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.

The Rights of Man

by Thomas Paine

Publication year 1791

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Justice, Power & Greed, Social Class, Nation, Politics & Government

Tags Philosophy, Politics & Government, US History, European History

Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man (1791) is one of the 18th-century’s most influential political treatises. It offers a spirited defense of the ongoing French Revolution and calls for dramatic reforms in Britain. Paine wrote Rights of Man as a direct response to Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), a conservative critique that professes skepticism and even horror at the course of events in France since the Revolution began in 1789. Rights of... Read The Rights of Man Summary

The Rock and The River

by Kekla Magoon

Publication year 2009

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Race, Coming of Age, Justice

Tags Children`s Literature, Realistic Fiction, World History, Historical Fiction, Civil Rights & Jim Crow South, Race & Racism

The Rock and the River is a young adult historical fiction work that earned author Kekla Magoon the Coretta Scott King John Steptoe New Talent Award upon its publication in 2009. Set in the 1960s Civil Rights era, the story’s protagonist, Samuel Childs, is the son of a famous activist who worked alongside Dr. King and the brother of a teenager involved with a local Black Panther group. The tensions between the historical “passive resistance”... Read The Rock and The River Summary

The Runaway Jury

by John Grisham

Publication year 1996

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Revenge, Economics, Politics & Government, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Power & Greed, Truth & Lies

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense

The Runaway Jury is a 1996 legal thriller by author, lawyer, and former politician John Grisham. Grisham has written 50 consecutive #1 best-selling novels that have been translated into 50 languages. Grisham has won the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction and won the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction twice. The Runaway Jury was adapted into a 2003 film, one of the seven Grisham novels that have been made into movies. The... Read The Runaway Jury Summary

The Sandman Omnibus Vol. 1

by Neil Gaiman

Publication year 2015

Genre Graphic Novel/Book, Fiction

Themes Family, Truth & Lies, Apathy, Conflict, Forgiveness, Hate & Anger, Loneliness, Love, Revenge, Shame & Pride, Gender Identity, Sexual Identity, Loyalty & Betrayal, Literature, Justice, Fate

Tags Fantasy, Horror & Suspense, Arts & Culture, Love & Sexuality, Grief & Death

... Read The Sandman Omnibus Vol. 1 Summary

The Searcher

by Tana French

Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Community, Justice, Trust & Doubt, Gender Identity, Fathers

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Psychological Fiction, Western, Modern Classic Fiction, Irish Literature

... Read The Searcher Summary

The Seat of the Soul

by Gary Zukav

Publication year 1989

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Forgiveness, Love, Justice, New Age, Religion & Spirituality

Tags Self-Improvement, Inspirational, Psychology, Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality

The Seat of the Soul (1989) is a best-selling spiritual self-help book by American author Gary Zukav. After being featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show in the late 1990s, Zukav became well-known to American readers for his beliefs on the nature of the soul and the meaning of life. In this work, Zukav argues that humanity is evolving from pursuing “external power,” which is defined as conquering and exploiting others, toward “authentic power,” in which... Read The Seat of the Soul Summary

The Secret Chord

by Geraldine Brooks

Publication year 2015

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Gender Identity, Religion & Spirituality, Music, Justice

Tags Historical Fiction, Jewish Literature, Christian, World History, Life-Inspired Fiction, Religion & Spirituality, Gender & Feminism, Middle Eastern History

In The Secret Chord (2015), Geraldine Brooks, a former journalist and a Pulitzer Prize-winning author of historical fiction, turns to the story of the biblical King David. She uses this figure from religion and history to study human nature. Her David is far from a saint. He is a complex character: “a man who dwelt in the searing glance of the divine, but who sweated and stank, rutted without restraint, butchered the innocent, betrayed those... Read The Secret Chord Summary

The Secret Lives of Murderers' Wives

by Elizabeth Arnott

Publication year 2026

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Fear, Guilt, Regret, Shame & Pride, Femininity, Death, Friendship, Justice, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

Tags Historical Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction

Elizabeth Arnott’s 2026 thriller, The Secret Lives of Murderers’ Wives, is a work of historical fiction set against the social and political turmoil of 1966 California. The novel follows three women, Beverley, Elsie, and Margot, who have formed an unlikely friendship after their husbands were convicted as some of the state’s most notorious serial killers. Living under a cloud of public shame and suspicion, the women decide to use their unique, hard-won knowledge of male... Read The Secret Lives of Murderers' Wives Summary

These Hollow Vows

by Lexi Ryan

Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Perseverance, Hope, Love, Gender Identity, Appearance & Reality, Siblings, Self Discovery, Politics & Government, Good & Evil, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Power & Greed, Truth & Lies

Tags Fantasy, Romance

... Read These Hollow Vows Summary

The Sellout

by Paul Beatty

Publication year 2015

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Community, Justice, Race

Tags Satirical Literature, Humor, Race & Racism, African American Literature, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction

Paul Beatty is the author of the 2015 novel The Sellout—a satire that makes fun of contemporary norms around race and identity. In the novel, Beatty applies his no-holds-barred idea of comedy to segregation, slavery, police brutality, and countless tragic and fraught issues that people typically treat with extreme seriousness and sensitivity. Through the main character, Me, the book provides an ironic and unexpected take on themes like Racial and Personal Identity and Capitalism’s Power... Read The Sellout Summary

The Sentence

by Louise Erdrich

Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Race, Death, Future, The Past, Perseverance, Love, Good & Evil, Justice, Community, Family, Friendship

Tags Magical Realism, Fantasy, Social Justice, Historical Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction

... Read The Sentence Summary

Theseus

by Anonymous

Publication year -1

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Justice, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Revenge

Tags Mythology, Ancient Greece

The oral tradition of myths makes collecting a complete version of “Theseus and the Minotaur,” an ancient Greek myth from the sixth century BC, a difficult task. No version contains every recorded detail about Theseus’s adventures in the Labyrinth of Crete. Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Stephen Fry’s Heroes, and many other sources contain varying levels of detail about Theseus’s heroics. This challenge increases when different translations of the text are considered, since part of the text is... Read Theseus Summary