The AEVUM™ Holiday Reading List
Books Worth Giving
For the curious mind, the family table, and the generations to come.
A considered collection of books about hospitality, stewardship, home, history, and the stories we inherit.
For the Well-Set Table
For those who find pleasure in cooking, pouring, and bringing people together.
Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking
A collection of recipes and culinary history celebrating the breadth, creativity, and legacy of African American cooking. A thoughtful gift for home cooks, food-history enthusiasts, and keepers of family recipes.
Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs, and Juice
A look at cocktails and the Black bartenders, gatherings, and traditions that helped shape American drinking culture. A fitting choice for thoughtful hosts and readers curious about the history behind the glass.
Black Mixcellence: A Comprehensive Guide to Black Mixology
Recipes and stories celebrate Black talent and influence behind the bar. A practical, lively pick for the home bartender or adventurous host.
Wine Folly: Magnum Edition
An illustrated guide to grapes, regions, tasting, and pairing that makes wine more approachable. A useful reference for curious drinkers and hosts who want to explore with confidence.
Wealth & Stewardship
For readers ready to give their financial future thoughtful attention.
Get Good with Money
A practical, encouraging framework for organizing money and building financial confidence, from everyday habits to longer-term goals. A welcoming starting point for readers seeking greater financial clarity.
The Psychology of Money
Short, memorable reflections on how behavior, emotion, and personal history shape financial choices. A thoughtful read about patience, risk, and defining what “enough” means.
The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You’ll Ever Need
An introduction to disciplined, evidence-based investing, with attention to diversification, risk, and long-term decision-making. Best read for its core principles, with time-sensitive investment details checked against current sources.
Black Fortunes: The Story of the First Six African Americans Who Escaped Slavery and Became Millionaires
The intertwined stories of six Black entrepreneurs who built wealth in the aftermath of slavery. A compelling history of ingenuity, ambition, and the barriers faced by Black wealth-builders.
The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together
A wide-ranging account of how racial division shapes public life and economic opportunity—and how cooperation can benefit everyone. Thought-provoking for readers interested in policy, community, and shared prosperity.
For the Family—and the Future
For those thinking about what they will pass forward, and how to prepare.
The Essential Estate Planner
A structured organizer for recording important information, records, and wishes. A practical gift for someone ready to make family preparation easier and more manageable.
Nolo’s Guide to Estate Planning
An introduction to wills, trusts, probate, and common estate-planning decisions. A useful first read for building a shared vocabulary before consulting an attorney.
Get It Together: Organize Your Records So Your Family Won’t Have To
A guide to gathering the information and instructions loved ones may need. Helps the family organizer turn good intentions into an organized record.
The Family Nest Egg
A family-focused discussion of financial security, insurance, wealth building, and planning ahead. A useful choice for parents and caregivers thinking about their household’s long-term resilience.
Complete Family Wealth
Looks beyond money to the relationships, knowledge, and values that help families steward wealth across generations. Particularly relevant for families navigating substantial assets and the responsibilities that come with them.
A Place to Call Your Own
For the future homeowner, the aspiring investor, and the reader examining housing’s history.
100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask
A question-led guide to preparing for the home-buying process, from finding and financing a home to making informed decisions. A practical companion for first-time buyers and the people supporting them.
The Book on Rental Property Investing
An introduction to buying and managing rental properties, evaluating opportunities, and understanding the responsibilities of being a landlord. For readers exploring real estate as a business.
Real Estate by the Numbers
A numbers-focused guide to evaluating real-estate investments, with attention to cash flow, returns, and deal analysis. A useful companion for analytical readers considering property investing.
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
An account of how government policies helped create and maintain residential segregation in the United States. Adds essential historical context to conversations about housing access, homeownership, and inherited wealth.
Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership
An examination of how post–Fair Housing Act housing and lending practices shaped Black homeownership. A powerful companion to The Color of Law for readers seeking to understand the policies and institutions behind unequal access to housing.
Stories, Memory & Inheritance
Fiction and literature about family histories, identity, place, and the legacies we carry forward.
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois
An expansive multigenerational novel following a young Black woman as she uncovers her family’s history in the American South. A richly layered story of ancestry, identity, and the histories that shape the present.
The Vanishing Half
Twin sisters choose very different lives, and the consequences ripple through the next generation. A page-turning exploration of identity, family secrets, belonging, and inheritance.
The Turner House
Thirteen siblings reckon with their family home in Detroit and the histories bound up in it. A moving portrait of sibling relationships, place, and the meaning of home across generations.
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie
A mother and her children move through decades of change, loss, and family life. An intimate novel about the reverberations of migration and the bonds that persist through hardship.
The Revisioners
Two women, separated by generations, navigate motherhood, race, and family loyalty. Past and present meet in a thoughtful story about the forces families inherit—and the choices they make in response.
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
Linked stories of Black women exploring family, faith, desire, and expectation. A sharp, tender collection about the private lives and complicated legacies that shape connection.
Homegoing
Beginning with two half-sisters in eighteenth-century Ghana, this multigenerational novel follows their descendants across continents and centuries. A sweeping story of family, displacement, and the long reach of history.
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration
A deeply reported account of the Great Migration, told through the lives of three people who left the American South for new lives elsewhere. A vivid work of narrative history about movement, family, and the search for possibility.
The Fire Next Time
Two incisive essays on race, faith, and the American experience. Brief but enduring, Baldwin’s work invites reflection and conversation across generations.
The Book of Delights
A year of short, observant essays noticing everyday moments of joy, connection, and surprise. A companionable choice for essay lovers and readers who enjoy returning to a book a few pages at a time.
My Black Country
A personal and cultural exploration of Black artists’ contributions to country music and the meaning of belonging within the genre. A thoughtful pick for music lovers and readers curious about whose stories are remembered.
Black Cake
After their mother’s death, two siblings encounter a family secret through a recorded message and a treasured recipe. A multigenerational novel about identity, migration, memory, and the stories families leave behind.
Featured Author
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