Bold Authors Network Releases Curated Reading List Examining Cultural and Social Perspectives for 2026

Life Under Construction offers a compassionate and honest look at an emotionally demanding experiences families can face: caring for a love one with dementia.

The Embers covers a six-decade journey of one of beach music's most enduring bands: The Embers and Bobby Tomlinson.

Through storytelling that blends wit, vulnerability, and reflection, There's a Tortoise in My Hair challenges readers to reconsider how crisis and coincidence can become invitations for growth.

Energy Awakening: The Essential Healing Handbook, is particularly relevant for adults navigating caregiving responsibilities, aging, health challenges, or major life changes.

Fifty years of Polyamory in America is a guided tour of a growing movement, with over 15 million people who have tried, or are currently practicing some form of this lifestyle.

Five books exploring caregiving, spirituality, music, relationships, and cultural change through lived experience and historical context.

SARASOTA, FL, UNITED STATES, December 20, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- As social, cultural, and personal frameworks continue to shift, readers are increasingly engaging with books that examine complex human experiences through context, history, and reflection. Recent publishing trends indicate growing interest in works that explore caregiving, spirituality, creative legacy, evolving relationship models, and cultural resilience.

In response to this trend, the Bold Authors Network has released a curated list titled Books Examining Cultural and Social Perspectives for 2026. The selection brings together five authors whose works address how individuals and communities navigate change, meaning, and identity in modern life.

The books span memoirs, cultural history, nonfiction, and reflective narrative. Rather than presenting prescriptive viewpoints, the selected titles offer context-driven explorations grounded in lived experience, research, and storytelling.

“This collection reflects the kinds of conversations readers are engaging with as they move into 2026; conversations centered on understanding, context, and human connection,”- Kae Wagner, Founder of the Bold Authors Network.
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1.) Life Under Construction: A Caregiver’s Journey Through Dementia by Ann Favreau

Life Under Construction offers a compassionate and honest look at one of the most emotionally demanding experiences many families face: caring for a loved one with dementia. Ann Favreau writes with clarity and heart, providing information, encouragement, and hope for caregivers who often feel unseen and overwhelmed.

Rather than presenting caregiving as a linear journey, this book acknowledges its unpredictability; the moments of grief, frustration, tenderness, and resilience that arise along the way. Favreau’s approach is grounded and human, making space for both the emotional and practical realities of dementia care.

Readers who are caregivers themselves, or who support friends and family in similar situations, will find reassurance in knowing they are not alone. Life Under Construction doesn’t offer easy answers, but it does provide understanding, validation, and a sense of shared experience that can be deeply comforting.

“This book offers information, inspiration, and hope to anyone walking the caregiving path.” – Ann Favreau
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2.) The Embers: The Bobby Tomlinson Story by Chris Jones, Bill Benners, and Skip Crayton

The Embers: The Bobby Tomlinson Story is a testament to perseverance, creativity, and the quiet courage required to sustain a dream over a lifetime. Chronicling the six-decade journey of one of beach music’s most enduring bands, the book weaves together music history, cultural change, and personal resilience.

Beyond its musical legacy, the story touches on themes of reinvention, community, and racial integration in the American South. Readers gain insight into how music can bridge divides, preserve identity, and create lasting connections across generations.

This book will resonate not only with music lovers but with anyone who has ever pursued a passion over the long haul. It reframes success as something built through consistency, adaptability, and deep commitment.

“I wrote this book to honor a life shaped by perseverance, creativity, and love of the beach music vibe.” – Chris Jones
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3.) There’s a Tortoise in My Hair: A Journey to Spirit by Calvin Barry Schwartz

In There’s a Tortoise in My Hair, Calvin Barry Schwartz invites readers into a darkly humorous and deeply human exploration of spirituality, coincidence, and calling. Rather than offering spiritual answers, the book provokes insight by encouraging readers to examine the unseen forces shaping their lives.

Through storytelling that blends wit, vulnerability, and reflection, Schwartz challenges readers to reconsider how crisis and coincidence can become invitations for growth. The book resonates with readers who are skeptical of tidy spiritual narratives but open to deeper self-inquiry.

This is a book for those navigating transitions, awakenings, or moments when old frameworks no longer fit. It doesn’t tell readers what to believe, it invites them to think, question, and engage more consciously with their own inner lives.

“My hope is that this book will expand readers’ perspectives and invite them into deeper self-inquiry.” – Calvin Barry Schwartz
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4.) Energy Awakening: The Essential Healing Handbook (The Living Well Series) by Jack F. Wilson

In Energy Awakening: The Essential Healing Handbook, Jack F. Wilson offers readers a steady, grounding guide for navigating an increasingly fast-paced and uncertain world. Rooted in practical mindfulness and emotional wellness practices, this book is designed to help readers restore calm, clarity, and balance, especially during times of transition, stress, or overwhelm.

Energy Awakening is particularly relevant for adults navigating caregiving responsibilities, aging, health challenges, or major life changes. It reframes well-being not as something to achieve, but as something to practice; gently, consistently, and with intention. Readers are encouraged to slow down, reconnect with themselves, and create space for healing that supports both mental and emotional health.

As part of Wilson’s acclaimed Living Well Series, this book reflects his long-standing commitment to helping readers live with greater balance, purpose, and emotional well-being at any age. It offers reassurance that inner peace is not out of reach, and that small, mindful choices can meaningfully improve quality of life in 2026 and beyond.

“This book was written to help readers cultivate calm, clarity, and resilience in a world that often feels overwhelming.” – Jack F. Wilson
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5.) Fifty Years of Polyamory in America: A Guided Tour of a Growing Movement by Glen W. Olson and Terry Lee Brussel-Rogers

Fifty Years of Polyamory in America explores how relationship structures and social norms have evolved over the last half-century. Drawing on historical research and cultural analysis, this book examines the development of ethical non-monogamy from its early roots to its present-day visibility.

Rather than advocating a particular lifestyle, the book provides context and invites readers to understand how changing ideas about love, commitment, and personal freedom reflect broader cultural shifts. It challenges assumptions many readers may not even realize they hold, encouraging thoughtful reflection rather than judgment.

For readers interested in social history, psychology, or cultural change, this book offers a lens into how deeply personal choices intersect with collective values. It’s a book that sparks conversation and encourages curiosity about how societies evolve.

“This book explores how changing relationship models reveal deeper shifts in American culture.” – Glen W. Olson
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Together, these titles reflect a broader movement in publishing toward context-rich storytelling that examines how personal choices intersect with social change. By addressing caregiving, creativity, spirituality, and evolving cultural norms, the collection highlights the role of literature in fostering understanding rather than polarization.

All titles are available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback formats.
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About the Bold Authors Network

The Bold Authors Network is a collaborative community of independent and traditionally published authors committed to creating books that inform, inspire, and connect. Spanning fiction and nonfiction genres, its members believe in the power of meaningful stories and ideas to spark dialogue, encourage growth, and create lasting impact. Through collaboration and shared visibility initiatives, the Bold Authors Network supports authors in bringing thoughtful, high-quality work to readers worldwide.

Kae Wagner
The Bold Authors Network
+1 717-951-6049
email us here

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