Our family is studying the 20th Century this year for our modern history stream, and finding modern living books has been hard! Well…harder than finding books for preceding time periods. Not to worry, I have risen to the challenge with my obsessive ways. Good thing I LOVE thrift shopping, locally and online. A little too much perhaps…
I have built up a good selection of 20th century books about a wide variety of people and events. I consulted the TruthQuest History Guides (love these so much!) and other book lists…so many I can’t even remember where!
The hardest part about finding a book at a local thrift store is trying to decide in 30 seconds or less if it’s Living or not. When I find a book I haven’t heard of I
- Check Amazon reviews
- Check the publication date (before 1965 is usually a good sign)
- Read the first page or so.
Sometimes I bring home books that we don’t end up enjoying, but those three things usually weed out most of the mediocre stuff.
I wanted to share Norwood Family Book List. This is what we have in our home library on the 20th century. I put a star by the books we have read and would recommend. The others we just haven’t gotten to yet! My Form 2A student is a voracious reader and has read the majority of the books on the list. These are his top 5 favorites:
- Letters from Rifka
- The Endless Steppe
- We Were There at the Opening of the Atomic Era
- The War in Korea (Landmark)
- The Story of the Paratroopers (Landmark)
I’d love to hear your 20th Century favorites or any tips you have for quickly identifying a Living book. Enjoy our list!
