books that build community (part 2)
creating connection, resiliency, and civic action + exploring AI
I’m back with part two of this series of books that offer guidance on how to build stronger communities and overcome ideological differences with our neighbors. In part one, I shared a half-dozen books that explore the psychology of belonging and communication. Now, let’s dive into books that offer more tactical and specific ideas about what to do and how to take action.
📚 Tactical Ideas for Building Stronger Communities
These books give you step-by-step frameworks, practical tools, and real-world stories to help you take meaningful action in your neighborhood and beyond.
1. Strong Towns by Charles Marohn
Marohn critiques suburban development and makes the case for bottom-up, people-powered changes that build economic and social resilience.
📌 Why it matters for building community: The author shows how to rethink your street, zoning, and local spending to build people-centric communities instead of places built with cars or corporations as the driving design priorities.
✅ Read it: Marohn has a fascinating perspective on building strong towns, rooted in municipal fiscal responsibility and long-term budgeting. His ideas feel fiscally conservative but are built on more socially progressive policies and infrastructure. It’s a refreshing, non-partisan take on strong towns.
2. Democracy in Retrograde by Emily Amick & Sami Sage
A civic self-help guide with interactive tools to help readers understand their values, stay politically engaged, and take action that aligns with their lives. Specifically, the book offers surveys and information to help you find how your skills and interests intersect with the important work of sustaining a democractic society.
📌 Why it matters for building community: Encourages everyday civic action—attending meetings, voting locally, organizing neighbors—which is how we strengthen democracy from the ground up.
✅ Read it: There are many great tips for finding your niche in civic engagement.
and both have great Substacks that align with the book’s mission.3. This Is Where You Belong by Melody Warnick
Warnick experiments with ways to increase her sense of belonging in a new town—from shopping local to attending events—and finds that loving a place is something you can practice and a muscle you can build.
📌 Why it matters for building community: It offers a step-by-step roadmap to falling in love with your town and building lasting ties with the people who share it.
✅ Read it: I read this several years ago, and I love that she gives people agency to invest in their town and build a community even if they’re new or transient.
4. We Should Get Together by Kat Vellos
Vellos blends UX design, psychology, and real-life examples to help people overcome loneliness and deepen adult friendships.
📌 Why it matters for building community: The book offers tools and inspiration for starting small, inclusive gatherings and creating spaces of connection in everyday life.
✅ Read it: I loved that
’ ideas are very concrete and provide actionable ideas you can implement immediately.5. Start with Hello by Shannan Martin
Martin writes about small acts of hospitality and presence, grounded in her experience moving into a new, unfamiliar neighborhood.
📌 Why it matters for building community: She encourages a mindset of radical welcome, where resilience comes from interdependence and the courage to simply show up.
📋 On my TBR list: Simple connections can make such a difference. It’s currently sitting on my bookshelf, waiting for it’s turn in my reading rotation.
6. The Life Council by Laura Tremaine
A personal and practical look at adult friendship, Tremaine offers a framework for understanding and building a diverse support network of friends through intentional relationships.
📌 Why it matters for building community: Relationships are the foundation of resilient neighborhoods. This book helps you cultivate the friendship infrastructure that makes communities thrive.
✅ Read it: I love how she thinks about different friends serving different purposes. No one, including our spouses, can serve all of our unique needs.
7. The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker
Parker explores why some gatherings succeed and others fall flat, emphasizing intentionality, purpose, and structure.
📌 Why it matters for building community: This book helps you design experiences that build trust and joy, whether you’re organizing neighborhood events, town meetings, or just a dinner with new neighbors.
✅ Read it: I love how she encourages hosts to be purposeful about their gatherings: create rules, set expectations, and let people know they are showing up for an event filled with meaning and connection. Here’s a quick overview video (below) before diving into the book.
8. Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next) by Dean Spade
This short but powerful book explores mutual aid as both political and practical—how we care for each other when institutions fail.
📌 Why it matters for building community: This book teaches readers how to organize informal support networks, from food distribution to disaster response.
📋 On my TBR list: If we think the world is collapsing (and I do), this seems like a good place to start building skills.
9. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Combines Indigenous wisdom, science, and environmental stewardship in lyrical essays about reciprocity and connection to land.
📌 Why it matters for building community: It offers a worldview that deeply values local interdependence among humans and the natural world.
✅ Read it: I read this book quite a while ago, and it was so good! She’s spot on about how interconnected we are with all the living things in our environment.
10. The Abundant Community by John McKnight & Peter Block
A reframing of community building that emphasizes the assets people already have, not what they lack.
📌 Why it matters for building community: Encourages asset-based community development and a shift from consumerism to co-creation.
📋 On my TBR list: Consumerism drains our mental and physical health and destroys our planet. Abundance is a growing topic, so this should fit right into that conversation.
11. Civic Bargain: How Democracy Survives by Brook Manville and Josiah Ober
A newer release that explores how democratic self-rule endures when citizens actively shape and renegotiate their civic commitments.
📌 Why it matters for building community: Encourages readers to take ownership of local governance, dialogue, and decision-making processes.
📋 On my TBR list: I believe our lack of civic engagement has significantly contributed to the fall of democracy in the United States. I’m hoping this offers some context to that idea.
want a printable book list?
📚 I’ve created a printable list of these books (if you’re interested) that you can take to the library or save for later. It includes the books above and the books on Part 1 of this list. Hop over here to drop your email in the form, and I’ll send the book list to your inbox in no time.
building a local life together
Whether hosting your first block party, organizing a local election forum, or just trying to meet the people next door, these books can provide insight about creating friendships and crossing ideological barriers. Start where you are. Pick one idea, one connection, one story… and follow it. When we invest in each other, we build something that no crisis can break.
exploring AI
On a separate note, I’ve been reading about AI and how it will likely become part of our everyday lives. I aim to read different perspectives that highlight the risks and benefits of this novel technology that feels inevitable.
I wrote this newsletter edition “in partnership with ChatGPT2” as part of my exploration. AI didn’t write this whole newsletter for me. It functioned more like an assistant (I edited every word... more than once 💛). As we explore AI more deeply and understand how it can work with us instead of against us, I’m curious to see how it evolves.
I noted which books I’ve already read and which are on my TBR (to-be-read) list. I’d love to know what other books should be on this list. Have you read any great books that offer insight into building stronger, more resilient communities and connections? Be sure to share them in the comments!
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All links to books are affiliate links (that support independent bookstores). If your local library offers the book, be sure to borrow it! If you choose to buy it through a link above, thanks for supporting my work. 🫶🏼
I used ChatGPT like an assistant. ChatGPT (or OpenAI) did not sponsor this post or know I wrote it. They have no idea who I am. 🤪