books, $16)

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE 

by David Finkel (Picador, $16)

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THE ONLY PLANE IN THE SKY: An Oral History of 9/11  

by Garrett M. Graff (Avid Reader Press, $30)

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SUBTLE TOOLS: The Dismantling of American Democracy from the War on Terror to Donald Trump 

 by Karen J. Greenberg (Princeton University Press, $29.95)

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THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST 

by Mohsin Hamid (Mariner Books, $15.99)

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THE IRAQ STUDY GROUP REPORT 

by the Iraq Study Group (Pinnacle Press, $16.84)

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POETRY AFTER 9/11: An Anthology of New York Poets 

edited by Dennis Loy Johnson and Valerie Merians (Melville House, $14.95)

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THE DARK SIDE: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals  

by Jane Mayer (Anchor, $17)

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LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN: A Novel 

by Colum McCann (Random House Trade Paperbacks, $18)

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THE EMPEROR’S CHILDREN 

by Claire Messud (Vintage, $17)

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CLONING TERROR: The War of Images, 9/11 to the Present

by W.J.T. Mitchell (University of Chicago Press, $39)

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SELLING FEAR: Counterterrorism, The Media, and Public Opinion 

by Brigitte L. Nacos, Yaeli Bloch-Elkon, Robert Y. Shapiro (University of Chicago Press, $44.20)

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THE 9/11 COMMISSION REPORT

by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks (Claitor’s Pub Division, $15.90)

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EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE: A Novel

by Jonathan Safran Foer (Mariner Books, $16.99)

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THE SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE REPORT ON TORTURE: Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Detention and Interrogation Program

by Senate Select Committee on Intelligence with foreword by Diane Feinstein (Melville House, $17.99)

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NIGHT DRAWS NEAR: Iraq’s People in the Shadow of America’s War

by Anthony Shadid (Picador, $24)

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IN THE SHADOW OF NO TOWERS 

by Art Spiegelman (Pantheon, $50)

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THE ELEVENTH DAY: The Full Story Of 9/11 

by Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan (Ballantine Books, $20)

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ONE PERCENT DOCTRINE: Deep Inside America’s Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11

by Ron Suskind (Simon & Schuster, $24.99)

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COUNTERINSURGENCY FIELD MANUAL

by the U.S. Army with introduction by Sarah Sewall and foreword by John A. Nagl and David H. Petraeus  (Echo Point Books & Media, $14.24) 

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THE SUBMISSION: A Novel 

by Amy Waldman (Picador, $26)

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THE ZERO 

by Jess Walter (Harper Perennial, $16.99)

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BUSH AT WAR 

by Bob Woodward (Simon & Schuster, $18)

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THE LOOMING TOWER: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 

by Lawrence Wright (Vintage, $18)

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FALL AND RISE: THE STORY OF 9/11

by Mitchell Zuckoff (Harper Perennial, $18.99)

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FOR THE KIDS:


SURVIVOR TREE

by Marcie Colleen (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $18.99)

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30,000 STITCHES: The Inspiring Story of the National 9/11 Flag

by Amanda Davis (WorthyKids, $17.99)

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FIREBOAT: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey

by Maria Kalman (Puffin Books, $7.99)

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WHAT WERE THE TWIN TOWERS?

by Jim O’Connor (Penguin Workshop, $5.99)

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WITH THEIR EYES: September 11th: The View from a High School at Ground Zero

edited by Annie Thom (HarperTeen, $9.99)

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