Hello and Happy Independence Day to all my fellow Americans! 🎆  Today is also my first day as a host for Bookending Summer 2019. I am so excited to be hosting for the next four days!  I loved being a host last spring, and I just know that this time is going to be even better. 😁

Today’s prompt is inspired by the fact that today is the 4th of July.  I’ll be sharing books that fill me with pride for America and books that just give me a very distinctive, American vibe.  For those of you not in the US, I’d love to see which books remind you of and fill you with pride for your country!

Without further ado, let’s begin!

Little Women

Little Women is a very American novel in my opinion.  It’s one of my favorite books and I just love it so much!  The book is set in the early 1860’s during the American Civil War and begins with the girls’ father away at war.  It deals with the struggles and triumphs of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy’s lives.  This book is so relatable and dear to me.  It definitely fills me with American pride.

Little House

The Little House series is another of my favorites and ones that I hold very dear to me.  I grew up reading the Little House books and watching the television series.  These books made life on the American prarie sound so exciting and filled with such an adventure!  This series is such a classic, American children’s series.

All-American Girl

All-American Girl is a super fun book, and I just had to include it in my list!  In this book, the main girl, Samantha, starts dating the president of the United States’ son.  This is such a fun, light-hearted read, but one that will definitely fill you with some patriotism.  Also, this book was written in the early 2000’s, so I found it actually really interesting to see how much has changed politically and in pop culture since then.

American Gods

American Gods is a book that I have heard so many wonderful things about.  I admit, I have not read it yet, but I intend to change that soon.  I chose this book because it includes “American” right in the title! lol Not only that, but this book apparently looks at the “soul” of America.  I am very intrigued!

Americanah

While creating this list, one thing that really bothered me about the books I selected was the lack of diversity.  While coming up with this list, I realized that I haven’t read many diverse books that especially focus on American experiences.  This is something that I want to change.  That is why I included Americanah on this list.  While I don’t know if this book will end up filling me with pride for America, or if it will make me feel disappointed in this country and how it addresses certain issues, I have no doubt that this book will be very distinctively American – for the good and bad.

And there you have it! Those are five books celebrating America on this very American day.  While this country is so, so far from perfect, I’m still thankful for how far we have come.

I hope you enjoyed this list. I look forward to reading all of yours!

Also, if you have any recommendations for anymore diverse, American reads, please let me know, because I want to read them!!

Thanks for reading!

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