Recommended Books

The Social Justice Committee recomends the following books. They are listed below by topic, although several books cover multiple topics, Enjoy!

Books recommended by members of the Pax Christi Social Justice Committee (2020)

Acknowledging that people are experiencing this “sheltering in” in a variety of ways, some busier than ever before, others with time on their hands, the social justice committee members have compiled a list of books which they individually have found meaningful. If you are looking for reading material, you might want to reference it:

 

• Barking to the Choir – The Power of Radical Kinship by Gregory Boyle, SJ -  a moving example of unconditional love in difficult times, Gregory Boyle, the Jesuit priest and New York Times bestselling author of Tattoos on the Heart, shares what working with gang members in Los Angeles has taught him about faith, compassion, and the enduring power of kinship. (Amazon description)
• Care for Creation: A Franciscan Spirituality of the Earth by Ilia Delio, O.S.F., Keith Douglass Warner, O.F.M., and Pamela Wood - a theological and practical approach to developing a Franciscan spirituality of the earth. Four sections highlight the distinct relationships creation has with the world: incarnation, community, contemplation and conversion (Franciscan Media description)
• Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond.  Set in the poorest areas of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the book follows eight families struggling to pay rent to their landlords during the financial crisis of 2007–2008.   
• The God Who Sees: Immigrants, the Bible, and the Journey to Belong by Karen Gonzalez - a riveting story of seeking safety in another land. Here is a gripping journey of loss, alienation, and belonging - a powerful deep dive into God’s people who immigrate. (Christianbook.com description)
• How Much is Enough?: Hungering for God in an Affluent Culture  by Arthur Simon - in a world filled with both prosperity and poverty, how can Christians handle their finances in a way that honors God? (Thriftbook description)
• Inherit the Earth: Peace and Nonviolence in a Time of Climate Change by John Dear, SJ - In the Beatitudes, Jesus says of the meek, "they will inherit the earth." Meekness, John Dear argues, is the biblical word for nonviolence. He makes the connection Jesus makes at the start of his Sermon on the Mount between our practice of nonviolence and our unity with creation: our rejection of nonviolence is inevitably linked to the catastrophic effects of climate change and environmental ruin. (Amazon description)
• Privilege, Power, and Difference  by Allan Johnson -  describes a model for thinking about systems of power and difference - links theory with engaging examples in ways that enable readers to see the underlying nature and consequences of privilege and their connection to it.
• Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition by Charles Eisenstein - traces the history of money from ancient gift economies to modern capitalism, revealing how the money system has contributed to alienation, competition, and scarcity, destroyed community, and necessitated endless growth. Today, these trends have reached their extreme—but in the wake of their collapse, we may find great opportunity to transition to a more connected, ecological, and sustainable way of being. (Books.com description)
• The Soul of Money: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Life by Lynne Twist - looking at money from a sufficiency  rather than scarcity perspective – a powerful wake up call for anyone who struggles with their resources, who fears lack, and who believes scarcity has more power than abundance. (Amazon description)
• The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row  by Anthony Ray Hinton - a powerful, revealing story of hope, love, justice, and the power of reading by a man who spent thirty years on death row for a crime he didn't commit.  (Amazon description)
• The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris - a novel based on a true story of love and survival in the Auschwitz concentration camp
• Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer-and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class by Jacob Hacker and Paul – a groundbreaking work that identifies the real culprit behind one of the great economic crimes of our time— the growing inequality of incomes between the vast majority of Americans and the richest of the rich.(Amazon description)
• The Wall by John Lanchester - a novel about love, trust, and survival on an island nation ravaged by climate change.

Featured Book of The Month

“Tattoos on the Heart – The Power of Boundless Compassion” by Gregory Boyle

Thirty years ago, Gregory Boyle founded Homeboy Industries, a gang-intervention, rehabilitation, and reentry program in Los Angeles, the gang capital of the world. In Tattoos on the Heart, his debut book, he distills his experience working with gang members into a breathtaking series of parables inspired by faith.
 

Care for the Environment, Climate Change

“Laudato Si -- On Care for Our Common Home” by Pope Francis

“Climate Change – What Everyone Needs to Know” by Joseph Romm

“This Changes Everything – Capitalism Versus the Climate” by Naomi Klein

“Living Beyond the ‘End of the World’: A Spirituality of Hope” by Margert Sweedish

“Please Don’t Paint Our Planet Pink: A Story for Children and Their Adults” by Gregg Keiner

“How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming” by Lynne Cherry and Gary Braasch

“Ecology of a Cracker Childhood (The World As Home)” by Janisse Ray
 

Israel and Palestine

“Blood Brothers: The Dramatic Story of a Palestinian Christian Working for Peace in Israel” by Elias Chacour  and David Hazard

“An Israeli in Palestine: Resisting Dispossession, Redeeming Israel” by Jeff Halper

“My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel” by Ari Shavit

“Palestine Speaks: Narratives of Life Under Occupation” by Cate Malek and Mateo Hoke

Social Justice

“Dispossessed: Life in Our World's Urban Slums” by Mark Kramer

“Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption” by Bryan Stevenson

“Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation” by Jonathan Kozol

Racisim

“Uprooting Racism - 4th edition: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice” by Paul Kivel

“The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother” by James McBride

Globalization / Global Issues

“The True Cost of Low Prices: The Violence of Globalization” by Jeffry Odell Korgen  and Vincent Gallagher

“Unexpected News: Reading the Bible with Third World Eyes” by Robert McAfee Brown

War

“What It Is Like To Go To War” by Karl Marlantes (Vietnam War)

The Thing They Carried” by Tim O'Brien (Vietnam War)

“The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North Vietnam” by Bao Ninh

“Survival in the Killing Field” by Haing Ngor (Cambodian holocaust)

“Night Draws Near: Iraq's People in the Shadow of America's War” by Anthony Shadid

Peace

“The Road to Peace: Writings on Peace and Justice” by Henry Nouwen

Sex Trafficking

“The Blue Notebook: A Novel” by James A. Levine

Homelessness

“Same Kind of Different As Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together” by Rone Hall and Denver Moore

“Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved by Beauty: An Intimate Portrait of My Grandmother” by Kate Hennessy

Immigration  

“The Death of Josseline – Immigration Stories from the Arizona Borderlands” by Margaret Regan

Compassion

“Tattoos on the Heart – The Power of Boundless Compassion” by Fr. Gregory Boyle

“Barking to the Choir – The Power of Radical Kinship” by Fr. Gregory Boyle