Books on Justice & Injustice

James Baldwin said, "It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have." In this collection, we've compiled texts that explore the idea of what justice is — and how it can thrive.

Njals Saga

by Anonymous

Publication year 1280

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Masculinity, Fate, Justice

Tags Mythology, Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction

Njal’s Saga is a late medieval Icelandic family saga authored around 1280 but set around the year 1000. It combines legend and history—many of its protagonists were historical figures, and other historical sources corroborate some of the major events the saga mentions. However, the author also embellishes characters and events as he describes them in the saga.The saga recounts intermarriage, friendships, and tragic blood feuds between multiple Icelandic families who trace their ancestry back to... Read Njals Saga Summary

No Choirboy

by Susan Kuklin

Publication year 2008

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Justice, Race, Grief

Tags Crime & Law, Incarceration, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Grief & Death, Politics & Government, Biography

No Choirboy: Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row is a nonfiction young adult book published by Susan Kuklin in 2009. The book recounts Kuklin’s interviews with teenagers sentenced to death row or life without the possibility of parole. In addition to allowing her subjects to share their experiences in their own words, the book also delves into the US criminal justice system and the issue of capital punishment. No Choirboy is a 2009 Bank... Read No Choirboy Summary

No Future Without Forgiveness

by Desmond Tutu

Publication year 2009

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Themes Forgiveness, Shame & Pride, Justice

Tags History: African , Politics & Government, Social Justice, Race & Racism, African Literature, Biography, World History, Religion & Spirituality

Originally published in 1999, No Future Without Forgiveness is the memoir of Desmond Mpilo Tutu. Tutu won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1984 for his efforts to end apartheid in South Africa. He served as Archbishop of the Anglican Church in Cape Town and later chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which President Mandela established to help address the atrocities of apartheid.Although Tutu’s memoir focuses on his work with the TRC between 1995... Read No Future Without Forgiveness Summary

None Left to Tell

by Noelle W. Ihli

Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Perseverance, Guilt, Hope, Memory, Indigenous Identity, Race, Death, The Past, Nature Versus Nurture, Daughters & Sons, Colonialism, Immigration, War, Equality, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Power & Greed, Religion & Spirituality, Truth & Lies

Tags Horror & Suspense

... Read None Left to Tell Summary

No Second Chance

by Harlan Coben

Publication year 2003

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Fathers, Justice, Love

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Addiction & Substance Abuse, Trauma & Abuse, Grief & Death, Relationships, Modern Classic Fiction

No Second Chance is a 2003 thriller novel written by Harlan Coben. The novel follows Marc Seidman, a man who wakes in the hospital with a gunshot wound to find that his wife is dead, his daughter is missing, and he is the main suspect. Plot SummaryDr. Marc Seidman wakes up in the hospital 12 days after being shot in his Kasselton, New Jersey, home. His wife, Monica, is dead, and their infant daughter, Tara... Read No Second Chance Summary

Nostromo

by Joseph Conrad

Publication year 1904

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Power & Greed, Colonialism, Community, Economics, Nation, Politics & Government, War, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal

Tags British Literature, Historical Fiction, Action & Adventure

Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard is a 1904 modernist novel by Polish British author Joseph Conrad. Originally published as a two-volume serial in T.P.’s Weekly, Nostromo is the story of an Italian dockworker who becomes swept up in the political turmoil of a fictional Latin American country in the late 19th Century. An example of modernist literature, Nostromo has been heralded as one of Conrad’s greatest works and has been adapted for film, television... Read Nostromo Summary

Nothing Tastes as Good

by Luke Dumas

Publication year 2026

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Fear, Hate & Anger, Revenge, Shame & Pride, Mental Health, Appearance & Reality, Food, Community, Equality, Justice

Tags Horror & Suspense, LGBTQ+

Luke Dumas’s 2026 novel, Nothing Tastes as Good, is a work of body and psychological horror that satirizes contemporary diet culture. The story follows Emmett Truesdale, a 28-year-old man living with severe obesity whose life is defined by trauma and shame. Desperate to escape a world that constantly judges his body, he enrolls in a clinical trial for Obexity, a revolutionary drug that promises rapid weight loss without diet or exercise. While the treatment initially... Read Nothing Tastes as Good Summary

Noughts And Crosses

by Malorie Blackman

Publication year 2001

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Social Class, Equality, Justice

Tags Science Fiction, Romance, Race & Racism, Coming of Age, Incarceration, Relationships, Symbolic Narrative, Trauma & Abuse, Social Justice, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Dramatic Literature

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Now I Surrender

by Álvaro Enrigue, Transl. Natasha Wimmer

Publication year 2026

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Grief, Memory, Regret, Indigenous Identity, Race, Death, The Past, Environment, Place, Family, Self Discovery, Colonialism, Nation, War, Equality, Justice, Wins & Losses

Tags Historical Fiction, Latin American Literature, Literary Fiction, Western

Now I Surrender (2024) is a historical novel by the acclaimed Mexican author Álvaro Enrigue. A work of autofiction and a revisionist Western, the novel weaves together three distinct timelines to explore the brutal history of the American Southwest. The narrative is framed by the reflections of a contemporary Mexican writer on a family road trip through the former territory of Apachería, a research journey for a book about the Apache Wars. This modern pilgrimage... Read Now I Surrender Summary

Numbering all the Bones

by Ann Rinaldi

Publication year 2002

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Death, Siblings, Coming of Age, Daughters & Sons, Race, Equality, Justice, War, Fathers

Tags Historical Fiction, Children`s Literature, Life-Inspired Fiction, American Civil War, Race & Racism, US History, Military & War, World History

... Read Numbering all the Bones Summary

Oathbound

by Tracy Deonn

Publication year 2025

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Gender Identity, Race, Coming of Age, Friendship, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Community, Good & Evil, Justice, Power & Greed

Tags Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Science Fiction

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Oathbringer

by Brandon Sanderson

Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Guilt, Mental Health, Appearance & Reality, Teamwork, Politics & Government, Good & Evil, Justice

Tags Fantasy, Science Fiction, Action & Adventure, Narrative Poem

... Read Oathbringer Summary