Recommendations based on American Prison: A Reporter's Undercover Journey into the Business of Punishmentby Shane Bauer

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. Black Edge: Inside Information, Dirty Money, and the Quest to Bring Down the Most Wanted Man on Wall Street

    by Sheelah Kolhatkar
    A thrilling account of the insider trading scandal that rocked Wall Street and the man who made billions from it.

    NEW YORK TIMES, BESTSELLER • “An essential exposé of our times—a work that reveals the deep rot in our financial system . . . Everyone should read this book.”—David Grann, author of, Killers of the ... (Barnes & Noble)

  2. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

    by Matthew Desmond
    An exploration of eviction’s devastating consequences on the lives of the urban poor.

    NEW YORK TIMES, BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE • NAMED ONE OF, TIME,’S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE • One of the most acclaimed books of our time, this modern classic “has set a ... (Barnes & Noble)

  3. Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

    by Barbara Demick
    Exploration of the lives of North Koreans during the famine and repression of the 1990s.

    Nothing to Envy follows the lives of six North Koreans over fifteen years—a chaotic period that saw the death of Kim Il-sung, the unchallenged rise to power of his son Kim Jong-il, and the ... (Goodreads)

  4. My Life on the Road

    by Gloria Steinem
    Steinem's memoir of her travels as a feminist activist, sharing stories of the people and experiences that shaped her life and work.

    Gloria Steinem—writer, activist, organizer, and one of the most inspiring leaders in the world—now tells a story she has never told before, a candid account of how her early years led her to live an ... (Goodreads)

  5. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

    by Bryan Stevenson
    A powerful true story of justice and redemption, exposing the flaws of America's criminal justice system.

    In 1989, idealistic young Harvard law graduate Bryan Stevenson travels to Alabama hoping to help fight for poor people who cannot afford proper legal representation. Teaming with Eva Ansley, he ... (Wikipedia)

  6. People Who Eat Darkness: The True Story of a Young Woman Who Vanished from the Streets of Tokyo--and the Evil That Swallowed Her Up

    by Richard Lloyd Parry
    A gripping account of a young woman's disappearance and the twisted journey to find her.

    An incisive and compelling account of the case of 21-year-old Lucie Blackman, who stepped out into the vastness of Tokyo in the summer of 2000 and disappeared forever. The following winter, her ... (Goodreads)

  7. Black Boy

    by Richard Wright
    Autobiographical account of a young black man's struggle against racism and oppression.

    A special 75th anniversary edition of Richard Wright's powerful and unforgettable memoir, with a new foreword by John Edgar Wideman and an afterword by Malcolm Wright, the author’s grandson. When it ... (Barnes & Noble)

  8. Are Prisons Obsolete?

    by Angela Y. Davis
    Critique of existing prison systems and exploration of alternative solutions.

    With her characteristic brilliance, grace and radical audacity, Angela Y. Davis has put the case for the latest abolition movement in American life: the abolition of the prison. As she quite ... (Goodreads)

  9. The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America

    by Richard Rothstein
    Examination of the US government's role in creating and enforcing racial segregation in housing.

    In this groundbreaking history of the modern American metropolis, Richard Rothstein, a leading authority on housing policy, explodes the myth that America’s cities came to be racially divided through ... (Goodreads)

  10. Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town

    by Jon Krakauer
    A harrowing account of sexual assaults in Missoula, Montana and the failures of the justice system to bring justice to the victims.

    Missoula, Montana, is a typical college town, home to a highly regarded state university whose beloved football team inspires a passionately loyal fan base. Between January 2008 and May 2012, ... (Barnes & Noble)

  11. A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership

    by James Comey
    Former FBI Director James Comey's memoir about his career and experiences with President Trump.

    Former FBI Director James Comey shares his never-before-told experiences from some of the highest-stakes situations of his career in the past two decades of American government, exploring what good, ... (Goodreads)

  12. Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex

    by Mary Roach
    A humorous exploration of the science and research behind sex and human sexuality.

    In Bonk, the best-selling author of Stiff turns her outrageous curiosity and insight on the most alluring scientific subject of all: sex. Can a person think herself to orgasm? Why doesn't Viagra help ... (Goodreads)

  13. Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House

    by Michael Wolff
    An inside look at the chaos and dysfunction within the Trump administration, revealing shocking details about the president and his team.

    With extraordinary access to the West Wing, Michael Wolff reveals what happened behind-the-scenes in the first nine months of the most controversial presidency of our time in Fire and Fury: Inside ... (Goodreads)

  14. The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town

    by John Grisham
    True crime story of an innocent man convicted of a crime he didn't commit.

    Ron Williamson has returned to his hometown of Ada, Oklahoma, after multiple failed attempts to play for various minor league baseball teams, including the Fort Lauderdale Yankees and two affiliate ... (Wikipedia)

  15. We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy

    by Ta-Nehisi Coates
    An exploration of the Obama years, and the racial injustices that still plague America.

