The Tragedy of True Crime: Four Guilty Men & the Stories that Define Us by John J. Lennon

In 2001, John Lennon shot and killed a man in a Brooklyn street and was sentenced to 28 years. After joining an Attica Correctional Facility writing workshop, he began to find meaning behind bars. In this gripping part memoir, part true crime expose, Lennon recounts his own story as well as those of 3 fellow murderers: Michael Shane Hale, a gay man who, in a crime of passion, murdered his abusive lover; Milton E. Jones, an African American who killed 2 priests; and Robert Chambers, the infamous Preppy Killer, who strangled a young girl in Central Park and became a true crime celebrity. Though true crime tends to flatten murderers into two-dimensional monsters, Lennon argues we should recognize the humanity of both murderer and victim. Poignant and provocative, The Tragedy of True Crime is a powerful meditation on justice and redemption, guilt and forgiveness, healing and humanity.

For fans of American Prison by Shane Bauer and Orange is the New Black

On Human Slaughter by Elizabeth Bruenig

A 2023 Pulitzer Prize finalist, On Human Slaughter examines the often cruel and unusual practice of the death penalty. The book revolves around one central question: is there such a thing as killing a human being humanely? Thought-provoking and occasionally disturbing, On Human Slaughter interrogates how the state rationalizes execution while forcing readers to confront the moral, legal, and emotional costs of institutionalized killing.

For fans of Let the Lord Sort Them: The Rise & Fall of the Death Penalty by Maurice Chammah and Dead Man Walking: The Eyewitness Account Of The Death Penalty That Sparked a National Debate by Helen Prejean.

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

In her searing indictment of the American prison system, legal scholar Michelle Alexander argues “we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.” Regan’s War on Drugs and tough on crime policies have led to an explosion in our prison population since the 1980s. Though African Americans only comprise 13% of the U.S. population, they make up nearly 40% of the incarcerated. By disproportionately arresting and convicting black men, the U.S. has created a new system of racial control. Since its publication in 2010, The New Jim Crow has stirred a nationwide dialogue and sparked a movement, forcing us to reassess our so-called “color-blind” criminal justice. 16 years later and this book is still absolutely urgent.