American Prison -- Shane Bauer

Staff Pick

American Prison by Shane Bauer is a searing portrait of American prisons and the historic injustices of our system of incarceration. Bauer, a journalist who had been imprisoned in Iran, turned his attention to the privatization of American prisons while reporting for Mother Jones. Hired as a guard (they never checked his background) at a privately-run prison in Louisiana, he surreptitiously recorded his four-month-long experience. His book provides a vivid first-hand account of who he met and what he saw, interwoven with a very depressing critique of America’s long history of using convicts as forced labor for the profit of others. A tremendous book.

American Prison: A Reporter's Undercover Journey into the Business of Punishment By Shane Bauer Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9780735223585
Availability: Special Order—Subject to Availability
Published: Penguin Press - September 18th, 2018

The Truths We Hold -- Kamala Harris

Staff Pick

 With all the political books landing in the store this year, The Truths We Hold by Kamala Harris is a must read. The first-term Democratic senator from California is a woman, a woman of color, and the daughter of immigrants. Now she is running for president, having shown her political chops in two successful races for California attorney general and then for the U.S. Senate—victories achieved in the most diverse, most complex state in the country. In a crowded field of Democrats, Harris is one who clearly has that intangible “special something.” And that’s why she is already proving to be a formidable presence on the presidential circuit.

The Truths We Hold: An American Journey By Kamala Harris Cover Image
$30.00
ISBN: 9780525560715
Availability: Special Order—Subject to Availability
Published: Penguin Press - January 8th, 2019

The Lost Man -- Jane Harper

Staff Pick

Australian novelist Jane Harper’s latest mystery, The Lost Man, introduces new but still relies on the author’s familiar themes of family, hardship, resilience and survival. Set in a desolate part of Queensland, the story revolves around the mysterious death of one of three brothers, whose car, and body, are found miles apart in harsh, desert-like terrain. Harper, a former journalist, is masterful at sowing false leads in her readers’ minds, creating doubts about what sort of deceptions could have led to a man dying of dehydration in an area he knew well, and weaving together strands of evidence as the story evolves. Her greatest gift: You never figure out what happened until the very end.

The Lost Man By Jane Harper Cover Image
$27.99
ISBN: 9781250105684
Availability: Special Order—Subject to Availability
Published: Flatiron Books - February 5th, 2019

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