    "We were eight years in power" was the lament of Reconstruction-era black politicians as the American experiment in multiracial democracy ended with the return of white supremacist rule in the South. ... (Goodreads)

  16. White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

    by Robin DiAngelo
    A critical analysis of the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially. It explores the dynamics of white fragility and how it perpetuates racial inequality.

    Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt and by behaviors including argumentation ... (Goodreads)

  17. Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life

    by Jon Lee Anderson
    Biographical account of Che Guevara's life, from his childhood to death.

    "Acclaimed around the world and a national best-seller, this is the definitive work on Che Guevara, the dashing rebel whose epic dream was to end poverty and injustice in Latin America and the ... (Goodreads)

  18. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

    by Michelle Alexander
    Exploring the roots and reality of systemic racism in the U.S. criminal justice system.

    "Jarvious Cotton's great-great-grandfather could not vote as a slave. His great-grandfather was beaten to death by the Klu Klux Klan for attempting to vote. His grandfather was prevented from voting ... (Goodreads)

  19. Theodore Roosevelt Trilogy

    by Edmund Morris
    A three-part biography of Theodore Roosevelt, exploring his life as a politician, soldier, and adventurer.

    Arthur Edmund Morris (May 27, 1940 – May 24, 2019) was a British-American writer best known for his biographies of United States Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan . ... (Wikipedia)

  20. Meaty

    by Samantha Irby
    A collection of hilarious and brutally honest essays about life, love, and the pursuit of happiness.

    Samantha Irby explodes onto the printed page with her debut collection of brand-new essays about trying to laugh her way through failed relationships, being black, taco feasts, bouts with Crohn's ... (Goodreads)

  21. The World As It Is: Inside the Obama White House

    by Ben Rhodes
    A memoir of Ben Rhodes' time as a speechwriter and foreign policy advisor in the Obama administration.

    This is a book about two people making the most important decisions in the world. One is Barack Obama. The other is Ben Rhodes. The World As It Is tells the full story of what it means to work ... (Goodreads)

  22. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

    by Atul Gawande
    An exploration of the human experience of mortality and the importance of end-of-life care.

    In, Being Mortal, author Atul Gawande tackles the hardest challenge of his profession: how medicine can not only improve life but also the process of its ending Medicine has triumphed in modern ... (Goodreads)

  23. Black Klansman: Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime

    by Ron Stallworth
    The true story of a black police officer who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s.

    The #1, New York Times, Bestseller!,The extraordinary true story and basis for the Academy Award winning film, BlacKkKlansman, written and directed by Spike Lee, produced by Jordan Peele, and ... (Barnes & Noble)

  24. Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High

    by Melba Pattillo Beals
    An autobiographical account of a young African American student's struggle to attend an all-white high school in 1957.

    In this essential autobiographical account by one of the Civil Rights Movement’s most powerful figures, Melba Pattillo Beals of the Little Rock Nine explores not only the oppressive force of racism, ... (Goodreads)

  25. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

    by J.D. Vance
    An exploration of the struggles of working-class Americans, and the power of family and culture to shape one's life.

    Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class Americans. The disintegration of this group, a process that has been slowly occurring now for ... (Goodreads)

  26. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

    by Marjane Satrapi
    Autobiographical account of a young girl's experience of the Iranian Revolution.

    Note: The summary of the English editions of the novel is divided into two sections, one for each book. Persepolis 1 begins by introducing Marji, the ten-year-old protagonist. Set in 1980, the novel ... (Wikipedia)

  27. Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance

    by Alex Hutchinson
    Investigating the limits of human endurance, Hutchinson explores the science behind how our minds and bodies push past perceived boundaries.

    THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Foreword by Malcolm Gladwell Limits are an illusion: discover the revolutionary account of the science and psychology of endurance, revealing the secrets of reaching ... (Barnes & Noble)

  28. The Underground Girls of Kabul: In Search of a Hidden Resistance in Afghanistan

    by Jenny Nordberg
    An exploration of the secret lives of Afghan girls who live as boys for safety, security, and independence.

    An investigative journalist uncovers a hidden custom that will transform your understanding of what it means to grow up as a girl. In Afghanistan, a culture ruled almost entirely by men, the birth of ... (Goodreads)

  29. The Basketball Diaries

    by Jim Carroll
    A teenage boy's struggles with addiction and his journey of self-discovery.

    The urban classic coming-of-age story about sex, drugs, and basketball. Jim Carroll grew up to become a renowned poet and punk rocker. But in this memoir of the mid-1960's, set during his ... (Goodreads)

  30. Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose

    by Joe Biden
    A personal, reflective account of a momentous and difficult year.

    The Instant #1, New York Times, Bestseller,From President-Elect Joe Biden,, Promise Me Dad , is his deeply moving memoir about the year that would forever change both a family and a country.,“Biden ... (Goodreads)