Whether you're looking for a book of holiday history or a turkey day tale, this list offers a variety of books related to Thanksgiving. From mysteries, romances, and dramas to accounts of the Mayflower voyagers, Native Americans, and holiday traditions, there are more options here than there were in the (possibly imaginary) first Thanksgiving feast. However you celebrate--or don't celebrate--Thanksgiving, we hope you find something of interest to read.
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Thanksgiving night : a novel
by Richard Bausch Encumbered with the challenges of his bookstore and his wife's high-school teaching career, Will Butterfield fears he will soon reach the end of his patience with his wildly eccentric mother and aunt, a situation that is both lightened and complicated by new friendships with the local handyman and his own chaotic family. |
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Billy Lynn's long halftime walk
by Ben Fountain Asked to be part of the Dallas Cowboys' Thanksgiving Halftime Show, Specialist William Billy Lynn, one of the eight surviving men of the Bravo Squad, finds his life forever changed by this all-American event that causes him to better understand difficult truths about himself and those around him. |
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This land is their land : the Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth colony, and the troubled history of Thanksgiving
by David J. Silverman The author of Thundersticks presents an account of the Plymouth colony’s founding that incorporates the perspectives of Wampanoag witnesses and contributors, documenting the events that led to the creation and violent dissolution of essential peace agreements. |
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Turkey trot murder
by Leslie Meier An uneventful Thanksgiving season is shattered by the overdose-related death of a wealthy investor's beautiful daughter, a tragedy that Lucy Stone links to the possible schemes of the victim's pregnant stepmother. |
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Strangers at the feast : a novel
by Jennifer Vanderbes Celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday of 2007, three generations of the Olson family struggle with old grudges, personality clashes and the impending economic crisis while two African-American teens from a nearby housing project embark on a mysterious job that culminates in a violent encounter. |
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Mayflower lives : pilgrims in a new world and the early American experience
by Martyn J. Whittock A 400th anniversary tribute to the Mayflower voyage draws on the lives of 14 diverse individuals, many known through Thanksgiving lore, from Myles Standish and Squanto to Mary Chilton and Stephen Hopkins, to illuminate the human realities of one of America’s most seminal events. |
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Thanksgiving
by Janet Evanovich The best-selling author of the Stephanie Plum mystery novels presents a revised edition of her classic romance novel, first published in the late 1980s. When Megan Murphy discovered a floppy-eared rabbit gnawing on the hem of her skirt, she meant to give his careless owner a piece of her mind, but Dr. Patrick Hunter was too attractive to stay mad at for long! Playing house together, making Thanksgiving dinner for their families, filled them both with a longing for the sweet times to last. But Megan had wept over one failed love, and it hurt so much to risk again. Could the doctor who kissed her breathless help heal her heart? |
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The cat who talked turkey
by Lilian Jackson Braun Delighted when the Klingenschoen Foundation, manager of Jim Qwilleran's estate, approves the construction of a new bookstore on the site where the late Eddington Smith's bookstore had burned down, the citizens of Moose County are stunned by a brutal murder during the gala groundbreaking, and it is up to Qwill and his feline sleuths, Koko and Yum Yum, to investigate. |
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An indigenous peoples' history of the United States
by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz Spanning more than 300 years, a classic bottom-up history significantly reframes how we view our past. Told from the viewpoint of the indigenous, it reveals how Native Americans, for centuries, actively resisted expansion of the U.S. empire. |
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The ghost at the table : a novel
by Suzanne Berne Thanksgiving at the New England home of the second of three sisters marks a reunion between the three Fiske sisters--including Cynthia, the youngest, an author writing a book about Mark Twain's daughters--and their long-estranged father, in a portrait of the unraveling of a family, set against the famous nineteenth-century author's own family dysfunction. |
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The accidental tourist : a novel
by Anne Tyler When protagonist Macon Leary, a grief-stricken travel writer who hates travel, meets Muriel, a dog trainer who is too interesting to ignore, his life of solitude is turned upside down. Complete with a slow-roasted turkey on T-Day, this is one kooky love story that will make you smile through the tears. |
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A great & godly adventure : the Pilgrims & the myth of the first Thanksgiving
by Godfrey Hodgson Refutes the legendary history of Thanksgiving by presenting a more authentic history of the Plymouth settlement, and explains the reasons behind the distortion of facts that gave rise to the holiday's traditions. |
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The ice storm
by Rick Moody A family romance set during Thanksgiving weekend in 1973 follows the Hoods and the Williamses as they skid out of control in suburban Connecticut and as Watergate unfolds and troops head home from Vietnam. |
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A catered Thanksgiving
by Isis Crawford When the beautiful Thanksgiving turkey they prepared blows up in their client's face, sending Monty Field to the great dining room in the sky, sisters Bernie and Libby Simmons must convince the Field family that they are not responsible and whip up the real killer. |
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Thanksgiving : the biography of an American holiday
by James W. Baker In this, the first in-depth study of the most American of holidays, James Baker sweeps away lingering myths and misconceptions to show how this celebration day was born and grew to be an essential part of our national spirit. |
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A Christmas memory ; One Christmas ; & The Thanksgiving visitor
by Truman Capote Inspired by the author's memories of his boyhood in rural Alabama, a trio of holiday stories--"A Christmas Memory," "The Thanksgiving Visitor," and "One Christmas"--describes a boy's relationship with his elderly cousin and alcoholic father and the indelible holiday memories they provided him. |
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A quilter's holiday : an Elm Creek quilts novel
by Jennifer Chiaverini For the Elm Creek Quilters, the day after Thanksgiving marks the start of the quilting season, a time to gather and spend the day stitching holiday gifts for loved ones. This year, Master Quilter Sylvia Bergstrom has invited her friends to continue an old family tradition of sewing quilt blocks representing their thankfulness and gratitude. As each quilter explains the significance of her carefully chosen block, stories of love and longing for family and friends emerge. |
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Thanksgiving : the holiday at the heart of the American experience
by Melanie Kirkpatrick We all know the story of Thanksgiving. Or do we? This uniquely American holiday has a rich and little known history beyond the famous feast of 1621. In Thanksgiving, award-winning author Melanie Kirkpatrick journeys through four centuries of history, giving us a vivid portrait of our nation's best-loved holiday. |