Eight Decades of Lela Yost is a "genealogy in words" written by Lela Yost and her daughter, Carol Basgall, and compiled by Basgall in 1995. Not just the story of Lela Yost, the book contains eight decades of photographs, clippings, and text documenting five generations of men and women in the Ludemann and Yost families. The work is 170 pages long.

Eight Decades of Lela Yost is especially valuable for its information and first-hand accounts of farming from the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. It begins with the history of the Yost family from their immigration from Germany to the United States, and continues through their move to Iowa. In addition to the farm life of Yost's family, there is discussion of the social life of the times, such as county fairs, and political and holiday gatherings. Yost also mentions the rise of the railroad and later, the automobile and how these changed life on the farm. There is also discussion of the effect the Great Depression had on the Ludemann family and its farm, as well as descriptions of Yost's experiences as a school teacher. Interspersed with Yost's own writings are the comments by her daughter,Carol Basgall, as well as copies of letters, newspaper articles, sketches by Lela Yost, photographs, greeting cards, and postcards.