I've had to enjoy Nell Irvin Painter's The History of White People via the Audible app on my phone; I was way too embarrassed to buy the book because visitors frequently browse my bookshelves at home, and I wouldn't want anyone seeing this title and giving me side-eye. It is not actually a history of white people at all, but a history of "white people," i.e. a history of the notion of whiteness and race, starting with the Greeks and moving all the way to the United States in the twentieth century. I've found it to be a really good non-fiction follow-up to Uncle Tom's Cabin, which left me with a lot of frustrations and questions. I also found it a particularly appropriate read (unfortunately) as I watched the news coverage of recent events in Ferguson.