VIA MERCHANT
VIA MERCHANT
For fans of: The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
Published in 2021, How the Word Is Passed is a gorgeously written and meticulously researched look at historical sites that are fundamental to the history of slavery and therefore fundamental to the history of the United States.
“Every monument has a story, and Clint Smith travels to some of the most famous United States monuments to reckon with the United States’s legacy of slavery,” says Booktokker Carmen Alvarez. “The underlying question of this work is: Who deserves the monuments we build as a society? As both a journalist and poet, Clint’s beautifully lyrical prose and journalistic savvy for detail attempt to answer this question, as well as examine the collective memory monuments.”Â
VIA MERCHANT
VIA MERCHANT
For fans of: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
In 1989, Bryan Stevenson founded the Equal Justice Initiative, which provides legal representation to those who most need it, including those who couldn’t otherwise afford it and those who may have been wrongly convicted. Published in 2013, Just Mercy recounts the organization’s beginnings through a successful campaign to challenge the cruel practice of sentencing minors to life in prison.
Central to Stevenson’s understanding of mercy and justice was the case of Walter McMillian, a Black man who was not only given the death penalty for murder, although he maintained he was innocent, but also placed on death row in 1987, before the trial even began. Part biography, part memoir, Just Mercy is a compelling call to action against mass incarceration. “Proximity has taught me some basic and humbling truths, including this vital lesson: Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done,” Stevenson writes, explaining why he does this work and never gives up hope.Â
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About the experts
- Tania Israel, PhD, is an expert in dealing with political division, a professor of counseling psychology and an associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She’s also the author of the book Facing the Fracture: How to Navigate the Challenges of Living in a Divided Nation.
- Carmen Alvarez is a Cuban American book lover whose passion for books drove her to establish @tomesandtextiles on Instagram and TikTok. She uses her platforms to review and recommend Latinx books from across the diaspora and push back against the lack of representation in traditional publishing.
- Sharon Hsu is a senior editor at Goodreads and an avid reader. She loves helping guide readers to their next favorite book.
- Michelle Yang is an advocate who writes about the intersection of Asian American identity, body image and mental health. Her memoir, Phoenix Girl: How a Fat Asian with Bipolar Found Love, hits shelves in January 2025.
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Why trust us
At Reader’s Digest, we’ve been sharing our favorite books for over 100 years. We’ve worked with bestselling authors including Susan Orlean, Janet Evanovich and Alex Haley, whose Pulitzer Prize–winning Roots grew out of a project funded by and originally published in the magazine. Through Fiction Favorites (formerly Select Editions and Condensed Books), Reader’s Digest has been publishing anthologies of abridged novels for decades. We’ve worked with some of the biggest names in fiction, including James Patterson, Ruth Ware, Kristin Hannah and more. The Reader’s Digest Book Club, helmed by Books Editor Tracey Neithercott, introduces readers to even more of today’s best fiction by upcoming, bestselling and award-winning authors. For this piece on books about racism, Melba Newsome tapped her experience as an award-winning journalist with more than two decades of experience to ensure that all information is accurate and offers the best possible advice to readers. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
Sources:
- Carmen Alvarez, founder of @tomesandtextiles; email interview, October 2024
- Sharon Hsu, senior editor at Goodreads; email interview, October 2024
- Tania Israel, PhD, professor of counseling psychology, associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and author of Facing the Fracture; email interview, October 2024
- Michelle Yang, mental health advocate and author; email interview, October 2024